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
Results 1-5 of 83
Page xvi
... contains an apparent infinity of shapes , colors , textures , sounds , smells , and substances . Matter has endless expressions . Matter appears to be the source of everything that we know . We are material beings . Only a puritan like ...
... contains an apparent infinity of shapes , colors , textures , sounds , smells , and substances . Matter has endless expressions . Matter appears to be the source of everything that we know . We are material beings . Only a puritan like ...
Page 4
... contains about 200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 water mole- cules.1 Textbooks like to suggest hypothetical counting games as an aid to the visu- alization of very large numbers . In accordance with this tradition , I can tell you that if ...
... contains about 200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 water mole- cules.1 Textbooks like to suggest hypothetical counting games as an aid to the visu- alization of very large numbers . In accordance with this tradition , I can tell you that if ...
Page 6
... contains somewhat more than 1020 mol- ecules ( 1 with twenty zeros after it ) . This is about 2000 times less than the number of water molecules in a teaspoonful of water . Water molecules in liquid water are crowded together ; the ...
... contains somewhat more than 1020 mol- ecules ( 1 with twenty zeros after it ) . This is about 2000 times less than the number of water molecules in a teaspoonful of water . Water molecules in liquid water are crowded together ; the ...
Page 10
... contains a warning that applies to any kind of explanation , scientific or not . Thus the theory that sumo wrestling tends to makes you fat is beautifully confirmed by the fact that almost all sumo wrestlers are enormously bulky . In ...
... contains a warning that applies to any kind of explanation , scientific or not . Thus the theory that sumo wrestling tends to makes you fat is beautifully confirmed by the fact that almost all sumo wrestlers are enormously bulky . In ...
Page 11
... containing four or five rows of leather - bound books . A half hour after I had come in , I walked out into the dusk , clutching a parcel . I was carrying a block of gold . I had paid 100 pounds for a 1688 edition of Les Principes de la ...
... containing four or five rows of leather - bound books . A half hour after I had come in , I walked out into the dusk , clutching a parcel . I was carrying a block of gold . I had paid 100 pounds for a 1688 edition of Les Principes de la ...
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 | |
Other editions - View all
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...