The Reinvention of Science

Throughout the history of science, different thinkers, philosophers and scientists postulated the existence of entities that, in spite of their not being visible or detectable in their time, or perhaps ever, were nevertheless useful to explain the real world. We started this book by looking at a handful of these entities. These included phlogiston to account for fire; the luminiferous ether for propagation of radiation; the homunculus to provide for heredity; and crystalline spheres to carry the wandering planets around the earth. Many of these erroneous beliefs had held up progress, just as dragons drawn on the edges of a map discouraged exploration. This pattern of science evolution continued through the centuries up to the present day.

The book evolved into a more extensive history of how science evolved through controversy, suppression, and the desire to maintain the status quo. Our story passes from the Babylonians and Greeks through the middle ages, the renaissance and the scientific revolution to almost current events. We discuss the evolution of our world, the controversy about the extinction of dinosaurs, and open questions in contemporary science such as dark matter, black holes and the origin of the Universe, including how we understand the subatomic world of elementary particles.

Most of the chapters deal with astronomy, cosmology and physics, but there are brief ventures into geosciences (continental drift), biosciences (the homunculus), atmospheric physics (Heaviside layer), paleontology (the extinction of dinosaurs), and computer science (artificial intelligence). The authors present a sequence of how mistakes and fallacies have been purged from our quest to understand nature. The way these changes have come about are skillfully set in their relevant historical contexts.

Contents:

• Breaking the Dragon's Egg: Science Is Born:

  • Ether and Atoms
  • The Lost Poem
  • Bubbles and Influencers
  • The End of Earth, Air, Fire and Water

• The Dragon's Fire: A New Heaven and a New Earth:

  • Crystalline Spheres
  • The End of the Heaven's Immutability
  • Tripping the Light Fantastic

• The Dragon's Flight: How Discoveries Occur:

  • The Girl Who Found Primeval Dragons
  • The Backbone of the Ocean
  • Great Extinctions
  • The Dinosaur Extinction Debate

• The Dragon's Treasure: Awards and Extreme Stars:

  • The Not-Invented Here Syndrome
  • World Wars and Nobel Prizes
  • Black Holes and Gravitational Waves

• The Dragon's Pride: Light and Darkness:

  • Measuring the Universe
  • What Is the World Made of?

• The Dragon Lords: The Whole Shebang:

  • Our Cosmic Bubble
  • Towards Zero

• The Dragon's Future: Science Reinvented:

  • Machines Reinventing Science

Readership: General audience with an interest in Science, History of Science, Astronomy and Physical Science. Especially high school students in their final two years and junior college students. Broad public that enjoys science and general science books.
Key Features:

• Easily readable and successfully presents a highly original approach to the history of science
• Includes original infographics explaining the more technical questions
• By weaving together classical studies, history and astronomy, the book deals with different branches of science, with a clearly multidisciplinary approach
• Social issues impact on science: discrimination against women, social class and academic

Dettagli