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 xv
... matter " is . A child thinks of matter as being something like clay . A particle physicist might tell you that matter is a " bunching up of a field , " but if we are honest we have to admit that " matter " is lit- tle more than one of ...
... matter " is . A child thinks of matter as being something like clay . A particle physicist might tell you that matter is a " bunching up of a field , " but if we are honest we have to admit that " matter " is lit- tle more than one of ...
Page xvi
... Matter has endless expressions . Matter appears to be the source of everything that we know . We are material beings . Only a puritan like Bernard Shaw could ask his audi- ence to believe in a world populated by disembodied vortices ...
... Matter has endless expressions . Matter appears to be the source of everything that we know . We are material beings . Only a puritan like Bernard Shaw could ask his audi- ence to believe in a world populated by disembodied vortices ...
Page xvii
... matter in the universe . An apple falls to Earth , a nail is dragged toward a magnet . What we observe is motion . If you hold the apple or grasp the nail and attempt to stop that motion , then you can feel the action of what we call a ...
... matter in the universe . An apple falls to Earth , a nail is dragged toward a magnet . What we observe is motion . If you hold the apple or grasp the nail and attempt to stop that motion , then you can feel the action of what we call a ...
Page xviii
... matter , change , or field . Yet " I " am part of the universe , " I " am the observer ; without " me " there would be no science . Is there something besides matter , change , and fields ? I doubt it . But in saying so I am relying on ...
... matter , change , or field . Yet " I " am part of the universe , " I " am the observer ; without " me " there would be no science . Is there something besides matter , change , and fields ? I doubt it . But in saying so I am relying on ...
Page 3
Brian L. Silver. 1 Newton Gets It Completely Wrong Matter , in the everyday world , comes in three forms : solid , liquid , and gas . Gas is the simplest form of matter , the form that we understand best . We live in a gas , in fact , a ...
Brian L. Silver. 1 Newton Gets It Completely Wrong Matter , in the everyday world , comes in three forms : solid , liquid , and gas . Gas is the simplest form of matter , the form that we understand best . We live in a gas , in fact , a ...
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...