Is science beautiful? Yes, argues acclaimed philosopher andhistorian of science Robert P. Crease in this engaging explorationof history’s most beautiful experiments. The result is anengrossing journey through nearly 2,500 years of scientificinnovation. Along the way, we encounter glimpses into thepersonalities and creative thinking of some of the field’s mostinteresting figures. We see the first measurement of the earth’s circumference,accomplished in the third century B.C. by Eratosthenes usingsticks, shadows, and simple geometry. We visit Foucault’smesmerizing pendulum, a cannonball suspended from the dome of thePanthéon in Paris that allows us to see the rotation of the earthon its axis. We meet Galileo—the only scientist with twoexperiments in the top ten—brilliantly drawing on his musicaltraining to measure the speed of falling bodies. And we travel tothe quantum world, in the most beautiful experiment of all. We also learn why these ten experiments exert such a powerful holdon our imagin
Bestselling nature writer David Quammen introduces CharlesDarwin's incredible tale of excursion that led to his revolutionarytheory of evolution--Voyage of the Beagle.
Starred Review。 What Aczel did for mathematician Fermat（Fermat’s Last Theorem）he now does for Descartes in this splendidstudy about the French philosopher and mathematician （1596–1650）most famous for his paradigm-smashing declaration， “I think;therefore， I am。” Part historical sketch， part biography and partdetective story， Aczel’s chronicle of Descartes’s hidden workhinges on his lost secret notebook。 Of 16 pages of codedmanu*， one and a half were copied in 1676 by fellowphilosopher and mathematician Leibniz。 For him， Descartes’sin*ion of the cryptic letters“GFRC” immediately revealed hisassociation with the occult fraternity of the Rosicrucians—Leibnizwas also a member。 The notebook also revealed to Leibniz adiscovery made by Descartes that would have transformedmathematics。 As Aczel so deftly demonstrates， Descartes'smathematical theories were paths to an understanding the order andmystery of the cosmos， and he kept the notebook hidden because itcont
The best-selling science book ever published in the Englishlanguage, COSMOS is a magnificent overview of the past, present,and future of science. Brilliant and provocative, it traces today'sknowledge and scientific methods to their historical roots,blending science and philosophy in a wholly energetic andirresistible way.
In this anthology of reminiscences by prominent scientists,the roll includes Richard Dawkins, Murray Gell-Mann, Joseph Ledouxand Ray Kurzweil, along with 23 others. The mandate of the book'seditor, literary agent Brockman (The Third Culture), to each ofthese authors was to write an essay explaining how he or she cameto be a scientist. Some take him at his word and write meanderingstories of childhood. David Buss found his calling—the study ofhuman mating behavior—while working at a truck stop after droppingout of school. Paul Davies says he was born to be a theoreticalphysicist. Daniel Dennett, on the other hand, seems to have triedevery other profession before landing, as if by accident, inscience. A few writers let their essays get hijacked by the sciencethey have devoted their lives to. And in the midst of this, like akeystone in an arch, is an essay by Steven Pinker explaining whythe entire exercise is a bunch of hooey: scientifically speaking,he says, people have no objective idea what influen
Teach your baby all about animals with touch and feel textures Stroke, tickle and touch the textures together with your baby and help them discover all about animals. Let their little hands roam and feel how soft and cuddly kittens are but how scaly the lizard feels. They'll learn as you play. Twinkly, bumpy, scaly, silky, sandy, sticky and shiny textures in a chunky perfect for encouraging tiny fingers to explore and tiny minds to develop.
