Book Description

The holistic paradigm, Gaia, deep ecology, new alchemy, all have a hidden ancestor: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832). At the young age of twenty-one, Rudolf Steiner was chosen to edit Goethe’s scientific writings for a new collection of Goethe’s complete works. Goethe’s literary genius was already universally acknowledged; it was Steiner’s task to understand and comment on Goethe’s unique scientific achievement. Rudolf Steiner recognized the compelling power of Goethe’s work with nature and developed Goethe’s theory of knowledge in remarkable and far-reaching ways. Here, in fact, began Steiner’s own training in epistemology and spiritual science.

Natural science had created a powerful tool for understanding the inorganic world, but failed to comprehend the phenomenon of life. Goethe discovered how thinking could be applied to organic nature, and he understood that this experience requires not just rational concepts but a whole new way of perceiving. This volume, Steiner’s introduction to Goethe, is nothing less than a re-visioning of what it means to know the world.

In an age when science and technology have been linked to great catastrophes, many are seeking a different way to address nature. With a fundamental declaration of the interpenetration of our consciousness and the world, Rudolf Steiner shows in Nature’s Open Secret how Goethe’s approach points the way to a more compassionate, intimate involvement with nature. ... Read more

Book Description

Few events in history have been more monumental than the emergence of the Space Age, which began with the Soviet launch of Sputnik in 1957. The History of Space Vehicles uses a combination of high-quality photos, illustrations, fact tables, and authoritative text to describe all the vehicles and equipment used in space, past and present.It covers all types of rockets, satellites, and probes, as well as their equipment and cargo, includingradio transmitters, measuring instruments, and cameras. ... Read more

Reviews (36)

Cheers!!
This is a terrific book, with information about how the wonderful Absolut vodka advertising campaign began. The real strength of the book is the collection of images. In some cases, looking at an entire campaign all together takes something away from the individual ads. This is not the case for these advertisements -- taken together, they are even cooler than they were in their original magazine contexts.

I just hope they will do a second volume when there are enough new ads to justify it.

Lots of Awful Absolut Advertising
Much as I hate to admit it, editors add more value than authors often appreciate. This book is a good example of missed potential for good editing.

The book contains almost 500 Absolut ads, and some of the rejects. What I did not realize until I looked at this book was how much bad Absolut advertising has appeared. Clearly, this volume would have been greatly improved by eliminating about 450 of the images in it. There is also a lot of text about how the ads are created, with a lot of pats on the back for the importers and agency involved. But there is relatively little about the creative process, and what works and what doesn't.

If you want to learn more interesting details about Absolut, I suggest that you acquire the newer book, Absolut, the History of the Bottle, instead.

Absolut advertising is all built around the formula of the word "Absolut" followed by some other word or words intending to say "Absolute X." While the lines are almost always good, the execution of how well the images fit with the text often leaves something or a lot to be desired. In other cases, the visuals are just plain ugly.

As the text suggests here, the idea was that "Absolut would be a product that could laugh at itself." That position is missed when the image is either almost irrelevant or unattractive. It just makes Absolut seem like it is a reflection of bad taste.

The mood for the ads was supposed to be light to " . . . add a dollop of humor so the 'We're the best' claim wouldn't be quite so boring or prententious." Well, you'll have to judge for yourself, but the ads seemed to have badly strayed from that standard.

Just so you won't think I dislike the campaign, here are my favorite ads in the book (I have eliminated "Absolut" from the titles to save space): Perfection, Joy, Peak, 19th, Harmony, L.A., Manhattan, Haring, and Appeal.

The other thought that bothered me was treating expensive vodka advertising as art. What's the social benefit here?

After you have finished considering the book, I suggest that you examine how you can add beauty to the world through your life and your work.

A votre sante!

WOW!!
This is a wonderful, informative, and beautiful book.
This book is about the Absolut Vodka advertising campaign. How it began, and what it is about. There are many beautiful, and breath taking images which makes you see the entire light of the campaign which looks so simple from the outside. Now, you get the inside looks and it isn't simple at all but an amazing experience.
WOW!!

absolut awsome book!
Wow!This book is an absolut spectacular book!It explains everything from start to finish. This book also includes creative advertisments found in magazines. I may be sounding like a solicetor now, but I'm really too young to do that. Absolut Book is a fabulus book and is definatly going in my shopping cart!

Absolut great book!
Wow! After reading this, I was raving to my friends about this creative book. I've never read anything like it! Richard W. Lewis has written an Absolut awsome story about the making of this company. After the first couple pages of reading, I couldn't stop myself! So I give this book a five star rating for it's creative, informative, and easy to understand literature. I'm also giving it five stars for it's vast collection of Absolut Vodka advertisements. Clearly, this book is not only a book that teaches you things, but is really fun to read! ... Read more

Book Description

The Grand Contraption tells the story of humanity's attempts through 4,000 years of written history to make sense of the world in its cosmic totality, to understand its physical nature, and to know its real and imagined inhabitants. No other book has provided as coherent, compelling, and learned a narrative on this subject of subjects. David Park takes us on an incredible journey that illuminates the multitude of elaborate "contraptions" by which humans in the Western world have imagined the earth they inhabit--and what lies beyond. Intertwining history, religion, philosophy, literature, and the physical sciences, this eminently readable book is, ultimately, about the "grand contraption" we've constructed through the ages in an effort to understand and identify with the universe.

According to Park, people long ago conceived of our world as a great rock slab inhabited by gods, devils, and people and crowned by stars. Thinkers imagined ether to fill the empty space, and in the comforting certainty of celestial movement they discerned numbers, and in numbers, order. Separate sections of the book tell the fascinating stories of measuring and mapping the Earth and Heavens, and later, the scientific exploration of the universe.

The journey reveals many common threads stretching from ancient Mesopotamians and Greeks to peoples of today. For example, humans have tended to imagine Earth and Sky as living creatures. Not true, say science-savvy moderns. But truth isn't always the point. The point, says Park, is that Earth is indeed the fragile bubble we surmise, and we must treat it with the reverence it deserves.

Amazon.com

Every step you take in A Walk Through Time moves you millions of years forward in Earth's history. Inspired by the idea of a one-mile stroll through the evolution of life, Sidney Liebes recruited some terrific writers and artists to create a traveling museum exhibit; A Walk Through Time summarizes the experience in book form, with the help of fascinating photos and intelligent, enjoyable text. The most profound realization along this temporal journey is just how small a part human history plays in the big time line. In the museum exhibit, where one foot equals one million years, human presence takes up all of one-thousandth of an inch; in the book's time line, we merit barely a speck. Our tiniest living fellows--the bacteria and blue-green algae, the amazing arthropods, the merging microbes--are the real stars of the show. Readers are treated to intriguing views of bizarre organisms like tardigrades, velvet worms, and lichens ("Taking everything we know about algae and fungi, we still never would have predicted the outcome of their synergy"), along with the microbes that once ruled the earth. Only at the very end of the line, long after the development of sexual reproduction, after the great Cretaceous extinction, after the development of flight and fur, will you find humans.Taking this walk is a great lesson in perspective, a cautionary tale about hubris and longevity that every human should read. --Therese Littleton ... Read more

Reviews (8)

An exciting dance through time.
I never had the opportunity to see the "Walk Through Time" exhibition, initiated by Sidney Liebes and supported by Hewlett-Packard, but it must have been a marvelous experience. What rivets my attention in this book, however, even more than the beautiful pictures of the exhibit, is the text written by Elisabet Sahtouris, who expresses her own "cosmovision" with an incomparable eloquence and vitality. While her words are grounded solidly in the most advanced theoretical and empirical evolutionary science, she takes the reader not on a walk but an exciting dance through time. If I were asked to recommend just one book that best told the story of how the universe conspired to bring us into being this would be it. It's a real "roots" story but the roots are not merely those of a particular individual or family or species but of all life, reaching back to the point where time itself loses meaning.

Keith Chandler, author of Beyond Civilization

most interesting book i've read in years!
this is the most interesting book i've read in years; prof. liebes presents the history of evolution from stardust to us, at the end of the book one relizes that all of us humans are actually single cells of a larger life form, the planet earth. In an informative and easy to read way, "a walk through time" presents a holistic theory of evolution that emphasises symbiotic co-evolution of geo-bio-matter admidst the theme that while life starts out in a state of competition, all life forms even on a cellular level learn to cooperate, develop symbiotic relationships that enable life to first develop and then evolve billions of years to present day. the glory of the sheer will of all life,(particularly at the cellular level) reminds me very much of shoupenhauer,nieztche,spinoza, henri bergson and hegal. i would recomend this book to all people,especially those who enjoy philosophy and those theologians seeking a more meaning cosmology.

A global view which necessary means a lack of details
I've just terminated to read this book and it was very interesting in many respects: - The text is well written and a pleasure to read; - Sometimes you have a fact per line, which shows the incredible work done by the author to synthesize a huge amount of knowledge on the subject; - Essential things are said and you'll have doors open for further readings; - The fact that timescale is respected as the text goes on gives a striking perspective of life's evolution over the millions and millions of years; - The first stage of evolution (unicelled creatures) is longly explained; - The incredible role of living creatures (especially bacteria) in shaping our planet is highlighted; - Emphasis is put on the unity of life in it's diversity.

But there are some shortages : - Pictures are of poor print quality; - There is a lack of details, especially after the microbial stage.

Globally speaking, if you want the life's story before animals and plants, it's a good book, but otherwise, the Book of Life by S. J. Gould is better. However, in my opinion, it's a good buy and one can learn many many things by reading this book.

The interconnected web of existence
A Walk Through Time - From Stardust to Us - The evolution of Life on Earth.

A Walk Through Time (AWTT) is an incredibly well done book, from all aspects. The artwork and printing make it suitable for display and the content challenges us to re-think our position in the world and the decisions we are making.

The explanation of evolution is both plausible and understandable to the lay person. Yet the mystery of life is not diminished or hidden, so there is more than enough room for those who understand our existence through their love of God.

Beginning more than 5,000 MYA (5,000 Million Years Ago, or 5 Billion Years Ago) we are told, the "universe did indeed begin in an explosion of energy powerful enough to send all matter flying apart for billions of years into the future." From that starting point, AWTT traces with considerable detail the evolution of our living earth of which we are a part. And everywhere the mystery of "the life force" is to be found.

One can read the prose or follow the exhibition text along the bottom of the pages, or take in both to re-enforce what is being explained. Sidney Liebes managed to convince HP of the merits of creating a 1mile "walk through time." That project is staffed by volunteers and has been presented in a dozen venues in three countries. The "exhibition text" mentioned above is from that project.

The final paragraph of the book summarizes the challenge for our existence in this totally interconnected web of life. "Is it possible that a sense of awe, wonder and humility, of origins, place, possibilities, and recovery of a belief in the sacredness of nature, can, and perhaps must, become operational imperatives in guiding humanity into the future? Rather than pondering the illusive purpose of life, can we not accept and appreciate the gift, live the life we are given, respect all life, and preserve options for the future. Though none of us has the power to control the future, each of us is free to determine how we will contribute to the circumstance out of which the future will evolve."

Perhaps the purpose of life is simply to ensure that life continues. Then there is much in this book to set us on the right path.

A Wonderful Way to View Life's History
Keith Cowing, Editor of the Astrobiology Web: I grew up in Meriden Connecticut in the 1960's, and like most boys, was fascinated by dinosaurs. Lucky for me, we lived an easy half hour drive from the Peabody Museum at Yale University. One of the most prominent features at the museum for half a century is a large mural by Rudolph F. Zallinger high above the Great Hall of Dinosaurs. This mural was often used in a number of Time-Life books (which I devoured) to depict the march of time and evolution of life. As such, this mural - and its linear format -long ago became fixed as the mental template with which I view and interpret the history of life on Earth. In the Summer of 1997 I had the opportunity to attend a Gordon Conference on the origin of life. One of the poster sessions featured a rather unusual presentation: a series of images describing the origin and evolution of life on Earth - from inorganic chemistry to humans. The pictures were arrayed in a linear fashion in the hallway outside the meeting room. This was a small version of Sid Liebes' wonderful 'Walk Through Time ... from stardust to us; A Five Billion Year Walk' exhibit. When implemented in its full-blown configuration (one mile long) one can spend a leisurly hour or so walking through time. Now Sid and his co-authors have managed to capture this exhibit in a book. 'A Walk Through Time' captures that exhibit in a portable format - with a text deftly designed to both teach the novice as well as entertain the seasoned biologist. Topics range from the formation of the very elements that compose our star, our planet, and ourselves through the formation of our solar system - and Earth. As the book continues, it describes the deposition of the ingredients for life on Earth, life's appearance, diversification, and expansion across this planet - all in a sequential fashion. A chronological timeline on the bottom of each page helps callibrate your movement across time. When you put the book down, you're left with a clearer appreciation for how fast life appeared (as soon as it could), how long it remained in a relatively simple state, how fast evolutionary explosions could transform Earth's biota, and how infinitesimally small our own tenure on Earth truly is. Moreover, using this book to look at the world now and then back at our heritage, it also becomes clear that this planet is still overwelmingly populated by simple organisms similar to those which ruled the Earth for billions of years. Life is both innovative and conservative at the same time. If there was ever a book designed for an Astrobiology (or Biology) course for non-majors dealing with the origin, evolution, and distribution of life on this planet, this is it. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Book Description

After 1905, Einstein's miraculous year, physics would never be the same again. In those twelve months, Einstein shattered many cherished scientific beliefs with five extraordinary papers that would establish him as the world's leading physicist. This book brings those papers together in an accessible format. The best-known papers are the two that founded special relativity: On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies and Does the Inertia of a Body Depend on Its Energy Content? In the former, Einstein showed that absolute time had to be replaced by a new absolute: the speed of light. In the second, he asserted the equivalence of mass and energy, which would lead to the famous formula E = mc².

The book also includes On a Heuristic Point of View Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light, in which Einstein challenged the wave theory of light, suggesting that light could also be regarded as a collection of particles. This helped to open the door to a whole new world--that of quantum physics. For ideas in this paper, he won the Nobel Prize in 1921.

The fourth paper also led to a Nobel Prize, although for another scientist, Jean Perrin. On the Movement of Small Particles Suspended in Stationary Liquids Required by the Molecular-Kinetic Theory of Heat concerns the Brownian motion of such particles. With profound insight, Einstein blended ideas from kinetic theory and classical hydrodynamics to derive an equation for the mean free path of such particles as a function of the time, which Perrin confirmed experimentally. The fifth paper, A New Determination of Molecular Dimensions, was Einstein's doctoral dissertation, and remains among his most cited articles. It shows how to calculate Avogadro's number and the size of molecules.

These papers, presented in a modern English translation, are essential reading for any physicist, mathematician, or astrophysicist. Far more than just a collection of scientific articles, this book presents work that is among the high points of human achievement and marks a watershed in the history of science.

Coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the miraculous year, this new paperback edition includes an introduction by John Stachel, which focuses on the personal aspects of Einstein's youth that facilitated and led up to the miraculous year.

Reviews (6)

Einstein's Masterful Synthesis
We should know some things about Einstein. He needed a mathematician to write his ideas and theories about relativity. He found the famous mathematician Kurt Godel to help him. Einstein said to Godel "I need you to write the equations for my theory". However, Godel said: " I don't know physics" whereby Einstein replied, " I know physics and you know mathematics". Then Godel agreed to go to work for Einstein.

As is always the case in science, we stand on the shoulders of others before us. Einstein got his ideas and theories about relativity from many mathematicians and some physicists.

When you read between the lines of this fine book, you will see how Einstein synthesized and derived some of the greatest theories in history as to how nature is constructed and works.

Einstein put it all together just like Newton did with the calculus.

Einstein's masterful synthesis
We should remember a few things about Einstein. He needed a mathematician to write his concepts and theories about relativity. He found the famous mathematician Kurt Godel. He said to Godel " I need you to help me construct my theories". However, Godel replied " I don't know physics ". Einstein replied, "I know physics and you know mathematics". Then Godel agreed to go to work for Einstein.

As is always the case in science, we stand on the shoulders of others before us. Einstein got his ideas from many mathematicians and some physicists. He synthesized and derived the greatest theories in history about nature and how it works.

If you read between the lines of this book you will come to understand what this fine book is telling us about the great Albert Einstein. It was he, who put it all together, like Newton did with the calculus.

Incomplete History
I recently read a much more informative book "Albert Einstein: The Incorrigible Plagiarist" by Christopher Jon Bjerknes which tells the truth about Einstein and the 1905 papers Einstein's wife Mileva Maric wrote for him. The Bjerknes book is a scholarly book, and it presents the facts. Anyone interested in the 1905 papers should know the truth. Max Born said of the 1905 relativity paper, "It gives you the impression of quite a new venture. But that is, of course, as I have tried to explain, not true." The truth is that the theory belongs to Boscovich, Lange, Voigt, Fitzgerald, Larmor, Lorentz, Palagyi, and Poincare, among many others. The 1905 paper on special relativity did not give a single reference to these men.

Finally, the real thing; not just inaccurate verbal metaphor
I am a nonscientist, general reader, but have read many popular accounts of special relativity.I have always felt shortchanged, though, just at the point where things get most interesting.I think that is because thereal physics does lie in the equations, and verbal metaphors fall short. For me, here, for the first time, I see where the science is: just beyondthe metaphors.Although I do not follow all the math by any means, so itis partly like listening to a foreign language, I recognized enough of theconcepts to get a glimmer: and it is stunning.Here is Einstein himself,deriving E=mc2 in paper 4; so briefly, so lucidly (although another readerfrom California seems to have missed it).Paper 3 on special relativityis, even to this nonscientist, dazzling.

Not for beginners
If you're looking for a good book to learn a bit about Einstein's theories of relativity, you'd be better served reading his "The Meaning of Relativity." "Einstein's Miraculous Year," being acompilation of translated versions of his original 1905 papers, is moresuited for the seasoned physicist who already understands the material butis curious about how Einstein really did it all. In the latter case, ofcourse, one could turn to the professional physics literature, but it'snice to have all his 1905 papers in one place. The extra commentary is anice addition, since it provides the necessary historical context. Too badthe book doesn't include Einstein's papers on his general theory ofrelativity but, of course, that would fall out of the miraculous year of1905. ... Read more

Book Description

From uncanny movie dinosaurs to the loopy physics of the triple axel, Keith Devlin's vibrantly illustrated book illuminates the mathematics inherent in every human endeavor.

"A beautiful book . . . the aim is not to teach but to entertain, and it succeeds. The view that mathematics is dull is replaced by an image of how math can be both interesting and useful, if not all-powerful."—New Scientist.

"A colorful and exciting introduction to the ways in which mathematics can help [us] to under-stand phenomena. [Devlin] presents fascinating real-world problems posed by real people and shows how mathematics is used to solve them."—Choice.

"Not in many, many years have I seen a book nearly as instructive and enlightening about the beauty of mathematics. Life by the Numbers is superb."—Amir Aczel, author of Fermat's Last Theorem.

"This wondrous book reveals how, on the brink of the millennium, wizards are using math to bring movie dinosaurs to life, to improve tennis stars' serves, to win sailboat races, and to probe the eeriest corners of the cosmos. A pleasurable read for adult and young alike."—Keay Davidson, coauthor of Wrinkles in Time.

"A fascinating account of many of the ways in which mathematical ideas find application in the world around us. Keith Devlin is to be congratulated for bringing these ideas so accessibly to the public."—Sir Roger Penrose, author of The Emperor's New Mind. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Very Entertaining
Life by the Numbers has a simple thesis to prove: that math is anywhere and everywhere; but instead of asserting the pervading ubiquity of mathematics whether you like it or not, the book convinces you that you *will* like it, period.

The book is richly illustrated and jargon-free, true to its promise on clarity and easy-of-reading especially for the non-professional readers. It is not so much of a wild speculation however to suggest that even a professional (specialist) mathematician will get a worthy entertainment reading this book, considering the wide spectrum of human interests where mathematics is unexpectedly to lurk that Devlin adventurously explores.

An easily understood description of exciting mathematics
I recently purchased a videotape of the Star Wars™ movie, 'The Phantom Menace.' It is difficult to believe that a more convincing point of evidence for the power of applied mathematics will exist for some time. The scenes where the generated creatures are in motion have a degree of reality that is astounding. As Devlin spends a great deal of time explaining in this book, what you see is a complex series of numbers translated by a computer into pictures on a screen.
Other topics concerning image generation by computer involve the visualization of scientific data. People working in this area are often a combination of graphics artist and computer scientist. With such enormous amounts of data being collected, interpreting it and filtering out the points of interest has become a horrifically difficult task. The only way that it can be done is to find ways to filter the data as much as possible and then display it in a visual manner where the key points are easily discernible. No quote better describes the situation than that uttered by R. W. Hamming, 'The purpose of computing is insight, not numbers.'
The physics of sports is also described in some detail. No matter how well trained their bodies are, athletes are still bound by the laws of physics, so at some point their training must incorporate these laws. A simple question such as whether to jump higher or spin faster when figure skating can determine the difference between a medal winning performance and simply watching it happen on television.
This book is a tour de force in how many applications there are for mathematics, with many that appeal to young people. An appreciation for the value of mathematics is the first step towards a desire to study it, and this book will no doubt spark the appreciation.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission. ... Read more

Book Description

Today, technology is cool.Owning the most powerful computer, the latest high-tech gadget, and the whizziest web site is a status symbol on a par with having a flashy car or a designer suit.And a media obsessed with the digital explosion has reappropriated the term "computer nerd" so that it's practically synonymous with "entrepreneur."Yet, a mere fifteen years ago, wireheads hooked on tweaking endless lines of code were seen as marginal weirdos, outsiders whose world would never resonate with the mainstream.That was before one pioneering work documented the underground computer revolution that was about to change our world forever.With groundbreaking profiles of Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak, MIT's tech Model Railroad Club, and more, Steven Levy's Hackers brilliantly captures a seminal moment when the risk takers and explorers were poised to conquer twentieth-century America's last great frontier.And in the Internet age, "the hacker ethic"--first espoused here--is alive an well. ... Read more

Reviews (65)

Mr. Levy is like a neo-Tom Wolfe. Highly readable.
I've owned this book for about 15 years, and have read it perhaps 30 or more times. The tale is familiar by now, but the storytelling is compelling, and the subject matter fascinating.

Hackers covers the computer revolution- from research lab to home- up to approximately 1984, right before the Commodore 64 took over as #1 home computer. Even though the book is a large one, Mr. Levy keeps the focus on a single winding narrative throughout. This makes the book interesting to read and relatively easy to follow, but unfortunately tends to leave out parts of the computer revolution that don't fit into his rigid outline.

The outline is as follows: hacking begins at MIT and spreads to Stanford, and we see the genesis of video games in Spacewar. A new movement sprouts in post-hippie California with the release of Intel's first 8-bit chips, and this movement- dedicated to homebrew and user-built systems- is the font from which the Altair and the Apple II spring. Finally, the narrative ends on the rise of game software companies- especially Sierra- on the strength of the Apple II's market share. There's also an epilogue on Richard Stallman. While other stories are recounted in short fashion along the way- John Harris' Sierra/Frogger/Atari story in particular- little is done to acknowledge the larger picture of the industry, whether it's universities outside of MIT and Stanford or Atari's massive rise to and fall from power.

Steven Levy writes much like Tom Wolfe circa-"Right Stuff", and the overall theme and feel of the book is the same as much of Tom Wolfe's books- an expose of a (then) little understood sub-culture, written in an engaging fashion. Even Mr. Levy's use of coined words, phrases, and lingo is much like Tom Wolfe. Technical jargon will be introduced with a simple definition, and then used through the next few chapters either in an ironic fashion, or to let readers feel "in" with the scenario being written about. Bizarre wording and odd phrases also pop up- sometimes apparently for show- and are then repeated over and over. "Croseus Mode" is used over and over to refer to wealth- phrasing like this seems gratuitous and I find it jarring to read, but that's just a personal preference.

Much of the Apple portion of the book will be familiar for those who watched Pirates of Silicon Valley. Just like that TV movie, the book transcends the culture from which it arose, and is great reading for anyone interested in pop culture, sociology, business, or computers.

Classic book, a must read in its field.

This book is not about computer crime, despite the impression you may get from the title. In fact, the whole thrust of the book is to study those people who called themselves hackers before the first computer crime had ever been commited, together with their successors who clung to the name even after it had picked up darker connotations.

The story starts with the original hackers at the AI lab at MIT.

Whilst the Computer Science department at MIT had a typical hierarchical chain of command, something slipped at the nearby AI lab where somehow the lunatics had control of the asylum.

Levy details the glorious early years at the AI lab where hacking was all, elegance won out every time against pragmatism and bedtime was always the wee small hours. Not content with inventing many fundamentals of computer science such as Lisp and time-sharing systems, one hacker even added new machine instructions armed only with a soldering iron. Don't try this at home folks.

Leaving the East Coast, Levy surveys the early West Coast computer scene, including computer hardware hackers such as Steve Wozniak, father of the Apple II, and this leads on to the third wave of hackers, the games writers. It's at this point in the story that big business arives on the scene. Some hackers made the transition successfully, others didn't. I was not surprised to find one of the earliest and most obnoxious "breadheads" of the original home computer scene in this book to be none other than Bill Gates. As far as I can tell from this book, he was always in it for the money. Yeah you're rich Bill, and I'm not, but people just don't like you OR your company, ok?

Having completed a thorough survey of a period of decades in the computer industry, Levy then justifiably stopped and published the book. My edition however is a reissue, and Levy has added an afterword, "The Last Hacker" where he returns to MIT just in time to witness the destruction of the Hackers Citadel by commercial greed.

In this final chapter, Levy is really in his element as he relates the story of the last lone defender on the ramparts, single-handedly holding back the dark barbarian hordes. The defender knew it was a lost cause, but was determined to make his point, and only gave up after exacting fearsome retribution when he had decided to abandon anger and revenge and instead found a new city which would, this time, have unbreachable defences. The name of the lone defender? Richard Stallman. The new project? The GNU project - the same project that produced the text editor I wrote this review with (Emacs), that facilitated this operating system (Linux) and that is still going strong this very day, thus the book takes us right to the present day - Hackers are alive and well and living near you :-) Highly Recommended.

A must read for a Computer History buff
If you saw Robert X Cringeley's "Triumph Of The Nerds" on PBS, this book pre-dates it by *years* Many of the people RXC mentions are here in the book. This book's a wild and wooly romp through the little-known side of the True History of computers and the unsung heroes who, only for the glory of solving a problem or impressing their friends brought us to the revolution/evolution of the Personal Computer. I got this when it was first published in hardcover and have long since lost the dust jacket and have read it countless times.

Required reading for computer programmers
Hackers, by Steven Levy, should be required reading for anyone who programs computers for a living. Starting from the late 1950s, when the first hackers wrote code for the TX-0 and every instruction counted, to the early 1980s, when computers fully entered the consumer mainstream, and it was marketing rather than hacking which mattered. Levy divides this time into three eras: that of the 'True Hackers,' who lived in the AI lab at MIT and spent most of their time on the PDP series, the 'Hardware Hackers,' mostly situated in Silicon Valley and responsible for enhancing the Altair and creating the Apple, and the 'Game Hackers,' who were also centered in California; expert at getting the most out of computer hardware, they were also the first to make gobs and gobs of money hacking.

The reason everyone who codes should read this book is to gain a sense of history. Because the field changes so quickly, it's easy to forget that there is a history, and, as Santayana said, "Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it." It's also very humbling, at least for me, to see what kind of shenanigans were undertaken to get the last bit of performance from a piece of hardware that was amazing for its time, but now would be junked without a thought. And a third takeaway was the transformation that the game industry went through in the early 80s: first you needed technical brilliance, because the hardware was slow and new techniques needed to be discovered. However, at some point, the hard work was all done, and the business types took over. To me, this corresponds to the 1997-2001 time period, with the web rather than games being the focus.

That's one of my beefs--the version I read was written in 1983, and republished, with a new afterword in 1993. So, there's no mention of the new '4th generation' of hackers, who didn't have the close knit communities of the Homebrew Computer Club or the AI lab, but did have a far flung, global fellowship via email and newsgroups. It would be a fascinating read.

Beyond the dated nature of the book, Levy omits several developments that I think were fundamental to the development of the hacker mindset. There's only one mention of Unix in the entire book, and no mention of C. In fact, the only languages he mentions are lisp, basic and assembly. No smalltalk, and no C. I also feel that he overemphasizes 'hacking' as a way that folks viewed and interacted with the world, without defining it. For instance, he talks about Ken Williams, founder of Sierra Online, 'hacking' the company, when it looked to me like it was simple mismanagement.

For all that, it was a fantastic read. The more you identify with the geeky, single males who were in tune with the computer, the easier and more fun a read it will be, but I still think that everyone who uses a computer could benefit from reading Hackers, because of the increased understanding of the folks that we all depend on to create great software.

VERY BORING!
I could barely stand reading this book... it leads to nowhere. It jumps around to different topics too quickly, and it's very hard to be be interested in. I couldn't finish the book, I literally fell asleep with the book in my hands. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

correction
just a note: the review above refers to Anatomy of the Psyche by Edinger. Anatomy of the Soul is a misprint.

A meeting with a remarkable mind
I first discovered Marie-Louise Von Franz in her collaboration with Emma Jung in their extraordinary book "The Grail Legend", which is by far the most intellectually coherent book I have ever encountered regarding that material, in which they place those strange and surreal stories in the framework of a Jungian perspective on the history of consciousness. In these lectures on alchemical symbolism, Von Franz applies many of the same Jungian techniques to explore some important alchemical texts.

I especially appreciated her decision to explore three texts in depth, rather than simply presenting a survey of alchemical literature, since there are numerous other books that do that. The fact that this is a transcript of a lecture series actually adds a wonderful dramatic tension to the book, since it includes some encounters with the attendees that demonstrate both her tremendous humanity and her impressive understanding of the subject and its relevance to modern psychology.

One of the most provocative concepts presented is the danger of an individual experiencing an overload of revelation from the unconscious, with its accompanying challenge of integrating more insight than a mere mortal can manage. Von Franz explores this concept especially well in the discussion of the text by Thomas Aquinas, where we learn about his very stressful final years in a very moving lecture that continues to provide me with much to ponder.

Great introductions to a fascinating subject
If I had my time over again I would read these three books on alchemy in the following order: All of them are excellent in their own sphere to introduce a complex process.

(1) The Forge and the Crucible - Eliade
This is an excellent prehistory of alchemy showing the patterns of thought out of which Alchemy most probably arose. An easy read.

(2) Anatomy of the Soul - Edinger
Set out according to seven processes involved in alchemy Calcinatio, Solutio, Coagulatio, Sublimatio, Mortificatio, Separatio, Coniunctio, this is an accessible book that puts each process in reasonably neat boxes, (though the considerable overlap and intermingling is acknowledged). The approach is somewhat mechanical.

(3) Alchemy, an Introduction... - Von Franz.
More 'organic' than Edinger, Von Franz has a very warm and human touch. She deals with the origins of alchemy in Egypt and Greece and delves into the 'Aurora Consurgens', attributed to Aquinas. She includes relevent and interesting case material. Being a transcription of lectures, it is a little haphazard, though none the less informative for that.

A digestable introduction to a bewildering subject
This book comprises a series of lectures on Greek, Arabic and European alchemy. Since it is not written material every word is not weighed, which is a problem within the field of Jungian psychology. It's, however, quite interesting. One major surprise is that St. Thomas Aquinas is, with great likelihood, the author of the alchemical work 'Aurora Consurgens.'

Mats Winther ... Read more

Book Description

The thrilling story of the charismatic explorer who Simon Bolivar called "the truediscoverer of South America" and the daring expedition that altered the course of science.

From 1799 to 1804 German naturalist and adventurer Alexander von Humboldtconducted the first extensive scientific exploration of Latin America. At the completionof his arduous 6,000-mile journey, he was feted by Thomas Jefferson and presented toNapoleon, and, with the subsequent publication of his findings, he would be hailed as thegreatest scientific genius of his age.

Humboldt’s Cosmos tells the story of this extraordinary man who was equal partsEinstein and Livingstone, and of the adventure that defined his life. Gerard Helferichvividly recounts Humboldt’s expedition through the Amazon and over the Andes,highlighting his paradigm-changing discoveries along the way. During the course of theexpedition, Humboldt cataloged more than 60,000 plants, set an altitude record climbingthe volcano Chimborazo, and became the first to study the great cultures of the Aztecsand Incas. In the process, he revolutionized geology and laid the groundwork for modernsciences such as climatology, oceanography, and geography—and his contributionswould influence future greats such as Charles Darwin and shape the course of science forcenturies to come.

Published in time for the bicentennial of the expedition’s completion in May 1804,Humboldt’s Cosmos is a dramatic tribute to one of history’s most audaciousadventurers, whom Stephen Jay Gould noted "may well have been the world’s mostfamous and influential intellectual." ... Read more

Reviews (3)

An enthralling story, brilliantly organized and written
This is the story of Alexander Von Humboldt's five-year journey of exploration in the New World (1799-1804). Humboldt was in his late twenties, a German aristocrat of independent means, brilliant and filled with boundless energy and enthusiasm. He set out with the idealistic belief that all of Nature (including humans) was an integrated entity which could be understood and defined by exacting scientific measurement. Quite a modern conviction for the 18th century! He returned to Europe internationally famous, acclaimed by readers of his widely published reports who found his constructive spirit a welcome relief from the current realities of the Napoleonic Wars.

Humboldt, his companion Bonpland, occasional fellow travelers, and a small coterie of native handlers and guides explored the upper reaches of the Orinoco River, deep in the impenetrable jungle bordering the Amazon watershed. They traveled in narrow dugout canoes, heavy with personnel, dunnage and scientific measuring equipment and boxes for their growing collection of specimens. They portaged rapids, slept in the wet, swatted mosquitoes and were constantly at the mercy of predators and exotic diseases. Later they traversed the tall rugged Andes in Equador and Peru, studying and recording everything around them. They paid particular attention to the great volcanoes, some over 20,000 feet, climbed them and contemplated their geological formation and established cutting edge scientific theories. Finally they journeyed through the more inhabited areas of Mexico and Cuba, recording anthropological, social, and political observations in addition to their continuing scientific studies of nature. Humboldt paid particular attention to the institution of slavery, which he abhorred.

Three cheers for Gerard Helferich who has given us this enthralling story of a nearly forgotten significant man. His book is carefully researched and documented, brilliantly organized and written. It is a thoroughly readable text. I read it rapidly with avaricious delight!!

BEFORE THERE WAS DARWIN
You may vaguely recognize the name Alexander von Humboldt (especially if you recall seeing his statue outside of the American Museum of Natural History in New York), but he's not as famous as he should be. Before Darwin ever set foot on the Beagle, von Humboldt and his crew set out on an unprecedented five-year journey throughout Latin America, traveling through the Amazon and the Andes, Chile, Peru, Mexico and Cuba. Throughout his journey, Humboldt make painstaking observations -about the land, the flora and fauna, the wind and the currents, and the peoples he encountered - and his notes and ideas helped shape entirely new disciplines in science: he was a hero to the young Charles Darwin. While there have been a flood of books championing individuals who were "footnotes" to science and history, Humboldt was the real deal. This informative but very lively book, written on the 200th anniversary of Humboldt's most famous journey, should help restore Humboldt's reputation as a pioneering scientist and thinker.

Adventure and science story...a fascinating read
This book is a scintillating adventure and science story about one of the world's most important and, curiously least known, figures, the dashing Alexander von Humboldt, who in the course of five years blazed a five thousand mile swath through Latin America, including Cuba, Mexico, and what is now Venezuela, Ecuador, Columbia and Peru. He and his traveling companion Aime Bonpland conducted the first extensive scientific exploration of these countries. In the course of their incredible journey, completed two hundred years ago, the two climbed Chimborazo, coming within 1300 feet of the summit, an event that wasn't to be surpassed until Whymper conquered the peak in the 1880's. I highly recommend this book for anybody interested in adventure, science, and history. ... Read more

Book Description

In the spring of 1543, as the celebrated astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus lay on his deathbed, his fellow clerics brought him a long-awaited package: the final printed pages of the book he had worked on for many years, De revolutionibus (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres). Though Copernicus would not live to hear of its extraordinary impact, his book-which first posited that the sun, not Earth, was the center of the universe-is recognized as the greatest scientific work of the sixteenth century.

Four and a half centuries later, astrophysicist Owen Gingerich embarked on an extraordinary quest: to see in person all extant copies of the first and second printings of De revolutionibus. He was inspired by two contradictory pieces of information: Arthur Koestler's claim, in his famous book The Sleepwalkers, that nobody had read Copernicus's famous book when it was published; and Gingerich's discovery, at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh, of a first edition of De revolutionibus that had been richly annotated in the margins by Erasmus Reinhold, the leading teacher of astronomy in northern Europe in the 1540s-strongly suggesting that Koestler's statement about the book was wrong.

After three decades of investigation, and after traveling hundreds of thousands of miles-from Melbourne to Moscow, Boston to Beijing-to view more than 600 copies of De revolutionibus, Gingerich has written an utterly original book built from his experience and the remarkable insights gleaned from Copernicus's books. Eventually he found copies once owned by saints, heretics, and scalawags, by musicians, movie stars, medicine men, and bibliomaniacs. Most interesting were the copies owned and annotated by astronomers, which even today illuminate the long, reluctant process of accepting the sun-centered cosmos as a physically real description of the world, and the tensions among scientists and between science and the church. Part biography of a book and a man, part scientific exploration, part bibliographic quest, Gingerich's book will offer new appreciation of the history of science and cosmology. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

The book everyone read
If I wish to determine who has read my publications or US patents, I can go to on-line sources of information. I can quickly get an idea of the influence of my work through the citations in subsequent publications. However, even citations do not necessarily assure that a work has been read. In order to find the influence of Copernicus' famous book, the author has spent decades tracking down the six hundred surviving copies of "De Revolutionibus" in the libraries of the world. He has used the marginal writings in these books to connect the books with their owners and groups of sixteenth century astronomers and mathematicians. Yes, Copernicus' book was read and analyzed by scientists throughout the western world.

Gingerich's book may be of more interest to library scientists than to astronomers. However, I did find the chapter on the geocentric Ptolemaic system vs. the Copernican heliocentric system fascinating. The author dispels the myth that the Ptolemaic system needed an unmanageable number of epicycles to match calculations with observations.. He shows that the two systems yielded equivalent predictions using about the same order of complexity. As a physicist, I would argue that you can work in any coordinate system that you choose, even one in which the Earth is stationary. However, the Copernican system did simplify the calculations and more importantly does more closely express the physical reality of the solar system. The work of Copernicus paved the way for Kepler's laws including the discovery of the elliptical nature of planetary orbits. Both the geocentric and heliocentric models were based upon the theory that the orbits of celestial bodies were fundamentally circular. This was a good first approximation for matching the precision of the existing observations. It was another century and a half after Copernicus that Newton formulated a theoretical basis for explaining planetary mechanics.

Copernicus for Bibliophiles
In the year of my birth, Arthur Koestler threw down a gauntlet when he labeled Nicolaus Copernicus' De revolutionibus [arguably the greatest science book of the last few thousand years] "the book nobody read." Owen Gingerich, astronomer and bibliophile, picked up that gauntlet and did battle with Koestler in the way a scientist must do battle - find empirical evidence that the book had been read. The Book Nobody Read is Gingerich's popular account of his decades long effort to track down every extant copy of the first and second edition of De revolutionibus to look for evidence of use [mainly using the marginalia left by the readers/owners]. The book flap blurb nails the book when it calls The Book Nobody Read "part biography of a book, part scientific exploration, [and] part bibliographic detective story." The blurb writer could have tossed in adventure story, too. I enjoyed the book immensely, especially the excellent way in which The Book Nobody Read illustrates the use of the scientific [empirical] method for what many folks would perceive as a non-traditional use. As a bibliophile and science teacher, I'm probably a member of the perfect audience for this book. I include the previous statement as a caution, because at least one of the reviewers seems to have misjudged what the book was about. If you are interested in traditional biography and want a book on Nicolaus Copernicus, The Book Nobody Read may disappoint. If you like books on books and have an interest in history [especially the history of science], I think you'd rate this book a classic.

Scholar's Story of Treasure Hunt
A respected historian of science, Owen Gingerich provides not only a fascinating introduction into the reception of Copernicus's De Revolutionibus but also a terrific narrative about the production of scholarship. The end result is both an engaging chapter in the history of science and an amazing foray into the history of reading more generally.

Sleuthing about ownership & readership of De Revolutionibus
At his death in 1543 Nicholas Copernicus published De Revolutionibus, arguing that the sun, not the earth, was at the center of the known universe. There were over 600 copies of two editions that began to interest astronomical historian Gingerich who set out to scrutinize each copy in libraries and personal collections around the world, partly out of curiosity and partly to judge how widely the book had been read. The author engages in intriguing detective work, extending the known provenance of each book to include other owners while tracing its impact on scientific thinking in 16th and 17th century Europe. Since many of the copies contained marginal comments and were owned by astronomers, it became apparent from studies of handwriting who the students and who the professors were, giving us an insight about the readership. We learn about the formation of watermarks, types of glue, and how papermaking, printing and binding were accomplished. The author's expertise has been called upon to trace prior ownership of stolen copies offered at auction, and we learn that parts of one copy were sometimes used to round out the contents of another copy. Eight pages of bibliographic notes; good 16-page index; 8-pages of color; two appendices, one of which gives the location of extant copies. Highly recommended for history enthusiasts of astronomy and the Renaissance.

Ensure mind is engaged before keyboard is in gear ...
"Gee gosh golly" anecdotal intelectual flabbyness, mostly centering on "I," and written in flacid prose. Would award no star at all if that were possible.

For coverage of similar and related material would highly recomend J. L. Heilbron's "The Sun In The Church" -- a vigorous and active intelect conveying complex insights clearly and writing with a dry sense of humor. ... Read more

Book Description

World-renowned physicist and bestselling author Stephen Hawking presents a revolutionary look at the momentous discoveries that changed our perception of the world with this first-ever compilation of seven classic works on physics and astronomy. His choice of landmark writings by some of the world's great thinkers traces the brilliant evolution of modern science and shows how each figure built upon the genius of his predecessors. On the Shoulders of Giants includes, in their entirety, On the Revolution of Heavenly Spheres by Nicolaus Copernicus; Principia by Sir Isaac Newton; The Principle of Relativity by Albert Einstein; Dialogues Concerning Two Sciences by Galileo Galilei with Alfonso De Salvio; plus Mystery of the Cosmos, Harmony of the World, and Rudolphine Tables by Johannes Kepler. It includes an essay by each scientist preceded by biographies written by Hawking. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Five "Giants" who Altered Our View of the Heavens
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The brilliant idea behind this book is the inclusion of selected, original, translated "Great Works of Physics and Astronomy" (which is the book's subtitle). These works were written by five intellectual "giants" (all men whose portraits are shown on the book's cover). This book's title "On the Shoulders of Giants" was a phrase used in a letter by one of these men and the meaning of it is the theme of this book. Its meaning, as Dr. Stephen Hawking states, is "how science...is a series of incremental advances each building on what went before." This book uses these five men's great works "to trace the evolution of our picture of the heavens."

This book was edited and has "commentary" by Hawking. The reader is not told exactly what Hawking's commentary is but I assume it is the short but excellent introduction to the book, the brief but informative biographies or "Life and Work" of each man, and the helpful footnotes included with each great work. All these as a whole comprise less than 2% ot this nearly 1300 page book.

I found in the page entitled "A Note on the Texts" the following: "The texts [or great works] in this book are based on translations of the original, printed editions [or papers]. [There has been] no attempt to modernize [or correct] the author's own distinct usage, spelling, or punctuation, or to make the texts consistent with each other in this regard." I assume this also applies to errors in grammar and errors to equations (such as omissions). That is, any errors in the original, translated papers are not corrected.

Who were these giants and what great work (that's included in this book) did they produce? The answer is as follows:

1. Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 to 1543). The work included is entitled "On the Revolutions of [the] Heavenly Spheres" (1543). This work was the beginning of the Sun-centered "Copernican revolution." It has an introduction and six parts or "books." This work comprises about 30% of this book.

2. Galileo Galilei (1564 to 1642). Work included: "Dialogues [or Discourses and Mathematical Demonstrations] Concerning Two [New] Sciences" (1638). This work "is widely held to be the cornerstone of modern physics." It has four parts or "days." It comprises about 18% of the book.

3. Johannes Kepler (1571 to 1630). Work included: Book Five of "Harmonies of the World" (1618). With this book and his other four, "Kepler discovered how planets orbited." It has an introduction and ten chapters. Comprises 7% of this book.

4. Sir Isaac Newton (1642 to 1727). Work included: "The Mathematical Priciples of Natural Philosophy" (1687). Better known as "The Principia." This work includes Newton's three laws of motion and his law of universal gravitation. It has an introduction and three parts or "books." Comprises 34% of this book.

5. Albert Einstein (1879 to 1955). Work (which was co-authored) includes: Seven selections from "The Principles of Relativity: A Collection of Original Papers on the Special Theory of Relativity" (1922). In these works, read how Einstein altered our perception of space and time. Comprises 8% of this book.

To read the works of Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler, it would be helpful to know some geometry, trigonometry, and algebra. The same goes for the work of Newton but knowing some calculus would also be helpful. For the works of Einstein, knowing some advanced mathematics (such as advanced calculus) would be helpful.

I found, for myself, that in all of the above great works, the person's thought processes could be easily followed (even if the mathematics was unclear). This even applied to the works of Einstein. I recommend reading each of these works slowly and taking frequent breaks since the reading can become tedious at times.

There were three problems I found with this book:

First, the table of contents. For the major works, it just states their title and page number of where they begin. For example, the work of Einstein begins on page 1167 and that's all we're told!! Why not list the seven selections that are included? Thus, state in the table of contents that one selection has the title "On the Influence of Gravitation on the Propagation of Light" and that it begins on page 1193. Or consider the work of Copernicus. Why not state that part four of his work starts on page 197? Since this book is so large (and probably intimitating to some), I feel that a good, detailed table of contents is imperative.

Second, I found small errors in that 1% of the book that does not include the great works and Life & Work sections. (Fortunately, these errors are corrected in these sections of the book.) For example, in the "A Note on the Texts" page, we are told that "Kepler completed [his] work on May...1816." But he died in 1630! Or the table of contents states that Newton's birth year was 1643. I don't normally nit-pick like this, but since there were only five men, I feel that little errors like this should not be made.

Third, the "Life and Work" sections are not referenced. Where was this detailed information obtained?

Finally, a few equations in the Einstein papers have errors (like omissions, etc.) As explained above, these were probably in the original, printed work and thus were not corrected. In most cases, I found I could correct the error myself. I did find three equations where some variables were cut-off. I found I could easily deduce what the variables should be. Even with these minor errors, the Einstein section is still very informative and usable.

In conclusion, these five intellectual giants revolutionized the course of science. Be sure to get this first-ever compilation of their great works!!

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Typos make the Einstein section unusable
On the Shoulders of Giants. ISBN 0-7264-1348-4. Stephen Hawking, ed. [2002]

I bought this book at one of the giant bookstores. The printing / production has mechanical errors which make the book publisher less credible, in the section for Einstein. Some well-known physics book publishers provide corrected pages on the Internet. Could the publisher provide some pdf files with corrections for the following pages? Are these corrections available to us?

I purchased this book just to study the papers by Einstein. Here are some transcription errors:
page 1190: 2nd equation is mal-formed.
page 1191: top equation is clipped.
page 1194: top equation is clipped.
page 1232: equation 54 is mal-formed.
page 1235: equation 59 is mal-formed..
page 1237: line 6 from bottom, an in-line expression is clipped and not understandable.
page 1239: lines 11-12 have expressions with subscripts only, but no variables.
page 1263: equation 17 is mal-formed.

According to the publicity note,
"World-renowned physicist and bestselling author Stephen Hawking presents a revolutionary look at the momentous discoveries that changed our perception of the world with this first-ever compilation of seven classic works on physics and astronomy. His choice of landmark writings by some of the world's great thinkers traces the brilliant evolution of modern science and shows how each figure built upon the genius of his predecessors. On the Shoulders of Giants includes, in their entirety, On the Revolution of Heavenly Spheres by Nicolaus Copernicus; Principia by Sir Isaac Newton; The Principle of Relativity by Albert Einstein; Dialogues Concerning Two Sciences by Galileo Galilei with Alfonso De Salvio; plus Mystery of the Cosmos, Harmony of the World, and Rudolphine Tables by Johannes Kepler. It also includes five critical essays and a biography of each featured physicist, written by Hawking himself. "

Put your wallet back in your pocket, unless...
Fortunately, my public library has this book and I was able to check it out before laying out my dough.
As others have said, the only Stephen Hawking material in this book is the short intro. I would much rather consult the individual works as I see the need rather than relying on Hawking (or most likely--the publisher/editor) to provide me a pricey package which has little apparent added value. Its sort of like an Oprah Book Club selection--Steve Hawking says its good, so I guess I'll buy it. For the general public (dumb guys like me) who love astronomy and astrophysics, Timothy Ferris' books are a lot more fun and approachable.

The Necessary Anthology
I can't say enough about how much this compilation of revolutionary works should be on any true human's shelf. It outlines the way in which our world has mathematically and scientifically evolved in the way that no other anthology can.

Read 'Principia...', for no one does it like Newton himself.
Having spent years teaching high school Physics - including the ubiquitous F=ma - I was humbled by the elegance and clarity of Newton's own derivation. There is nothing that I - or authors of textbooks I have seen - can come up with that will explain the three Laws of Motion better than Newton's own presentation. I am surprised that this is not compulsory reading in standard college Physics courses or, more importantly, in teacher training. The 'Principia...' are not just of historical interest - they can still be used in education today. It makes, for example, a refreshing change to teach the 2nd Law without using the term 'acceleration', focussing on momentum ('movement' in Newton's language) instead.
I'm also ashamed to admit it took me so long to notice that since Newton followed Kepler (one of the 'giants' to whom Newton's statement refers), Newton derived the Law of Gravitation by combining Kepler's 3rd with his own 2nd and not, as many syllabi would have our students believe, the other way round ["derive Kepler's 3rd law..."]. Better late than never... ... Read more

Book Description

Isaac Asimov's innovative exploration of the relationship between science and society over the past 4 million years. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

The purest of genius -- Issac Asimov
I love all works by Asimov, and meeting him in person one time was a high of a lifetime for me!!

This book is one which is informative beyond imagination, powerful towards one's understanding of the world and science at large, and so fun to read.

I miss having Asimov among us since his passing, but his genius will live on always, and this book is certainly no exception.

Asimov knew his science
Isaac Asimov was one of the great popularizers for science. This Chronology of the history of science just understates that we lost one of the great writers of any era when he passed away in 1992.

This book is great. It outlines all the major and most of the minor scientific discoveries. The scientific advances that worked to give us the current world we live in. With things like nuclear weapons, global warming, etc. It is super important that politicians policy makers understand science. It is sad that most of them don't think they need to know about it.

This book helps people to understand the important role that science plays in our world.

The best book of the history of science by Asimov
I was a complete Asimovphile and I had read his books on science(my favorite subject)and science fiction that I could come across. The book Asimov's Chronology of Science & Discovery is probably the best book of science he's ever written. This book takes the reader on the journey in history from our human ancestors up to modern times. It has all the dates,events,and the people involed in scientific discoveries and technology. Not only does it include abstract discoveries but neat facts such as when the slide rule was invented, how negative numbers where conceived, who invented LSD, and how computers came from bulky to small. To me, Asimov knew every event with the year and the person involved. Aside of what happened in the past,he kept up with the present as well.I like his work since I know that he made complex topics understandable for the general reader. Because of him, I became a genius of science! I read every single book written by him before I started to go into other works by different authors. Aside from that, He updated his work also. To sum it all up, Asimov's Chronology of Science & Discovery is the crowning achievment of science,discovery,history, and the author who can present to the general reader. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A very good book for students and "real" scientist/engineers
Students who are really interested in physics, electrical engineering or related subjects would find this book informative and inspiring.
Real electrical engineer would have the deepest feeling when reading through the lines.
Written for a genius (hero) by a great educator of the field. ... Read more

Book Description

This extremely lively-and intricately researched-book is a rousing romp through the history of inventions and their inventors through time, from the tiny paperclip-coined "the world's most valuable invention"-to the massive jet engine; from mastermind Leonardo DaVinci, to quirky, colorful, dual-cyclone-vacuum-cleaner inventor James Dyson.It could be called an "Encyclopedia of Inventions," but it feels like too much fun for this kind of appellation. Far from a stodgy compendium, this book provides the dates, details, and stories of how some of the most interesting and useful objects have been invented through time, presented in a colorful retro format and with a lively sense of humor. It fills a much-needed niche in the series of National Geographic reference books: consider it the pause that refreshes. The information is as equally authoritative as our other reference titles, but in this title you get another angle on the technical stuff-heavy on history and anecdote that accompanies the science of invention. Nine chapters are divided thematically and reveal how gadgets and gizmos have affected all aspects of our daily lives.They are: Around the House, In the Office, At the Doctor's, Getting Around, Cutting Edge, Eating and Drinking, Spare Time, Inventions Without Wings, and Patent Numbers.Entries include objects as diverse as the disposable diaper, zipper, hair dryer, photocopier, artificial heart, disposable syringe, intelligence test, hub gears, collapsible scooters for the handicapped, beta blockers, Viagrar, and the traffic light. The subjects covered range from the absurd to the life-saving, from the high-tech based on years of research and testing to the accident. The Post-it note, a product of the genius of Arthur Fry in 1974, was the lemonade of a failed attempt at making a strong glue. Fry succeeded in making a glue that didn't stick, and an invention that did. Percy Shaw's 1930s invention of road safety reflectors, called cat's eyes, was the product of a late night drive in Halifax where he was alerted to his veering off the road by the reflection of his headlights in a cat's eyes. The book's compelling and colorful layout-which mixes fun facts called "did you know", timelines, and photographs-offers a discrete entry with each spread, breaking down the scores of information into bite-sized bits for easy digestion. This reference book succeeds in making learning entertaining and fun. ... Read more