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The story of science: from the writings of Aristotle to the Big Bang theory
Author
Publisher
W.W. Norton & Company
Publication Date
[2015]
Language
English
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Table of Contents
From the Book - First edition.
Part I: THE BEGINNINGS.
The first science texts : the first written attempt to explain the physical world in physical terms
Beyond man : the first big-picture accounts of the universe
Change : the first theory of evolution
Grains of sand : the first use of mathematics to measure the universe
The void : the first treatise on nature to dispense entirely with the divine
The Earth-centered universe : the most influential science book in history
The last ancient astronomer : an alternate explanation for the universe, with better mathematics, but no more proof
Part II: THE BIRTH OF THE METHOD.
A new proposal : a challenge to Aristotle, and the earliest articulation of the scientific method
Demonstration : the refutation of one of the greatest ancient authorities through observation and experimentation
The death of Aristotle : the overthrow of ancient authority in favor of observations and proofs
Instruments and helps : improving the experimental method by distorting nature and extending the senses
Rules of reasoning : extending the experimental method across the entire universe
Part III: READING THE EARTH.
The genesis of geology : the creation of the science of the earth
The laws of the new science : two different theories are proposed as explanations for the Earth's present form
A long and steady history : uniformitarianism becomes the norm
The unanswered question : calculating the age of the Earth
The return of the grand theory : continental drift
Catastrophe, redux : bringing extraordinary events back into Earth's history
Part IV: READING LIFE : (with special reference to us).
Biology : the first systematic attempt to describe the history of life
Natural selection : the first naturalistic explanation for the origin of species
Inheritance : the laws, and mechanisms, of heredity revealed
Synthesis : bringing cell-level discoveries and the grand story of evolution together
The secret of life : biochemistry tackles the mystery of inheritance
Biology and destiny : the rise of neo-Darwinist reductionism, and the resistance to it
Part V: READING THE COSMOS : (reality).
Relativity : the limits of Newtonian physics
Damn quantum jumps : the discovery of subatomic random swerves
The triumph of the Big Bang : returning to the question of beginnings, and contemplating the end
The butterfly effect : complex systems, and the (present) limits of our understanding.
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ISBN
9780393243260
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