The Ascent of Science

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Oxford University Press, Apr 6, 2000 - Science - 552 pages
From 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.

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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
Annotated Bibliography
513
Index
519
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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...

About the author (2000)

Brian L. Silver was Professor of Physical Chemistry at the Techion, or Institute of Technology, in Israel. He died in 1997, just prior to the publication of this book.

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