The scientists : a history of science told through the lives of its greatest inventors / John Gribbin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gribbin, John, 1946-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Scientists--Biography.

Scientists.

Science--History.

Science.

History.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xxii, 646 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Edition:

First U.S. edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Random House, [2002]

Summary:

Tells the story of the people who have made science, and of the times in which they lived and worked. Gribbin begins with Copernicus, during the Renaissance, when science replaced mysticism as a means of explaining the workings of the world, and continues through the centuries, creating an unbroken genealogy of not only the greatest but also the more obscure names of Western science, a dot-to-dot line linking amateur to genius, and accidental discovery to brilliant deduction.

Contents:

Bk. 1: Out of the Dark Ages. Renaissance men ; The last mystics ; The first scientists

Bk. 2: Founding fathers. Science finds its feet ; The "Newtonian Revolution" ; Expanding horizons

Bk. 3: The Enlightenment. Enlightened science I : chemistry catches up ; Enlightened science II : progress on all fronts

Bk. 4: Big picture. The "Darwinian Revolution" ; Atoms and molecules ; Let there be light ; The last hurrah! of classical science

Bk. 5: Modern times. Inner space ; The realm of life ; Outer space

Coda : The pleasure of finding things out.

Notes:

Originally published: [London] : Allen Lane, 2002.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 617-623) and index.

Local Notes:

Athenaeum copy: Schaffer fund bookplate.

ISBN:

1400060133