The Ascent of ScienceFrom the revolutionary discoveries of Galileo and Newton to the mind-bending theories of Einstein and Heisenberg, from plate tectonics to particle physics, from the origin of life to universal entropy, and from biology to cosmology, here is a sweeping, readable, and dynamic account of the whole of Western science. In the approachable manner and method of Stephen Jay Gould and Carl Sagan, the late Brian L. Silver translates our most important, and often most obscure, scientific developments into a vernacular that is not only accessible and illuminating but also enjoyable. Silver makes his comprehensive case with much clarity and insight; his book aptly locates science as the apex of human reason, and reason as our best path to the truth. For all readers curious about--or else perhaps intimidated by--what Silver calls "the scientific campaign up to now" in his Preface, The Ascent of Science will be fresh, vivid, and fascinating reading. |
From inside the book
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Page xiii
... basic ways fails , to understand the ant and the Creation , the infinitesimal atom and the mind - bludgeoning ... basic concepts . Some see the fragility of scientific theory as an indication of a basic inability of science to explain ...
... basic ways fails , to understand the ant and the Creation , the infinitesimal atom and the mind - bludgeoning ... basic concepts . Some see the fragility of scientific theory as an indication of a basic inability of science to explain ...
Page xv
... basic con- cepts of science . Nevertheless , the vast majority of science is intelligible to the vast majority of high school graduates . The truth is that many of the great discoveries were made by someone who happened to have a torch ...
... basic con- cepts of science . Nevertheless , the vast majority of science is intelligible to the vast majority of high school graduates . The truth is that many of the great discoveries were made by someone who happened to have a torch ...
Page xvi
... basic meaning of the great breakthroughs in science and to point out the chain of imagination that links the Creation with the movements of the planets and the formation of the chemical elements , that binds the evolution of man to the ...
... basic meaning of the great breakthroughs in science and to point out the chain of imagination that links the Creation with the movements of the planets and the formation of the chemical elements , that binds the evolution of man to the ...
Page 5
... basic property shared by all gases . Consider two well - known gases . Helium exists in the stars , in a few underground cavities , and in very small quantities in the air . It was first discovered in the Sun , by examining the nature ...
... basic property shared by all gases . Consider two well - known gases . Helium exists in the stars , in a few underground cavities , and in very small quantities in the air . It was first discovered in the Sun , by examining the nature ...
Page 9
... basic assumptions that go into the scientist's model of a gas . Could there be an entirely different and more correct model ? History shows that even the greatest minds can construct theories that work but that have one minor flaw ...
... basic assumptions that go into the scientist's model of a gas . Could there be an entirely different and more correct model ? History shows that even the greatest minds can construct theories that work but that have one minor flaw ...
Contents
Part Two | 27 |
Part Three | 79 |
Part Four | 111 |
Part Five | 181 |
Part Six | 251 |
Part Seven | 355 |
Part Eight | 415 |
Part Nine | 477 |
Part Ten | 507 |
513 | |
519 | |
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Common terms and phrases
acceleration amino acids appear atoms basic behavior believe Big Bang body carbon cells century chemical chemistry chromosomes completely concept contains crystal Darwin Descartes Earth effect Einstein electric electromagnetic electron elementary particles elements energy Enlightenment entropy enzyme equation evolution example existence experiments fact Faraday Figure frequencies galaxies Galilean invariance Galileo gases gene genetic give gravity heat helium Higgs boson human hydrogen hydrogen atom idea laws of motion living look mass material mathematical matter means measure metal million molecular molecules moving mutant nature neutron Newton Newtonian nucleus observed organism oxygen particles path philosopher photons physical physicist planets predict probability problem produced proteins Pythagoras quantum mechanics quarks radiation reason relativity result scientific scientists second law space special relativity species speed of light stars structure surface temperature theory tion universe velocity wave function
Popular passages
Page 12 - I now have before me a road which will lead us from the contemplation of the true God (in whom all the treasures of science and wisdom are contained) to the knowledge of the other objects of the universe. For, first of all, I recognise it to be impossible that He should ever deceive me...