The scientists : a history of science told through the lives of its greatest inventors

Gribbin, John 1946- (Author).

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.

Item details

ISBN: 1400060133
ISBN: 9781400060139
ISBN: 0812967887
ISBN: 9780812967883
Physical Description: print
xxii, 646 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Edition: 1st U.S. ed.
Publisher: New York : Random House, [©2003]

Contents / Notes

General Note:	Originally published: [London] : Allen Lane, 2002.
Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 617-623) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	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.