About this title: Focusing on the lives and achievements of individual scientists, this wonderfully readable description of scientific development over the past 500 years is by the bestselling author of "In Search of Schr]dinger's Cat."
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House
Date Published: 2003-10-21
ISBN-13:9781400060139ISBN:1400060133
Description: Good. Good title in good condition. Pages are clean and tight. DJ protected by mylar cover. Former library copy with usual stickers, stamps, and markings. First page (no text) removed by library. Satisfaction guaranteed. If item not as described, return for refund of purchase price. read more
Binding: PAPERBACK
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN-13:9780812967883ISBN:0812967887
Description: Very Good. 0812967887 Paperback, Condition: Very Good; this book is in very good condition with light curve to the spine / light reading creases to the covers. read more
Binding: PAPERBACK
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN-13:9780812967883ISBN:0812967887
Description: Very Good. 0812967887 Paperback, Condition: Very Good; this book is in very good condition with light curve to the spine / light reading creases to the covers. read more
Edition: Book Club
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House, New York
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780307290717ISBN:0307290719
Description: Near Fine in Near Very Good jacket. 6.5 x 9.5 hard cover book. White and yellow lettering on the color illustrated dust jacket spine and cover. A history of science told through the lives of its greatest inventors. 646 pages. Book Club Edition. Dust jacket sliced and bent-now in mylar. Tight binding. Near Fine/Near Very Good condition. read more
Description: Good. Ex-library book. Missing dust jacket. Book shows some signs of wear. Pages are clean but there may be some damage to the cover/spine. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780812967883ISBN:0812967887
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House, New York, NY
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9781400060139ISBN:1400060133
Description: Very Good in Very Good jacket. Book club edition, no flap price. 6.5" x 9.5" 646 pp. Pages are unmarked, edges have a few faint soil specks. Binding is very solid. The dustjacket has minor shelf wear, slightly scuffed spine top. "By focusing on the scientists themselves, Gribbin has written an anecdotal narrative enlivened with stories of personal drama, success and failure. Filled with pioneers, visionaries, eccentrics and madmen, this is the history of science as it has never been told ... read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House, New York
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780307290717ISBN:0307290719
Description: Fine in Fine jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. xxii, 646 pp., illus.; 25 cm. First published, UK, 2003. AS NEW. Dust jacket protected in a mylar book cover. OVERSIZE! No priority/international, except by special arrangement. "A wonderfully readable account of scientific development over the past five hundred years, focusing on the lives and achievements of individual scientists, by the bestselling author of In Search of Schrödinger''s Cat. In this ambitious new book, John Gribbin tells the stories ... read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House
Date Published: 2003-10-21
ISBN-13:9781400060139ISBN:1400060133
Description: New. New Book. There is slight time wear. Otherwise looks new. Free tracking # included! International buyers are welcome. We ship every business day. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed! read more
Description: Acceptable. -Acceptable: A readable copy. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact (the dust cover may be missing). Pages can include considerable notes--in pen or highlighter--but the notes cannot obscure the text. Austin eBooks is committed to providing each customer with the highest standard of customer service! We add inventory to our store daily, and guarantee order processing and shipment within 2 business days. read more
Edition: Illustrated.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Random House
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9781400060139ISBN:1400060133
Description: New in new dust jacket. brand new, mint condition. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 672 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. brand new read more
Description: Fine; Collectible. Excellent condition. First edition with full number lines. Appears unread. No writings/underlines/highlights. Pages are very nice and clean. Free track! Satisfaction guarenteed! Fast ing! read more
"I should preface this by saying that I love learning about science, especially chemistry.
I wondered at the outset if I would ever finish this book because it contained over 600 pages about the history of science, but I found myself turning pages much faster than expected. Gribbin does a fantastic job of keeping science history interesting by intermingling fascinating tales about the lives of several prominent scientists and squabbles had amongst those great thinkers. He manages to mention almost every notable scientist (that I can think of) from Ptolemy to present, with accompanying details that are often new to the reader.
I found his description of the relationship between Hooke and Newton to be particularly interesting. It is the relationships among all the different scientists that is handled in great light in this book. Gribbin acknowledges which scientists came before or after others, those who lived and worked along side one another, those who were close friends, those who built on the ideas of others, and those who were great competitors. For example, Robert Darwin found an unusual fossil near his home and brought it to the Royal Society where he met Newton (the Society's President at the time). His son Erasmus Darwin was a great thinker and mingled with James Watt, Ben Franklin, and Joseph Priestly. Erasmus' son Robert Darwin was a physician. His son was Charles Robert Darwin, now famous for his ideas on evolution by natural selection. Thus, Charles Darwin's great-grandfather had met Isaac Newton.
Three scientists independently "discovered" a wealth of information pertaining to heredity and were about to publish in 1900, when one learned that Gregor Mendel had already published it in 1867. The true nature of scientific discovery is described well. The author argues, "It is the luck of the draw, or historical accident, whose name gets remembered as the discoverer of new phenomenon." "Geniuses maybe; but irreplaceable certainly not." His only exception to these criteria is Isaac Newton, without whom the author thinks science would have been held back a very long time.
"I started out loving this book, it gave glimpses into the men who helped form science. When we approached the modern era, a time when some of the scientists discussed are still alive possibly, the tone changed... the book stopped being about the people and more only about the science. It was this change that threw me off... I suppose there is a valid reason to not continue the quirks to include something like Richard Dawkins has had a propensity to wear short shorts in public places (which I have witnessed), but it was precisely that the insights into scientists like Newton and Linnaeus were so fascinating to me. Plus the soap box on the end about how sociologists and historians malign science by not giving it its merited status and instead "consider" it as not quite theory and merely subject to the whims of people... I thought that was unnecessary."
"Wonderful book, must read for all science enthusiasts. John Gribbin tells the story of science through its inventors from Galileo to Richard Feynman, from telescope to QED, from ether to quarks. Inspiring. Must read."
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
rating
