Science and Scientists

Salem Press9781587653025, 1587653028, 1587653036

Lucan’s famous dictum that those standing on the shoulders of giants see more than the giants themselves applies to no human endeavor more thoroughly than to the “pure” sciences: astronomy, chemistry, biology, geology, mathematics, physics, and the many subdisciplines they have spawned. The three volumes of “Science and Scientists” documents more than 200 of the most important breakthroughs or milestones in the history of science, cross-referenced to link those that built on others, from ancient times to the present day. These essays are accompanied by biographical sidebars on nearly as many giants behind the discoveries. The disciplines covered here are broad, including Anthropology, Archaeology, Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth Sciences, Evolution, Genetics, Mathematics, Medicine, Meteorology, Paleontology, Physics, Psychology, and Space Science. Arranged alphabetically, these essays address the most important breakthroughs in these fields, ranging from Abstract Algebra to Quantum Mechanics, from the Big Bang to X-Ray Astronomy, from Antisepsis to Viruses. Accompanying nearly every essay is a capsule biography of one of the key scientists responsible for the breakthrough, from Aristotle to Zwicky. It is important to note that technological advances and inventions – such as the telephone, the light bulb, and the airplane – are not addressed here but are covered in the companion Magill’s “Choice Set Inventions and Inventors” (2 vols., 2002). However, a few “crossover” achievements (such as the Personal Computer, the Internet, or Vaccination) – are included in these pages as having had as great an impact on the “pure” sciences as on applications to everyday life. Achievements of the Space Age currently stand somewhere between; the core achievements in space, with an emphasis on space science, are therefore included here. Each essay opens with a brief definition of the topic and a summary of its significance, followed by a list of the central figures involved. The text of each essay follows, broken by informative subheads. Cross-references to other essays in these volumes follow, and each essay ends with a listing of core resources for “Further Reading.” All essays were written by scholars of history or the sciences.

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Table of contents :
Cover……Page 1
Contents……Page 6
Abstract Algebra……Page 25
AIDS……Page 29
Alpha Decay……Page 33
Amino Acids……Page 38
Anesthesia……Page 42
Antisepsis……Page 47
Artificial Intelligence……Page 51
Aspirin……Page 55
Atmospheric Circulation……Page 59
Atmospheric Pressure……Page 63
Atomic Nucleus……Page 67
Atomic Structure……Page 71
Atomic Theory of Matter……Page 74
Australopithecus……Page 79
Axiom of Choice……Page 83
Ballistics……Page 88
Bell Curve……Page 93
Big Bang……Page 98
Binomial Classification……Page 104
Black Holes……Page 109
Blood Circulation……Page 113
Blood Groups……Page 119
Blue Baby Surgery……Page 123
Boolean Logic……Page 127
Bourbaki Project……Page 132
Boyle’s Law……Page 136
Brahe’s Supernova……Page 142
Buckminsterfullerene……Page 146
Calculus……Page 150
Carbon Dioxide……Page 155
Cassini-Huygens Mission……Page 160
Cell Theory……Page 165
Celsius Temperature Scale……Page 170
Cepheid Variables……Page 175
Chandrasekhar Limit……Page 179
Chaotic Systems……Page 184
Chlorofluorocarbons……Page 187
Chromosomes……Page 191
Citric Acid Cycle……Page 195
Cloning……Page 199
Compton Effect……Page 203
Conductivity……Page 207
Contagion……Page 211
Continental Drift……Page 216
Copernican Revolution……Page 220
Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation……Page 225
Cosmic Rays……Page 230
Cro-Magnon Man……Page 233
D’Alembert’s Axioms of Motion……Page 237
Dead Sea Scrolls……Page 241
Decimals and Negative Numbers……Page 247
Definite Proportions Law……Page 251
Diffraction……Page 256
Diphtheria Vaccine……Page 260
DNA Fingerprinting……Page 265
DNA Sequencing……Page 272
Double-Helix Model of DNA……Page 275
Earth Orbit……Page 280
Earth’s Core……Page 285
Earth’s Structure……Page 289
Electric Charge……Page 293
Electrodynamics……Page 297
Electromagnetism……Page 301
Electron Tunneling……Page 307
Electrons……Page 311
Electroweak Theory……Page 316
Euclidean Geometry……Page 320
Evolution……Page 324
Exclusion Principle……Page 330
Expanding Universe……Page 334
Extrasolar Planets……Page 339
Fahrenheit Temperature Scale……Page 342
Falling Bodies……Page 346
Fermat’s Last Theorem……Page 351
Fossils……Page 354
Fractals……Page 357
Galactic Superclusters……Page 360
Galaxies……Page 364
Galen’s Medicine……Page 369
Galileo Probe……Page 375
Game Theory……Page 379
Gamma-Ray Bursts……Page 383
Gene-Chromosome Theory……Page 387
Genetic Code……Page 392
Geologic Change……Page 397
Geomagnetic Reversals……Page 403
Germ Theory……Page 406
Global Warming……Page 411
Gran Dolina Boy……Page 417
Grand Unified Theory……Page 422
Gravitation: Einstein……Page 425
Gravitation: Newton……Page 428
Greek Astronomy……Page 434
Greek Medicine……Page 438
Halley’s Comet……Page 444
Hand Transplantation……Page 449
Heart Transplantation……Page 453
Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle……Page 457
Heliocentric Universe……Page 461
Herschel’s Telescope……Page 467
Hilbert’s Twenty-Three Problems……Page 471
Hormones……Page 475
Hubble Space Telescope……Page 479
Human Anatomy……Page 486
Human Evolution……Page 489
Human Genome……Page 495
Human Immunodeficiency Virus……Page 498
Hybridomas……Page 502
Hydrostatics……Page 506
Hydrothermal Vents……Page 509
Immunology……Page 514
In Vitro Fertilization……Page 520
Incompleteness of Formal Systems……Page 523
Independence of Continuum Hypothesis……Page 527
Inflationary Model of the Universe……Page 530