Science And Scientists

by Salem Press (Editor)

Lucan’s famous dictum that those standing on the shoulders of giants
see farther than the giants themselves applies to no human endeavor more
thoroughly than to the “pure” astronomy, chemistry, biology, ge-
ology, mathematics, physics, and the many subdisciplines they have
spawned. The three volumes of Science and Scientists documents 245 of the
mostimportantbreakthroughsinthehistoryofscience,cross-referencedto
link those that built on others, from ancient times to the present day. These
essaysareaccompaniedbybiographicalsidebarsonmanyofthegiantsbe-
hind the discoveries, as well as charts and schematics illustrating many of
the basic concepts.
The disciplines covered here are broad, including Anthropology, Ar-
chaeology, Astronomy and Cosmology, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Sci-
ence, Earth Science, Environmental Science, Evolution, Genetics, Mathe-
matics, Medicine, Meteorology, Methods, Paleontology, Physics,
Psychology, and Space Science. Arranged alphabetically, these essays ad-
dress the most important breakthroughs in these fields, ranging from Ab-
stractAlgebratoQuantumMechanics,fromtheBigBangtoX-RayAstron-
omy, from Antisepsis to Viruses.
Accompanying the essays are 125 sidebars highlighting the scientists
and their accomplishments. An additional 62 charts, diagrams, and draw-
ings illustrate the scientific concepts presented. It is important to note that
technological advances and inventions—such as the telephone, the light
bulb,andtheairplane—arenotaddressedherebutarecoveredinthecom-
panion Magill’s Choice set Inventions and Inventors (2 vols., 2002). How-
ever,afew“crossover”achievements—suchasthePersonalComputer,the
Internet, and Vaccination—are included in these pages for having had as
great an impact on the “pure” sciences as on everyday life. The core
achievements in space science also appear here, from the Apollo Moon
landing to the International Space Station.
Each essay opens with a brief definition of the topic and a summary of
itssignificance,followedbyalistofthecentralscientificfigures.Thetextof
each essay is broken into sections with concise subheads. “See also” cross-
references to other essays in these volumes follow, and each essay ends
withalistingofcoreresourcesfor“FurtherReading.”Allessayswerewrit-
ten by scholars of history or the sciences.

Hardcover

First published March 1, 2006

About the author

Salem Press publishes award-winning reference works in literary, historical, legal and scientific areas.