History of science Books

Book SynopsisDuring its heyday, international development included not just dams, roads, health programs, and agricultural projects but also animal husbandry schemes, urban development, and wildlife protection plans.

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Book SynopsisExamines the phenomenological and cultural roots of Goethe's approach to science, and argues that Goethe's insights represent the foundation for a future science of nature.Trade Review'Henri Bortoft is one of the world's foremost experts on Goethean science.'David Lorimer, Scientific & Medical Network'This is a gem of a book. Bortoft has made Goethe's thinking available in a particularly clear way.'-- David Peat, author of Blackfoot Physics'Bortoft shows how the contemporary impulse for participatory science can be realized. What's more, the book is beautifully written.'-- Brian Goodwin, author of Nature's Due and How the Leopard Changed Its Spots

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Book SynopsisHaving a phrenological ''head reading'' was one of the most significant fads of the nineteenth century a means for better knowing oneself and a guide for self-improvement. Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) had a lifelong yet long overlooked interest in phrenology, the pseudoscience claiming to correlate skull features with specialized brain areas and higher mental traits. Twain''s books are laced with phrenological terms and concepts, and he lampooned the head readers in Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. He was influenced by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, who also used his humor to assail head readers and educate the public. Finger shows that both humorists accepted certain features of phrenology, but not their skull-based ideas. By examining a fascinating topic at the intersection of literature and the history of neuroscience, this engaging study will appeal to readers interested in phrenology, science, medicine, American history, and the lives and works of Twain and Holmes.Trade Review'The book contains valuable additions to knowledge … This carefully researched, meticulously documented study will be of interest to students of literary and cultural history as well as to scholars of the history of science … Highly recommended.' J. D. Vann, ChoiceTable of ContentsList of Figures; Preface; 1. The birth of a controversial doctrine; 2. Coming to America; 3. Skeptical in Hannibal; 4. The river, the west, and phrenology abroad; 5. Mark Twain's 'small test'; 6. Tom, Huck, and the head readers; 7. More head readings and a phrenological farewell; 8. Young Holmes and phrenology in Boston; 9. An American in Paris; 10. Quackery and Holmes's head reading; 11. Holmes's professor on 'bumpology'; 12. Holmes's 'medicated novels'; 13. Mr. Clemens and Dr. Holmes; 14. Phrenology assessed; Epilogue; References; Index.

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Book SynopsisThis book offers the Greek text and an English translation of Aristarchus of Samosâs On the Sizes and Distances of the Sun and Moon, accompanied by a full introduction, detailed commentary, and relevant scholia.Aristarchus of Samos was active in the third century BC. He was one of the first Greek astronomers to apply geometry to the solution of astronomical problems as we can see in his only extant text, On the Sizes and Distances of the Sun and Moon. Alongside the Greek text and new English translation, the book offers readers the Latin text and English translation of Commandinoâs notes on the text. Readers will also benefit from a comprehensive introductory study explaining the value of Aristarchusâs calculations and methodology throughout history, as well as detailed analyses of each part of the treatise.This volume will be of interest to students and scholars working on ancient science and astronomy and the general reader interested in the history of

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Book SynopsisIn bringing together a global community of philosophers, Global Epistemologies and Philosophies of Science develops novel perspectives on epistemology and philosophy of science by demonstrating how frameworks from academic philosophy (e.g. standpoint theory, social epistemology, feminist philosophy of science) and related fields (e.g. decolonial studies, transdisciplinarity, global history of science) can contribute to critical engagement with global dimensions of knowledge and science. Global challenges such as climate change, food production, and infectious diseases raise complex questions about scientific knowledge production and its interactions with local knowledge systems and social realities. As academic philosophy provides relatively little reflection on global negotiations of knowledge, many pressing scientific and societal issues remain disconnected from core debates in epistemology and philosophy of science. This book is an invitation to broaden agendTable of ContentsIntroduction: Reimagining Epistemology and Philosophy of Science from a Global PerspectivePart I: Rethinking Philosophical Practices1. Philosophy or Philosophies? Epistemology or Epistemologies? 2. Linguistic diversity in Philosophy3. Anti-colonial Feminisms and Their Philosophies of Science: Latin American Issues4. Philosophy of Science in China: Politicized, De-politicized, and Re-politicized5. Experimental PhilosophyPart II: Reconfiguring Scientific Methods6. Developing transdisciplinary practices: an interplay between disagreement and trust 7. Sustainability science as a management science: Beyond the natural-social divide8. "Science Must Fall" and the Call for Decolonization in South Africa 9. Structural Epistemic (In)Justice in Global Contexts10. Excess and indigenous worldview: Philosophising on the problem of method 11. Radical Alterity, Representation, and the Ontological TurnPart III: Negotiating Science in/with Society12. The Democratization of Science13. Science and Values – Multi-Strategic Research and Traditional Saberes14. Science and industry funding15. Innovationism North and South16. Post-truth and science: looking beyond the Global NorthPart IV: Situating the Living World17. Environmental Thinking in African Philosophy: A Defence of Biocentrism using the notion of Nma Ndu18. Cultural Evolution: A Case Study in Global Epistemologies of Science19. What is an appropriate philosophy of human science for 21st century indigenous psychologies?20. On local medical traditions21. Revisiting the question of race and biology in the South African social sciencesPart V: Reimagining Abstract and Physical Worlds22. Philosophical Cartography23. Modelling the apparent spread of science: Some insights from the history of science in Japan24. Buddhist Logic from a Global Perspective 25. Perspectives on the Indian Mathematical Tradition 26. Science as craftwork with integrity Postscript

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Book SynopsisThe essays and original visualizations collected in Natural Things in Early Modern Worlds explore the relationships among natural things - ranging from pollen in a gust of wind to a carnivorous pitcher plant to a shell-like skinned armadillo - and the humans enthralled with them.Episodes from 1500 to the early 1900s reveal connected histories across early modern worlds as natural things traveled across the Indian Ocean, the Ottoman Empire, Pacific islands, Southeast Asia, the Spanish Empire, and Western Europe. In distant worlds that were constantly changing with expanding networks of trade, colonial aspirations, and the rise of empiricism, natural things obtained new meanings and became alienated from their origins. Tracing the processes of their displacement, each chapter starts with a piece of original artwork that relies on digital collage to pull image sources out of place and to represent meanings that natural things lost and remade. Accessible and elegantTrade Review"Natural Things is a creative, exciting, and genre-defying volume that helps readers to understand natural history more attentively and capaciously. The volume puts nature back into nature, and follows natural things across built environments, ecological niches, and academic fields, embracing the unruliness required if one puts them, rather than people, at the centre."Surekha Davies, Ph.D. Researcher, Department of History and Art History, Utrecht University, the Netherlands"What better can be said of a book than that it impels the reader to realize things are not as they seem, nor can they be easily categorized, especially not into binary classifications such as natural/unnatural, live/dead, human/nature, indigenous/exotic, west/east, and subject/object. This is a volume full of surprises, changelings, liminalities, and polyvalent meanings. In its capacious and always fascinating roving around the terrains, ecologies, and intersections of material culture, global exchange, environmental history, and the history of knowledge and science/nature studies, Natural Things will unsettle assumptions and introduce instabilities into seemingly fixed points of reference. Read it!"Pamela H. Smith, PhD, Seth Low Professor of History, Columbia University, New York"This excellent collection of essays brings alive crucial exchanges of ideas and objects that characterize the scientific and cultural history of the early modern world. Combining archival erudition, critical historiography, and imaginative visualization, this book is an inspiring new resource for teaching as well as further research. In evocative essays, we are reminded that ‘seeing’ things that make up various understandings of nature should be understood as an active pursuit, whether for us today or in the way we ascribe it to past peoples whose imaginations we try to bring to life in our work. The book provides one of the most successful cases I know for using images as crucial historical evidence rather than as indexical illustrations."Shahzad Bashir, Aga Khan Professor of Islamic Humanities, Brown University USA"This visually arresting and all-absorbing book takes the reader on a kaleidoscopic journey across the world from the Pacific Islands to South Asia, from the Atlantic world to Europe and the Americas at a time in which humans profoundly redefined their relationship with the global natural world. By bringing material culture, ecology, technologies, science and economy into conversation, Natural Things defies disciplinary boundaries and redefines our understanding of nature. It does so by considering a number of surprising ‘things’, among which an pink edible animal and a carnivorous plant; an anti-poison stone and one of the most toxic plants; the produce of the intestines of a sperm whale and a delicious beverage to be sipped in company. After reading Natural Things, when you step out of your front door, you’ll never see the world with the same eyes, and you’ll notice ‘things’ that you had not appreciated before!"Giorgio Riello, Professor of Early Modern Global History, European University Institute, Florence, Italy[This book] pushes readers (…) to begin to ask questions about the natural histories of other organisms and to question more closely long-standing narratives about plant discovery and botany. It’s an interesting blend of more traditional history of science with the newer fields of critical plant studies and the plant humanities, which are also at work enriching our views of the floral world.Maura Flannery, Herbarium World (August 2023)“The volume (…) offers a brilliant contribution to the study of non-European knowledge about nature. A rich and pathbreaking volume that, rather than simplifying, sketches a more complex and nuanced picture of the histories of early modern natural things and the humans they met along their ways"Lavinia Gambini, Journal of Early Modern History 27 (2023) 555–568."Like any worthy Wunderkammer, to reap its finer rewards this eclectic collection demands close looking and deep reading, if not several return visits. Smartly designed, edited, and formatted in the manner of a weighty exhibition catalog, Natural Things in Early Modern Worlds falls into that venerable hybrid genre that since the Enlightenment has sought to marry art and nature. At the same time, it mimics a current trend in museography, wherein visual artists are invited to mount critical interventions within the museum’s galleries."Mark Thurner, Hispanic American Historical ReviewTable of ContentsIntroduction: Natural Things in Early Modern WorldsMackenzie Cooley, Anna Toledano, and Duygu YıldırımOn the DesignZoë Sadokierski and Katie DeanPart I: Manipulated1. Pollen: The Sexual Life of Plants in MesoamericaHelen Burgos-Ellis2. Bezoar: Medicine in the Belly of the BeastMackenzie Cooley 3. Canal: Cross-Cultural Encounters and Control of WaterAlexander Statman4. Ambergris: From Sea to Scent in Renaissance ItalyMackenzie Cooley and Kathryn BiedermannPart II: Felt5. Squid: Natural History as Food History Whitney Barlow Robles 6. Coffee: Of Melancholic Turkish Bodies and Sensory ExperiencesDuygu Yıldırım7. Manchineel: Power, Pain, and Knowledge in the Lesser AntillesThomas C. Anderson8. Pitcher Plant: Drowning in her Sweet NectarElaine AyersPart III: Preserved9. Leaf: The Materiality of Early Modern HerbalsJulia Heideklang10. Armadillo: An Animal in Search of a Place Florencia Pierri 11. Bird: Living Names of Félix de Azara’s Lost CollectionAnna Toledano12. Brain: Objecthood, Subjecthood, and the Genius of GaussNicolaas RupkeEpilogue: Nature’s NarrativesPaula FindlenAfterword: The Disorder of ThingsAlan Mikhail Index

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Book SynopsisOver the last forty years, scientists have uncovered evidence that if the Universe had been forged with even slightly different properties, life as we know it - and life as we can imagine it - would be impossible. Join us on a journey through how we understand the Universe, from its most basic particles and forces, to planets, stars and galaxies, and back through cosmic history to the birth of the cosmos. Conflicting notions about our place in the Universe are defined, defended and critiqued from scientific, philosophical and religious viewpoints. The authors'' engaging and witty style addresses what fine-tuning might mean for the future of physics and the search for the ultimate laws of nature. Tackling difficult questions and providing thought-provoking answers, this volumes challenges us to consider our place in the cosmos, regardless of our initial convictions.Trade Review'My colleagues, Geraint and Luke, in A Fortunate Universe, take you on a tour of the Cosmos in all of its glory, and all of its mystery. You will see that humanity appears to be part of a remarkable set of circumstances involving a special time around a special planet, which orbits a special star, all within a specially constructed Universe. It is these sets of conditions that have allowed humans to ponder our place in space and time. I have no idea why we are here, but I do know the Universe is beautiful. A Fortunate Universe captures the mysterious beauty of the Cosmos in a way that all can share.' Brian Schmidt, Australian National University, Canberra, and Nobel Laureate in Physics (2011), from the Foreword'Geraint Lewis and Luke Barnes provide a breathtaking tour of contemporary physics from the subatomic to the cosmological scale. Everywhere they find the Universe to be fine-tuned for complex structure. If the quark masses, or the basic forces, or the cosmological constant had been much different, the Universe would have been a sterile wasteland. It seems that the only reactions are either to embrace a multiverse or a designer. The authors have constructed a powerful case for the specialness of our Universe.' Tim Maudlin, New York University'The Universe could have been of such a nature that no life at all could exist. The anthropic question asks why the constants of nature that enter various physical laws are such as to permit life to come into being. This engaging book is a well-written and detailed explanation of all the many ways these physical constants affect the possibility of life, considering atomic, nuclear and particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology. It then discusses in an open-minded way the variety of explanations one might give for this strange fine-tuning, possible solutions ranging from pure chance, existence of multiverses, or theistic explanations. The book is the most comprehensive current discussion of this intriguing range of issues. Highly recommended.' George Ellis, University of Cape Town'Lewis and Barnes' book is the most up-to-date, accurate, and comprehensive explication of the evidence that the Universe is fine-tuned for life. It is also among the two most philosophically sophisticated treatments, all the while being accessible to a non-academic audience. I strongly recommend this book.' Robin Collins, Messiah College, Pennsylvania'… charming, intelligent and exceedingly well-written … a gentle stroll through the details of the Standard Model of particle physics, as well as the Standard Model of cosmology, but [the authors] lead us with such a light hand, a streak of humour and a lack of pedantry that the information is easily absorbed … Lewis and Barnes show us how small changes lead to a variety of disasters. ('Ruining a universe is easy' Mr. Barnes quips) … Is [our universe] a happy coincidence, as the authors ask each other in an amusing mock debate modeled on one Galileo wrote 400 years earlier, or is there some deeper reason? Where does science go from here? Does what has been popularly called a theory of everything exist? Is there a multiverse? Must we be satisfied with an anthropic principle? The authors discuss these questions and more in a final dialogue.' Gino Segrè, The Wall Street Journal'A Fortunate Universe: Life in a Finely Tuned Cosmos by Geraint Lewis and Luke Barnes, is a nice up to date book for the general (educated) public on modern physics and cosmology. If covers modern cosmology and some of the Big Questions of our times, in particular the issue of anthropomorphism how 'fine tuned' our Universe is.' Steinn Sigurðsson, ScienceBlogs (www.scienceblogs.com)'… what is truly unique about this book is that it presents the data at a popular level so that the material is accessible to anyone interested in this topic … As I read the book, I was awestruck by the finely-tuned constants and conditions that had to be just right to get a universe that would permit life … This evidence should move each one of us to ask, what is the best explanation of this incredible fine-tuning?' Tim Barnett, Stand to Reason (www.str.org)'A Fortunate Universe is basically a book of physics, written by two scientists who are fascinated by the question 'Why are we here?' The language is straightforward, the style is easy, often witty, with short digestible paragraphs, and yet the subject-matter is inevitably dense and demanding … It is pleasing to come across the line 'we do not know' so regularly in this book about the fundamentals of science, which echoes the book of Job … When science reaches its limits, we have to consider a different kind of explanation for why the laws of nature are as they are, and why they are so finely tuned for the emergence of intelligent life. … [The authors] wonder if classical arguments for the existence of God have anything to say about the fine-tuning of the universe, speculating whether God is a necessary being and whether our sense of truth and morality hint at God's inevitable existence.' Adam Ford, Church Times'In this book, the authors deal with nothing less than the question of how it is possible that we exist. In an introductory and a closing chapter, the first of which introduces the subject in a simple dialogue, and the latter, in turn, completes the dialogue in the same colloquial manner, the authors draw a detailed picture of our universe and, in particular, how peculiar our existence is. … Reading this book is a great pleasure, not only intellectual, but also entertaining. … They describe what is and what could be. They give their audience well-founded, solid scientific arguments, chat with them, and then leave their own thoughts. A highly readable, enriching, and knowledgeable book.' Matthias Bartelmann, translated from Sterne und Weltraum'The title claims that the Universe is finely tuned for the existence of life. The authors provide evidence for this, investigate various possible explanations, and rebut the most common criticisms … the book provides an opportunity to learn more at an accessible level … The case is well made that the Universe is finely tuned for life; the interesting question is why. It could be coincidence … Or could the Universe be no other way? … Was it designed? Did it evolve? Or are there many universes in a Multiverse, and we shouldn't be surprised that we live in one which allows life? … The arguments are clear; references are provided for those wishing to delve deeper; essentially all points of view are presented … This is an important topic and the book is a good summary of the field. I enjoyed reading it and recommend it to those interested in the big Question.' Phillip Helbig, The Observatory'It is the vivid, direct tone and writing style of a friendly physics lecture that perhaps most sets this text apart among popular-level science books about 'big questions' … [The book] provides a big picture of the physics of fine-tuning, mostly accessible in lay terms, and gives aspiring philosophers of physics a taste of the tone and intellectual style one can find at cosmology conferences. Beyond that, it does so by showing the readers that a response from philosophers might be welcome. Because the authors make clear how their thinking is informed by works in metaphysics, philosophy of physics, epistemology, and the philosophy of religion, they tell the readers how they think philosophy does or could contribute, and where they think they do not know enough to see how it might.' Yann Benétreau-Dupin, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews'This book is for anyone who has ever wondered: 'Why is it so?' With colourful analogies and admirably accurate simplifications, Geraint and Luke have succeeded in making much of modern physics and cosmology comprehensible … They address the biggest questions of science. What is dark energy? What is dark matter? Why is there something rather than nothing? Why is there more matter than antimatter? Where did the laws physics come from? Do we live in a multiverse? Do we live in a simulation? How different could the universe have been? If God is omnipotent, why does evil exist? … Not even the popular scientist and writer Paul Davies tries to address so many important big questions in one book … I enjoyed the book a lot, but I disagreed with the main thesis. No matter what your religious beliefs are, this book will make you think.' Charley Lineweaver, The Conversation (www.theconversation.com)'What makes this part of the book different from many other works on fine-tuning is the degree to which Lewis and Barnes explain the physics of fine-tuning … they explain how the proton mass is a function of the quark masses, and these in turn of the Higgs field, and this in turn, perhaps, of supersymmetry. The reader's understanding of fine-tuning is deepened, and [they] … [come] to see that at every level fine-tuning appears. … [T]he authors discuss the philosophical issues that surround fine-tuning. The handling of these issues displays Luke Barnes's philosophical sophistication. Barnes is thoroughly familiar with the work of analytic philosophers on these issues and has interesting contributions to make to the discussion. … I highly recommend it for students of fine-tuning.' William Lane Craig, Philosophia Christi'Geraint Lewis and Luke Barnes's lucid, fast-paced, and funny new book might best be summed up in their own words: 'Our conclusion is that the fundamental properties of the Universe appear to be fine-tuned for life'. As the authors carefully explain in A Fortunate Universe: Life in a Finely Tuned Cosmos, it doesn't matter whether other kinds of life are out there. It's enough that there is life here on Earth to raise the question of why the universe is the way it is, seemingly fine-tuned to allow for life. After all, in the vast parameter space of hypothetical universes, life is a tight fit. Change the fundamental constants, or the basic laws of physics, or the low-entropy, free-energy-rich initial state of the universe, and the story on Earth would have been radically different. Life has very little wiggle room.' Marcelo Gleiser, Physics Today'The tone is lively, and these authors are witty; their banter is appealing; and the indulgences are infrequent and always welcome. … Both authors of A Fortunate Universe are physicists and cosmologists, so they are in a position to avoid the scientific inaccuracies that weaken other attempts to explore the philosophical consequences of cosmic fine-tuning. On the other hand, it is rare to find physicists capable of avoiding even elementary errors in discussing the metaphysical implications of their work. But I can find at least no obvious misunderstandings in Lewis and Barnes's discussions of Aristotle or Boethius or Aquinas. Equally refreshing, they seem to have enough humility to recognize that philosophical investigations, like scientific investigations, do require a serious investment of time and study. … We may be approaching a new era in the relation between science and philosophy. Stranger things have happened in human history.' Tucker Landy, InterpretationTable of ContentsForeword Brian Schmidt; Preface; 1. A conversation on fine-tuning; 2. I'm only human!; 3. Can you feel the force?; 4. Energy and entropy; 5. The Universe is expanding; 6. All bets are off!; 7. A dozen (or so) reactions to fine-tuning; 8. A conversation continued; Further reading; References; Index.

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Book SynopsisIn this book, Erick Raphael JimÃnez examines Aristotle's concept of mind (nous), a key concept in Aristotelian psychology, metaphysics, and epistemology. Drawing on a close analysis of De Anima, JimÃnez argues that mind is neither disembodied nor innate, as has commonly been held, but an embodied ability that emerges from learning and discovery. Looking to Aristotle's metaphysics and epistemology, JimÃnez argues that just as Aristotelian mind is not innate, intelligibility is not an innate feature of the objects of Aristotelian mind, but an outcome of certain mental constructions that make those objects intelligible. Conversely, it is through these same mental constructions that thinkers become intelligent, or come to possess minds. Connecting this account to Aristotle's metaphysics and epistemology, JimÃnez shows how this concept of mind fits within Aristotle's wider philosophy. His bold interpretation will interest a wide range of readers in ancient and later philosophy.Trade Review'… specialists on Aristotle's psychology … will find much in his account that is novel and provocative. And given his systematic approach, such readers will benefit from seeing links between different aspects of Aristotle's philosophy - links that Jiménez's interpretation brings to the fore and that deserve more examination than I have been able to give them here. Jiménez's work should spur on further thought about these difficult issues.' Matthew D. Walker, Notre Dame Philosophical ReviewsTable of ContentsAcknowledgements; Introduction; Part I. Preliminaries to Aristotle's Concept of Mind: 1. A dialectical argument in DA III.4; 2. The model of explanation in Aristotelian psychology; 3. Mind in body: Aristotelian arguments for embodiment; Part II. The Activity of Aristotelian Mind: 4. Making things intelligible: a commentary on DA III.5; Part III. The Objects of Aristotelian Mind: 5. Aristotelian essences: a commentary on Met. VII.4-12; 6. Aristotelian principles: a commentary on APo II.19; Part IV. Aristotle on Thinking: The Time-Perception Model of Thinking: 7. Aristotle's concept of time: a commentary on Phys. IV.10-4; 8. The role of time in Aristotle's account of perception; 9. Mind and time in Aristotle's account of meaning; Epilogue; Works cited.

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Book SynopsisThe very well-received first edition generated much debate, reflected in a substantial new Afterword in this second edition, which seeks to place the book in what have become known as 'the science wars'.Trade Review'… it succeeds extraordinarily well in this task of portraying and assessing the real fabric of scientific research, based on the insights of modern scholarship.' Bernard Dixon, former Editor, New ScientistTable of ContentsIntroduction: the Golem; 1. Edible knowledge: the chemical transfer of memory; 2. Two experiments that 'proved' the theory of relativity; 3. The sun in a test tube: the story of cold fusion; 4. The germs of dissent: Louis Pasteur and the origins of life; 5. A new window on the universe: the non-detection of gravitational radiation; 6. The sex life of the whiptail lizard; 7. Set the controls for the heart of the sun: the strange story of the missing solar neutrinos; Conclusion: putting the Golem to work; Afterword; References and further reading; Index.

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Book SynopsisAnalysing biological processes in their mathematical and physical aspects, this historic work, first published in 1917, has also become renowned for the sheer poetry of its descriptions. It is now available for a wider readership including a foreword by one of today's great populisers of science.Trade Review'Thompson describes, in great detail, how natural organisms evolve in response to the forces of survival to achieve fitness to purpose. Thompson demonstrates the causality of the shaping and design of natural organisms. For me, as a budding architect, this gave a clue to the concept of fitness to purpose: that architecture must evolve not as a formalistic shape-forming, but from a deep understanding of the programmatic, functional material and economic forces that shape it. This means an understanding of the material and structural aspects of a building, the life intended in a building (i.e. its human purpose) and the many forces (climatic and others) that must be responded to in the process. … [the book is] as topical and significant today, going forward, as [it was], for me, 60 years ago.' Moshe Safdie, Architektura KontekstyTable of ContentsIntroduction John Tyler Bonner; 1. Introductory; 2. On magnitude; 3. The forms of cells; 4. The forms of tissues, of cell-aggregates; 5. On spicules and spicular skeletons; 6. The equiangular spiral; 7. The shapes of horns and of teeth or tusks; 8. On form and mechanical efficiency; 9. On the theory of transformations, or the comparison of related forms; 10. Epilogue; Index.

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Book SynopsisThis is the first thorough English commentary on the geographical books of Pliny the Elder, written in the AD 70s. Pliny''s account is the longest in Latin, and represents the geographical knowledge of that era, when the Roman Empire was the dominant force in the Mediterranean world. The work serves both cultural and ideological functions: much of it is topographical, but it also demonstrates the political need to express a geographical basis for the importance of the Roman state. In five books, Pliny covers the entire world as it was known in his era and includes some of the first information on the extremities of the inhabited region, including Scandinavia and the Baltic, eastern Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. The commentary provides a detailed analysis of all the points Pliny raises: his sources, toponyms, and understanding of the place of the earth in the cosmos.Table of ContentsPart I. Pliny's List of Sources; Part II. Cosmology; Part III. Southern Europe; Part IV. The Greek Peninsula and Interior Europe; Part V. Africa and Western Asia; Part VI. The Remainder of Asia.

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Book SynopsisIn this original and integrated approach to theoretical reasoning in physics, Malcolm Longair illuminates the subject from the perspective of real physics as practised by research scientists. Concentrating on the basic insights, attitudes and techniques that are the tools of the modern physicist, this approach conveys the intellectual excitement and beauty of the subject. Through a series of seven case studies, an undergraduate course in classical physics and the discovery of quanta are reviewed from the point of the view of how the great discoveries and changes of perspective came about. This approach illuminates the intellectual struggles needed to attain understanding of some of the most difficult concepts in physics. Longair''s highly acclaimed text has been fully revised and includes new studies on the physics of fluids, Maxwell''s great paper on equations for the electromagnetic field and problems of contemporary cosmology and the very early universe.Trade Review'… a brilliant exposé of theoretical reasoning adds discussions on properties of fluids and more concepts related to gravitational waves and cosmology ... Excellent indexing, including an author index, along with many helpful diagrams and useful chapter notes, add utility and charm.' F. Potter, ChoiceTable of ContentsPreface and acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; Case Study I. The Origins of Newton's Laws of Motion and of Gravity: 2. From Ptolemy to Kepler: the Copernican Revolution; 3. Galileo and the nature of the physical sciences; 4. Newton and the law of gravity; Case Study II. Maxwell's Equations: 5. The origin of Maxwell's equations; 6. Maxwell (1865): A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field; 7. How to rewrite the history of electromagnetism; Case Study III. Mechanics and Dynamics: Linear and Non-Linear; 8. Approaches to mechanics and dynamics; 9. The motion of fluids; 10. Dimensional analysis, chaos and self-organised criticality; Case Study IV. Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics: 11. Basic thermodynamics; 12. Kinetic theory and the origin of statistical mechanics; Case Study V. The Origins of the Concepts of Quantisation and Quanta: 13. Black-body radiation up to 1895; 14. 1895–1900: Planck and the spectrum of black-body radiation; 15. Planck's theory of black-body radiation; 16. Einstein and the quantisation of light; 17. The triumph of the light quantum hypothesis; Case Study VI. Special and General Relativity: 18. Special relativity: a study in invariance; 19. An introduction to general relativity; Case Study VII. Cosmology and Physics: 20. Cosmology; 21. Dark matter, dark energy and the inflationary paradigm; Notes; Author index; Subject index.

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Book SynopsisThe Darwin family was instrumental in the history of botany. Their experiences illustrate the growing specialization and professionalization of science in the nineteenth century. The author shows how botany escaped the burdens of medicine, feminization and the sterility of classification and nomenclature to become a rigorous laboratory science.Table of ContentsChapter 1 Green Threads across the Ages: A Brief Perspective on the Darwins' Botany; Chapter 2 The Fortunes of the Darwins; Chapter 3 The Misfortunes of Botany; Chapter 4 Erasmus Darwin's Vision of the Future: Phytologia; Chapter 5 Charles Darwin's Evolutionary Period; Chapter 6 Charles Darwin's Physiological Period; Chapter 7 Charles Darwin, Francis Darwin and Differences with Von Sachs; Chapter 8 Francis Darwin, Cambridge and Plant Physiology; Chapter 9 Francis Darwin, Family and His Father's Memory; Chapter 10 Fortune's Favourites?; Chapter 11 Where Did the Green Threads Lead? The Botanical Legacy;

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Book SynopsisExplaining crime by reference to abnormalities of the brain is just one example of how the human and social sciences have influenced the approach to social problems in Western societies since 1880. Focusing on applications such as penal policy, therapy, and marketing, this volume examines how these sciences have become embedded in society.Table of ContentsList of Illustrations List of Tables Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors Introduction. The Scientization of the Social in Comparative Perspective; B.Ziemann , R.F.Wetzell , D.Schumann & K.Brückweh Embedding the Human Sciences in Western Societies, 1880-1980. Reflections on Trends and Methods of Current Research; L.Raphael PART I: SOCIAL AND PENAL POLICY Contesting Risk. Specialist Knowledge and Workplace Accidents in Britain, Germany and Italy, 1870-1920; J.Moses Politics through the Back Door. Expert Knowledge in International Welfare Organizations; M.Lengwiler Rationalizing the Individual – Engineering Society. The Case of Sweden; T.Etzemüller The Neurosciences and Criminology: How Experts have moved into Public Policy and Debate; P.Becker PART II: DIAGNOSIS AND THERAPY The Psychological Sciences and the 'Scientization' and 'Engineering' of Society in Twentieth-century Britain; M.Thomson Mental Health as Civic Virtue: Psychological Definitions of Citizenship in the Netherlands, 1900-1985; H.Oosterhuis Human Sciences, Child Reform and Politics in Spain, 1890-1936; T.Kössler Narcissism: Social Critique in Me-Decade America; E.Lunbeck PART III: POLLING, MARKETING, AND ORGANIZATIONS Hearing the Masses: The Modern Science of Opinion in the United States; S.Igo Observing the Sovereign. Opinion Polls and the Restructuring of the Body Politic in West Germany, 1945-1990; A.Kruke & B.Ziemann Consumers, Markets and Research: The Role of Political Rhetoric and the Social Sciences in the Engineering of British and American Consumer Society, 1920-1960; S.Schwarzkopf Business Organizations, Foundations, and the State as Promoters of Applied Social Sciences in the United States and Switzerland, 1890-1960; E.Walter-Busch Catholic Church Reform and Organizations Research in the Netherlands and Germany, 1945-1980; B.Ziemann & C.Dols Index

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Book SynopsisWidely seen as evolution's founding figure, Charles Darwin is taken by many evolutionists to be the first to propose a truly modern theory of evolution. Darwin's greatness, however, has obscured the man and his work, at times even to the point of distortion. Accessibly written, this book presents a more nuanced picture and invites us to discover some neglected ambiguities and contradictions in Darwin's masterwork. Delisle and Tierney show Darwin to be a man who struggled to reconcile the received wisdom of an unchanging natural world with his new ideas about evolution. Arguing that Darwin was unable to break free entirely from his contemporaries' more traditional outlook, they show his theory to be a fascinating compromise between old and new.Rediscovering this other Darwin and this other side of On the Origin of Species helps shed new light on the immensity of the task that lay before 19th century scholars, as well as their ultimate achievements.Trade ReviewThe book shows that biology, especially evolutionary biology, is a dynamic and extremely exciting field and that there is much left to be discovered by the next generations of biologists. It delves deeply into Darwin’s Origin of Species as well as into the paradigm prevailing during his time. * Alexander Czaja, Evolution: International Journal of Organic Evolution *Delisle and Tierney have immersed themselves in the text of On the Origin of Species like few, if any, before. This is a highly original, critical, yet sympathetic deconstruction of the Darwin idolatry that has dominated biological evolution theory for decades. * Nicolaas Rupke, Professor of the History of Science, University of Göttingen, Germany and Washington and Lee University, USA *A much-needed deconstruction of the ‘Darwin Legend’, that is, the seemingly irresistible temptation of many modern readers to read their own ideas back into On the Origin of Species, and to make Darwin an ahistorical icon, or the father figure of an even more ahistorical ‘Darwinism’. * Antonello La Vergata, Professor of the History of Philosophy, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy *Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Two Sides of Darwin Part One The Charles Darwin We Think We All Know 1 A Primer of Evolution’s Complexities 2 What Time Selected from Darwin: The Standard View Part Two Charles Darwin and the Static Worldview 3 The Tree That Hides the Forest: Charles Darwin’s “Tree of Life” 4 Divergence: A Geometry That Shatters Creative Time and Novelty 5 A Cyclical World in Equilibrium 6 Natural Selection: The Core of Darwin’s Theory? Part Three Charles Darwin Viewed in Piecemeal Fashion 7 When So-Called New Ideas Hide Old Ones Conclusion: Back to the Future Index

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Book SynopsisThe first history of women astronomers in English to cover individuals from antiquity to the modern day. Features 30 in-depth biographies and 99 brief portraits of women astronomers, space explorers, and astrophysicists.

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Book SynopsisThis collection provides a thorough introduction to and critical commentary on recent scholarship on the Reformation. Thirteen leading British, American and Australian scholars discuss the variety of Reformations across Europe, and provide overviews of key problems and themes. In addition to surveying the long historiographical background, these essays offer a detailed synthesis of research published in the last twenty or thirty years, including material not normally available to a non-specialist readership. This book is an invaluable introduction to the field for students at all levels.Table of ContentsIntroduction Germany and the Lutheran Reformation; D.Bagchi Central and Eastern Europe; G.Murdock Switzerland and Reformed Protestantism; B.Gordon France; P.Roberts The Netherlands; J.Pollmann The British Isles; A.Ryrie Renaissance Humanism and the Reformation; C.D'Alton Printing and Print Culture; A.Pettegree The Catholic Reformation; T.Johnson Anabaptism and Religious Radicalism; M.Driedger Popular Religion; P.M.Soergel Gender; M.Wiesner-Hanks Religious Violence and Persecution; W.Monter

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Book SynopsisArranged chronologically and thematically, the book highlights how ideas about the appropriate relationships among science, scientists, and the state changed over time.Trade ReviewWolfe's book is the more traditional alternative to the case study: a synthetic overview. And it is a reminder of how valuable a clear, well-researched synthesis-one sophisticated, holistic take on all those little case studies-can be. AmericanScience A book that is particularly easy to read, and hence one that I strongly recommend to anyone with a burgeoning interest in the study of Cold War science. -- Christopher Hollings British Journal for the History of Science Competing with the Soviets is engaging, and its style of scholarship will intimidate no one. Despite being a synthesis of a huge range of events and sources, the book is slim and easily digested, and readers need no prerequisite science to evaluate the author's ideas. Wolfe takes us from one constellation of promises to the next, showing how scientists tried-and quite often failed-to apply their world views to a multitude of society's problems. -- Jacob Darwin Hamblin Chemical Heritage Magazine Wolfe has done a marvelous job of X-raying the field, grounding the larger narrative with important case studies... The task ahead lies in challenging and enriching-with new topics and novel periodization-the settled framework for interpreting American science in the Cold War. For novice and expert alike, Wolfe's beautifully presented guide is an excellent place to start. -- Benjamin Wilson Endeavour In Competing with the Soviets, Audra J. Wolfe provides an excellent overview of Cold War science. She accomplishes the difficult task of synthesizing a massive amount of both history and historiography into a highly readable arrative. -- David K. Hecht Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences Audra J. Wolfe's short and smart introduction to the history of Cold War science and technology, Competing with the Soviets... pulls together a tremendous number of secondary sources, folding the complexities of this period into a broad overview that takes the reader through many familiar, and some less familiar, topics. -- Brian Balmer Isis Competing with the Soviets is one of the few works of synthesis that actively creates creative and novel interpretations... -- Russell Olwell Technology and Culture [Competing with the Soviets] is a perfect companion text for a variety of courses that examine the postwar world and a valuable source of information for professors putting together lectures on the Cold War... it is a definitive source for separating myth from reality in translating military projects into commercial products available for mass consumption. H-Net ReviewsTable of ContentsList of AbbreviationsIntroductionChapter 1. The Atomic AgeChapter 2. The Military-Industrial ComplexChapter 3. Big ScienceChapter 4. Hearts and Minds and MarketsChapter 5. Science and the General WelfareChapter 6. The Race to the MoonChapter 7. The End of ConsensusChapter 8. Cold War ReduxEpilogueAcknowledgmentsSuggested Further ReadingIndex

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Book SynopsisThe first historian ever granted access to these exceptional medical records, Lamb offers a compelling new perspective on the integral but misunderstood legacy of Adolf Meyer.Trade ReviewFortunately for anyone wishing to learn about Meyer's ideas and their influence, Lamb, a historian, has mined his unpublished papers and correspondence for the truths that became opaque when he turned them into essays. Crucially, she has also read more than 1,800 of the meticulous patient records that Meyer and his staff created at the Phipps Psychiatric Clinic, which reveal him at work as a clinician and teacher. These she presents as the key to understanding how he created an American psychiatry with his ideas at its center. The result is a tutorial in Meyer's psychobiology, and a fascinating look at patients' experiences, their suffering, and treatment in the early 20th century. -- Ben Harris PsycCRITIQUES In this fascinating study, Lamb examines Meyer's efforts to establish psychiatry as a clinical science and subdiscipline of biology... This book is a medical historian's dream. Choice Pathologist of the Mind: Adolf Meyer and the Origins of American Psychiatry by Dr. S. D. Lamb... is a book full of interesting information on how Dr. Adolf Meyer, a Swiss neurologist and psychiatrist, set the basis for modern psychiatry in the United States. -- Marina Oppenheimer Metapsychology ... [Lamb] aims to give us a more detailed and rounded portrait of Meyer's life and career, and... has contributed some valuable and original material about Meyer's early activities at the Phipps Clinic. Times Literary Supplement Pathologist of the Mind clarifies Meyerian notions of psychobiology, psychotherapy, and evolutionary theory (among others) and places this important figure, as well as the hospital and area of specialty to which he was dedicated, into historical context. In impressively detailed fashion, the book brings the man and the era to life. Cheiron Book Prize Citation Some books are worth underlining every sentence. Susan D. Lamb's book, Pathologist of the Mind: Adolf Meyer and the Origins of American Psychiatry is one of them. Psychiatric ServicesTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Pathology as Method2. Mind as Biology3. Unique Soil in Baltimore4. The Baptismal Child of American Psychiatry5. A Wonderful Center for Mental Orthopedics6. Subconscious AdaptationConclusionNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisBy examining how cars are salvaged, repurposed, and restored, this book demonstrates that the history of the automobile is much more than a running catalog of showroom novelties.Trade Review[Lucsko] covers a lot of new and interesting ground in describing America's car culture, both its history and its technology. Washington TimesTable of ContentsPrefaceIntroduction1. The Automotive Salvage Business in America, 1900–20102. Parts, Parts Cars, and Car Enthusiasts3. Arizona Gold4. Junkyard Jamboree5. Not in My Neighbor's Backyard, Either6. Of Clunkers and CamarosCodaNotesEssay on SourcesIndex

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Book SynopsisIn order to survive, the university would have to institutionalize a new order of knowledge, one that was self-organizing, internally coherent, and embodied in the very character of the modern, critical scholar.Trade ReviewAn important story, told by Wellmon... His exposition is deeply grounded in intellectual, rather than social, history. Choice Organizing Enlightenment is an intriguing book for readers with significant prior knowledge of educational and German history...this reviewer found the material on lexica and encyclopedias a fascinating new perspective. History of Education QuarterlyTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Science as Culture2. The Fractured Empire of Erudition3. Encyclopedia from Book to Practice4. From Bibliography to Ethics5. Kant's Critical Technology6. The Enlightenment University and Too Many Books7. The University in the Age of Print8. Berlin, Humboldt, and the Research University9. The Disciplinary Self and the Virtues of the PhilologistAfterwordNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisWritten for historians, sociologists, and anthropologists of science and medicine, as well as bioethics scholars, physicians, geneticists, and families affected by genetic conditions, Life Histories of Genetic Disease is a profound exploration of the scientific culture surrounding malformation and mutation.Trade ReviewBy presenting a historical review of the critical scientific literature for these clinical examples, the narrative provides an excellent demonstration of the sequential, developmental process of scientific discovery and acceptance of disease mechanisms... Recomended. ChoiceTable of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Introduction: Pursuing a Better Birth Chapter 1 Genetics Detectives Chapter 2 Chromosomal Cartography Chapter 3 The Genome's Morbid Anatomy Chapter 4 Seeing with Molecules Chapter 5 Institutionalized Disorders Chapter 6 Getting the Whole Picture Epilogue: The Genomic Gaze Notes Index

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewMoving Violations is a superb history of automobile regulation in the United States from 1893 to the present, a case study of the relationship between regulation and technological change . . . Moving Violations will benefit all those with an interest in transportation history, regulatory history, technological history, innovation, and public policy and many others who will find something to savor in the details.—Louis Cain, Northwestern University, EH.NetTable of ContentsIntroductionPart I. StandardsChapter 1. The Auto World Gets Organized Chapter 2. Standardization Is the AnswerPart II. SafetyChapter 3. The Creation of CrashworthinessChapter 4. From Movement to Government AgencyChapter 5. The Limits of Federal Automotive Safety RegulationPart III. PollutionChapter 6. Discovering and (Not) Controlling Automotive Air PollutionChapter 7. Command and ControlChapter 8. Establishing the State of the ArtPart IV. BureaucracyChapter 9. The Bureaucratic Struggle over Fuel EconomyChapter 10. Deregulation and Its LimitsChapter 11. Indecision, Regulatory Uncertainty, and the Politics of PartisanshipConclusionAcknowledgmentsNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisWhy did so many early modern scientific authors dislike and distrust the printing press?While there is no denying the importance of the printing press to the scientific and medical advances of the early modern era, a closer look at authorial attitudes toward this technology refutes simplistic interpretations of how print was viewed at the time. Rather than embracing the press, scientific authors often disliked and distrusted it. In many cases, they sought to avoid putting their work into print altogether. In Loath to Print, Nicole Howard takes a fresh look at early modern printing technology from the perspective of the natural philosophers and physicians who relied on it to share ideas. She offers a new perspective on scientific publishing in the early modern period, one that turns the celebration of print on its head. Exploring both these scholars' attitudes and their strategies for navigating the publishing world, Howard argues that scientists had many concerns, including the potentiTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction. "A Vast Ocean of Books"1. Authorial Attitudes toward Print2. "To the Unprejudiced Reader": The Rhetoric of Prefaces in Early Modern Science3. The Controlled Distribution of Scientific Works4. "A True and Ingenious Discovery": New Print Technologies and the Sciences5. Silent Midwives: The Role of Editors in Early Modern ScienceConclusion. Reluctance OvercomeNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisP.G. Maxwell-Stuart presents the history of alchemy traced from its earliest roots through to its influence in modern-day science.Trade Review"'It breaks down a complex subject - the study of nature through experiments with chemicals - into ten easy-to-read chapters... The reader who has always wondered about alchemy and has not yet read a history of the subject will find The Chemical Choir an entertaining starting point.' (Reviews in History)"Table of ContentsIntroduction; 1.China - The Golden Road to Immortality; 2. India - The Way of Tantra and Mercury; 3. Roman Egypt - The White and the Yellow Arising from Blackness; 4. The Islamic World - Balance and Magic Numbers; 5. Medieval Europe - Translations, Debates and Symbols; 6. The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries - Pretension, Fraud and Redeeming the World; 7. The Rosicrucian Episode and its Aftermath; 8. Theology Wearing a Mask of Science - the later Seventeenth Century; 9. Alchemy in an Age of Self-Absorption - the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries; 10. A Child of Earlier Times - the Twentieth Century.

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Book SynopsisAn investigation into the lives of some of the more remarkable women in the history of scientific discovery.

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Book SynopsisBringing together scholars from literature and the history of ideas, Passions and Subjectivity in Early Modern Culture explores new ways of negotiating the boundaries between cognitive and bodily models of emotion, and between different versions of the will as active or passive. In the process, it juxtaposes the historical formation of such ideas with contemporary philosophical debates. It frames a dialogue between rhetoric and medicine, politics and religion, in order to examine the relationship between mind and body and between experience and the senses. Some chapters discuss literature, in studies of Shakespeare, Donne, and Milton; other essays concentrate on philosophical arguments, both Aristotelian and Galenic models from antiquity, and new mechanistic formations in Descartes, Hobbes and Spinoza. A powerful sense of paradox emerges in treatments of the passions in the early modern period, also reflected in new literary and philosophical forms in which inwardness was displayed, anTrade Review'... richly learned essays ... such a volume is to be welcomed by all of us engaged in the history of the emotions.' Renaissance Quarterly '... a remarkably wide-ranging and insightful volume ... a rich and important contribution not only to debates about the passions and subjectivity, but to the broader fields of early modern ethics, politics, philosophy, and theology.' Renaissance Studies '... well worth consulting for anyone interested in the passions in early modern thought, literature, and history.' ParergonTable of ContentsContents: Introduction, Brian Cummings and Freya Sierhius; Part I Intersubjectivity, Ethics, Agency: Passion and intersubjectivity in early modern literature, Christopher Tilmouth; Affective physics: affectus in Spinoza’s Ethica, Russ Leo; Donne’s passions: emotion, agency and language, Brian Cummings. Part II Embodiment, Cognition, Identity: Melancholy, passions and identity in the Renaissance, Angus Gowland; Montaigne’s soul, Felicity Green; Uncertain knowing, blind vision, and active passivity: subjectivity, sensuality and emotion in Milton’s epistemology, Katharine Fletcher. Part III Politics, Affects, Friendship: Friendship and freedom of speech in the work of Fulke Greville, Freya Sierhuis; A passion for the past: the politics of nostalgia on the early Jacobean stage, Isabel Karremann; ’Not truth but image maketh passion’: Hobbes on instigation and appeasing, Ioannis D. Evrigenis. Part IV Religion, Devotion, Theology: ’A sensible touching, feeling and groping’: metaphor and sensory experience in the English Reformation, Joe Moshenska; ’Tears of passion’ and ’inordinate lamentation’: complicated grief in Donne and Augustine, Katrin Ettenhuber; Passions, politics and subjectivity in Philip Massinger’s The Emperor of the East, Adrian Streete. Part V Philosophy and the Early Modern Passions: The fallacy of ’that within’: Hamlet meets Wittgenstein, Daniella Jancsó; ’The greatest share of endless pain’: the spectral sacramentality of pain in Milton’s Paradise Lost, Björn Quiring; ’Not passion’s slave’: Hamlet, Descartes and the passions, Stephan Laqué; Afterword, Brian Cummings and Freya Sierhuis; Bibliography; Index.

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Book SynopsisEverything you ever wanted to know about the Red PlanetMars is ingrained in our culture, from David Bowie's extra-terrestrial spiders to H.G. Wells''s The War of the Worlds. The red planet has inspired hundreds of scientists, authors and filmmakers but why? What is it about this particular planet that makes it so intriguing?Ancient mythologies defined Mars as a violent harbinger of war, and astrologers found meaning in the planet''s dance through the sky. Stargazers puzzled over Mars''s unfamiliar properties; some claimed to see canals criss-crossing its surface, while images from early spacecraft showed startling faces and pyramids carved out of rusty rock. Did Martians exist? If so, were they intelligent, civilised beings?We now have a better understanding of Mars: its red hue, small moons, atmosphere (or lack of it), and mysterious past. Robots have trundled across the planet''s surface, beaming back astonishing views of the alien landscape Trade ReviewAn easy and thoroughly enjoyable read with a friendly chatty style, and it manages to pack in an awful lot of information. * Sky at Night *4th Rock from the Sun is more motivational manifesto than instruction manual ... it serves to inspire the reader to root for this next potential milestone in human history. * Science *Nicky Jenner’s enthusiasm and humour are infectious, keeping the reader captivated even while she discusses serious subject. Even the least passionate of readers will fall in love with Mars by the end of the book. * Popular Astronomy *A fascinating debut … Jenner nimbly explores humanity's fascination with Mars. * Shelf Life *A detailed yet bright and breezy guide to our most evocative planetary neighbour. Jenner's book provides a whirlwind tour of the Red Planet's past, present and possible future. This book is the essential guide to the little planet that looms largest in our collective imagination: Mars. -- Ben Gilliland, science writer and author of How to Build a UniverseInformative, scientifically comprehensive and delightful to read. You'll want to travel to Mars! -- Antonella Nota, ESA Project Scientist and Mission Manager, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space TelescopeA colourful tapestry of old myths and prejudices, enthusiasm and disappointment, failures and successes, and stories of clever people and machines. Unfold it and you'll see Mars much slower than before. -- Dmitrij Titov, Project Scientist, ESA's Mars Express missionI thought I knew everything there was to know about the Red Planet – I was wrong. A cleverly written and thoroughly interesting tour of all things martian. -- Louisa Preston, UK Space Agency Aurora Research Fellow, and author of Goldilocks and the Water BearsTable of Contents1 Mars Fever 2 Earthlings on Mars 3 Pop culture Mars 4 Mars in Sci-Fi 5 Mars and the History of Science 6 The Martian Story 7 Martian Moons 8 Pranks and Hoaxes 9 Life on Mars? 10 Robot Cars on Mars 11 Why Mars? 12 The Martian future

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Book SynopsisIn Light without Heat, David Carroll Simon argues for the importance of carelessness to the literary and scientific experiments of the seventeenth century. While scholars have often looked to this period in order to narrate the triumph of methodical rigor as a quintessentially modern intellectual value, Simon describes the appeal of open-ended receptivity to the protagonists of the New Science. In straying from the work of self-possession and the duty to sift fact from fiction, early modern intellectuals discovered the cognitive advantages of the undisciplined mind.Exploring the influence of what he calls the observational mood on both poetry and prose, Simon offers new readings of Michel de Montaigne, Francis Bacon, Izaak Walton, Henry Power, Robert Hooke, Robert Boyle, Andrew Marvell, and John Milton. He also extends his inquiry beyond the boundaries of early modernity, arguing for a literary theory that trades strict methodological commitment for an openness to lawlTrade Review[B]y finding other forms of thinking within literature, and by practicing other forms of reading within criticism,... even the most familiar of texts come to be seen in a whole new light.... David Carroll Simon's magisterial Light without Heat [is] a highly thoughtful and revisionary study of the scientific imagination and, specifically, of the quality of thought that characterizes it in the seventeenth century.... Simon challenges the consensus that the New Science was responsible for prioritizing this mode of investigation [objectivity] by exploring what he calls the latter's 'observational mood': a quality of Montaignean carelessness... an aimless and patient witnessing that is neither driven nor teleological. -- Catherine Bates * SEL: Studies in English Literature 1500–1900 *Simon's careful close readings illuminate both the scientific and literary texts under study, while his overall approach of resisting reductive binaries (Baconianism as exclusively active at the expense of passive receptivity, labor as exclusively laborious at the expense of affective pleasure) serves as a compelling corrective against the tendency of scholarship on the history of science to slip into universalizing narratives. Scholars of seventeenth-century literature and science—and of seventeenth-century culture more generally—should find it to be a provocative and stimulating read. -- Erin Webster * Milton Quarterly *Light without Heat will gain deserving accolades as an innovative study of seventeenth- century literary and scientific writing.... [A]s an attempt at capturing and describing the shifting moods of reflection and observation that lie at the core of so much seventeenth-century writing, Simon has... written a deeply thought-provoking book. -- Jonathan Sawday * Renaissance Quarterly *

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Book SynopsisIn 1816, the climate went berserk. The winter brought extreme cold, and torrential rains unleashed massive flooding in Asia. Western Europe and North America experienced a ‘year without a summer’, while failed harvests in 1817 led to the ‘year of famine’. At the time, nobody knew that all these disturbances were the result of a single event: the eruption of Mount Tambora in what is now Indonesia – the greatest volcanic eruption in recorded history. In this book, leading climate historian Wolfgang Behringer provides the first globally comprehensive account of a climate catastrophe that would cast the world into political and social crises for years to come. Concentrating on the period between 1815 and 1820, Behringer shows how this natural occurrence led to worldwide unrest. Analysing events as diverse as the persecution of Jews in Germany, the Peterloo Massacre in the United Kingdom, witch hunts in South Africa and anti-colonial uprisings in Asia, Behringer demonstrates that no region on earth was untouched by the effects of the eruption. Drawing parallels with our world today, Tambora and its aftermath become a case study for how societies and individuals respond to climate change, what risks emerge and how they might be overcome. This comprehensive account of the impact of one of the greatest environmental disasters in human history will be of interest to a wide readership and to anyone seeking to understand better how we might mitigate the effects of climate change.Trade Review‘In this masterly work, Behringer draws on a wealth of detail to demonstrate the profound effects of the Tambora eruption on human society globally. Engagingly written, it will appeal to students and scholars of history as well as a wide general readership.’J. Donald Hughes, University of Denver ‘Charting Tambora’s effects on climate, global politics, the history of science, the world economy and individual lives, this outstanding book makes the history of most places in the world between the years 1815 and 1820 unthinkable without the story of the largest volcanic eruption ever recorded. Fast-paced and intricately constructed, this is climate crisis as page-turner.’Alan Mikhail, Yale University ‘This is a truly remarkable book, a global history ranging from Indonesia to Munich to Tasmania. Behringer shows how a volcano in Tambora touched off a weather crisis that brought famine and political instability in Europe, witch hunting in Africa and even genocide in Australia. He brings the story to life through the voices of contemporaries: Mary Wollstonecraft, Goethe, Constable ... unforgettable.’Lyndal Roper, University of Oxford “Behringer provides a brilliant illustration of the truly global character of this natural catastrophe and all its ramifications.”Deutsche Presse-Agentur “By showing how the planet was completely transformed by extreme weather events some 200 years ago, Behringer offers a highly original contribution to current climate debates.” Deutschlandradio Kultur "The largest volcanic eruption ever recorded took place in Indonesia in April 1815 — and no region on earth was untouched by its effects. This comprehensive account of the impact of one of the greatest environmental disasters in human history offers a case study for how societies and individuals respond to climate change, what risks emerge and how they might be overcome."Climate & CapitalismTable of Contents 1. Introduction: The Tambora Crisis 2. The year of the explosion: 1815 3. The year without a summer: 1816 4. The year of famine: 1817 5. The turbulent years that followed: 1818Ð1820 6. The long-range effects of the Tambora Crisis 7. Epilogue: From meaningless to meaningful crisis Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Picture credits Index

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Book SynopsisThis study explores the practice of scientific enquiry as it took place in the eighteenth-century home. While histories of science have identified the genteel household as an important site for scientific experiment, they have tended to do so via biographies of important men of science. Using a wide range of historical source material, from household accounts and inventories to letters and print culture, this book investigates the tools within reach of early modern householders in their search for knowledge. It considers the under-explored question of the home as a site of knowledge production and does so by viewing scientific enquiry as one of many interrelated domestic practices. It shows that knowledge production and consumption were necessary facets of domestic life and that the eighteenth-century home generated practices that were integral to ‘Enlightenment’ enquiry.Table of ContentsIntroduction: cultures of enquiry in the eighteenth-century British worldPart I1 Household materials and networked space 2 Tacit knowledge and keeping a recordPart II3 Collecting4 Observing5 ExperimentingPart III6 Personal experience and authority7 Re-examining the culture of enquiryBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisPerception and analogy explores ways of seeing scientifically in the eighteenth century. The book examines how sensory experience is conceptualised during the period, drawing novel connections between treatments of perception as an embodied phenomenon and the creative methods employed by natural philosophers. Covering a wealth of literary, theological, and pedagogical texts that engage with astronomy, optics, ophthalmology, and the body, it argues for the significance of analogies for conceptualising and explaining new scientific ideas. As well as identifying their use in religious and topographical poetry, the book addresses how analogies are visible in material culture through objects such as orreries, camera obscuras, and aeolian harps. It makes the vital claim that scientific concepts become intertwined with Christian discourse through reinterpretations of origins and signs, the scope of the created universe, and the limits of embodied knowledge.Trade Review'The strength of Perception and Analogy comes in its detailed catalogue of how analogies are used to affirm religious beliefs during this period. Scholars working in disability studies will find the chapters on human limitation particularly useful, as Powell’s close readings affirm the centrality of disabled bodies for linking medical and religious discourses during the eighteenth century.'Annika Mann, Eighteenth-Century Fiction -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Celestial speculations 2. Light, perception and revelation 3. Seeing in colour 4. Understanding the eye 5. Perception and the body Bibliography Notes Index

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