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

Dr. Carl Sagan takes us on a great reading adventure, offeringhis vivid and startling insight into the brain of man and beast,the origin of human intelligence, the function of our most hauntinglegends--and their amazing links to recent discoveries. "A history of the human brain from the big bang, fifteen billionyears ago, to the day before yesterday...It's a delight." THE NEW YORK TIMES

A wide-ranging exploration of our universe -- from "what makesthe wind blow?" to "how was the moon formed?" -- inquestions-and-answer format, written in vintage Asimov style. "Afine introduction to modern astronomical theory." -- LIBRARYJOURNAL

We may know that Einstein was the epitome of genius, but howmany of us know what his theory really means, and what itsrealistic implications are? Einstein and Relativity presents adistillation of Einstein's life and work within their historicaland scientific contexts; and offers a truly accessible explanationof the concept that shaped the twentieth century. Just a few of thebig ideas covered here are Einstein's discovery that light is botha particle and a wave; how Einstein proved the existence ofmolecules; why there is no such thing as real time; and howEinstein's brilliance led to his worst nightmare - the atombomb.

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

The Origin of Species (英语) 平装 内容简介 'A grain in the balance will determine which individual shall live and which shall die...'. Darwin's theory of natural selection issued a profound challenge to orthodox thought and belief: no being or species has been specifically created; all are locked into a pitiless struggle for existence, with extinction looming for those not fitted for the task. Yet 'The Origin of the Species' (1859) is also a humane and inspirational vision of ecological interrelatedness, revealing the complex mutual interdependencies between animal and plant life, climate and physical environment, and - by implication - within the human world. Written for the general reader, in a style which combines the rigour of science with the subtlety of literature, 'The Origin of the Species' remains one of the founding documents of the modern age. 作者简介 Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England, on February 12, 1809 into a prominent middle-class f