A nuanced reframing of the dual importance of reading and observation for early modern naturalists. Historians of science traditionally argue that the sciences were born in early modern Europe during the so-called scientific revolution. At the heart of this narrative lays a supposed shift from the knowledge of books to the knowledge of things. ......
Although the idea that all human beings are descended from Adam is a longstanding conviction in the West, another version of this narrative exists: human beings inhabited the Earth before, or alongside, Adam, and their descendants still occupy the planet.In this engaging and provocative work, David N. Livingstone traces the history of the idea of ......
Erasmus Darwin and his grandson, Charles, were the two most important evolutionary theorists of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain. Although their ideas and methods differed, both Darwins were prolific and inventive writers: Erasmus composed several epic poems and scientific treatises, while Charles is renowned both for his collected ......
Erasmus Darwin and his grandson, Charles, were the two most important evolutionary theorists of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Britain. Although their ideas and methods differed, both Darwins were prolific and inventive writers: Erasmus composed several epic poems and scientific treatises, while Charles is renowned both for his collected ......
Understanding the Development of Modern Social Science
Before the Second World War, social scientists struggled to define and defend their disciplines. After the war, 'high modern' social scientists harnessed new resources in a quest to create a unified understanding of human behaviour and to remake the world in the image of their new model man.In Age of System, Hunter Heyck explains why social ......
Helps us appreciate the richness of Einstein's vision, discussing the renowned scientist's lesser-known contributions, from Einstein's theories supporting time travel, to his research on curved space, the cosmological constant, black holes, wormholes, gravity waves, and cosmic lenses, to quantum theory, and beyond.
Science, Exploration, and the Theory of Continental Drift
Alfred Wegener aimed to create a revolution in science which would rank with those of Nicolaus Copernicus and Charles Darwin. After completing his doctoral studies in astronomy at the University of Berlin, Wegener found himself drawn not to observatory science but to rugged fieldwork, which allowed him to cross into a variety of disciplines. ......
As any American who has traveled abroad knows, the American home contains more, and more elaborate, plumbing than any other in the world. Indeed, Americans are renowned for their obsession with cleanliness. Although plumbing has occupied a central position in American life since the mid-nineteenth century, little scholarly attention has been paid ......
