A compilation of the popular scientific essays of JBS Haldane, one of the scientific giants of the 20th century. Written in the later years of his life, these works reflect his masterful ability to communicate science, his deep commitment to socialism, and his witty, idealistic,…
Throughout its long history, and not just as the key aesthetic category for the Romantic Movement, the sublime has created the necessary link between aesthetic and moral judgment, offering the prospect of transcending the limits of measurement, even imagination. The best of scie…
Refreshingly nonconformist and polemically incisive, this book challenges readers to reject both dogma and cliché and instead recover the intellectual adventurousness that should - and can once again - animate both science and philosophy. Informed by a countercultural sensibilit…
Theory and practice in Aristotle's natural science
Aristotle argued that in theory one could acquire knowledge of the natural world. But he did not stop there; he put his theories into practice. This volume of new essays shows how Aristotle's natural science and philosophical theories shed light on one another. The contributors …
In this book Bill Bryson explores the most intriguing and consequential questions that science seeks to answer and attempts to understand everything that has transpired from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization. To that end, Bill Bryson apprenticed himself to a host of the w…
"Was Darwin really inspired by Galapagos finches? Did Einstein's wife secretly contribute to his theories? Did Franklin fly a kite in a thunderstorm? Did a falling apple lead Newton to universal gravity? Did Galileo drop objects from the Leaning Tower of Pisa? Did Einstein reall…
A new series of essays that sets the bar for the study of representation in science in the twenty-first century. Chapters span a range of topics, including molecular modelling, nano-imaging, mathematical formalisms, and digital imagery in neuroscience, planetary science, and bio…
This book explores the limits of our knowledge. The author shows how uncertainty and indefiniteness not only define the borders confining our understanding, but how they feed into the process of discovery and help to push back these borders. Starting with physics the author coll…
This unprecedented collection of 27,000 quotations is the most comprehensive and carefully researched of its kind, covering all fields of science and mathematics. With this vast compendium you can readily conceptualize and embrace the written images of scientists, laymen, politi…
Readers of Freeman Dyson's previous books, Disturbing the Universe, Weapons and Hope, and Infinite in All Directions, have discovered for themselves what Dyson reveals here: that he was a writer long before he became a distinguished scientist. The aim of this new book, as Dyson …
This collection of essays offers fresh and often unexpected perspectives on the history, methods, and ethics of science, as well as informative and accessible ways of thinking about contentious current debates on the relations between science, religion, literature, and society.
A collection of essays by experts in the field, exploring how nature works to produce systems of increasing complexity from simple components, and how our understanding of this phenomenon of emergence can lead us to a deeper appreciation of both our humanity and our relationship…
Gould covers topics as diverse as episodes in the birth of paleontology to lessons from Britain's four greatest Victorian naturalists. This collection presents the richness and fascination of the various lives that have fueled the enterprise of science and opened our eyes to a w…