History of science Books
John Wiley & Sons Inc Revolutions of Geometry
Book SynopsisBased on the premise that in order to write proofs, one needs to read finished proofs as well as study both their logic and grammar, Revolutions in Geometry depicts how to write basic proofs in various fields of geometry.Trade Review"An excellent supplemental resource or main textbook for an overview of mathematics course for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students." (Choice, October 2010).Table of ContentsPreface. Acknowledgments. PART I FOUNDATIONS. 1 The First Geometers. 1.1 Egypt. 1.2 Babylon. 1.3 China. 2 Thales. 2.1 The Axiomatic System. 2.2 Deductive Logic. 2.3 Proof Writing. 3 Plato and Aristotle. 3.1 Form. 3.2 Categorical Propositions.. 3.3 Categorical Syllogisms. 3.4 Figures. PART II THE GOLDEN AGE. 4 Pythagoras. 4.1 Number Theory. 4.2 The Pythagorean Theorem. 4.3 Archytas. 4.4 The Golden Ratio. 5 Euclid. 5.1 The Elements. 5.2 Constructions. 5.3 Triangles. 5.4 Parallel Lines. 5.5 Circles. 5.6 The Pythagorean Theorem Revisited. 6 Archimedes. 6.1 The Archimedean Library. 6.2 The Method of Exhaustion. 6.3 The Method. 6.4 Preliminaries to the Proof. 6.5 The Volume of a Sphere. PART III ENLIGHTENMENT. 7 François Viète. 7.1 The Analytic Art. 7.2 Three Problems. 7.3 Conic Sections. 7.4 The Analytic Art in Two Variables. 8 René Descartes. 8.1 Compasses. 8.2 Method. 8.3 Analytic Geometry. 9 Gérard Desargues. 9.1 Projections. 9.2 Points at Infinity. 9.3 Theorems of Desargues and Menelaus. 9.4 Involutions. PART IV A STRANGE NEW WORLD. 10 Giovanni Saccheri. 10.1 The Question of Parallels. 10.2 The Three Hypotheses. 10.3 Conclusions for Two Hypotheses. 10.4 Properties of Parallel Lines. 10.5 Parallelism Redefined. 11 Johann Lambert. 11.1 The Three Hypotheses Revisited. 11.2 Polygons. 11.3 Omega Triangles. 11.4 Pure Reason. 12 Nicolai Lobachevski and János Bolyai. 12.1 Parallel Fundamentals. 12.2 Horocycles. 12.3 The Surface of a Sphere. 12.4 Horospheres. 12.5 Evaluating the Pi Function. PART V NEW DIRECTIONS. 13 Bernhard Riemann. 13.1 Metric Spaces. 13.2 Topological Spaces. 13.3 Stereographic Projection. 13.4 Consistency of Non-Euclidean Geometry. 14 Jean-Victor Poncelet. 14.1 The Projective Plane. 14.2 Duality. 14.3 Perspectivity. 14.4 Homogeneous Coordinates. 15 Felix Klein. 15.1 Group Theory. 15.2 Transformation Groups. 15.3 The Principal Group. 15.4 Isometries of the Plane. 15.5 Consistency of Euclidean Geometry. References. Index.
£116.96
Wiley Revolutions of Geometry Solutions Manual to Accompany Revolutions in Geometry
Book SynopsisBased on the premise that in order to write proofs, one needs to read finished proofs as well as study both their logic and grammar, Revolutions in Geometry depicts how to write basic proofs in various fields of geometry. This accessible text for junior and senior undergraduates explains the general development of geometry throughout time, discusses the involvement of its major contributors, and places the proofs into the context of geometry''s history to illustrate how crucial proof writing is to the job of a mathematician.Table of ContentsPreface. Acknowledgments. PART I FOUNDATIONS. 1 The First Geometers. 2 Thales. 3 Plato and Aristotle. PART II THE GOLDEN AGE. 4 Pythagoras. 5 Euclid. 6 Archimedes. PART III ENLIGHTENMENT. 7 François Viète. 8 René Descartes. 9 Gérard Desargues. PART IV A STRANGE NEW WORLD. 10 Giovanni Saccheri. 11 Johann Lambert. 12 Nicolai Lobachevski and János Bolyai. PART V NEW DIRECTIONS. 13 Bernhard Riemann. 14 Jean-Victor Poncelet. 15 Felix Klein. References. Index.
£35.10
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Shaping Ecology The Life of Arthur Tansley
Book SynopsisSir Arthur Tansley was the leading figure in ecology for the first half of the 20th century, founding the field, and forming its first professional societies. He was the first President of the British Ecological Society and the first chair of the Field Studies Council.Trade Review“In conclusion, this book is well written and it is easy to locate specific information on Tansley and the broader contexts of his work throughout the book.” (The British Journal for the History of Science, 1 June 2014) “Ayres’s book shows how one man was able to create whole climates of opinion as well as a new discipline; it is warmly recommended.” (Archives of Natural history, 1 August 2013) “Despite hints of Tansley’s personal complexity, we are left with an appreciation of his remarkable professional legacy that continues to foster scientific alliances and conservation of nature. ” (Ecology, 1 April 2013) “To all of us who cherish such wild places in modern Britain, as this book reveals, we owe Tansley a great debt.” (The Biologist, 1 June 2013) “A valuable acquisition for institutions with programs in ecology, botany, environmental sciences, or history of science. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Academic and general readers, all levels.” (Choice, 1 March 2013) “It is directed at ecologists, but it is a straightforward biography and, as such, deserves to be widely read.” (Journal of Insect Conservervation, 8 July 2012) Table of ContentsList of Figures vi Foreword viii Preface and Acknowledgements x 1 Kingley Vale: Worth Fighting For 1 2 The Origins of Ecology 15 3 George Tansley, Christian Socialism, and the Working Men's College 20 4 Highgate School, University College, London, and Trinity College, Cambridge 38 5 Teaching at University College, the Chicks, and Marriage to Edith 48 6 Seashores and Woodlands: Looking for Patterns 60 7 The Managing Director of British Ecology 80 8 Disillusion and Disaffection 101 9 The Oxford Years, 1927-1937 122 10 The Magnum Opus, Grantchester, and Retirement 144 11 The Years of Fulfilment, 1937-1953 155 12 A Detached Liberal Philosopher and Free-thinker 179 References 198 Index 206
£21.80
John Wiley & Sons Inc The Innovators College
Book SynopsisThe major engineering pioneers whose works transformed America into the world''s leading modern power, from Robert Fulton and his inventions of the steamboat to Thomas Edison''s construction of the first electrical power network. Introduces each of the major figures and explains how they came up with their ideas and how their works tranformed commerce, industry, and society.Table of ContentsIRON, STEAM, AND EARLY INDUSTRY, 1776-1855. Modern Engineering and the Transformation of America. Watt, Telford, and the British Beginnings. Fulton's Steamboat and the Mississippi. Lowell and the American Industrial Revolution. Francis and the Industrial Power Network. CROSSING THE CONTINENT, 1830-1883. The Stephensons, Thomson, and the Eastern Railroads. Henry Morse, and the Telegraph. St. Louis versus Chicago and the Continental Railroads. Carnegie and the Climax of Steel. Edison and the Network for Light. The Centennial Revolutions, 1876-1883. Notes and References. Index. Problems.
£75.95
John Wiley & Sons Inc Pioneering Research
Book SynopsisAsk questions not on the agenda Explore ideas wherever they lead Pursue goals because they''re important Create options not yet perceived According to premier researcher Don Braben, these are the vital intellectual processes that underlie all human achievement, the kinds of risk-taking activities that have made our civilization what it is today. Yet, warns Braben, the same pioneer spirit that fueled our meteoric industrial and scientific growth is now being undermined by a growing climate of corporate caution and conformity. In this groundbreaking manifesto on the importance of scientific freedom, Braben asserts that the greatest long-term risks facing humanity will not come from weapons of mass destruction, prolonged global war, devastating disease or famine, or even from extinction by a huge wayward meteor. Rather they will come from the debilitating attrition caused by the rising tides of bureaucracy and control that are steadily stTrade Review“…I undeservedly recommend this book to anyone who has puzzled over the growing malaise of contemporary scientific research…Braben is literate, pithy and personable...” (Nature, Vol.433, 27th January 2005) “Braben lays out his thesis effectively in the introduction, drawing the reader to commit to the book…a stimulating read” (www.felixonline.co.uk, 2004) “…(I) recommend this book to anyone involved in or worried about science.” (Chemistry World, October 2004)Table of ContentsForeword. Preface. Introduction, Chapter 1: Dissent and Research: The Supreme Stimulants. Chapter 2: The Power of Dissent: From Primates to Superpower. Chapter 3: The Rise from Oblivion. Chapter 4: Taming Research: The Problems of Success. Chapter 5: The Bureaucratic Jungle. Chapter 6: Prospects for Economic Growth. Chapter 7: Re-Creating the Golden Age. Chapter 8: Venture Research. Appendix 1: Some Results from the Venture Research Initiative Sponspored by British Petroleum. Appendix 2: The Venture Research Group. Bibliography. Index.
£71.06
LUP - University of Michigan Press The Historic Turn in the Human Sciences
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThis intelligent and thoughtful collection describes, justifies, and sometimes criticizes the most fashionable human-science paradigm of the 1990s and offers some hints as to what may follow. . . . Given the great breadth and sustained intelligence in the work, it is certainly an idea summation of the current scene. The contributors . . . deserve high praise even from those who have reservations about the value of the historic turn." —Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences
£31.30
The University of Michigan Press Strange Science
Book Synopsis
£40.95
University of California Press Dialogue World Systems
Book Synopsis"Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, Ptolemaic and Copernican, Second Revised Edition".
£27.00
University of California Press Progress and Its Problems
Book SynopsisOffers a critique and substantial revision of the historic theories of scientific rationality and progress. This book focuses on contextual problem solving effectiveness as a criterion for progress, and expands the notion of 'paradigm' to a 'research tradition,' thus providing a meta-empirical basis for the commensurability of competing theories.
£26.10
University of California Press Lawrence and His Laboratory
Book SynopsisThe Radiation Laboratory in Berkeley, California, was the birthplace of particle accelerators, radioisotopes, and modern big science. This title presents the laboratory's history. It helps you learn how Ernest Lawrence used local and national technological, economic, and manpower resources to build the cyclotron.
£49.30
University of California Press Hermann von Helmholtz and the Foundations of
Book SynopsisA biography of Hermann von Helmholtz, a 19th-century scientist renowned for the co-discovery of the second law of thermodynamics and his invention of the ophthalmoscope. It relates how von Helmholtz also made contributions to the fields of physiology, philosophy of science and mathematics.
£68.00
University of California Press On Her Own Terms
Book SynopsisAt a time when women could not vote and very few were involved in the world outside the home, Annie Montague Alexander (1867-1950) was an intrepid explorer, skilled markswoman, philanthropist, and founder and patron of two natural history museums at the University of California, Berkeley. This title presents a luminous portrait of this woman.Trade Review"A thorough and insightful account of a remarkable individual who, as an important patron and an amateur contributor, influenced the course of early twentieth-century science. Alexander's life is also important simply as a human story of how an intelligent, active, and strong-minded woman coped with the problems of identity and work in the post-Victorian era. It's a great story of a complex and admirable woman, and a significant contribution to California history and the history of field science." - Robert E. Kohler, University of PennsylvaniaTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. Samuel Alexander and Henry Baldwin 2. Life in Oakland 3. A Passion for Paleontology 4. Africa, 1904 5. Meeting C. Hart Merriam 6. Alaska, 1906 7. Meeting Joseph Grinnell 8. Founding a Museum of Vertebrate Zoology 9. An Unusual Collaboration 10. Louise and Prince William Sound 11. Support for Paleontology 12. Hearst, Sather, Flood 13. Innisfail Ranch 14. Vancouver Island and the Trinity Alps 15. The Team of Alexander and Kellogg 16. From "A Friend of the University" 17. Founding a Museum of Paleontology 18. A Restless Decade 19. Europe, 1923 20. The Temple Tour 21. The "Amoeba Treatment" 22. Fieldwork--The Later Years 23. Saline Valley 24. The End of an Era 25. Hawaii--"My Only Real Home" 26. The Switch to Botany 27. Baja California--Tres mujeres sin miedo 28. Investing in the Future 29. An Enduring Legacy Epilogue Appendix Notes Index
£45.05
University of California Press Breaking Through
Book SynopsisTrailblazing marine biologist, visionary conservationist, deep ecology philosopher, Edward F Ricketts (1897-1948) has reached legendary status in the California mythos. This collection reflects the wide scope of Ricketts' scientific, philosophical, and literary interests during the years he lived and worked on Cannery Row in Monterey, California.Trade Review"To have begun to know Ed Ricketts even a little - whether as the satyr-god of Cannery Row, pioneering ecologist and marine biologist, magical Steinbeck character, co-author of a classic 'voyage of discovery,' or legendary friend and mentor of the great - is to want to know more." - From the foreword by Susan F. Beegel, editor of The Hemingway Review "This biography and collection is invaluable for those seeking to understand all about Ed Ricketts, not as Steinbeck's "Doc," but as the complex, visionary thinker and scientist that he was." - William F. Gilly, Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University"Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Foreword Editor's Note Introduction 1. Foreword to the 1925 Pacific Biological Laboratories Catalog 2. "Zoological Introduction" to Between Pacific Tides 3. The Philosophy of "Breaking Through" 4. A Spiritual Morphology of Poetry 5. Essay on Non-teleological Thinking 6. Verbatim Transcription of Notes of Gulf of California Trip 7. Thesis and Materials for a Script on Mexico 8. "Outline and Conspectus" for a Book on the Mandated Islands 9. Transcript of Summer 1945 and 1946 Notes Based on Trips to the Outer Shores 10. Investigator Blames Industry, Nature for Shortage Epilogue Living at the Lab with My Father Memoir by Ed Ricketts Jr. Early Days: Nicknames and Such Memoir by Nancy Ricketts Works Cited Index
£56.80
University of California Press The Copernican Question
Book SynopsisIn 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus publicly defended his hypothesis that the earth is a planet and the sun a body resting near the center of a finite universe. This title reframes this pivotal moment in the history of science, centering the story on a conflict over the credibility of astrology that erupted in Italy just as Copernicus arrived in 1496.Trade Review"Now, at long last, we have this vast (and beautifully produced and illustrated) book to hold in our hands." Times Literary Supplement (TLS) "[An] enormously erudite treatment." Science (AAAS) "A rich, multifaceted work." -- Sheila J. Rabin Renaissance Qtly "A radically new approach to his subject." -- Michel-Pierre Lerner Journal For The History Of Astronomy "This important work-massive, original, provocative, and potentially transformational-is the culmination of a lifetime's work." -- Steven J. Dick, Former Chief Historian, NASA Quest: History Of Spaceflight "This is a towering achievement ... Westman is a gifted writer who knows how to maintain the interest of the reader who is not an expert in astronomy." -- William R. Shea American Historical Review "This substantial book is magnificent in command of materials and in its clear presentation... A wonderful book... A good investment. " Bibliotheque D'humanisme Et RenaissanceTable of ContentsList of Figures List of Tables Preface and Acknowledgments Introduction The Historical Problematic Summary and Plan of This Work Categories of Description and Explanation Part I. Copernicus's Space of Possibilities 1. The Literature of the Heavens and the Science of the Stars Printing, Planetary Theory, and the Genres of Forecast Copernicus's Exceptionalism Practices of Classifying Heavenly Knowledge and Knowledge Makers The Science of the Stars The Career of the Theorica/Practica Distinction Theoretical Astrology: From the Arabic to the Reformed, Humanist Tetrabiblos The Order of the Planets and Copernicus's Early Formation Copernicus's Problematic: The Unresolved Issues 2. Constructing the Future The Annual Prognostication The Popular Verse Prophecies Sites of Prognostication 3. Copernicus and the Crisis of the Bologna Prognosticators, 1496--1500 The Bologna Period, 1496--1500: An Undisturbed View From the Krakow Collegium Maius to the Bologna Studium Generale Bologna and the "Horrible Wars of Italy" The Astrologers' War Pico against the Astrologers Domenico Maria Novara and Copernicus in the Bologna Culture of Prognostication Prognosticators, Humanists, and the Sedici Copernicus, Assistant and Witness The Averroists and the Order of Mercury and Venus Copernicus's Commentariolus or, Perhaps, the Theoric of Seven Postulates Copernicus, Pico, and De Revolutionibus Part II. Confessional and Interconfessional Spaces of Prophecy and Prognostication 4. Between Wittenberg and Rome: The New System, Astrology, and the End of the World Introduction Melanchthon, Pico, and Naturalistic Divination Rheticus's Narratio Prima in the Wittenberg-Nuremberg Cultural Orbit World-Historical Prophecy and Celestial Revolutions Celestial Order and Necessity Necessity in the Consequent The Astronomy without Equants Principles versus Tables without Demonstrations The Publication of De Revolutionibus: Osiander's "Ad Lectorem" Holy Scripture and Celestial Order De Revolutionibus: Title and Prefatory Material The "Principal Consideration" 5. The Wittenberg Interpretation of Copernicus's Theory Melanchthon and the Science of the Stars at Wittenberg The Melanchthon Circle, Rheticus, and Albertine Patronage Rheticus, Melanchthon, and Copernicus: A Psychodynamic Hypothesis Erasmus Reinhold, Albrecht, and the Formation of the Wittenberg Interpretation The Prutenic Tables, Patronage, and the Organization of Heavenly Literature The Consolidation of the Wittenberg Interpretation The Advanced Curriculum at Wittenberg Germany as the "Nursery of Mathematics" Conclusion 6. Varieties of Astrological Credibility Marking the Dangers of Human Foreknowledge Becoming a Successful Prognosticator Multiplying Genitures From Wittenberg to Louvain: Astrological Credibility and the Copernican Question John Dee and Louvain: Toward an Optical Reformation of Astrology Jofrancus Offusius's Semi-Ptolemaic Solution to the Variation in Astral Powers Skirting the Margins of Dangerous Divination 7. Foreknowledge, Skepticism, and Celestial Order in Rome De Revolutionibus at the Papal Court: A Stillborn (Negative) Reaction The Holy Index and the Science of the Stars Making Orthodoxy: Learned Advice from Trent Astrology, Astronomy, and the Certitude of Mathematics in Post-Tridentine Heavenly Science The Jesuits' "Way of Proceeding": The Teaching Ministry, the Middle Sciences, Astrology, and Celestial Order Clavius on the Order of the Planets Disciplinary Tensions Astronomy in a Hexameral Genre: Robert Bellarmine Part III. Accommodating Unanticipated, Singular Novelties 8. Planetary Order, Astronomical Reform, and the Extraordinary Course of Nature Astronomical Reform and the Interpretation of Celestial Signs The New Piconians Mistrusting Numbers The Rise of the Theoretical Astronomer and the "Science" of the New Star of 1572 The Generic Location of the New Star Court Spaces and Networks: Uraniborg, Hapsburg Vienna and Prague Hagecius's Polemic on the New Star An Emergent Role for a Noble Astronomer: Tycho Brahe and the Copenhagen Oration Tycho and Pico, Generic and Named Adversaries The Tychonian Problematic, 1574 A Tychonic Solution to Pico's Criticism? Naibod's Circumsolar Ordering of Mercury and Venus The Comet of 1577 and Its Discursive Space Astrological and Eschatological Meanings of Comets The Language, Syntax, and Credibility of Cometary Observation Place and Order, the Comet and the Cosmos: Gemma, Roeslin, Maestlin, and Brahe Conclusion 9. The Second-Generation Copernicans: Maestlin and Digges Michael Maestlin (1550--1631): Pastor, Academic, Mathematicus, Copernican Maestlin's Hesitations about Astrology The Practice of Theorizing: Maestlin's Glosses on Copernicus Thomas Digges: Gentleman, Mathematical Practitioner, Platonist, Copernican Digges on Copernicus in Wings or Ladders (Re)Classifying the Star The Mathematicians' Court Reorganizing Copernicus Thomas Digges's Infinite Universe "Augmentation" in Leonard Digges's Prognostication Euerlastinge The Plummet Passage Conclusion 10. A Proliferation of Readings The Emergence of a Via Media Along the Via Media: Tycho's Progress Negotiating the Spheres' Ontology Rothmann's Transformation and the First Copernican Controversy Giordano Bruno: "Academico di nulla Academia detto il Fastidito" Bruno's Visual, Pythagorean Reading of Copernicus Bruno and the Science of the Stars Part IV. Securing the Divine Plan 11. The Emergence of Kepler's Copernican Representation The Copernican Situation at the End of the 1580s Counterfactual Kepler Kepler's Copernican Formation at Tubingen, 1590--1594 Kepler's Shift in the Astronomer's Role Kepler's Physical-Astrological Problematic and Pico Dating Kepler's Encounter with Pico: A Tubingen Scenario? The Gold Nugget Prognosticating (and Theorizing) in Graz Kepler's Copernican Cosmography and Prognostication The Divine Plan, Archetypal Causes, and the Beginning of the World From Kepler's Polyhedral Hypothesis to the Logical and Astronomical Defense of Copernicus 12. Kepler's Early Audiences, 1596--1600 The Mysterium Cosmographicum: The Space of Reception The Tubingen Theologians and the Duke The German Academic Mathematicians: Limnaeus and Praetorius Kepler's Mysterium and the Via Media Group Part V. Conflicted Modernizers at the Turn of the Century 13. The Third-Generation Copernicans: Galileo and Kepler Galileo and the Science of the Stars in the Pisan Period Galileo and the Wittenberg and Uraniborg-Kassel Networks Galileo on Copernicus: The Exchange with Mazzoni Galileo and Kepler: The 1597 Exchange Galileo as a "Maestlinian" Paduan Sociabilities: The Pinelli Circle and the Edmund Bruce Episode, 1599--1605 1600: Bruno's Execution 1600: William Gilbert's Project for a Magnetical Philosophy The Quarrel among the Modernizers: New Convergences at the Fin de Siecle Galileo's Silence about Bruno Galileo's First Run-In with the Inquisition The Copernican Problematic and Astrological Theorizing after Bruno's Trial Kepler's Continuing Search for Astrology's Foundations 14. The Naturalist Turn and Celestial Order: Constructing the Nova of 1604 The Predicted Conjunction of the Three Superior Planets and the Unforeseen Nova of 1604 Galileo and the Italian Nova Controversies Honor and Credibility in the Capra Controversy Galileo and Kepler's Nova Celestial Natural Philosophy in a New Key: Kepler's De Stella Nova and the Modernizers The Possibility of a Reformed Astrological Theoric: Kepler for and against Pico (Again) The Copernican Question in the Stella Nova: Kepler for Gilbert, against Tycho Making Room: Kepler between Wacker von Wackenfels and Tycho Brahe Generating the Nova: Divine Action and Material Necessity Summary and Conclusion 15. How Kepler's New Star Traveled to England Kepler's Star over Germany and Italy Kepler's English Campaign Part VI. The Modernizers, Recurrent Novelties, and Celestial Order 16. The Struggle for Order The Emergent Problematic of the Via Moderna Many Roads for the Modernizers: The Social Disunity of Copernican Natural Philosophy Along the Via Moderna Conclusion 17. Modernizing Theoretical Knowledge: Patronage, Reputation, Learned Sociability, Gentlemanly Veracity Theoretical Knowledge and Scholarly Reputation Patron-Centered Heavenly Knowledge Patronage at the Periphery: Galileo and the Aristocratic Sphere of Learned Sociability Florentine Court Sociabilities Galileo's Decision to Leave Padua for Florence Stabilizing the Telescopic Novelties Conclusion: Gentlemanly Truth Tellers? 18. How Galileo's Recurrent Novelties Traveled The Sidereus Nuncius, the Nova Controversies, and Galileo's "Copernican Silence" Through a Macro Lens: The Reception of the Sidereus Nuncius and the Telescope, Mid-March to Early May 1610 Kepler's Philosophical Conversation with Galileo and His Book Galileo's Negotiations with the Tuscan Court, May 1610 Virtual Witnessing, Print, and the Great Resistance Magini's Strategic Retreat and the 7/11 Problem Galileo and Kepler: The Denouement Scottish Scientific Diplomacy: John Wedderburn's Confutatio Galileo's Novelties and the Jesuits Conclusion. The Great Controversy Astrological Prognostication and Astronomical Revolution Copernicans and Master-Disciple Relations Seventeenth-Century Thoughts about Belief Change The End of the Long Sixteenth Century The Era of Consolidation: World Systems and Comparative Probability From Philosophizing Astrologers to New-Style Natural Philosophers Weighing Probables: The Via Moderna versus the Via Media at Midcentury The Copernican Question after Midcentury Robert Hooke, Isaac Newton, and the Crucial Experiment The Copernican Question: Closure and Proof Notes Bibliography Index
£67.20
University of California Press The Constant Fire
Book SynopsisDrawing from the author's experience as a practicing astrophysicist and from the writings of the scholars of religion, philosophy, and mythology, this title locates the connective tissue linking science and religion - their commonality as sacred pursuits - and finds their shared aspiration in pursuit of 'the True and the Real'.Trade Review"An elegant reimagining of the relationship between science and spirituality... Challenges the assumption that science and religion are implacable foes." Chronicle Of Higher Education "The most striking aspect ... is the passion that Adam Frank displays in writing about his experience as a scientist." Times Higher Education "Frank's book is most interesting; it is an easy read." -- John W. Burgeson Perspectives On Science And Christian Faith: Journal Of The American Scientific Affiliation Light years beyond the stale standoff between uninspired scientific materialism and unscientific intelligent design. " (STARRED REVIEW) Publishers WeeklyTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Prologue: House of the Rising Sun PART I. THE MAP: REIMAGINING SCIENCE, MYTH, AND THE SACRED Chapter 1. The Roots of Conflict: Science and Religion before Divorce Chapter 2. The Conflict We Know: Religion, Science, and the Modern World Chapter 3. Science and the Sacred: Telescopes, Microscopes, and Hierophanies Chapter 4. Not the God You Pray To: The Varieties of Scientists' Religious Experience Chapter 5. Science, Myth, and Sacred Narratives: The Universe as Story PART II. THE TERRAIN: SACRED NARRATIVES IN SCIENCE AND MYTH Chapter 6. The Origin of Everything: Big Bangs, the Multiverse, and the Parade of Ants Chapter 7. The Deluge This Time: Climate Change and Flood Myths PART III. A NEW PATH TO THE WATERFALL: SCIENCE, MYTH, TRUTH, AND THE FUTURE Chapter 8. Music of the Spheres: Truth, Myth, and Science Chapter 9. A Need Born of Fire: Mythos, Ethos, and Humanity's Most Dangerous Century Epilogue: Fire in the Open Mind Notes
£18.90
University of California Press EcoAlchemy Anthroposophy and the History and
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewEco-Alchemy makes a solid case for the importance of anthroposophist initiatives to the evolution of modern environmentalism. . . . It deserves a wide readership among those interested in esoteric spirituality, environmental politics, and the controversial interaction between religion and public affairs. * Reading Religion *"As its name suggests Eco-Alchemy describes an intermixing and re-constituting of ideas and good intentions that have been emerging and manifesting themselves over the last hundred years. [...] The analysis offered in Eco-Alchemy presents a very respectful and balanced picture of anthroposophy and yet does not shy away from describing the shortcomings and errors which have occurred over the years, nor the need to change, transform itself and learn from other progressive movements. It is an important work that should be widely available particularly to those undertaking a study of environmental philosophy." * Camphill Pages *"Eco-Alchemy is a welcome contribution to the study of esotericism and the history of environmentalism, both for its unique insights and for his attention to the influence of esoteric thought and practice on popular culture." * Journal for the Study of Esotericism *"This is an exemplary book and a cause for celebration: a judicious, balanced, and well-informed discussion of Rudolf Steiner’s work." * Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture *“An especially timely book. . . . A valuable resource for students of new religions, environmentalism, agrarianism, organics, the western esoteric tradition, and, of course, Steiner’s unique addition to the world’s religious ecology. It is an important addition to scholarship on new religions. . . . A fine primer on the religion itself.” * Novo Religio *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: The Ecology of Environmentalism Seed Rudolf Steiner’s Holistic Vision Roots Biodynamics and the Origins of Organic Agriculture Branches Anthroposophical Initiatives and the Growing Environmental Movement Flowers New Economies for Environmentalism Fruit The Broader Ecology of Camphill Ecology The Boundaries of Anthroposophy Evolution Anthroposophy’s Gifts to the Environmental Movement Notes Index
£22.50
University of California Press For the Wild
Book SynopsisFor the Wild explores the ways in which the commitments of radical environmental and animal-rights activists develop through powerful experiences with the more-than-human world during childhood and young adulthood. The book addresses the question of how and why activists come to value nonhuman animals and the natural world as worthy of protection. Emotions and memories of wonder, love, compassion, anger, and grief shape activists' protest practices and help us understand their deep-rooted commitments to the planet and its creatures. Drawing on analyses of activist art, music, and writings, as well as interviews and participant-observation in activist communities, Sarah M. Pike delves into the sacred duties of these often misunderstood and marginalized groups with openness and sensitivity.Trade Review"Pike’s For the Wild provides an essential and well-structured resource for scholars interested in the intersection between environmentalism and alternative spiritualities." * Reading Religion *"For the Wild is a timely book on a neglected area of inquiry in the emerging and increasingly significant field of religion and ecology." * Nova Religio *"In a novel application of religious studies to the science of social movements, Sarah M. Pike emphasizes the vital role that emotion and ritual play in the making of protest. ... For the Wild will likely be of interest to scholars and students of social movements and environmental protest, but also for social change makers such as non-profits, community organizations, and grassroots activists seeking to better understand their own histories and motivations." * Social Movement Studies *"Challenges the politics of knowledge and the ways knowledge discipline and shape different bodies different bodies differently." * Religious Studies Review *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: For All the Wild Hearts 1. Freedom and Insurrection around a Fire 2. At the Turn of the Millennium: Youth Culture and the Roots of Contemporary Activism 3. Childhood Landscapes of Wonder and Awe 4. Into the Forest 5. “Liberation’s Crusade Has Begun”: Hare Krishna Hardcore Youth and Animal Rights Activism 6. Circles of Community, Strategies of Inclusion 7. Rites of Grief and Mourning Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index
£27.00
University of California Press The Gospel of Climate Skepticism Why Evangelical
Book SynopsisWhy are white evangelicals the most skeptical major religious group in America regarding climate change? Previous scholarship has pointed to cognitive factors such as conservative politics, anti-science attitudes, aversion to big government, and theology. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork, The Gospel of Climate Skepticism reveals the extent to which climate skepticism and anti-environmentalism have in fact become embedded in the social world of many conservative evangelicals. Rejecting the common assumption that evangelicals' skepticism is simply a side effect of political or theological conservatism, the book further shows that between 2006 and 2015, leaders and pundits associated with the Christian Right widely promoted skepticism as the biblical position on climate change. The Gospel of Climate Skepticism offers a compelling portrait of how during a critical period of recent history, political and religious interests intersected to prevent evangelicals from offering a unified voice in support of legislative action to address climate change.Trade Review"For those seeking to understand how religion matters to climate change, it is worthwhile to follow Veldman’s lead." * Immanent Frame *"The book nicely caters to diverse audiences by defining social science concepts, providing background on theological debates and religious movements, all while steering clear of jargon and relegating cumbersome references to endnotes. . . . The Gospel of Climate Skepticism will undoubtedly advance scholarship that maps the play of forces within evangelicalism." * Review of Religious Research *
£64.00
University of California Press The Pyrocene
Book SynopsisA provocative rethinking of how humans and fire have evolved together over timeand our responsibility to reorient this relationship before it's too late.?The Pyrocene tells the story of what happened when a fire-wielding species, humanity, met an especially fire-receptive time in Earth's history. Since terrestrial life first appeared, flames have flourished. Over the past two million years, however, one genus gained the ability to manipulate fire, swiftly remaking both itself and eventually the world. We developed small guts and big heads by cooking food; we climbed the food chain by cooking landscapes; and now we have become a geologic force by cooking the planet. Some fire uses have been direct: fire applied to convert living landscapes into hunting grounds, forage fields, farms, and pastures. Others have been indirect, through pyrotechnologies that expanded humanity's reach beyond flame's grasp. Still, preindustrial and Indigenous societies largely operated within broad ecological constraints that determined how, and when, living landscapes could be burned. These ancient relationships between humans and fire broke down when people began to burn fossil biomasslithic landscapesand humanity's firepower became unbounded. Fire-catalyzed climate change globalized the impacts into a new geologic epoch. The Pleistocene yielded to the Pyrocene. Around fires, across millennia, we have told stories that explained the world and negotiated our place within it.The Pyrocene continues that tradition, describing how we have remade the Earth and how we might recover our responsibilities as keepers of the planetary flame.Trade Review"An excellent grounding in how fire functions, how we think about it and why that matters. In Pyne’s hands, fire becomes more than simply a natural phenomenon." * Los Angeles Times *"Stephen J. Pyne takes a measured, historical, and ecological approach to fire. . . . [A] brief but highly impactful book." * Science *"The Pyrocene is his fullest elucidation yet of how humanity has entered a new age of fire, one that redefines the human-altered era of the Anthropocene. And Pyne . . . is certainly the best writer to make this argument." * Nature *"The Pyrocene may be just the type of analysis that we need to reformulate our understanding of fire and to prepare for the longue duree of a fire age." * Natural Resources and Environment *"A tremendous read, an incisive account of the history and science of fire alongside the evolution of hominids." * Organic Gardener *"Pyne’s book is [a] wonderful and worthy read." * Metascience *"A sweeping, deep biological and geological history of the Earth and how its human inhabitants have for the first time shaped its current state and future." * Utah Historical Quarterly * "Pyne’s book is another wonderful and worthy read. It is a culmination of his work and thinking about fire spanning over forty years." * Springer Nature *Table of ContentsPrologue: Between Three Fires 1 Fire Planet: Fire Slow, Fire Fast, Fire Deep 2 The Pleistocene 3 Fire Creature: Living Landscapes 4 Fire Creature: Lithic Landscapes 5 The Pyrocene Epilogue: Sixth Sun Author's Note Notes Bibliographic Essay Index
£20.70
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Miracle Cure
Book SynopsisThe pioneers of antibiotics and how they transformed treatmentsThe discovery of penicillin and other antibiotics has transformed how bacterial infections are treated. Miracle Cure: The Story of Penicillin and the Golden Age of Antibiotics recounts the historical background of antibiotic discoveries, which have resulted in the numerous antibiotics available today. The author discusses the folk medicine remedies once used to treat infections and includes an update on developments in antibiotic research - with highlights on their use in the treatment of cancer and AIDS.Table of ContentsIntroduction; the discovery of penicillin; the development of penicillin; the introduction of penicillin into medicine; penicillin - personalities and conflicts; penicillin after the war; the road to antibiotics; streptomycin and the conquest of tuberculosis; antibiotics galore; lives of the four major antibiotic pioneers; an antibiotic miscellany; some recent developments and future prospects.
£25.60
Harvard University Press On Discovery
Book SynopsisThe most popular work of the Italian humanist Polydore Vergil (14701555), On Discovery (De inventoribus rerum, 1499), was the first comprehensive account of discoveries and inventions written since antiquity. This is the first English translation of a critical edition based on the Latin texts published in Polydore Vergil's lifetime.Trade ReviewBrian Copenhaver's edition and translation of the first three books of the De inventoribus rerum (1499) of the humanist Polydore Vergil is especially useful because of its copious annotations...Copenhaver's translation helps in reminding us that most Renaissance writers were bricoleurs rather than scholars, and compendia like that of Polydore Vergil most certainly had a greater currency in Renaissance culture than less readable works such as Perotti's Cornucopiae or Guillaume Budi's De asse et partibus. -- W. Scott Blanchard * Renaissance Quarterly *[Polydore Vergil] brought a keen sense of ambiguity to his breakthrough book--a vast study of inventions that went through thirty editions in Latin in his lifetime. As Brian Copenhaver shows in the introduction to his superb edition of Vergil's complex, learned book, On Discovery, some ancient authorities denounced human inventions as a source of corruption; others saw them as a continual source of improvement in the human condition...On Discovery, as Copenhaver shows, had a profound and lasting impact. It proved to be one of the principal channels through which the antiquarian methods of the fifteenth century reached the ethnographers and historians of religion of the next two centuries. -- Anthony T. Grafton * New York Review of Books *Important and engaging...Beautifully produced from quality materials, the book maintains the exceptionally high standards of the I Tatti Renaissance Library series. Highly recommended. -- K. Gouwens * Choice *
£26.96
Harvard University Press From Clockwork to Crapshoot
Book SynopsisRoger Newton, whose previous works have been widely praised for erudition and accessibility, presents a history of physics from the early beginning to our day—with the associated mathematics, astronomy, and chemistry. His work identifies what may well be the defining characteristic of physics in the 21st century.Trade ReviewThis is an illuminating chronicle of mankind's adventures, over six millennia, in pursuit of physical laws. It is enhanced by lucid exposition of challenges and concepts, with engaging portraits of many avid actors in a grand, abiding drama. -- Dudley Herschbach, Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Science, Harvard UniversityAlthough there are several books on the history of physics, none is as up-to-date, comprehensive, and well-written as Newton's. Most other books either provide a very superficial explanation of the concepts and theories, or are too technical for most non-scientists to understand. Newton manages to maintain a consistent level and style, and to say just enough about the difficult issues to get the reader interested but not overwhelmed -- Stephen G. Brush, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of the History of Science, University of MarylandNewton's account is superb. He is magnificent at explaining the profound influence of mathematics on the development of physics. The historical relationships between subdisciplines, such as thermodynamics and statistical physics, are illuminated. Numerous biographical sketches add a lively dynamic to an enjoyable book. -- Simon Mitton * Times Higher Education Supplement *This book attempts in one volume to give a history of physics, from the dawn of mankind to the present day. It is a formidable task but one which I believe has been largely successful. -- Peter Ford * History of Physics Newsletter *From the properties of matter to the constituents of the universe, this book illustrates how discoveries old and new have created modern physics. * Science News *Table of ContentsPrologue 1. Beginnings 2. The Greek Miracle 3. Science in the Middle Ages 4. The First Revolution 5. Newton's Legacy 6. New Physics 7. Relativity 8. Statistical Physics 9. Probability 10. The Quantum Revolution 11. Fields, Nuclei, and Stars 12. The Properties of Matter 13. The Constituents of the Universe Epilogue Notes Sources and Further Reading Index
£24.26
Harvard University Press The Duke and the Stars
Book SynopsisThe Duke and the Stars explores science and medicine as studied and practiced in fifteenth-century Italy, including how astrology was taught in relation to astronomy. It illustrates how the “predictive art” of astrology was often a critical, secretive source of information for Italian Renaissance rulers, particularly in times of crisis.Trade ReviewThis book, as erudite as it is elegant, takes the reader deep into the court life of Renaissance Milan. Using a vast range of sources with great care and artistry, Monica Azzolini recreates the lost discipline of astrology. The Duke and the Stars restores and illuminates a lost world, as colorful, as complex and as full of vividly portrayed individuals as a great Renaissance fresco. -- Anthony Grafton, Princeton UniversityAzzolini's impressive study adds a startling new dimension to our picture of Renaissance Milan. Taking us behind the scenes at the Sforza court, her book introduces us to the actual workings of astrology as a determinant of daily behavior. Her central argument—that Renaissance rulers took astrological calculations into serious account when making key policy decisions—is sure to spark lively debate. -- Gary Ianziti, University of QueenslandThis book skillfully traces a history of [astrology] from the beginning of the Sforza dynasty in 1450 until its demise in 1499, interpreting astrology’s role in learning, medicine, diet, and especially politics…The results of Azzolini’s research are exciting for how they sweep away cobwebs from episodes of Milanese history that have become dusty, either from lack of scholarly attention or from satisfied consensus…Azzolini’s book…[is] part of a new wave of English-language historiography offering fresh visions of how the Sforza consolidated and exercised their power…Readers will find in this volume not just a compelling account of the rise and fall of the house of Sforza, but new and important reflections on astrology’s role in fifteenth-century politics. -- John Gagné * Renaissance and Reformation *[A] finely crafted book…Utilizing a vast range of archival and published sources, Azzolini ventures deep into the culture of the Renaissance court. Weaving together the methods and interests of the history of science and of Renaissance political and cultural history, Azzolini has produced a sophisticated, interdisciplinary analysis of a science and a profession that played a key role in the political life of the Renaissance, challenging current assumptions about Renaissance politics and making important contributions both to the history of science and to early modern political and cultural history. -- William Eamon * Journal of Interdisciplinary History *
£45.86
Harvard University Press A Palette of Particles
Book SynopsisJeremy Bernstein guides readers through high-energy physics from early twentieth-century atomic models to leptons, mesons, quarks, and the newly discovered Higgs boson, drawing them into the excitement of a universe where 80 percent of all matter has never been identified. From molecules to galaxies, the more we discover, the less we seem to know.Trade ReviewPhysicist Jeremy Bernstein pays homage to the subatomic, tinting particles according to era of discovery. So electrons, neutrons and neutrinos are assigned primary colors; the muons through to quarks, secondary colors; and the Higgs boson, neutrino cosmology and squarks, tachyons and the graviton, pastels. The abstractions come alive as Bernstein meshes history and science with anecdotes on everyone from Murray Gell-Mann to Richard Feynman. A colorful chronicle backed by 50 years in the field. * Nature *[Bernstein] brings to this popular history of particle physics the advantage of having been around when some of that history was being made. Bernstein, now in his 80s, knew Wolfgang Pauli, who hypothesized the existence of the neutrino in 1930, a quarter-century before it could be confirmed...Bernstein covers the material in a sprightly manner, with only the occasional equation that will reveal the beauty of it all to the reader who can grasp it...It turns out that Bernstein's sober and lucid introduction to particle physics has an almost mystical quality, even if the author shows no interest in that kind of cosmic thinking. -- Scott McLemee * Inside Higher Ed *[Bernstein] pares away most of [the mathematical] complexities, thereby allowing general readers to share in the excitement of epoch-making science without shouldering the burden of rigorous analysis. Not merely lucid, Bernstein's exposition is refreshingly human, sprinkled with anecdotes revealing the piquant personalities of pioneering scientists including Einstein, Pauli, and Gell-Mann. A must-read for armchair physicists. -- Bryce Christensen * Booklist (starred review) *Overall, it is a pleasant, short read, and a reminder of the past century-and-a-half crusade at the forefront of modern physics. -- A. M. Saperstein * Choice *Few will resist [Bernstein's] accounts of the history, flamboyant geniuses (many of whom he knew personally), and basics of protons, neutrons and electrons that make up the familiar world. * Kirkus Reviews *Casting subatomic particles across a metaphorical painter’s palette, Bernstein blends science, history, and anecdote (including his own work on staff at Harvard University and Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study) to reveal the lively, often bewildering world of particle physics… Bernstein is an unabashed romantic, fondly recalling the tabletop experiments of the mid-20th century (he’s worked in the field for more than 50 years). Later discoveries, especially the Higgs—coaxed to visibility with powerful accelerators and computer analysis—remain, in the author’s estimation, coldly ‘abstract.’ For Bernstein and for readers, the true wonder lies in how each discovery reveals yet another mystery. * Publishers Weekly *The real appeal of A Palette of Particles…[is] Bernstein’s infectious love not only for the mysteries of physics but also for the minds behind the magic. The stories and photos of physicists in action—especially that of Wolfgang Pauli and Niels Bohr, two venerable fathers of physics, bent over to watch the spinning of a child’s top—bring physics to life in a way that equations simply can’t. -- Mary Mann * Bookslut *This is a superb little book. No one, with the possible exception of Freeman Dyson, writes so gracefully about physics and its recent history, or so effectively inserts himself into the story without self-advertisement. -- Kenneth W. Ford, author of 101 Quantum Questions
£32.36
Harvard University Press Cancer Stem Cells
Book SynopsisA new therapeutic strategy could break the stalemate in the war on cancer by targeting not all cancerous cells but the small fraction that lie at the root of cancers. Lucie Laplane offers a comprehensive analysis of cancer stem cell theory, based on an original interdisciplinary approach that combines biology, biomedical history, and philosophy.Trade ReviewLaplane places us right in the center of an urgently important discussion of cancer stem cells and the therapies that should accompany different theories. Her fresh philosophical perspective introduces us to a science in process, where the outcome is unknown and even the terms of debate remain contested. -- Jane Maienschein, author of Embryos under the MicroscopeIf you had doubts about the utility of philosophy for science, read this book. Its lucid exploration of stem cells will convince you that even cancer therapy can benefit from the lights of philosophy. -- Michel Morange, author of A History of Molecular BiologyBuilds a much broader framework for understanding the biology of stem cells of all types…Laplane’s rigorous analyses unveil deep semantic and conceptual problems in the field…Laplane’s stemness framework should be of great value…A philosopher may indeed have straightened out the stem-cell field. -- Hans Clever * Nature *
£31.41
Harvard University Press Body Messages
Book SynopsisWhether classified as regulators of inflammation, metabolism, or other functions, a distinctive set of molecules enables the body to convey information from one cell to another. Giamila Fantuzzi offers a primer on molecular mediators that coordinate complex bodily processes, and explores the consequences of their discovery for modern medicine.Trade ReviewFrom the way our brain thinks to how our body fights germs, the wonders of human life are fundamentally about how our cells and tissues interact. This book is a tour de force about how this communication happens. Examined with passion and insight, a wondrous and important story unfolds about how the human body really works above and beyond the level of individual genes and cells. -- Daniel M. Davis, author of The Compatibility GeneThe scholarship in the book is truly impressive. The interviews are revealing portraits of accomplished scientists. The writing style is lucid and purged of jargon so as to be intelligible to non-scientists. All in all this is a valuable and eminently readable record of the birth and development of a field that has had a dramatic impact on human health. -- Scott Durum, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer InstituteReading this work will keep the reader current on a substantial number of recent, important studies on cell-to-cell information transfer. The reader will enjoy the personal essays and then want to read more about the scientific contributions. It is fascinating to find a work that is genuinely informative and also a joy to read. No matter the nature of the reader’s background, he or she will learn an immense amount of information from this book. -- F. W. Yow * Choice *
£31.41
Harvard University Press Randomness
Book SynopsisThis book is aimed at the trouble with trying to learn about probability. A story of the misconceptions and difficulties civilization overcame in progressing toward probabilistic thinking, Randomness is also a skillful account of what makes the science of probability so daunting in our own day.Trade ReviewClearly, the computation of probabilities is not just an arid game… As Deborah Bennett shows in her excellent little book on the mathematics of chance, the concept has been controversial for thousands of years… [Her] cultured and accessible book goes a long way towards demystifying the science of probability and thereby offers the reader a useful variety of conceptual tools with which to probe the future and illuminate the present. -- Steven Poole * The Guardian *[Randomness] can most easily be described as a brief history of chance… I can cheerfully recommend it to anyone who is a total beginner when it comes to probability, what it means, why it is desperately puzzling, and what it can do for us despite that… It is fascinating to read about the pioneers of probability, such as Pierre Simon de Laplace with his ‘normal distribution’—now more familiar as the notorious bell curve—and Adolphe Quetelet, perhaps the first to realise that there are statistical patterns in human behaviour. And I applaud the blunt reminder that when it comes to the real world the ‘normal’ distribution is actually highly abnormal… My main criticism: it left me wanting more. A sequel, please. -- Ian Stewart * Times Higher Education Supplement *Chances are high that reading this book will clear up your misconceptions about randomness and probabilities. In this very entertaining little book, simply written but intended for careful readers, some of the most common mistakes people make about chance are carefully analyzed. While describing interesting aspects of the mathematics of probability, the author takes frequent detours into the history of humanity’s understanding (and misunderstanding) of the laws of chance, touching on subjects as diverse as chance in decision-making and the fairness of those decisions, gambling and our intuitive understanding of chance, the likelihood of the extremely rare, the existence of true randomness and how computers have helped shape modern thinking about probabilities… An insightful chapter is ‘Chance or Necessity?’ The question is very, very old (determinism versus chaos), and the answer is not clear even today. The author describes the problem beautifully: ‘Is random outcome completely determined, and random only by virtue of our ignorance of the most minute contributing factors?’ Einstein grappled with this conundrum until his death and never ceased to combat the idea that God could conceivably throw dice… Whether well-educated in mathematics or not, people have always been fascinated by randomness and intrigued by the fundamental question of the real nature of randomness, of how you can tell randomness from something that is not. -- J. A. Rial * American Scientist *The great strength of this book is the way it uses history and even prehistory of probability to chart its present territory and cast light on its core point of contention: does true randomness exist in nature, or is it only a psychological artefact?… Bennett’s text…is like a café conversation between likable cognoscenti…nothing could more provoke and excite the reader. -- Simon Ings * New Scientist *In this book, Bennett seeks to account for the centuries-long lapse between early uses of chance in decision making and the more technical studies of probability first undertaken in the seventeenth century. At the same time, she explores the confusions and misunderstandings about probability that persist today. She argues that the notion of randomness played a crucial role in inhibiting conceptual progress in probability and that it also accounts for present-day struggles to come to terms with the subject… Bennett’s book is written in a lucid, engaging style and provides an entertaining introduction to some questions in probability. -- Patti Wilger Hunter * Isis *[A] sharp analysis of the way we assess probability in everyday life. -- Robert Winder * New Statesman & Society *Randomness, by mathematician Deborah J. Bennett, was obviously a labor of love. The result is an interesting book that combines a well-researched, anecdotally presented survey of the history of chance, probability and randomness along with some elementary instruction in probability… It includes a wide-ranging and rich bibliography that reflects the passion of the author for the subject. Anybody interested in gaming, random numbers, the Monte Carlo method and so on will find nice anecdotal descriptions of these topics, together with detailed notes and references to the bibliography for more detailed study. It is a good book to have. -- Stephen Gasiorowicz * Physics Today *In 1996 Charles Hailey and David Helfand reported their calculations of the odds of a commercial airliner being struck by a meteor, in response to speculation about TWA flight 800… They conclude that, in over 30 years of air travel, the probability that a commercial flight would have been hit by a meteor big enough to crash it is 1 in 10. This bit of probability trivia is an indication of human beings continuous struggle to understand probability and chance through the ages, and Deborah Bennett captures the fascination with numbers in this pocket-sized volume. The book is filled with…gems. * Skeptic *This volume is exceptionally readable. It takes away much of the mystery of probability while adding to our sense of wonder. * Wordtrade *The fact that randomness, agency, and holiness can readily displace each other in phenomenological explanations of human action is the central concern that might draw students of consciousness to Bennett’s book. Bennett does an excellent job, explaining and drawing out the major questions that swirl around the randomness–agency–holiness issue. -- T. W. Draper * Journal of Consciousness Studies *[This book] examines randomness and several other notions that were critical to the historical development of probabilistic thinking and that also play an important role in any individual’s understanding of the laws of chance. [It] addresses why, from ancient times to today, people have resorted to chance in making decisions; whether a decision made by random choice is a fair decision; how to figure the odds; what role gambling has played in understanding chance; whether extremely rare events are likely in the long run; why some societies and individuals reject randomness; whether true randomness exists; the view of randomness as uncertainty; why even experts disagree about the many meanings of randomness; and why probability is so counterintuitive. * Journal of Economic Literature *Mathematics is its own language, and sometimes it doesn’t translate readily into other human tongues. But Bennett is brilliantly bilingual, well able to put mathematical concepts into clear, expressive English. Her topic is intrinsically fascinating, for who has not felt buffeted by random events, and who has not sought to see when the wheel of fortune may turn up good luck?… More than an intriguing exploration of a peculiarly fascinating part of mathematics, its coverage, ranging from ancient games of chance to modern probability mind-games, makes it comprehensive as well as compulsively readable. -- Patricia Monaghan * Booklist *A clear and detailed examination of the role of pure chance, with fascinating historical asides. * Kirkus Reviews *A careful and well-written treatment of an intriguing subject. -- Donald Goldsmith, author of The Ultimate EinsteinRandomness tells us about chance by recalling the real history of probability and solving many of its engaging puzzles. Beginners will find themselves welcomed and well led. -- Frederick Mosteller, Harvard UniversityRandomness explains probability and odds in an accessible way. This book puts risk and chance into perspective for the airline passenger and the lottery player alike. -- Henry Petroski, author of Invention by Design: How Engineers Get from Thought to ThingTable of Contents* Chance Encounters * Why Resort to Chance? * When the Gods Played Dice * Figuring the Odds * Thought Games for Gamblers * Chance or Necessity? * Order in Apparent Chaos * Wanted: Random Numbers * Randomness as Uncertainty * Paradoxes in Probability * Notes * Bibliography * Index
£24.26
Harvard University Press Forgotten Healers
Book SynopsisIn Renaissance Italy women from all walks of life played a central role in health care and the early development of medical science. Observing that the frontlines of care are often found in the household and other spaces thought of as female, Sharon Strocchia encourages us to rethink women’s place in the history of medicine.Trade ReviewThis superbly researched and elegantly written study of women’s roles in the pursuit of health in late Renaissance Italy puts women back in the center of medical knowledge and medical practices during a major turning point in European history. -- Judith Brown, author of Immodest ActsBeautifully illuminates the many ways in which women acted as medical agents and became medical artisans in Renaissance Florence and beyond. Strocchia’s deeply researched study reveals how Medici women, controversial saintly healers, nun apothecaries, and hospital nurses in an age of syphilis all participated in a political economy of family, faith, health, and charity. Essential reading for anyone interested in gender and medicine in the early modern era. -- Paula Findlen, author of Possessing NatureImpeccably researched and highly readable, Forgotten Healers is the most comprehensive study of early modern women’s involvement in medicine to date. A remarkable book with fresh perspectives that significantly advances our understanding of the distinctive ways of learning and knowing that characterized the early modern age. -- Sandra Cavallo, coauthor of Healthy Living in Late Renaissance ItalyMakes a vital contribution to the history of medicine, gender studies, and Renaissance studies. With plentiful excursuses throughout that reward curiosity with delightful explanations, and lucid and engaging prose, Strocchia showcases the various roles carried out by women in the provision of health care in early modern Italy. -- Sheila Barker, Director at the Medici Archive ProjectForgotten Healers defines medical work to include the activities of people beyond professional physicians and surgeons. This broader understanding of early modern medical knowledge and practice underwrites Strocchia’s powerful rethinking of early modern medicine, making women and women’s contributions not only integral but central. -- Katharine Park, author of Secrets of WomenOne of the best books on the Italian Renaissance in years—at once insightful, illuminating, wide-ranging, and comprehensive…It is also a pleasure to read. -- Douglas Biow * Journal of Interdisciplinary History *A richly illustrated description of the various ways in which women were involved in medical care within Renaissance Italy…It not only builds upon and expands existing bodies of work in often fascinating ways but also suggests many new directions for research on which future scholars can—and no doubt will—build. -- Neil Tarrant * Canadian Journal of History *Strocchia gives voice to noblewomen, nuns, and nurses engaged in medicine and pharmacy, reconstructing their networks of knowledge and business…A great contribution for all scholars engaging with early modern healing practices and represents a valuable enrichment of our perception of this field. -- Marco Faini * Renaissance and Reformation *A uniquely intimate tactile experience of the day-to-day business of healing and healthcare in Renaissance Italy. Strocchia’s painstaking and creative archival reconstructions of women healers in elite households, convents, and pox hospitals shows the extent to which women were immersed in and helped shape the medical marketplace as suppliers, producers, innovators, and consumers within a changing scientific and technological landscape. -- Elizabeth W. Melllyn * Annals of Science *Argues convincingly for female medical spaces as sites of innovation…Rich and revealing in its detail and astute in its analysis, this book is essential reading for anyone with an interest in early modern social, medical, and gender history. -- Jane Stevens Crawshaw * Bulletin of the History of Medicine *Richly detailed and wide-ranging…Essential reading for [those] who are interested in medical care in early modern cities, the role of women as healers in early modern Italy, and the convent as a site of knowledge and sociability in urban environments. -- Bradford Bouley * Early Modern Women *Excellent…Reveal[s] the pervasive presence and agency of women in health care throughout late Renaissance Florence…A fascinating and extremely readable account of women in early modern health care, which also stands as testament to what a rich and cohesive field the study of women and health care has now become. -- Tessa Storey * Nuncius *Based on extensive archival research and a wide reading of secondary literature, this clearly written book demonstrates that women played a large role in Italian Renaissance health care. * Choice *An expansive history that integrates gender, economics, and health…This book helps us to see and hear the work of women as they engaged in health care in late Renaissance Italy. -- Cynthia Klestinec * Metascience *An influential, insightful, and, indeed, formidable book that dispels one more time the notion that women, educated or not, were marginal to the medical, economic, social, and political economy of their time. Forgotten Healers is not simply a recuperation of women’s various work, mostly unpaid, in convents and hospitals in Renaissance Tuscany but a powerful reconstruction…of the many ways women—noblewomen, nuns, laywomen, and orphans—were fully functional members of the social fabric of their time. -- Valeria Finucci * Journal of Modern History *
£39.91
Harvard University Press Gods Planet
Book SynopsisMany scientists look at the universe and conclude we are here by chance. The astronomer and historian Owen Gingerich looks at the same evidence—and the fact that the universe is comprehensible to our minds—and sees it as proof for the intentions of a Creator-God. The more rigorous science becomes, the more clearly God’s handiwork can be understood.Trade Review[A] short, punchy, accessible, and thought-provoking book… What sets this book apart from others dealing with the science–religion debate is that rather than dealing in generalities, the author illustrates his viewpoint by focusing on three case studies related to the work of three scientists, Nicolaus Copernicus, Charles Darwin, and Fred Hoyle. The introduction of personal details concerning these thinkers makes what is already an easy read even more enjoyable and engaging. -- Russell Stannard * Christian Century *A rich volume you’ll want to keep in your library. -- John Farrell * Forbes.com *I thought I knew all I needed to know about these characters—Copernicus, Darwin, Hoyle—who shaped our modern view of the cosmos. Now Owen Gingerich provides new facts and deeper understanding of all three of them. -- Freeman DysonAstronomer-historian Owen Gingerich rebuts the claim made by Stephen Jay Gould that science and religion are ‘non-overlapping magisteria’ with no influence on each other. He does so by carefully analyzing three scientific discoveries whose full significance is only clarified through metascientific assessment. Gingerich’s argument is scholarly, yet the writing is so clear and lively that it is readily accessible. -- The Rev. Dr. John Polkinghorne, KBE, FRSEminent scholar Gingerich shows how religious perspectives have played significant roles in major scientific discoveries and frameworks…This enlightened Christian’s goal is to show that Steven J. Gould’s allegedly non-overtapping magisteria (NOMA), namely science and religion, are actually constantly overlapping…God’s Planet is fascinating in its wealth of information and insights. -- V. V. Raman * Choice *
£32.36
Harvard University Press Kin
Book SynopsisBy unlocking the evolutionary information contained in cells, biologists have been able to construct the Tree of Life and show that its three main stems are dominated by microbes. Plants and animals constitute a small upper branch in one stem. Soon we may know how life began over 3.5 billion years ago. John Ingraham tells this story of discovery.Trade ReviewIn a delightfully personal yet accurate style, Ingraham describes the events and personalities that brought us the ‘Tree of Life,’ the representation that encapsulates the relatedness of all organisms of Earth. Readers will be educated while they are entertained as they explore fascinating aspects of life discovered through the study of our microbial relatives. -- Roberto Kolter, Harvard UniversityOne of the grandest achievements of modern biology has been the unraveling of the relationships among the many kinds of life and the determination of the course of evolution, a great tree of all life. In Kin, prominent microbiologist John Ingraham traces the scientific developments that led to this achievement and some of its ramifications. Along the way, with many personal anecdotes about scientists involved, Ingraham unfolds the history of microbiology and molecular biology, the development of genetic technology, and ideas on the origin of life. Kin is a highly readable account of a remarkable period of scientific progress in biology. -- Norman Pace, University of ColoradoCharles Darwin knew microbes as ‘infusoria,’ and left them off his partial tree of life — little dreaming of how they dominate it, or of their intimate relationship with humanity. That kinship, reveals microbiologist John Ingraham in this succinct scientific chronicle, began to emerge in the 1960s and 1970s with revolutionary findings such as Carl Woese’s discovery of archaea. Ingraham deftly traces the rise of relevant fields, and highlights landmark research on the gut microbiome, the putative origins of life in oceanic hydrothermal vents and more. -- Barbara Kiser * Nature *Darwin included a single figure in On the Origin of Species: a sketchy Tree of Life, showing how the teeming variety of creatures derive from a single common ancestor. Today, explains John Ingraham, we have fleshed out the picture and can demonstrate in detail how ‘we are all kin…from the smallest bacterium to the largest blue whale.’ He describes the process of discovery that revealed the sole three branches on the tree: the recently discovered archaea, the bacteria and the eukaryotes, which include everything from protozoa, algae and fungi up to humans. Our new knowledge of the tree’s structure can help us to understand how bacteria on, in and around us cause disease; it may also offer clues about the origins of life. -- Matthew Reisz * Times Higher Education *In simple and straightforward prose, Ingraham restores the true importance of one of the most revolutionary yet understated discoveries of the last century: that we all descend from, and are intricately linked with, microbial creatures. Ingraham’s narrative is a profound story about our true origins, remarkable in scope and multi-dimensional in ambition. This all-encompassing tale extends from the beginning of life on earth to the present day, and occasionally casts a glance at the future. Readers who expect to learn about our unicellular friends (and enemies) will also find an account of the beginning of life, the discovery of DNA, the quest to cure disease, a brief digression into gene editing, and a forecast of impending ecological disasters…Modest and revealing, Kin focuses our eyes on the invisible and unfamiliar—and thereby puts our own existence into perspective. The book offers a pluralistic account of our varied encounters with the manifold microbes around us. But as divergent as it may seem, this story is equally unifying. Stringing together insights from many disciplines, distant places, and different times, Ingraham delivers a living history that is unique and whole, and invites us to become a part of it. -- Margret Veltman * Cooper Square Review *An intricately structured story that flows very well and shows how all these discoveries interlocked and influenced each other…It is not often that someone is willing or capable at the end of a long career to sit down and write a cogent eyewitness history of their discipline. That alone makes Kin a noteworthy and admirable achievement. * The Inquisitive Biologist *Those curious to learn about modern microbiology would certainly enjoy hearing from one of its founders. -- Michael Galperin * Quarterly Review of Biology *
£32.36
Harvard University Press On the Organic Law of Change
Book SynopsisMarking A. R. Wallace's death in 1913, James Costa presents in facsimile, with transcription and annotations, the "Species Notebook" of 1855-1859. These extensive, never-before-published notes from Wallace's Malay expedition reveal the travels, trials, and genius of the co-discoverer of natural selection--Darwin's equal among pioneers of evolution.Trade ReviewOn the Organic Law of Change offers the first detailed analysis of Wallace's 'Species Notebook' by an evolutionary biologist and is the most important study of the development of Wallace's evolutionary ideas attempted by anyone so far. Costa is uniquely placed to have done this work; not only does he have an excellent grasp of evolutionary theory, but he also has a detailed understanding of the early history of the subject including the development of Darwin's ideas about evolution. -- George Beccaloni, Curator of Orthopteroid Insects and Director of the A.R. Wallace Correspondence Project, Natural History Museum, LondonA triumph of careful research. The annotations are illuminating in all regards. -- Janet Browne, Aramont Professor of the History of Science and Chair of the Department of the History of Science, Harvard UniversityAlfred Russel Wallace's 'Species Notebook' is surely one of the most important documents in the history of science. Jim Costa's deft annotations do more than just explain, synthesize, and contextualize this day-to-day account of Wallace at work: they bring his interests and ideas--and Wallace himself--to life. It is truly an unusual privilege to have such a direct view into the workings of an extraordinary mind in the act of formulating some of the most powerful and effective ideas in all of science. -- Andrew Berry, Lecturer on Organismic & Evolutionary Biology, Harvard UniversityAn important new book…The notebook itself is part diary, part field notes and part log of each day's collecting. Its pages are filled with observations, beautiful drawings and daily tallies of specimens. But this is also where Wallace wrote his thoughts, analyzed papers and developed his evolutionary ideas. -- Stephanie Pain * New Scientist *Costa’s book is thus the first publication of what has been left to us of Wallace’s intended book; and we owe a debt to him for making it available at last…Wallace was a polymath, to be sure, and probably among the last to be so, which makes him one of the most interesting figures in the history of English-language ideas…You need to read the man for yourself, and Costa’s book provides you with one more important way to do this. -- David A. Morrison * Systematic Biology *This is a very fine treatment of a complicated story; it benefits from being told by a scientist who understands the biology involved, and who has not taken liberties with documenting the history of Wallace’s thought process. This may well be the best single overview of this important episode in the history of thought yet produced, and I highly recommend it. -- Charles H. Smith * Reports of the National Center for Science Education *Let me say it right up front: I love this book! Reading it is a bit like listening in on the musings of an eminent colleague, trying to follow their train of thought, catching bits of their reasoning and ideas, and being impressed by their knowledge and insights. Tracing the development of Wallace’s thinking on biogeography and evolution as shown through this notebook is both a challenge and a pleasure. Watching him tussle with concepts, such as the definition of a species or the distinction between variety and species, is fascinating. These are concepts that biologists and palaeontologists still struggle with and discuss. Reading about his energetic collecting activities is also absorbing, even though his accounts of orangutan hunts are harrowing…In presenting the Species Notebook to us, Costa has produced a work of admirable scholarship. This book will certainly help to elevate Wallace to his rightful place in the pantheon of 19th century natural scientists and garner him additional respect as an original and perceptive thinker. -- Alwynne B. Beaudoin * Canadian Field-Naturalist *The Species Notebook constitutes a major document in the development of nineteenth-century evolutionary thought, and Costa’s beautifully produced and deftly annotated facsimile edition now makes this previously unpublished record of Wallace’s observations and thinking from the crucial pre–Origin of Species period widely available to scholars and the general public…Costa and Harvard University Press are to be congratulated for this handsome addition to Wallace studies. -- Martin Fichman * Isis *
£45.86
Harvard University Press August Weismann
Book SynopsisAugust Weismann’s 1892 theory that inheritance is transmitted through eggs and sperm provided the biological mechanism for natural selection. In this full-length biography, Frederick Churchill situates Weismann in the swirling intellectual currents of his day and shows how his work paved the way for the modern synthesis of genetics and evolution.Trade ReviewWe come away from this monumental study with a much greater appreciation of this biologist, and an understanding of why [Ernst] Mayr designated him ‘one of the great biologists of all time.’ -- W. F. Bynum * Times Literary Supplement *A monumental study of an important but surprisingly little-studied biologist, August Weismann represents half a century of scholarly investment by historian of science Frederick Churchill… That anybody can write this kind of book these days is awe-inspiring. -- Jane Maienschein * Nature *[A] magisterial biography… It is hard to imagine a better match than between the late Frederick Churchill and the object of his lifelong affection… Will be the definitive biography of August Weismann for decades to come. -- Manfred D. Laubichler * Isis *Those who know the topic that science historian Churchill has been working on these past years have eagerly awaited this definitive biography of August Weismann (1834–1914), whose germ layer of heredity revolutionized the understanding of organismal evolution… The present book places Weismann at the center of the fields of heredity, evolution, and embryonic development, fields that dominated both late-19th- and late-20th-century biology. The scholarship is rock solid, the writing smooth as silk, and the importance of the book central to the flow of the intellectual history of natural science and society. Unreservedly recommended. -- B. K. Hall * Choice *This will be considered the definitive scientific biography of August Weismann, as well as a brilliant account of the golden age of embryology. -- Paul Farber, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Oregon State UniversityA courageous, meticulous study of a major figure. Churchill shows how Weismann turned from his study of natural history and butterflies to provide the grounding for our understanding of chromosomes and germ lines. A truly impressive volume. -- Jane Maienschein, author of Whose View of Life? and Embryos under the Microscope
£999.99
Harvard University, Asia Center Science and Technology in PostMao China
Book SynopsisAlong with the political and economic reforms that have characterized the post-Mao era in China there has been a potentially revolutionary change in Chinese science and technology. Here sixteen scholars examine various facets of the current science and technology scene, comparing it with the past and speculating about future trends.Trade ReviewThe essays cover an impressive range of topics… The book offers a very valuable balance-sheet for professional analysts of China’s economic and scientific policies, and its case studies in particular may prove useful background reading for foreign businessmen dealing with corporate strategy and tactics. Since the whole economic reforms involve a fine balancing act between central planning and free market forces, between central control and the delegation and decentralization of power and authority—vital issues in developing countries of the Third and Second World—a book about the way China grapples with these problems should prove interesting also for comparative studies in modernization theory. -- Stefan B. Polter * Asian Affairs *The studies brought together in this solid, meaty volume appear to add up to a fairly comprehensive treatment of China’s present scientific and technological condition… The book is a valuable addition to the literature relating to the relationship between science and the state, in the particular context of a centrally planned economy subjected to the rigorous primacy of political ideology. -- A. J. Robertson * Business History *This careful and realistic overview of China’s past and present technological state presents an even-handed, historical account of the transition from Nationalist to Communist policies toward science and scientists… Well-integrated chapters make this an informative, readable, and fascinating account of China’s love–hate relationship with technology. Anyone who wants to understand the vagaries of Chinese policy toward science and foreign influences should enjoy this book. -- Martha R. O’Kennon * Science Books & Films *Thanks to this original, clear, and vital collection, the place of technical and scientific issues in China today and in the near future can be understood by all. The editors have assembled 14 essays by established, respected specialists. Despite the variety of subjects—ranging from historical precedents, through present-day domestic policy emphases, to technology transfer from abroad—masterful introductory and concluding chapters draw everything into a unified survey that will serve intermediate and advanced students and observers of contemporary Chinese developments. * Choice *
£16.16
Harvard University Press The Scientific Estate
Book SynopsisThe faith in science as an ally of political and economic progress, which Franklin and Jefferson made so firm a part of the American tradition, has been undermined by the very success of the scientific revolution. Has science become so powerful that it cannot be controlled by democratic processes? Is the scientific community acquiring a privileged role in government something like that of the ecclesiastical estate in the medieval world?Writing from first-hand experience in government administration and his service on three presidential advisory panels, as well as from extensive research, Don K. Price describes how science and technology have weakened the independence of private corporations and broken down some of the checks and balances on which we have relied for the protection of freedom. In this connection he recounts the recent attempts to set up a national program of oceanographic research, showing that the more advanced the scientific and technological programs are, the more difTrade ReviewAlways stimulating and never dull, this perceptive book by a distinguished social scientist gives hope that the ‘Two Cultures’ of C.P. Snow can interact for mutual benefit and not collide with mutual harm. It may well be the most important book in this area written to date. -- Harry Schwartz * The New York Times *This book represents a crucial bench mark. It will serve as a starting basis for future scholarship in an area important to all citizens. -- Philip H. Abelson * The Washington Post *Something of a triumph of subtlety and aspiration… This is a book about science that a humanist might be able to read; the only adequate word for it is ‘sophisticated.’ -- Eric Larrabee * Commentary *The Scientific Estate is a book that is hard to praise highly enough; indeed I can think of no book in the general field of government that deserves to rank with it in all the copious literature of the last decade and more. -- Max Beloff * The Listener *Don K. Price has written a superb statement of contemporary political philosophy… This book is filed with acute observation and some new, purely intellectual, insights that a reader will wish he had seen first. If books, rather than print-outs, are still read in future colleges, this one should stay on the list for political philosophy for a long time. It deals with fundamental questions of power and freedom and the uses of knowledge for human welfare. -- James L. McCamy * American Political Science Review *[To the understanding of] the broad subject of science and public policy, Don K. Price’s book has made a major contribution. It may not be too soon to predict that The Scientific Estate will become a classic. -- Brewster C. Denny * Public Administration Review *Table of ContentsEscape to the Endless Frontier The Fusion of Economic and Political Power The Diffusion of Sovereignty The Established Dissenters The Spectrum from Truth to Power Constitutional Relativity Professionals and Politicians Science and Freedom Notes Index
£63.96
Harvard University Press A Source Book in Greek Science
Book SynopsisCovering the general fields of mathematics, astronomy, mathematical geography, physics, chemistry and chemical technology, geology and meteorology, biology, medicine, and physiological psychology, the present collection surveys the field of Greek scientific achievement over a thousand-year period.Table of ContentsGENERAL EDITOR'S PREFACE PREFACE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS PART I: MATHEMATICS 1. Introductory Note 2. The Divisions of Mathematics Pure and Applied 3. Arithmetic or the Theory of Numbers a. Proportions b. Figured Numbers
£117.56
Harvard University Press A Source Book in Physics
Book SynopsisThis well-known and valuable work consists of selections from the writings of great physicists of the 16th19th centuriesGalileo and Newton, Franklin and Faraday, Rowland, Hertz, the Curiesmaking available in English translation their most important contributions, described in their own words, together with biographical and explanatory notes.Table of ContentsGeneral Editor's Preface Author's Preface PART 1: MECHANICS Galileo: Life. Acceleration and Laws of Falling Bodies. The Pendulum. Motion of Projectiles. Stevinus: Life. The Inclined Plane. Huygens: Life. Theorems on Centrifugal Force. Newton: Life. Definitions. Axioms or Laws of Motion. Varignon: Life. Varignon's Theorem. Jean Bernoulli's Principle of Virtual Velocities. Descartes: Life. Quantity of Motion. Leibnitz: Life. Quantity of Motion. D'Alembert: Life. Quantity of Motion. Young: Life. Energy. Lagrange: Life. Principle of Virtual Velocities. Poinsot: Life. Forces and Couples. PART 2: PROPERTIES OF MATTER Galileo: Rise of Water in a Pump. Torricelli: Life. The Barometer. Pascal: Life. Experiments with the Barometer. Fluid Pressure. Von Guericke: Life. The Air Pump. Boyle: Life. Relations of Pressure and Volume of Air. Mariotte: Life. Relations of Pressure and Volume of Air. Newton: Law of Gravitation. Hooke: Life. Law of Elastic Force. Young: Modulus of Elasticity. Coulomb: Life. The Force of Torsion. Sliding Friction. Cavendish: Life. The Density of the Earth. Torricelli: Efflux of Liquids. Ampere: Molecules and Atoms. PART 3: SOUND Mersenne: Life. Musical Tones Produced by Strings. Wallis: Life. Vibrations of Parts of Strings. Sauveur: Life. Harmonics or Overtones. Helmholtz: Life. The Quality of Musical Tones. PART 4: HEAT Newton: A Scale of the Degrees of Heat. Amontons: Life. An Air-pressure Thermometer. Fahrenheit: Life. The Fahrenheit Scale. Taylor: Life. The Temperatures of Mixtures. Black: Life. Specific Heat. Latent Heat. Of Vapour and Vaporisation. Rumford: Life. Convection of Heat. Heat Produced by Friction. Davy: Life. Heat Produced by Friction. Gay-Lussac: Life. The Expansion of Gases by Heat. Free Expansion of Gases. Joule: Free Expansion of Gases. Joule and Thomson: Free Expansion of Gases. Fourier: Life. Theory of Dimensions. Dulong and Petit: Lives. Atomic Heat. Cagniard de la Tour: Life. Critical Temperature. Andrews: Life. Critical Temperature. Cailletet: Life. Liquefaction of Oxygen, etc. Pictet: Life. Liquefaction of Oxygen. Mayer: Life. The Conservation of Energy. Joule: Life. Mechanical Equivalent of Heat. Helmoltz: The Conservation of Energy. Carnot: Life. The Motive Power of Heat. Clausius: Life. The Second Law of Thermodynamics. Entropy. Kelvin: Life. An Absolute Scale of Temperature. The Second Law of Thermodynamics. An Absolute Scale of Temperature. D. Bernoulli: Life. Kinetic Theory of Gases. Brown: Life. The Brownian Movements. Joule: The Velocity of Gaseous Molecules. Maxwell: Life. The Distribution of Molecular Velocities. Boltzmann: Life. Entropy and Probability. PART 5: LIGHT Descartes: Refraction of Light. The Rainbow. Fermat: Life. Refraction of Light. Bartholinus: Life. Double Refraction. Huygens: Huygens' Principle. Reflection of Light. Refraction of Light. Double Refraction and Polarization. Grimaldi: Life. Diffraction of Light. Newton: Dispersion of Light. The Nature of Light. Young: Interference of Light. Interference of Light. Malus: Life. Polarization by Reflection. Fresnel: Life. Diffraction of Light. Diffraction of Light. Arago and Fresnel: Life of Arago. Interference of Polarized Light. Romer: Life. The Velocity of Light. Bradley: Life. The Velocity of Light. Fizeau: Life. The Velocity of Light. Foucault: Life. The Velocity of Light. Stokes: Life. Fluorescence. Faraday: Magnetic Rotation of the Plane of Polarization. Kirchhoff: Life. The Fraunhofer Lines. Emission and Absorption. Balmer: Life. The Hydrogen Spectral Series. Rowland: Life. Plane and Concave Gratings. Michelson and Morley: Lives. The Michelson-Morley Experiment. Stefan: Life. Temperature Radiation. Christiansen: Life. Anomalous Dispersion. Kundt: Life. Anomalous Dispersion. Zeeman: Life. The Zeeman Effect. PART 6: MAGNETISM AND ELECTRICITY Gilbert: Life. Magnetism and Electricity. Von Guericke: Electric Attractions and Repulsions. Gray: Life. Electric Conductors and Nonconductors. Du Fay: Life. The Two Fluid Theory of Electricity. Franklin: Life. The One Fluid Theory of Electricity. The Electric Kite. Nollet: Life. The Leyden Jar. Aepinus: Life. Pyroelectricity. Coulomb: Law of Electric Force. Law of Magnetic Force. Galvani: Life. The Electric Current. Volta: Life. The Voltaic Pile. Nicholson: Life. The Decomposition of Water. Oersted: Life. The Action of Currents on Magnets. Biot and Savart: Lives. Biot and Savart's Law. Arago: Magnetization by the Current. Magnetism of Rotation. Ampere: Life. New Names. Actions between Currents. The Solenoid. Circuits and Magnetic Shells. Seebeck: Life. Thermoelectric Currents. Ohm: Life. Ohm's Law. Faraday: Life. Induced Currents. Self-induction. Static Electric Induction. Laws of Electrolysis. The Charge Resides on Surface. Specific Inductive Capacity. Diamagnetism. Physical Lines of Magnetic Force. Lenz: Life. Lenz's Law. Henry: Life. Self-induction. The Oscillatory Discharge. Gauss: Life. The Absolute Measure of Magnetic Force. Joule: Joule's Law. Maxwell: A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field. Rowland: The Magnetic Effect of Electric Convection. Hall: Life. The Hall Effect. P. Curie: Piezoelectricity. Hertz: Life. Electric Radiation. Hittorf: Life. The Cathode Discharge. Crookes: Life. The Cathode Discharge. Goldstein: Life. The Canal Rays. Hallwachs: Life. Electric Discharge by Light. Perrin: Life. The Negative Charges in the Cathode Discharge. J. J. Thomson Life. The Electron. Wien: Life. The Canal Rays. Roentgen: Life. The Roentgen Rays. H. Bequerel: Life. The Radiation from Uranium. P. and M. S. Curie: Lives. Polonium. Radium Index
£117.56
Harvard University Press Vanishing America Species Extinction Racial
Book SynopsisMiles Powell explores how early conservationists became convinced that the vitality of America’s white races depended on preserving the wilderness. Some conservationists embraced scientific racism, eugenics, and restrictive immigration laws, but these activists also laid the groundwork for the many successes of the modern environmental movement.Trade ReviewPowell’s intention is to illuminate a little-known chapter of American history, a lengthy period when wilderness was a racially charged concept… As the turn of the 20th century approached, many white people (most often identifying as Nordic or Anglo-Saxon) ‘saw themselves as an imperiled race,’ Powell writes, and perceived that their own impending extinction was reflected in the nation’s disappearing wildlife. Their solution for preserving both was to bar the wrong—i.e., non-Nordic or Anglo-Saxon white—people from wild lands… This exclusionary principle ended up forming the backbone of the conservation movement… Powell incorporates several forgotten sidebars to official environmental history in his book, many alarming but often also illuminating… The book deserves to be included in current discussions of class, race, and gender. It indicates how highly intelligent and educated, even often well-intentioned, individuals can band together to promote divisive and discriminatory causes. The book also reminds readers that the conceptualization of ‘us’ and ‘them’ in America history is not strictly placed along color lines, but is strongly tied with ideas of fitness and value—some of which sprang from essentially neutral (‘harmless’) scientific principles. -- Louise Fabiani * Pacific Standard *A carefully researched and captivating book. Vanishing America stands apart from previous works in the way it convincingly weaves together historiographical strands that have often remained distinct, in its success in deploying a broad range of primary sources, and in its ability to demonstrate the many ways that conservation and racial thought have not only been deeply entangled but also persisted across time. No other book manages to be as thorough, convincing, and chronologically expansive in its efforts to show how concerns about the annihilation of wildlife and racial decline profoundly shaped one another. -- Mark V. Barrow Jr., author of Nature’s Ghosts: Confronting Extinction from the Age of Jefferson to the Age of EcologyPowell’s Vanishing America is a bracing and innovative revision of early conservation history in the United States. By blending environmental history with intellectual and cultural history, Powell unearths a troubling story of how and why some Americans wanted to save nature as well as their own racial privilege. Eloquent and provocative, Vanishing America is a timely reminder that the shadows of the past continue to haunt environmentalism today. -- Matthew Klingle, author of Emerald City: An Environmental History of SeattlePowell’s history of the inseparability of environmental and racial anxieties tackles an essential question that has always haunted American environmentalism—why so white?—and that requires an insightful history like this one to fully understand. -- Jennifer Price, author of Flight Maps: Adventures with Nature in Modern AmericaEnvironmental historian Miles Powell has provided a new and provocative angle to the history of the American conservation/preservation movement through the lens of its racial logics. -- James H. McDonald * New York Journal of Books *
£32.26
Harvard University Press Gravitys Century
Book SynopsisRon Cowen offers a sweeping account of the century of experimentation that has consistently confirmed Einstein's general theory of relativity. He shows how we got from Eddington's pivotal observations of the 1919 eclipse to the Event Horizon Telescope, aimed at starlight wrapping around the black hole at our galaxy's center.Trade ReviewCowen is a gifted science writer and storyteller, and the story is amazing! -- John C. Mather, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics[Cowen’s] brisk, engaging narrative leads us from Einstein’s famous ‘thought experiments’ through theorists’ many (so far unsuccessful) attempts to marry quantum mechanics with general relativity, and up to recent (more successful) efforts to observe gravitational waves and black holes. * Wall Street Journal *There are some extremely clever ways to visualize how gravitation works in a Universe governed by General Relativity under a wide variety of physical conditions, and Cowen explores many of the classic ways you've probably seen before along with some incredibly creative ones that were new, even to me. -- Ethan Siegel * Forbes *A brief, accessible account of the 1919 eclipse and subsequent advances in cosmology, touching upon dark matter, dark energy, quantum gravity, and black holes. It’s a very quick and readable introduction to some of the exotic findings that came in Einstein’s wake. * Bookforum *This is as good a short introduction to Einstein’s thought as one could wish for. -- Simon Ings * The Spectator *In a conversational style, the veteran physics writer chronicles the field’s greatest hits in the century since a solar eclipse proved Einstein was right. -- Gemma Tarlach * Discover *A breezy and enjoyable read, a welcome addition to a crowded shelf of books on these topics. -- Peter Coles * Nature *Gravity’s Century is remarkably easy to follow and read. If you are a keen beginner, or just interested in some of the people behind the science, read this book. -- Laura Nuttall * BBC Sky at Night *This gracefully written history of 20th-century gravity research from science writer Cowen shines a light on a key aspect of modern physics…Filled with vivid descriptions of cutting-edge work and the scientists behind it, Cowen’s book is fascinating, both a learning experience and a pleasure to read. * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *A clear and compelling narrative about the development of our understanding of gravity and the universe, powered by Einstein and his cohorts. Cowen weaves together the historical and personal events leading to this revolution and brings us up to date with the ideas and speculations that will likely forge an even newer and more radical understanding of the nature of the world. -- George F. Smoot, winner of the Nobel Prize in PhysicsEinstein’s general theory of relativity radically changed our notions of space, gravity, and time. Gravity’s Century takes us from Einstein’s struggle to develop his theory up to the modern day—when the detection of gravitational waves from black holes has confirmed general relativity’s most audacious claims, even as scientists are still trying to reconcile the theory with the other great idea of twentieth-century physics, quantum mechanics. -- David Spergel, Princeton UniversityAccessible and compact…A great introduction to Einstein’s theory of general relativity and the century of research that has been testing his ideas since. -- Leon Vlieger * Inquisitive Biologist *A concise chronicle of the dramatic expansion of our knowledge of the universe, from the eclipse expeditions of 1919 to test Einstein’s theory of relativity, to the Event Horizon Telescope’s black hole images of 2019. -- Mike Perricone * Symmetry *Clear and readily intelligible to the non-specialist. -- Johannes E. Riutta * Well-Read Naturalist *Its informal, readable style hides an enormous amount of physics and a fair share of history. * Choice *[An] enjoyable read…Cowen does a good job of breaking down ideas so that they are easily understood…I would recommend Gravity’s Century to anyone with an interest in astrophysics in general, or in gravitation in particular. -- Earl Patrick Bellinger * Metascience *
£20.66
Harvard University Press Superbugs
Book SynopsisAntibiotics are powerful drugs that can prevent and treat infections, but they are becoming less effective as a result of drug resistance. Superbugs describes this growing global threat, the systematic failures that have led to it, and solutions that governments, industries, and public health specialists can adopt.Trade Review[L]ucid and thoughtful… Superbugs provides a set of policy prescriptions, framed in pragmatic terms meant to motivate self-interested politicians. -- Jerome Groopman * New York Review of Books *An immensely readable description of the challenges that encourage overuse of antibiotics and discourage new drug development…Superbugs is a worthy exposition of the challenges we will have to surmount to incentivize more responsible antibiotic use until we discover new ways of dealing with infections. -- Ramanan Laxminarayan * Science *As antibiotics become increasingly ineffective, modern medicine faces a global threat. Can we do anything to stop it? That’s the question posed by the book Superbugs: An Arms Race against Bacteria. [The] authors look at the rise of drug resistance, and their research is sobering. * Late Night Live (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) *Excellent. * Choice *Jim O’Neill helped take the issue of antimicrobial resistance from the science lab to the global stage. He and coauthors Anthony McDonnell and William Hall impart a compelling story about the battle against what could become a mass killer of humanity. -- David Cameron, former Prime Minister of the United KingdomAddressing antimicrobial resistance requires the kind of thoughtful yet action-oriented analysis that this vitally important book provides. The messages in Superbugs should be heeded by individuals, government officials, and policymakers around the world. -- Larry Summers, former director of the White House National Economic CouncilWith superb insight into one of the greatest health threats to humankind, Superbugs highlights the need for an integrated, multifaceted approach to treating drug-resistant infections. This riveting book makes a compelling case for action. -- Peter Piot, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
£22.46
Harvard University Press Universe in Creation
Book SynopsisOffering a fresh take on what brought the world and us into being, Roy Gould helps us see the universe as the master of its own creation, not tethered to a singular event but burgeoning as new space and energy stream into existence. He explores whether life itself rather than a mere cosmic afterthought may be written into the basic laws of nature.Trade ReviewAn engaging book that clearly explains many fundamental concepts in cosmology, astrophysics, biology and chemistry, and is a must-have for all avid popular science fans. * Astronomy Now *There are details throughout Universe in Creation that highlight fascinating and mysterious coherences in the fabric of existence. * PopMatters *Gould…proposes a fascinating thesis about life’s emergence in this eloquent debut… His thought-provoking closing arguments highlight three observations of life: ‘that it is extremely robust across billions of years, that it is extremely diverse across millions of species, and that it is ubiquitous across the planet’s many environments.’ …Readers will appreciate Gould’s erudition and his new way of looking at the universe. * Publishers Weekly *Gould writes the deepest scientific thoughts with the ease of a skilled raconteur…[His] book is filled to overflowing with fascinating, imaginative detail…It is cosmology at its most intricate and explanation at its simplest. A wonderful book. * Queensland Reviewers Collective *The universe could not have dreamt up a better press agent for its story than Roy Gould. From what connects katydids and elephants, through the natural evolution of RNAs, to exoplanets and the Mandelbrot set—the author’s sense of wonder at what is around us is absolutely infectious. Gould’s explanation of how order is naturally created by using disorder at all scales is the best I have seen, making sense of purposefulness without purpose. A joyous romp through a cosmos full of wonders, and changing still! -- Roald Hoffmann, chemist and writerExciting, original, and extremely well written, Universe in Creation offers a philosophically novel perspective on the nature of the universe. -- Avi Loeb, Harvard UniversityWhen we wonder where we came from, or ponder the meaning of our lives, our thoughts might go back to childhood. In his search for meaning, Roy Gould rewinds further to where everything began: the birth of the cosmos. He is the universe’s joyful biographer, recognizing that its story and ours are intertwined, and that one of the most extraordinary things about the universe is that it created beings that can observe and appreciate it. Universe in Creation asks whether or not the universe’s creation of stars, galaxies, living cells, and human beings reveals an unfolding plan. It is a delightful, spirited, and brilliant inquiry. -- Molly Bentley, Executive Producer, Big Picture ScienceA fascinating synthesis…Gould artfully describes various…highlights in universal history, like the formation of stars and planets. Many of these moments are majestic. -- Adam Gaffney * New Republic *In a unique take on the cosmos, Gould makes the case that the emergence of a great many things are not only pre-ordained, but predictable…An interesting read that’s equally, fundamentally sound and correct. -- Ethan Siegel * Forbes *
£18.86
Harvard University Press The Scientific Method
Book SynopsisThe scientific method is just over a hundred years old. From debates about the evolution of the human mind to the rise of instrumental reasoning, Henry M. Cowles shows how the idea of a single scientific method emerged from a turn inward by psychologists that produced powerful epistemological and historical effects that are still with us today.Trade ReviewCowles is an engaging narrator of this important story and a sensitive analyst of its outcome…Cowles shows that what began as a universal process embracing human thought and natural evolution became a prescriptive list of rules setting science apart from everything else…[A] valuable book. -- Jessica Riskin * New York Review of Books *Illuminating…Noting that the idea of the scientific method is a myth, Cowles sets out to trace the origins of its role as the supposed unique route to knowledge, in particular the origins of its educational standing in American culture. -- Stephen Gaukroger * Times Literary Supplement *An absorbing read that illuminates the history of the natural and social sciences in Britain and the US. It features nuanced readings of important scientific figures from a new perspective. Well-argued, accessible, and based on extensive research, Cowles’s hypothesis about the transformation of the scientific method by evolutionary theory should win the struggle for existence in Darwin’s ‘tangled bank’ of scholarship on 19th-century science. -- Bernard Lightman * Physics Today *Absolutely brilliant…The book has important and tantalizing implications for those interested more generally in the twentieth-century modernist turn to method, process, procedure, and technique…What Cowles does that is arresting, in my view, is to show to spectacular effect how the Darwinian ‘method of nature’ underlies (even as it mirrors) the pragmatist method…A wonderfully smart book that complicates our understanding of modernism by giving us a unique account of its past. -- Kunal Parker * Jotwell *Cowles’s probing work delivers fresh insight into a less frequently visited part of intellectual history. * Publishers Weekly *With dazzling brilliance and rare verve, Henry Cowles has accomplished what historians dream of—seizing upon an important fixture in our lives that we often take for granted, and making its story come alive. What is science? Anyone with even a passing interest in that question will have to read this book. -- Jonathan Levy, author of Freaks of Fortune: The Emerging World of Capitalism and Risk in AmericaCowles brings to life a lush and unexpected intellectual history of the concept of the scientific method. This fine book will be of great significance to both historians and practicing scientists interested in the advances and limitations of contemporary science. -- Richard Prum, author of The Evolution of Beauty: How Darwin’s Forgotten Theory of Mate Choice Shapes the Animal World—and UsThe Scientific Method tells the exciting story of how nineteenth-century psychologists and anthropologists were crucial in establishing how to think about science. Unexpected, provocative, and far-reaching, this book positions the human sciences at the center of rational thought. -- Janet Browne, author of Charles Darwin: A BiographyHenry Cowles has produced an extremely rich history of the idea of ‘the scientific method.’ He recounts its eventful life from the crucial period when modern science took shape, tracing the influences of many diverse intellectual trends such as Darwinism and pragmatism. This is a unique and exemplary blend of philosophical and historical scholarship, with pertinent lessons for the troubled relationship between science and politics today. -- Hasok Chang, author of Inventing Temperature: Measurement and Scientific ProgressA fascinating story of how key figures in the history of science struggled to make sense of the fundamental nature of knowledge construction and answer the enduring question of what it means to think…A truly impressive work of scholarship. -- John L. Rudolph * Social History of Medicine *[A] compelling history revealing an image of science as something natural, something we can all relate to and endorse because the ‘scientific method’ of our textbooks is not really specific to science. It is simply how we think. -- Brandon A. Conley * Quarterly Review of Biology *Cowles combines exhaustive research with interesting storytelling to weave a fascinating narrative about the history of the idea of method…As a book of cultural history, The Scientific Method is a fascinating, detailed account of how ‘method’ threaded its way through political, cultural, social, and academic discussions…Impressive scholarship. * Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith *Provides a rich and fascinating history and has a compelling story to tell…Cowles’s history of the rise of the myth of the scientific method reverberates with our own present anxieties about science denialism and being in a ‘post-truth’ era. -- Alisa Bokulich and Federica Bocchi * Isis *Searching, learned, and engrossing…What Cowles gives us in The Scientific Method—and it is a gift—is the history of one version of the myth of the scientific method. It is a compelling history, and he tells it well. -- Greg Priest * History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences *
£28.76
Harvard University Press The Great Rift
Book SynopsisMichael Hobart locates the great rift between science and religion not in ideological disagreement but in advances in mathematics and symbolic representation that moved past language to open new windows onto the natural world. His work connects the cognitive breakthroughs of the past with intellectual debates ongoing in the twenty-first century.Trade ReviewHobart offers a new twist on a huge old metanarrative: the death of God. Something or other happened in Renaissance Europe, the story goes, and it eventually distanced scientists from religion. Hobart locates this great shift in the field of mathematics…To make [his] argument, Hobart presents a virtuosic array of evidence…The Great Rift contains a huge wealth of historical anecdote, and Hobart marshals it confidently. -- Josephine Livingstone * New Republic *The Great Rift is a rich, original, and constructively provocative book that trumpets the value of history when examining the contrast between science and religion. Hobart presents a persuasive and deeply analytic overarching argument that avoids simplistic framing. Covering a wide range of material, this book is at once groundbreaking, satisfying, and a joy to read. -- Joan Richards, Brown UniversityThe Great Rift offers an innovative interpretation of the rupture between science and religion from the time of Galileo. Rather than new methods of experimental science or new cosmological conceptions as traditional accounts would have it, Hobart argues for a revolution in information technology that triggered new developments in early modern mathematics as the real culprit responsible for the ‘Great Rift.’ Informed by a lifetime of work on the history of mathematics as it relates to the history of information technology and intellectual history, this book is full of provocative arguments and fresh perspectives. -- J. B. Shank, author of The Newton Wars and the Beginning of the French EnlightenmentNumeracy, in fine, is what eventually opened, between religion and science, the rift that would never close again. The momentous story is told with keen insight, meticulous detail, and deep learning. -- Brendan Dooley * Journal of Modern History *The immense scope of the chronicle, the professional scholarship, and the depth of insight manifested in this complex and comprehensive study of the rise of Western science provides a narrative both engrossing and enlightening…This book is a gem. * Choice *A sturdy contribution to the history of science. * Kirkus Reviews *
£31.41
Harvard University Press The Italian Renaissance of Machines
Book SynopsisThe Renaissance was a rebirth of art and literature—and of machines. In this lavishly illustrated volume, Paolo Galluzzi guides readers through a singularly inventive period featuring Taccola’s and da Vinci’s fusion of artistry and engineering and new concepts of learning that enabled Galileo’s revolutionary mathematical science of mechanics.Trade ReviewGalluzzi’s project in this erudite and beautifully illustrated book is to consider Renaissance humanism from the relatively unfamiliar perspective of machine design…Leonardo’s projects, like Taccola’s, combined philosophy, art, experimental science, performance, politics, diplomacy, and fantasy. It’s not that these engineer-humanists did many different things, but that they regarded all things as one. -- Jessica Riskin * New York Review of Books *Galluzzi has long been one of the premier scholars of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century history of technology and science. But most of his scholarship is not available in English and is thus inaccessible to those who do not read Italian. This beautifully written book will bring his scholarship to the general reader, while promising to be of great use to specialists. -- Pamela O. Long, author of Engineering the Eternal City: Infrastructure, Topography, and the Culture of Knowledge in Late Sixteenth-Century RomeIn a period of economic development, profound urbanization, and constant warfare, artist-engineers offered Renaissance society creative solutions to technical problems, new ways of imagining and understanding the world, and empirical methodologies that laid the groundwork for the new sciences. Galluzzi’s richly illustrated book therefore does well to demonstrate how artist-engineers revolutionized the conceptualization and production of textual and visual content, and, consequently, produced radical innovations in graphic representations that reflect the ever-fascinating world that is the Italian Renaissance. -- Jennifer Strtak * Renaissance and Reformation *Galluzzi, director of the Museo Galileo since 1982, is eminently qualified to synthesize this vast body of work…His observations display a freshness, immediacy, and acuity…Anyone who studies or teaches the renaissance of arts and letters will benefit from this more inclusive view of the period. -- Michael Kucher * Technology and Culture *Galluzzi is the doyen of Leonardo da Vinci scholars today…This is apt to become a canonical text in its field. -- Bert Hall * Renaissance and Reformation *An authoritative introduction to Galluzzi’s scholarly achievement, making it accessible as a reference work to an international English language reading audience, while at the same retaining stylistic traces of the vividness of the lectures. -- Sven Dupré * Journal of Modern History *
£32.36
Princeton University Press Power Speed and Form
Book SynopsisPresents an account of the engineering behind eight breakthrough innovations that transformed American life from 1876 to 1939 - the telephone, electric power, oil refining, the automobile, the airplane, radio, the long-span steel bridge, and building with reinforced concrete.Trade ReviewOne of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2007 "David P. Billington and David P. Billington, Jr., hope that their new book will increase technological literacy among college students. But this well-written and nicely illustrated volume may also reach a broader audiences. Power, Speed, and Form will introduce engineering students to eminent predecessors from whom there is still much to learn, especially about the use of numerical language. This book will also help students in other disciplines appreciate engineering approaches to problem solving."--Thomas P. Hughes, American Scientist "The authors discuss eight transformative inventions ... within their sociocultural context. They also examine the lives of the inventors as well as the cumulative process of invention. The superb figures ... and many photos nicely illustrate the Billingtons' overriding themes: the importance of technological literacy and the fact that original engineering is based on simple ideas."--Library Journal "The book is a sequel to The Innovators (1996), which covered American engineering from 1776 to 1883; the two books together explain the principal engineering ideas that helped transform the U.S. from an agrarian society in the eighteenth century to the industrial civilization it became in the twentieth century."--George Cohen, Booklist "[A] coherent and appealing approach, introducing engineering as a historical sequence of ideas and events, part of a canon of great ideas... [A]n engaging narrative that explores the work of key innovators... For the Billingtons, design is the primary function of engineering, one that distinguishes it from science."--Robin Tatu, ASEE Prism "The authors ... discuss the development of each [innovation] in a way that is readily accessible to building engineers and non-engineers--their ultimate purpose... The book, then, was meant to serve as a text for introductory engineering courses, especially those designed to help liberal arts students satisfy technical literacy requirements. Such courses can also excite engineering students by explaining how many innovations sprang from ideas that though novel were relatively simple."--Ray Bert, Civil Engineering "By introducing the fundamental theories upon which various significant technological achievements are based, Billington Sr... and Billington Jr... shed light on the unseen foundations of invention... A remarkable accomplishment of this book is that it presents these theories and equations in a manner that is understandable to general readers, rather than accessible only to engineers or scientists. Thus, it fills a much-needed role in helping to enhance technological literacy and understanding among the general public... Highly recommended."--Choice "Power, Speed, and Form is physically an extraordinary volume...chock full of the most extraordinary photos... Yet this is not a picture book. It is a serious history of the development of American technology in the period between the year 1876...and 1939... [W]hat is unique, and what, along with the illustrations, makes this book something of a treasure, is the inclusion of more than forty sidebars, each a full-page explication in words, numerical formulas, and splendidly clear diagrams, of the historic innovations discussed in the text."--Samuel C. Florman, Technology and CultureTable of ContentsList of Sidebars ix List of Figures xi Preface xv Acknowledgments xxi Chapter One: The World's Fairs of 1876 and 1939 1 Chapter Two: Edison, Westinghouse, and Electric Power 13 Chapter Three: Bell and the Telephone 35 Chapter Four: Burton, Houdry, and the Refining of Oil 57 Chapter Five: Ford, Sloan, and the Automobile 79 Chapter Six: The Wright Brothers and the Airplane 103 Chapter Seven: Radio: From Hertz to Armstrong 129 Chapter Eight: Ammann and the George Washington Bridge 155 Chapter Nine: Eastwood, Tedesko, and Reinforced Concrete 176 Chapter Ten: Streamlining: Chrysler and Douglas 199 Appendix: The Edison Dynamo and the Parallel Circuit 220 Notes 223 Index 257
£38.25
Princeton University Press All Creatures Naturalists Collectors and
Book SynopsisTells the story of the modern discovery of biodiversity. This work argues that the work begun by Linnaeus culminated around 1900, when collecting and inventory were organized on a grand scale in natural history surveys.Trade Review"[A] fascinating and groundbreaking book."--Tim Dee, Times Literary Supplement "In this new, well-argued book, Kohler plays down the importance of laboratory life to naturalists. Instead he puts their scientific achievements into the contexts of the environment they worked in, the social culture of nature-going they often came from, and, lastly, the science of classification in the tradition of the Swedish naturalist Carl von Linne... An important contribution to the history of naturalists in the United States, it is well worth the read."--Peder Anker, Science "Fascinating reading... All Creatures presents an excellent summary of the work and lives of explorers and surveyors. Kohler summarizes the rapidly vanishing field of biological surveys for a broad audience, formidably bringing back old times to explain the birth and growth of surveys, collecting and natural history."--Swen C. Renner, EMBO Reports "In this rich story of discoveries, readers learn of the remarkable natural history work that has identified and named 1.4 million species on Earth... This book portrays the travel, pleasures, and pain of fieldwork in this great century of taxonomy."--Choice "[This book] opens new perspectives on histories of natural history that did not end with the experimentation of the life sciences in the second half of the nineteenth century. It also challenges the reader to rethink the relationship between social history and a culturally informed history of science."--Tobias Cheung, Canadian Journal of History "[Kohler's] treatment is a great general read but at the same time, fills an empty niche in the history of American biological sciences. This volume is highly recommended for students of the history of science at any level."--Larry T. Spencer, Quarterly Review of Biology "Kohler thoughtfully examines the whole issue of surveys versus discoveries and collectors versus explorers... While scientific and environmental circumstances have changed, Kohler has succeeded in restoring these naturalists to their rightful place in the history of natural history."--Mark Madison, International History Review "Despite the spatio-temporal restriction of Kohler's subject, he manages to place it into a context of more general interest and importance by elaborating the environmental, cultural, and scientific backgrounds of survey collecting. Any systematist curious about the processes that have been responsible for filling the filing cabinets of American natural history museums should read this book."--Ronald A. Jenner, The Systematist "Kohler's book will be useful for science educators who wish to broaden their discussions of diversity with an historical dimension. It will be especially useful for those in the United States who can use the book to point to work done in local regions that had significant national and international scientific importance. And, in that sense, the study provides a useful and highly readable source that brings together a lot of recent historical research."--Paul Lawrence Farber, Science Education "This is a good book and a good challenge for today."--Joao Gomes, International Journal of Environmental StudiesTable of ContentsList of Illustrations ix Preface xi CHAPTER ONE: Nature 1 Natural History Survey 10 Inner Frontiers 17 Twilight Zones 30 Impressions 37 Conclusion 45 CHAPTER TWO: Culture 47 Nature-Going 50 Middle-Class Vacation: From Leisure to Recreation 56 Recreation and Natural Science 67 Nature Essay and Diorama 73 The Science of Art 82 Conclusion 88 CHAPTER THREE: Patrons 91 Natural History Surveys 94 Museum Exhibition and Collecting 107 Museum Collecting: An Overview 117 Research Museums and Their Patrons 123 Conclusion 134 CHAPTER FOUR: Expedition 137 The Field Party 139 System 149 Communication 154 Infrastructure 162 Mobility and Automobility 172 Conclusion 180 CHAPTER FIVE: Work 182 Work and Skill 183 Pleasures 192 Pains 197 Careers 205 Women in the Field 215 Identity 220 Conclusion 225 CHAPTER SIX: Knowledge 227 Species and Survey Collecting 231 Taxonomists: A Natural History 239 Subspecies and Practice 245 Subspecies: The History 253 Subspecies in Crisis 264 Conclusion 269 CHAPTER SEVEN: Envoi 271 From Collecting to Observing 272 A Changing World 278 Biodiversity Revisited 282 Abbreviations 287 Notes 289 Selected Bibliography 345 Index 357
£51.00
Princeton University Press Explaining the Cosmos
Book SynopsisA reinterpretation of Greek scientific thought before Socrates. Focusing on the scientific tradition of philosophy, this work argues that Presocratic philosophy is not a mere patchwork of different schools and styles of thought. It rejects the common interpretation of the early Ionians as material monists.Trade Review"Essential... Due to the depth and breadth of its research, its lucidity, and the cogency of its arguments, Explaining the Cosmos will undoubtedly become a new standard against which future work on the pre-Socratics is measured."--Choice "Graham harks back to Harold Cherniss's critical reading of Aristotle as more of an engaged interpreter than objective historian of the Presocratics... This is a genuine achievement... [M]uch of what Graham offers ... is persuasive, illuminating, and occasionally brilliant."--Simon Trepanier, Isis "[S]cholars everywhere will be grateful for this engaging intellectual adventure."--Robert Hahn, Journal of the History of PhilosophyTable of ContentsPREFACE xi ABBREVIATIONS AND BRIEF REFERENCES xv Chapter 1: The Ionian Program 1 1.1 Anaximander's Project 4 1.2 Anaximander's Project as a Scientific Program 14 1.3 Toward an Understanding of the Ionian Tradition 18 Chapter 2: Anaximander's Principles 28 2.1 Out of the Boundless 28 2.2 Powers in Conflict 34 2.3 Elements and Powers 39 Chapter 3: Anaximenes' Theory of Change 45 3.1 The Theory of Change 45 3.2 Material Monism 48 3.3 Problems with Material Monism 50 3.4 Anaximenes and the Generating Substance Theory 67 3.5 Anaximenes' Achievement 82 Chapter 4: The Generating Substance Theory as an Explanatory Hypothesis 85 4.1 GST Formalized 85 4.2 A Compromise View? 88 4.3 GST as a Paradigm of Explanation 91 4.4 Advantages of GST 98 4.5 Disadvantages of GST 106 Chapter 5: Heraclitus's Criticism of Ionian Philosophy 113 5.1 Extreme Interpretations 113 5.2 Barnes's Argument for Heraclitus-F 118 5.3 The Unity of Opposites 122 5.4 The Flux Thesis 129 5.5 Heraclitus and GST 137 Chapter 6: Parmenides' Criticism of Ionian Philosophy 148 6.1 Parmenides' Response to Heraclitus 148 6.2 Parmenides' Criticism 155 6.3 Properties of What-Is 162 6.4 Deceptive Cosmology 169 6.5 Parmenides' Scientific Discovery 179 6.6 Parmenides' Response to GST 182 Chapter 7: Anaxagoras and Empedocles: Eleatic Pluralists 186 7.1 The Standard Interpretation 186 7.2 Questions about the Standard Intepretation 188 7.3 The Elemental Substance Theory 195 7.4 Parmenides and Origins of the Elemental Substance Theory 201 7.5 Two Theories of Elements 208 7.6 Empirical Advances 220 Chapter 8: The Elemental Substance Theory as an Explanatory Hypothesis 224 8.1 EST Formalized 224 8.2 EST and Eleatic Theory 227 8.3 EST with and without Emergence 229 8.4 Advantages of EST 233 8.5 Disadvantages of EST 241 Chapter 9: The Atomist Reform 250 9.1 The Challenge 250 9.2 Foundational Arguments 256 9.3 Atomism and EST 269 9.4 Birth of the Cosmos 271 Chapter 10: Diogenes of Apollonia and Material Monism 277 10.1 Diogenes in Modern Accounts 277 10.2 Diogenes in a New Light 279 10.3 Diogenes in Historical Context 284 10.4 A New Theory of Matter 290 Chapter 11: The Ionian Legacy 294 11.1 Paradigms of Explanation 294 11.2 Explanatory Progress 298 11.3 The Primacy of Ionian Research 302 REFERENCES 309 INDEX LOCORUM 327 GENERAL INDEX 337
£63.75
Princeton University Press Fly Me to the Moon
Book SynopsisIntroduces readers to advances in American space exploration. This book discusses ways to capture and redirect asteroids; presents research on the origin of the Moon; weighs in on discoveries like 2003 UB313, a dwarf planet detected in the far outer reaches of our solar system - and, more.Trade Review"[This book] will truly excite anyone interested in the future of space travel... Grounded in real physics, Belbruno's ideas will tantalize the space audience."--Gilbert Taylor, Booklist "A small group of scientists has worked on new orbits that take into account the inherently chaotic motion of object in a multibody system... One of the innovators in what is known as 'capture dynamics', Ed Belbruno, provides a basic and eminently readable introduction to the topic in Fly Me to the Moon."--Jeff Foust, The Space Review "This book does for mathematics what The Double Helix did for biochemistry, without the gossip and diatribe that made The Double Helix so controversial...Overall, this book is a superb introduction to the life of a real mathematician, and a gentle introduction to some very complex mathematics."--Jeff Suzuki, MAA Review "Fly Me to the Moon provides a fast, very readable account of new developments in chaotic celestial mechanics, especially low-fuel space travel, at a level appropriate for a general audience. By the end, nonmathematicians will have gained some intuition about one of the hallmarks of chaos, sensitive dependence on initial conditions, and how chaos can be harnessed to good purpose. All readers will walk away thinking differently about the cosmos. Far from being a clockwork, it will seem more dynamic, more turbulent, and full of diverse possibilities."--Shane Ross, Notices of the American Mathematical Society "Belbruno beautifully describes his novel low-fuel concept in Fly Me to the Moon, using copious sketches to explain his theory without resorting to a single equation... The author has laid out the book very well--a teaser of an introduction with just enough details of the Hiten rescue to whet the appetite, but leaving you hungry for more. The language is friendly yet enticing, with nice snappy chapter lengths and informative illustrations in just the right places. There is a good story line running through the book with little surprises like the author being granted a patent for his special route to the Moon in 2003, with many more patents to follow for routes to other destinations."--Gerard McMahon, Astronomy and Space "[A] wonderfully informative book... For anyone with an interest in this remarkable development in spaceflight the book is a must."--Colin Keay, Australian PhysicsTable of ContentsForeword by Neil deGrasse Tyson ix Preface xiii Acknowledgments xvii Chapter 1 A Moment of Discovery 1 Chapter 2 An Uncertain Start 5 Chapter 3 Conventional Way to the Moon 9 A Fuel Hog 14 Chapter 4 A Question 17 Chapter 5 Chaos and Surfing the Gravitational Field 29 What Is Chaos? 31 Chapter 6 Using Art to Find Chaotic Regions 37 An Oil Painting Unveiling Dynamical Processes 37 Chapter 7 WSB--A Chaotic No-Man's-Land 41 Chapter 8 Getting to the WSB--Low Energy Transfers 49 Chapter 9 Rescue of a Lunar Mission 55 Skepticism, Politics, and a Bittersweet Success 63 Chapter 10 Significance of Hiten 69 Chapter 11 Salvage of HGS-1, and a Christmas Present 77 Chapter 12 Other Space Missions and Low Energy Transfers 83 LGAS Reincarnated: SMART 1 83 Europa Orbiter and Prometheus 85 A Lunar Transportation System 91 Chapter 13 Hopping Comets and Earth Collision 95 Potential Earth Collision 108 Lexell 109 Jupiter-Hopping Earth-Crossing Comets Present a Danger 111 Kuiper Belt Objects and Neptune Hopping 113 Ballistic Escape from the Earth-Moon System, and Asteroid Capture 115 Chapter 14 The Creation of the Moon by Another World 119 Chapter 15 Beyond the Moon and to the Stars 129 Pluto to Alpha Centauri 129 Comets Moving between the Sun and Alpha Centauri 133 Chapter 16 A Paradigm Shift and the Future 137 Bibliography 141 Index 147
£999.99
Princeton University Press Particle or Wave
Book SynopsisExplains the origins and development of modern physical concepts about matter. This book examines two of the earliest known theories about matter - the atomic theory, which attributed all physical phenomena to atoms and their motion in the void, and the theory of the elements, which described matter as consisting of earth, air, fire, and water.Trade Review"Particle or Wave does not just look at the concepts of matter, but gives the nonscientist a very good introduction to modern physical theories. The final chapter looks at still unanswered questions about the nature of matter. The explanations are nonmathematical and include a reasonable number of illustrations."--E. Kincanon, ChoiceTable of ContentsList of Illustrations xi List of Tables xv Acknowledgments xvii sA Note on Terminology xix Introduction 1 Chapter 1: FROM MYTH TO MACHINE Images of Matter from Antiquity to Newtonian Mechanics 9 1.1 First Questions 9 1.2 The Two Paradigms 12 1.3 Images of Synthesis 19 1.4 The Roots of the New Era 25 1.5 Mathematics and the World 29 1.6 The Metaphor of the Machine 41 1.7 Newton's Achievement 47 Chapter 2: PROGRESS! From Newtonian Mechanics to Nineteenth-Century Physics 58 2.1 Newton's Successors 58 2.2 The Atoms of Chemistry 62 2.3 Energy: A First Encounter 69 2.4 Light 75 2.5 From Flow to Field 80 2.6 Electricity and Magnetism 85 2.7 Faraday and the Field 89 2.8 Maxwell's Synthesis 94 2.9 The Triumph of Mechanicism 99 Chapter 3: A NEW ARENA IS BUILT Special Relativity and the Notion of Spacetime 104 3.1 The Coming of the Twentieth Century 104 3.2 Reference Systems and Inertial Frames 105 3.3 Einstein's Solution 112 3.4 The Union of Space and Time 117 3.5 Mass Is Energy! 122 Chapter 4: THE SYMMETRY BENEATH Symmetry in Physics--Spacetime Symmetries 128 4.1 Symmetries in Physics Are Hidden 128 4.2 Noether's Remarkable Theorem 132 4.3 Space and Time Translations 134 4.4 The Poincare Symmetry and the Origin of Particles 138 4.5 General Relativity 143 Chapter 5: THE MACHINE BREAKS DOWN The Development of Quantum Physics 146 5.1 The Birth of Quantum Theory 146 5.2 New Windows to the World 154 5.3 The Adolescence of Quantum Theory 159 5.4 Heisenberg's Revolution 169 5.5 The Riposte: Schrodinger's Wave Mechanics 178 5.6 Conflict and Reconciliation 182 5.7 The Mature Quantum Theory 190 Chapter 6: SO FAMILIAR AND YET SO DIFFERENT Spin, Quantum Phases, and Quantum Statistics 198 6.1 The Discovery of Spin 198 6.2 Quantum Phases 206 6.3 Spin Is Discrete! 212 6.4 Identical Things Cannot Be Distinguished 218 Chapter 7: FORGING THE PERFECT TOOL The Development of Quantum Field Theory 225 7.1 Quantum Light 225 7.2 Dirac's Sea 229 7.3 Antiparticles 232 7.4 QED and Feynman Rules 240 7.5 The Taming of Infinities 247 7.6 The Basic Principles of Quantum Field Theory 254 7.7 Three Elegant Symmetries: P, T, and C 260 Chapter 8: PIECES OF A PUZZLE The Physics of Elementary Particles 270 8.1 Radioactivity and Forces 270 8.2 The Hunt for Symmetries 276 8.3 The Breakdown of Simplicity 286 8.4 Some Simplicity Restored 294 Chapter 9: REACHING THE LIMITS The Gauge Principle and the Standard Model 303 9.1 The Birth of the Gauge Principle 303 9.2 Yang-Mills Theories 308 9.3 Symmetry Is Broken "Spontaneously" 312 9.4 The Force That Binds 329 9.5 The Standard Model 337 Chapter 10: OUTLOOK Unanswered Questions and Open Problems 340 10.1 The Ancient Dilemma Revisited 340 10.2 The Singular Status of Quantum Field Theory 348 10.3 Grand Unified Theories, Supersymmetry, Superstrings, and All That 352 10.4 Where Do We Go From Here? 358 Notes 367 Glossary 397 Guide for Further Reading 403 Index 405
£40.50
