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Akıllı Homo Sapiens
Birkaç milyon yıl önce taş aletlerin yardımıyla güç bela hayatını sürdürürken yok olmanın eşiğinden dönen bir canlı türü bugün nasıl olup da atomaltı parçacıklardan galaksilere dek doğanın işleyişlerine dair bu denli büyük bir bilgi birikimine sahip olabildi?
Leonard Mlodinow insanın Afrika savanlarındaki hayatta kalma mücadelesinden yazının icadına ve oradan kuantum fiziğine uzanan macerasını ustaca anlatıyor, bu süreçte rol oynamış belli başlı filozof ve bilginlerin yaşamları, eserleri ve içine doğdukları kültürel koşullar hakkında bilgi veriyor. Bilimin insanlığın macerası içinde ne tür bir yer tuttuğunu ve günümüzde hangi bilimsel sorunların gündemde olduğunu ele alan Akıllı Homo Sapiens bilim meraklısı okurlar için önemli bir kitap.
“Mlodinow bilimi hem anlaşılması kolay hem de eğlenceli kılmakta hiç başarısız olmamıştır.”
-Stephen Hawking, Zamanın Kısa Tarihi adlı kitabın yazarı.
“Türümüzün yolculuğunu anlatan Mlodinow’a kulak verin; dur durak bilmeyen ilerlememizin nasıl da insan beyninin eşsiz bir özelliğine, bir türlü gideremediğimiz bilgi açlığına bağlı olduğunu göreceksiniz.”
-David Eagleman, Incognito: Beynin Gizli Hayatı adlı kitabın yazarı.
Leonard Mlodinow insanın Afrika savanlarındaki hayatta kalma mücadelesinden yazının icadına ve oradan kuantum fiziğine uzanan macerasını ustaca anlatıyor, bu süreçte rol oynamış belli başlı filozof ve bilginlerin yaşamları, eserleri ve içine doğdukları kültürel koşullar hakkında bilgi veriyor. Bilimin insanlığın macerası içinde ne tür bir yer tuttuğunu ve günümüzde hangi bilimsel sorunların gündemde olduğunu ele alan Akıllı Homo Sapiens bilim meraklısı okurlar için önemli bir kitap.
“Mlodinow bilimi hem anlaşılması kolay hem de eğlenceli kılmakta hiç başarısız olmamıştır.”
-Stephen Hawking, Zamanın Kısa Tarihi adlı kitabın yazarı.
“Türümüzün yolculuğunu anlatan Mlodinow’a kulak verin; dur durak bilmeyen ilerlememizin nasıl da insan beyninin eşsiz bir özelliğine, bir türlü gideremediğimiz bilgi açlığına bağlı olduğunu göreceksiniz.”
-David Eagleman, Incognito: Beynin Gizli Hayatı adlı kitabın yazarı.
464 pages, Paperback
First published May 5, 2015
321 people are currently reading
6033 people want to read
About the author
Leonard Mlodinow
29 books1,184 followersLeonard Mlodinow is an American theoretical physicist and mathematician, screenwriter and author. In physics, he is known for his work on the large N expansion, a method of approximating the spectrum of atoms based on the consideration of an infinite-dimensional version of the problem, and for his work on the quantum theory of light inside dielectrics.
He has also written books for the general public, five of which have been New York Times best-sellers, including The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives, which was chosen as a New York Times notable book, and short-listed for the Royal Society Science Book Prize; The Grand Design, co-authored with Stephen Hawking, which argues that invoking God is not necessary to explain the origins of the universe; War of the Worldviews, co-authored with Deepak Chopra; and Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior, which won the 2013 PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. He also makes public lectures and media appearances on programs including Morning Joe and Through the Wormhole, and debated Deepak Chopra on ABC's Nightline.
He has also written books for the general public, five of which have been New York Times best-sellers, including The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives, which was chosen as a New York Times notable book, and short-listed for the Royal Society Science Book Prize; The Grand Design, co-authored with Stephen Hawking, which argues that invoking God is not necessary to explain the origins of the universe; War of the Worldviews, co-authored with Deepak Chopra; and Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior, which won the 2013 PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. He also makes public lectures and media appearances on programs including Morning Joe and Through the Wormhole, and debated Deepak Chopra on ABC's Nightline.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 249 reviews
March 30, 2023
4.5 stars
For humans to advance from wandering hunter-gatherers to the savvy beings we are today - able to use all kinds of intricate gadgets and even send spacecraft out into the cosmos - there had to be significant advancements in knowledge and technology. In this book Mlodinow talks about the major leaps of mankind and how they came about.
Primitive humans were hunter-gatherers
Modern humans are tech savvy
Mlodinow focuses on three areas: evolution of the human mind; discoveries related to astronomy, physics, chemistry, and biology; and the revolutionary field of quantum mechanics. The book, which covers a wide array of topics, can't be summarized in a short review...and I won't try. I'd just strongly encourage anyone interested in the topic of human advancement to read the book themselves. It's exceptionally well written, has loads of fascinating information, and (against all odds) is VERY funny. The author has a great sense of humor and includes lots of humorous quips and examples throughout the book.
Just for fun, I'll mention a few things in the book that I found particularly memorable.
One of the most important human discoveries occurred when some cavewoman (or man) - banging a couple of rocks together - accidently produced a shard with a sharp edge....the first knife! This helped early humans, who were mostly vegetarians, expand their diet to include more meat. It made a good weapon as well. In any case, these sharpened rocks apparently helped us get much more clever.
I was surprised to learn that Sir Isaac Newton, who discovered the laws of motion, wasn't a nice guy at all. He worked constantly, shunned human interaction, and was very vengeful toward people who disagreed with him or criticized his research. If someone angered Newton he would write lots of nasty letters and viciously criticize them in scientific journals. You wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of this genius!
Charles Darwin, who at the age of 22 bravely undertook his extensive voyage on the Beagle, was a physical wreck by the age of 30. Poor Darwin was so sick that he sometimes couldn't work for months at a time. The biologist visited many doctors and tried innumerable remedies, but nothing helped. (My own theory is that Darwin picked up a parasite on his trip.) Still Darwin married and had lots of children. He also carried on (through the pain) for many years to develop his theory of evolution. (Yay!)
The book's author, Leonard Mlodinow, specializes in theoretical physics but had to learn some applied physics as well. For one such class young Mlodinow had to build a radio from scratch. As the author describes it, the radio only got one unpopular station.... and only worked when he held it upside down and shook it. (Ha ha ha.)
Leonard Mlodinow
I completely enjoyed the book and highly recommend it to anyone interested in science.
You can follow my reviews at http://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com/
April 27, 2016
This is an engaging book by an excellent author. I've read a few of his books and they have all been excellent. This book is sort of a history of science. Not a complete history--there is no attempt to make it comprehensive.
The book covers physics, chemistry, biology, and quantum mechanics. It is filled with anecdotes and interesting stories that help make the scientists come alive.
The book is also about Mlodinow's father, a holocaust survivor. When his father was in a concentration camp, he had conversations with another prisoner, a mathematician. The mathematician gave Mlodinow's father puzzles to solve. He couldn't solve one puzzle, so he asked the mathematician for the answer. But in return for the solution to the puzzle, the mathematician demanded a crust of bread--the daily ration in a place where prisoners were starving to death! And Mlodinow's father gave his bread in return for the solution, a tribute to man's curiosity and thirst for knowledge!
I listened to this book as an audiobook, narrated by the author. Unfortunately, Mlodinow reads his book in a stilted manner--it would have been better if a professional actor had read it.
The book covers physics, chemistry, biology, and quantum mechanics. It is filled with anecdotes and interesting stories that help make the scientists come alive.
The book is also about Mlodinow's father, a holocaust survivor. When his father was in a concentration camp, he had conversations with another prisoner, a mathematician. The mathematician gave Mlodinow's father puzzles to solve. He couldn't solve one puzzle, so he asked the mathematician for the answer. But in return for the solution to the puzzle, the mathematician demanded a crust of bread--the daily ration in a place where prisoners were starving to death! And Mlodinow's father gave his bread in return for the solution, a tribute to man's curiosity and thirst for knowledge!
I listened to this book as an audiobook, narrated by the author. Unfortunately, Mlodinow reads his book in a stilted manner--it would have been better if a professional actor had read it.
October 7, 2017
Upright Thinkers by Leonard Moldinow is in part, an attempt to explain the history of science to his father, a holocaust survivor with a 7th grade education (see page 1).
Moldinow is particularly good at explaining science in a way that is fun and engaging.
He's essentially writing to his beloved father. He's making it so his dad could get it. Not in a condescending way. Not at all. Moldinow's writing is smart and he clearly relates to his audience as if we're smart too. But just perhaps lacking the rich education a professional scientist gets as part of their training.
So that's what this book is. He's making the world of science accessible to an ordinary audience. And it's a wonderful thing.
The book begins with a story of Moldinow's father in a Nazi concentration camp. Apparently his father was approached by a fellow inmate, an accomplished mathematician, and given a mathematical riddle to solve.
Moldinow's father labored over the riddle for days but couldn't solve it. He finally resorted to bribing the mathematician for the answer with a crust of bread (a days food ration).
The mathematician accepted the food (a total dick move) in exchange for the answer to the riddle (which incidentally was Pi).
Considering that Moldinow's father was quite literally starving to death, the willingness to trade food for knowledge speaks volumes about what actually motivates us humans.
The anecdote also foreshadows the subtext of the book. That great scientists can be total dicks, or at least eccentric and ballsy enough to ask questions that others just don't or simply won't.
Upright Thinkers tracks the history of science, reaching all the way back to our pre human ancestry.
After we meet Aristotle in Ancient Greece, the story subdivides into brief histories of early physics, chemistry, biology and quantum mechanics.
The story of each sub-field is told via biographical vignettes of some of the more prominent characters who contributed to each sub-field.
Incidentally, they tend to be total dicks (with some notable exceptions).
Moldinow puts it nicely when he says "we tend to shun people who do not blend well with others. But it is those who are different who often see what others do not".
And that's pretty much what the book is about. It's the story of science, and the eccentric, oftentimes course people who advanced it.
Physics:
Moldinow breezes through the history of physics, from Pythagoras to Aristotle, Copernicus And the to the set up with Galileo, and finally to the spike with Isaac Newton (who was a total dick).
Newton was a total outcast nerd, and a total dick to boot. He worked almost exclusively in solitude. Apparently he had invented the calculus and it was just sitting in his papers. One day one of his bros, sir Edmond Haley (of Haley's comet fame) asked him about a problem he was having understanding the orbit of planets, and Newton said oh yeah, I already solved that one, it's in my desk somewhere, I'll have to dig it up.
And like four months later Haley gets a letter in the mail, and not only did it explain the orbit of planets in perfect mathematical detail, but it was an entirely new form of mathematics that could be used to understand motion and change more generally i.e. a little piece of intellectual property called the Calculus (you may have heard of it).
So Haley shits his pants and says hey Newton, can I publish this? And Newton shot back that he needed to make a few corrections, and the result was the three volume Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Latin for "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy") or simply The Principia for short.
The Principia states Newton's laws of motion, forming the foundation of classical mechanics, also Newton's law of universal gravitation, and a derivation of Kepler's laws of planetary motion.
Basically, The Principia rocked the scientific establishment from the basement to the attic.
Pincipia was so fucking good that Newton's bitter (and I mean BITTER) arch rival Robert Hooke called it "the most important discovery in nature since the world's creation".
That's like Fox News admitting that Barak Obama was the single greatest man in human history.
That's how utterly overwhelmingly fucking good Principia was.
Newton's laws remained the fundamental organizing principals of physics until Einstein dropped Special Relativity over 250 years later. But more like when Heisenberg dropped his uncertainty principle a little after that. You get the picture. Newton's shit was dominant for like over two and a half centuries.
For those aware of the halflife of most scientific "truths", that is for all intents and proposes an eternity.
Chemistry:
Moldinow begins his history of chemistry with a brief tour of alchemy, then on to Paracelsus (who was a total dick too).
Paracelsus:
Born Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, was a Swiss German Renaissance doctor, botanist, alchemist, astrologer, and general occultist.
He took the name Para-Celsus because the greatest physician of the time was named Celsus, and Para (meaning "close to" or in this case "better than") Celsus was his way of saying I'm better than Celsus.
Ballsy!
That's like calling your band Better Than Led Zepplin.
That's hella gangster right?
Your shit better be really fucking good if your going to call for the ball like that. And basically, Paracelsus's shit was really fucking good. So the name stuck.
He invented a bunch of rad stuff but his big deal was that he invented Laudanum, a tincture of opium i.e. morphine.
That's right, Paracelsus invented smack (and the Junky in one foul swoop) Or para-smack (in this case para meaning not quite as good but close enough).
Anyway. Laudanum was a HUGE hit (no pun intended) and basically revolutionized pain management (including existential pain management if you catch my drift).
Anyway, Paracelsus was also known as a revolutionary for insisting upon observing nature via experiments and shit rather than just looking to ancient Galenic texts.
This made him a fuck ton of enemies in the conservative establishment and he caught hella shit for his progressive beliefs.
The more push back he got, the more stubborn and independent (dickish) he became. Until his name essentially became synonymous with progressive reform (righteous dickishness).
But Paracelsus wasn't the real father of modern chemistry, another total dick was.
Dmitri Mendeleev:
He was writing a text book on chemistry, and he wanted to make it really really good. So he was trying to figure out how to arrange the chapters.
But that lead to a more fundamental question of how to arrange chemicals in general.
This problem bugged the shit out of him. So he just kept fucking around with the arrangement of the known chemicals of his day, and he pretty much stumbled upon arranging them by atomic weight.
He knew he was on to something, but there were these huge gaps in the matrix that made the whole table look fucked up and wrong.
But he was such a dick that he insisted that these were undiscovered chemical elements. He even predicted what the missing elements would weigh and what they would look like. And he turned out to be right.
Wow!
Some other dude discovered one of the missing elements but it was a different atomic weight than Mendeleev had predicted. So Mendeleev wrote the guy an angry missive demanding that he redo his analysis, so the guy did just to shut Mendeleev up, and Mendeleev turned out to be right.
FUCK!
That's fucking AWESOME right?
The periodic table became the organizing principal of chemistry.
Still is.....
Word!
Biology:
Moldinow somewhat apologetically explains that biology lagged behind the other sciences because:
"for biology to grow [as a science] it had to overcome the natural human tendencies to feel that we are special and that deities and/or magic govern the world".
So true.
As it turns out, the real dicks in this case were not the biologists, but the naysayers e.g. the theologians, clergy and the old school scholars etc.
Anyway.
The obvious Newton or Mendeleev of biology is Charles Darwin. His theory of Evolution via Natural Selection is (like Newtons laws, and Mendeleev's periodic table) the organizing principal of biology (and now, increasingly psychology, which is in my humble opinion, simply a sub-discipline of biology any way).
While Darwin wasn't quite a dick, in fact, he was supposed to be pretty fuckin' cool, he did almost do a total dick thing to this guy Wallis who almost scooped Darwin with the theory. Anyway, they talked it out and Wallis conceded the theory to Darwin and they actually agreed to share the credit and Darwin got all the credit but they were still friends. Not really that dickish.
I guess biologists tend to be pretty nice guys. Apparently biology didn't produce its first authentic total dick till Richard Dawkins, but he's not really mentioned in the book.
Quantum Mechanics:
Okay.
Not everyone in science is a dick or an eccentric.
According to Moldinow, "there are plenty of ordinary people asking ordinary questions, and most of them will do just fine. But the most successful researchers are often the ones who ask the odd questions. For their trouble, they will be considered crazy until the time comes when they're considered geniuses".
Certainly the post classical physics era is defined by these oddball types.
Max Plank and Albert Einstein come to mind. But the book focuses on Niels Bohr (who was much more of an eccentric thinker than a dick).
Bohr:
Discovered the structure of the atom, which turned out to be much weirder than anyone has previously thought, and completely outside of Newtonian conventions.
Based on his discoveries of atomic structure, he reworked Mendeleev's periodic table of elements from ordering by atomic weight to ordering by atomic number. Based on his new system, in the tradition on Mendeleev, Bohr predicted the existence of yet more undiscovered elements, and also discovered that Mendeleev had been wrong about a couple of his calculations of elements.
Bohr got Mendeleev at his own game.
Zing!
In 2015 It's easy to be flip about all of this quantum stuff, but if you think about it. The concepts and mathematics of all of this are extremely difficult to learn, even after it's all been figured out and laid out in a textbook, with an instructor telling you how to do it, not to mention with calculators, computers, and the internet, and YouTube and all of that stuff.
The dudes who discovered this shit did it from scratch, with fucking pencils and paper and some shitty experiments.
It's really astounding.
No wonder pretty much only extreme characters make the cut. That's obviously what it takes to do this kind of work.
Heisenberg:
It's not that Heisenberg had a particularly off center character. But the man conceived of an entirely unintuitive, entirely novel conception of reality. And it turned out to be spot on. Actually true.
Think about that for a second.
If you don't think that's boss, tell me.
What the fuck have you done?
I think my personal greatest invention was the word "lezbro". It is a name for guys who befriend and generally prefer the company of lesbians. Nearly 10 years after it's inception, It has been mentioned on Ellen Degeneres's web sight, and I think you can google it.
Can I prove that I invented the word.
No.
So that's my contribution to society.
Anyway
Heisenberg pretty much discovered a strange, new, complexly alien, sub atomic world.
Using math.
Before he was 30.
Heisenberg's thing was so way the fuck out, that even Einstein was like fuck it. I can't deal with this. And he pretty much never recovered. He basically quit working at the cutting edge of physics from that moment on.
Heisenberg's work transformed Einstein into an old fart.
Like poof!
But Heisenberg's thing was right. It was so right that it blew Newton's thing into the basement.
It was a radical new frontier.
Drop the mic.....errrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
But more importantly, was Heisenberg a dick?
The answer is, kind of, yes.
He was at least a Nazi tolerator, if not supporter, if not the full blown real deal.
But he rocked a pencil, and the iPhone that I'm writing this on is a direct result of his work.
In Conclusion:
This was an intensely pleasurable summer read. I highly recommend it. And I highly recommend all of Moldinow's other books. There all great fun. You can't go wrong with this guy. Get it. Read it. You'll love it.
.
Moldinow is particularly good at explaining science in a way that is fun and engaging.
He's essentially writing to his beloved father. He's making it so his dad could get it. Not in a condescending way. Not at all. Moldinow's writing is smart and he clearly relates to his audience as if we're smart too. But just perhaps lacking the rich education a professional scientist gets as part of their training.
So that's what this book is. He's making the world of science accessible to an ordinary audience. And it's a wonderful thing.
The book begins with a story of Moldinow's father in a Nazi concentration camp. Apparently his father was approached by a fellow inmate, an accomplished mathematician, and given a mathematical riddle to solve.
Moldinow's father labored over the riddle for days but couldn't solve it. He finally resorted to bribing the mathematician for the answer with a crust of bread (a days food ration).
The mathematician accepted the food (a total dick move) in exchange for the answer to the riddle (which incidentally was Pi).
Considering that Moldinow's father was quite literally starving to death, the willingness to trade food for knowledge speaks volumes about what actually motivates us humans.
The anecdote also foreshadows the subtext of the book. That great scientists can be total dicks, or at least eccentric and ballsy enough to ask questions that others just don't or simply won't.
Upright Thinkers tracks the history of science, reaching all the way back to our pre human ancestry.
After we meet Aristotle in Ancient Greece, the story subdivides into brief histories of early physics, chemistry, biology and quantum mechanics.
The story of each sub-field is told via biographical vignettes of some of the more prominent characters who contributed to each sub-field.
Incidentally, they tend to be total dicks (with some notable exceptions).
Moldinow puts it nicely when he says "we tend to shun people who do not blend well with others. But it is those who are different who often see what others do not".
And that's pretty much what the book is about. It's the story of science, and the eccentric, oftentimes course people who advanced it.
Physics:
Moldinow breezes through the history of physics, from Pythagoras to Aristotle, Copernicus And the to the set up with Galileo, and finally to the spike with Isaac Newton (who was a total dick).
Newton was a total outcast nerd, and a total dick to boot. He worked almost exclusively in solitude. Apparently he had invented the calculus and it was just sitting in his papers. One day one of his bros, sir Edmond Haley (of Haley's comet fame) asked him about a problem he was having understanding the orbit of planets, and Newton said oh yeah, I already solved that one, it's in my desk somewhere, I'll have to dig it up.
And like four months later Haley gets a letter in the mail, and not only did it explain the orbit of planets in perfect mathematical detail, but it was an entirely new form of mathematics that could be used to understand motion and change more generally i.e. a little piece of intellectual property called the Calculus (you may have heard of it).
So Haley shits his pants and says hey Newton, can I publish this? And Newton shot back that he needed to make a few corrections, and the result was the three volume Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Latin for "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy") or simply The Principia for short.
The Principia states Newton's laws of motion, forming the foundation of classical mechanics, also Newton's law of universal gravitation, and a derivation of Kepler's laws of planetary motion.
Basically, The Principia rocked the scientific establishment from the basement to the attic.
Pincipia was so fucking good that Newton's bitter (and I mean BITTER) arch rival Robert Hooke called it "the most important discovery in nature since the world's creation".
That's like Fox News admitting that Barak Obama was the single greatest man in human history.
That's how utterly overwhelmingly fucking good Principia was.
Newton's laws remained the fundamental organizing principals of physics until Einstein dropped Special Relativity over 250 years later. But more like when Heisenberg dropped his uncertainty principle a little after that. You get the picture. Newton's shit was dominant for like over two and a half centuries.
For those aware of the halflife of most scientific "truths", that is for all intents and proposes an eternity.
Chemistry:
Moldinow begins his history of chemistry with a brief tour of alchemy, then on to Paracelsus (who was a total dick too).
Paracelsus:
Born Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, was a Swiss German Renaissance doctor, botanist, alchemist, astrologer, and general occultist.
He took the name Para-Celsus because the greatest physician of the time was named Celsus, and Para (meaning "close to" or in this case "better than") Celsus was his way of saying I'm better than Celsus.
Ballsy!
That's like calling your band Better Than Led Zepplin.
That's hella gangster right?
Your shit better be really fucking good if your going to call for the ball like that. And basically, Paracelsus's shit was really fucking good. So the name stuck.
He invented a bunch of rad stuff but his big deal was that he invented Laudanum, a tincture of opium i.e. morphine.
That's right, Paracelsus invented smack (and the Junky in one foul swoop) Or para-smack (in this case para meaning not quite as good but close enough).
Anyway. Laudanum was a HUGE hit (no pun intended) and basically revolutionized pain management (including existential pain management if you catch my drift).
Anyway, Paracelsus was also known as a revolutionary for insisting upon observing nature via experiments and shit rather than just looking to ancient Galenic texts.
This made him a fuck ton of enemies in the conservative establishment and he caught hella shit for his progressive beliefs.
The more push back he got, the more stubborn and independent (dickish) he became. Until his name essentially became synonymous with progressive reform (righteous dickishness).
But Paracelsus wasn't the real father of modern chemistry, another total dick was.
Dmitri Mendeleev:
He was writing a text book on chemistry, and he wanted to make it really really good. So he was trying to figure out how to arrange the chapters.
But that lead to a more fundamental question of how to arrange chemicals in general.
This problem bugged the shit out of him. So he just kept fucking around with the arrangement of the known chemicals of his day, and he pretty much stumbled upon arranging them by atomic weight.
He knew he was on to something, but there were these huge gaps in the matrix that made the whole table look fucked up and wrong.
But he was such a dick that he insisted that these were undiscovered chemical elements. He even predicted what the missing elements would weigh and what they would look like. And he turned out to be right.
Wow!
Some other dude discovered one of the missing elements but it was a different atomic weight than Mendeleev had predicted. So Mendeleev wrote the guy an angry missive demanding that he redo his analysis, so the guy did just to shut Mendeleev up, and Mendeleev turned out to be right.
FUCK!
That's fucking AWESOME right?
The periodic table became the organizing principal of chemistry.
Still is.....
Word!
Biology:
Moldinow somewhat apologetically explains that biology lagged behind the other sciences because:
"for biology to grow [as a science] it had to overcome the natural human tendencies to feel that we are special and that deities and/or magic govern the world".
So true.
As it turns out, the real dicks in this case were not the biologists, but the naysayers e.g. the theologians, clergy and the old school scholars etc.
Anyway.
The obvious Newton or Mendeleev of biology is Charles Darwin. His theory of Evolution via Natural Selection is (like Newtons laws, and Mendeleev's periodic table) the organizing principal of biology (and now, increasingly psychology, which is in my humble opinion, simply a sub-discipline of biology any way).
While Darwin wasn't quite a dick, in fact, he was supposed to be pretty fuckin' cool, he did almost do a total dick thing to this guy Wallis who almost scooped Darwin with the theory. Anyway, they talked it out and Wallis conceded the theory to Darwin and they actually agreed to share the credit and Darwin got all the credit but they were still friends. Not really that dickish.
I guess biologists tend to be pretty nice guys. Apparently biology didn't produce its first authentic total dick till Richard Dawkins, but he's not really mentioned in the book.
Quantum Mechanics:
Okay.
Not everyone in science is a dick or an eccentric.
According to Moldinow, "there are plenty of ordinary people asking ordinary questions, and most of them will do just fine. But the most successful researchers are often the ones who ask the odd questions. For their trouble, they will be considered crazy until the time comes when they're considered geniuses".
Certainly the post classical physics era is defined by these oddball types.
Max Plank and Albert Einstein come to mind. But the book focuses on Niels Bohr (who was much more of an eccentric thinker than a dick).
Bohr:
Discovered the structure of the atom, which turned out to be much weirder than anyone has previously thought, and completely outside of Newtonian conventions.
Based on his discoveries of atomic structure, he reworked Mendeleev's periodic table of elements from ordering by atomic weight to ordering by atomic number. Based on his new system, in the tradition on Mendeleev, Bohr predicted the existence of yet more undiscovered elements, and also discovered that Mendeleev had been wrong about a couple of his calculations of elements.
Bohr got Mendeleev at his own game.
Zing!
In 2015 It's easy to be flip about all of this quantum stuff, but if you think about it. The concepts and mathematics of all of this are extremely difficult to learn, even after it's all been figured out and laid out in a textbook, with an instructor telling you how to do it, not to mention with calculators, computers, and the internet, and YouTube and all of that stuff.
The dudes who discovered this shit did it from scratch, with fucking pencils and paper and some shitty experiments.
It's really astounding.
No wonder pretty much only extreme characters make the cut. That's obviously what it takes to do this kind of work.
Heisenberg:
It's not that Heisenberg had a particularly off center character. But the man conceived of an entirely unintuitive, entirely novel conception of reality. And it turned out to be spot on. Actually true.
Think about that for a second.
If you don't think that's boss, tell me.
What the fuck have you done?
I think my personal greatest invention was the word "lezbro". It is a name for guys who befriend and generally prefer the company of lesbians. Nearly 10 years after it's inception, It has been mentioned on Ellen Degeneres's web sight, and I think you can google it.
Can I prove that I invented the word.
No.
So that's my contribution to society.
Anyway
Heisenberg pretty much discovered a strange, new, complexly alien, sub atomic world.
Using math.
Before he was 30.
Heisenberg's thing was so way the fuck out, that even Einstein was like fuck it. I can't deal with this. And he pretty much never recovered. He basically quit working at the cutting edge of physics from that moment on.
Heisenberg's work transformed Einstein into an old fart.
Like poof!
But Heisenberg's thing was right. It was so right that it blew Newton's thing into the basement.
It was a radical new frontier.
Drop the mic.....errrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
But more importantly, was Heisenberg a dick?
The answer is, kind of, yes.
He was at least a Nazi tolerator, if not supporter, if not the full blown real deal.
But he rocked a pencil, and the iPhone that I'm writing this on is a direct result of his work.
In Conclusion:
This was an intensely pleasurable summer read. I highly recommend it. And I highly recommend all of Moldinow's other books. There all great fun. You can't go wrong with this guy. Get it. Read it. You'll love it.
.
January 25, 2021
Κάτι μήνες έκανα ολοκληρώσω το διάβασμα του. Και σύντομα να το ξαναδιαβάσω! Είναι από τα βιβλία που όχι μόνο τα διαβάζεις (αργά βέβαια για να αφομοιώνεις την ανθρώπινη γνώση) αλλά τα ξαναδιαβάζεις και κυρίως τα έχεις στο διπλανό ράφι της βιβλιοθήκης για να προστρέχεις όποτε δημιουργείται η ανάγκη. Χρήσιμο όχι βιβλίο, αλλά εγχειρίδιο!
April 9, 2017
Big science book that goes over important points in our human development, starting with prehistory and ending with Heisenberg. I was a little bit dumbfounded that almost nothing was mentioned of the big thinkers in astrophysics, but hey, maybe it wasn't planned all along. It goes through early astronomy, mathematics, chemistry, biology and physics and its huge forwarders, but has almost no mention of modern astronomy - which is a loss, in my opinion. Still, it gets 5 stars - not only is it concisely written, this author is one of the funny ones, and I laughed out loud many times during this book. Recommended for geeks. This shit is like cocaine to us.
December 10, 2020
"Η προσπάθεια του ανθρώπου να μάθει και να καινοτομήσει δεν είναι μία σειρά αποσπασματικών προσωπικών αγώνων, αλλά μία συνεργατική περιπέτεια, μία κοινωνική δραστηριότητα που προϋποθέτει για την επιτυχία της, συνύπαρξη ανθρώπων σε εγκαταστάσεις οι οποίες προσφέρουν τη δυνατότητα αλληλεπίδρασης μεταξύ πολλών διαφορετικών εγκεφάλων."
December 28, 2016
I loved this book. The Science was explained in easy language, anyone can benefit from this book. The humor of the author translates into the book and makes it more palatable . The first half of the book is more easy to understand than the last one tough, This book enters murky waters when it start dealing with quantum physics (its approach is a little advanced), but other than that the book is very approachable and written in layman terms. I recommend it to anyone to who has an interest in science, biology, physics or mathematics.
February 7, 2016
One of the most inspirational books I've read in my life. The book outlines the lives and achievements of various scientists, from Aristotle and Galileo to Schrodinger and Einstein. what all these scientists and creative thinkers have in common is that even in the face of unsurmountable obstacles, they worked hard to achieve their goals. Even when people told them that they were crazy and that their ideas were ridiculous, they persevered
I'm so happy to be in the scientific field, and I love that I'm able to call myself a scientist. To be part of such a privilege group of people that look at the world and try to decipher it's mysteries is an honor and a privilege. I truly recommend this book, not just to nerds like me, but anyone who needs a little inspiration
I'm so happy to be in the scientific field, and I love that I'm able to call myself a scientist. To be part of such a privilege group of people that look at the world and try to decipher it's mysteries is an honor and a privilege. I truly recommend this book, not just to nerds like me, but anyone who needs a little inspiration
May 4, 2015
Leonard Mlodinow is probably best known as co-author of a pair of books with Stephen Hawking (for example, The Grand Design), so it was interesting to see his writing away from the great man's shadow. Generally his style is light, slick and enjoyable, though he sometimes tries too hard to be witty, peppering the book with a jokiness that gets wearing. I could do with a little less of remarks like
The first cities did not arise suddenly as if nomads one day decided to band together and the next thing they knew they were hunting and gathering chicken thighs wrapped in Styrofoam and cellophane.
However, what we have here is an easy reading and a sometimes inspiring gallop through the development of human thought and science. As the subtitle puts it 'The human journey from living in trees to understanding the cosmos.'
It's interesting to compare this book with Steven Weinberg's To Explain the World, which has related aims, though without the first part about the development of humans. Without doubt Mlodinow's book is by far the more readable. And Weinberg has been slated in some sources for being unforgiving of the lack of modern insights in the likes of Aristotle, where arguably they should be allowed to be people of their time. But for me, Weinberg delivers a more challenging and stimulating read. Even so, Mlodinow's book is certainly more of a natural read for a popular science audience.
The Upright Thinkers is divided into three sections, and for me the beginning and end work far better than the middle. As an author, I can see the sense behind the low point being the middle section, but the worry might be that some could give up part way through. The first part shone brightest for me. This is the most original section, with really interesting consideration of the very early development of maths and culture. Despite that intrusive Styrofoam, I challenge anyone not to find this section genuinely fascinating. In the middle we plod rather heavy handedly through the likes of Galileo and Newton. Then things liven up with quantum theory (oddly there is very little about understanding the cosmos per se). There isn't a huge opportunity to gain insights into quantum physics itself, but there is plenty of context and a good feel for the way that modern science has moved away from hands on science to the indirect and theoretical.
Like Weinberg, one of Mlodinow's failings is not putting across the best understanding of history of science. He doesn't seem to realise, for instance, that Newton's 'If I have seen further' comment in a letter to Robert Hooke was not supposed to be a compliment. And, yes, there's the hackneyed old claim that Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake for the heresy of declaring 'that the earth revolved around the sun.' (He wasn't, it was common or garden religious heresy.) And, for that matter, the family of Gilbert Lewis will be surprised to discover that Max Born introduced the term 'photon'.
Overall then, a solid overview with some interesting novelties on early civilisation, but probably more a book for those who don't generally read popular science than those who do - and that's not a bad thing.
The first cities did not arise suddenly as if nomads one day decided to band together and the next thing they knew they were hunting and gathering chicken thighs wrapped in Styrofoam and cellophane.
However, what we have here is an easy reading and a sometimes inspiring gallop through the development of human thought and science. As the subtitle puts it 'The human journey from living in trees to understanding the cosmos.'
It's interesting to compare this book with Steven Weinberg's To Explain the World, which has related aims, though without the first part about the development of humans. Without doubt Mlodinow's book is by far the more readable. And Weinberg has been slated in some sources for being unforgiving of the lack of modern insights in the likes of Aristotle, where arguably they should be allowed to be people of their time. But for me, Weinberg delivers a more challenging and stimulating read. Even so, Mlodinow's book is certainly more of a natural read for a popular science audience.
The Upright Thinkers is divided into three sections, and for me the beginning and end work far better than the middle. As an author, I can see the sense behind the low point being the middle section, but the worry might be that some could give up part way through. The first part shone brightest for me. This is the most original section, with really interesting consideration of the very early development of maths and culture. Despite that intrusive Styrofoam, I challenge anyone not to find this section genuinely fascinating. In the middle we plod rather heavy handedly through the likes of Galileo and Newton. Then things liven up with quantum theory (oddly there is very little about understanding the cosmos per se). There isn't a huge opportunity to gain insights into quantum physics itself, but there is plenty of context and a good feel for the way that modern science has moved away from hands on science to the indirect and theoretical.
Like Weinberg, one of Mlodinow's failings is not putting across the best understanding of history of science. He doesn't seem to realise, for instance, that Newton's 'If I have seen further' comment in a letter to Robert Hooke was not supposed to be a compliment. And, yes, there's the hackneyed old claim that Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake for the heresy of declaring 'that the earth revolved around the sun.' (He wasn't, it was common or garden religious heresy.) And, for that matter, the family of Gilbert Lewis will be surprised to discover that Max Born introduced the term 'photon'.
Overall then, a solid overview with some interesting novelties on early civilisation, but probably more a book for those who don't generally read popular science than those who do - and that's not a bad thing.
February 3, 2022
E aproape imposibil să scrii o istorie a evoluției omului în doar 400 de pagini. Iar pentru mine să citesc Odiseea umană a fost ca o călătorie pe repede înainte, de-a lungul a zeci de mii de ani, în care am reușit să vizitez doar obiectivele importante. Dar poate nici nu contează că a fost atât de scurtă când tovarășii mei de drum au fost Aristotel, Newton, Copernic, Galileo, Mendeleev, Einstein, Max Planck, Schrödinger și mulți alții asemenea. Pentru că fiecare dintre ei a schimbat felul de a vedea lumea.
Cartea asta mi-a lăsat o poftă imensă, o nevoie să știu mai multe despre cum am ajuns de la uneltele din piatră la studiul și, probabil, manipularea undelor și a cuantelor. Aici Mlodinow s-a concentrat pe fizică, el însuși fiind fizician, și un pic pe chimie, dar tare mi-ar plăcea să aflu despre istoria omului din perspectiva sociologică. Ori a religiilor și a miturilor, pentru că și acestea ne-au modelat prezentul, poate cel mai mult.
Cartea asta mi-a lăsat o poftă imensă, o nevoie să știu mai multe despre cum am ajuns de la uneltele din piatră la studiul și, probabil, manipularea undelor și a cuantelor. Aici Mlodinow s-a concentrat pe fizică, el însuși fiind fizician, și un pic pe chimie, dar tare mi-ar plăcea să aflu despre istoria omului din perspectiva sociologică. Ori a religiilor și a miturilor, pentru că și acestea ne-au modelat prezentul, poate cel mai mult.
July 8, 2021
Cartea fizicianului Leonard Mlodinov propune o istorie a cunoașterii umane, a dezvoltării gândirii științifice, de la primele „de ce-uri” ale strămoșilor vânători-culegători până la descoperirea tehnologiilor care au revoluționat viața modernă, marcând momentele de răscruce din dezvoltarea științelor experimentale (fizică, chimie, biologie). Dacă prima parte, ,,Începutul aventurii”, este destul de accesibilă cititorului, ba chiar oferă o lectură agreabilă (lui Mlodinov nu-i lipsește umorul), celelalte două părți ale lucrării nu sunt chiar la îndemâna unui cititor nefamiliarizat cu un limbaj științific elementar sau cu cele mai importante repere ale științelor naturii. Trebuie să recunosc că, spre final, nefiind o pasionată a fizicii sau a matematicii, m-am cam încurcat în teoria relativității sau în avatarurile teoriei cuantice, ceea ce a întârziat finalizarea lecturii, fiind tentată să abandonez. Finalul cărții nu aduce însă și finalul călătoriei. Suntem aici, astăzi, datorită curiozității inerente speciei noastre, a nevoii de cunoaștere, dar mai ales mulțumită unora dintre semenii noștri, cei care au avut curajul să își pună întrebările potrivite și să caute, stăruitor, răspunsurile potrivite- oamenii de știință. Atât timp cât vom exista în Univers, călătoria va continua.
July 4, 2017
يأخذك هذا الكتاب العبقري في رحلة جميلة يجمع بها بين التاريخ والعلم ليحدثك عن تاريخ العلم البشري. يناقش فيها الكاتب أهم العلوم والإكتشافات والإختراعات التي أثرت في تاريخ البشرية.
من وجهة نظر الكاتب، فإن الحكاية قد ابتدأت من 2 مليون سنة عندما قرر الجد هومو هابيليس (أو الرجل ذو الأيدي) أن يضرب حجر بالآخر بزاوية معينة فإنة يسحصل على حجر مدبب مثل السكين. هذه كانت أم البدايات ليتعلم الأجداد أنهم بإمكانهم تحويل الطبيعة والتلاعب بالطبيعة لتحسين وجودهم.
من ثم تطورت هذه الأدوات بحيث أصبح بإمكان البشر الصيد وأن لا يعتمدو على الجيف لتناول طعامهم. كان هذا بفضل الجد هومو إريكتس (الرجل المنتصب). هذه القدرة قد مكنت الجنس البشري من الإنتقال من افريقيا الى أوروبا البلد وآسيا.
بقيت هذه القصة على ما بقيت عليه حتى أتى الجد الأكثر شبها للجنس البشري اليوم. كان هذا قبل 200000 سنة قبل الميلاد. من هنا شرف الجد (هومو سابينس) أو الرجل الحكيم (طبعا اسمه الرجل الحكيم، هذا ما يحدث عندما يتسنى لك اختيار اسمك). الشيء الأكثر تمييز لهذا الرجل الحكيم، أنه ولأول مرة، تلك العضلة الغريبة التي يقال لها المخ، تستهلك 20% من الطاقة الكلية (ثاني أكثر عضو مستهلك للطاقة بعد القلب).
بقيت الأمور على ما هي حتى ما قبل 12000 سنة حينما حدثت ثورة العصر الحجري الجديد، في هذه الثورة، لم تكن الأدوات هي التي تغيرت ولكن طريقة التفكير، الأسئلة التي نسألها، ومناقشة مواضيع تتعلق بالوجود. في هذه الفترة بدأ الأجداد بالتعبد وبدأو يهتمو بالجانب الروحي من الحياة، فكان أول معبد في تاريخ البشرية (جوبيكلي تيبي) في تركيا. هذا المعبد كان بعيدا عن أي منطقة سكنية قريبة، لذلك رجح العلماء أن الناس كان يحجو إليه حجا من أجل التعبد.
بعد هذه الفترة بدأ اكتشاف القرى والمدن وبدأ البشر يتقنون فن التواصل والتعاون وبناء الحضارات. بإختصار، كانت نقلة نوعية للبشر عندما بدأو يستوعبو المبدأ البسيط: القزم الواقف على أكتاف عملاق، يستطيع أن يرى أكثر من العملاق نفسه. من أعظم المدن العريقة في هذه الفترة كانت مدينة أوروك العراقية، يقطنها من خمسين ألف الى مئة ألف مواطن. في هذه المدينة تم إثبات أن المواطنين كانو يحفرو قنوات الري، كانو يزرعو الفواكه والقمح والشعير والبلح. بالإضافة الى ذلك، فقد كانو يربو الأغنام والحمير والخنازير وكانو أول المدن التي تم إثبات أنهم كانو يحتسو الكثير من الجعة.
مع كثرة الزراعة والتجارة والرعاية، كان لابد من من تنظيم الواردات والخارجات لهذه المدن الكبيرة، من هنا، وأيضا من المدينة العراقية السامرية، أتى أول حرف عرفته البشرية. كانت الكتابة بعكس اللغة اللتي تأتي بالفطرة، هي من أهم الإختراعات في العصر البشري. كان هذا 3000 عام قبل الميلاد تقريبا. كان الهدف من الكتابة بعيدا كل البعد عما تستخدم به الكتابة حاليا (غالبا كأي اختراع بالتاريخ، فمثلا ثوماس ايديسون اخترع المسجل ظنا منه أنه سيكون مفيدا لتسجيل صوت الوصية للأشخاص على فراش الموت)، فالكتابة اخترعت بالبداية للمحافظة على قوائم المواشي والمحاصيل الزراعية.
لم تكد تمر 500 عام، لتفاجئتنا العراق مرة أخرى بإختراع أول مدارس التاريخ والتي كانت تستخدم لتعليم الكتابة. كانت هذه لحظة تاريخية أخرى في تاريخ البشرية. فلأول مرة يذهب البشر الى مكان يقال له المدرسة لتلقي العلم. تطورت من خلال هذه المدارس الكتابة، فأصبحت تعتمد بشكل على الرموز بدل من الصور ومن خلاله بدأ الأجداد يتحدثو ليس فقط عن الحمير والشعير، بل بدأو يتحدثو عن العاطفة. دليل ذلك كان اكتشاف أقدم قصيدة حب، في مكان قريب من مدينة بغداد العظيمة، من فتاة الى الملك والتي تقول فيها:
أيها العريس العزيز على قلبي
يا لجمالك الإلهي، يا جميل
لقد أسرتني، جعلتني أرجف أمامك
عريسي العزيز، سوف أذهب الى غرفة النوم
عريسي العزيز، لقد أخذت سعادتك مني
قل ذلك لأمي، سوف تعطيك الحلوى، أبي سوف يعطيك الهدايا
(واضح انها عيلة صايعة اوبن مايند)
بعد ذلك تم اكتشاف الحروف واكتشاف الرياضيات (العمليات الحسابية البسيطة) من مدن العراق الجميلة، وبعدها من العراق الى مصر، حيث تم اكتشاف اول الطرق الحسابية لحسابات المساحة. كانت مصر المتصدرة في علوم المساحة بسبب الحاجة الى ذلك، فقد كان يفيض نهر النيل على الحقول المجاورة كل عام، وكان من الضروري إعادة حساب حصة كل مزارع لأغراض الضرائب. كانت رياضيات المساحة والجيوديزيا متقدمة لدى المصريين القدامى لدرجة أنه كان بإمكانهم بناء عارضة بطول 55 قدم بنسبة خطأ (1 من 50 من الانش).
من هنا، بقيت الأمور على ما هي عليه، حتى هاجم الكسندر المقدوني معاقل الدولة الفارسية انذاك ومن ضمنها بلاد ما بين النهرين. في هذه الحملة، أصبح كل شيء يوناني مرغوبا لدى الجميع، فقد أصبح الأطفال يتنافسون لحفظ اللغة اليونانية وحفظ الشعر اليوناني والفلسلفة اليونانية (مثل الأمريكان في عصرنا الحالي). قبل ذلك بثلاث قرون (600 عام قبل الميلاد)، كان اليونانيون قد بدأو بالتحضر وبدراسة الفلسفة ومناقشة أمور الكون. من هنا تم بناء مدينة ميليتس التي كانت بمقام مدينة نيويورك بالعصر الحالي. واقعة على البحر الأسود، كل الفقراء كانو يتجهو الى مدينة مليتس بحثا عن حياة أفضل. من هذه المدينة، بدأ الانسان يعي أن لديه أوقات فراغ، ومن أوقات الفراغ، قل التفكير في البطون وزاد التفكير في الوجود.
خلال هذه الفترة، خرج لنا السيد فيثاغورس ليضع حجر الأساس للرياضيات الحديثة وليخترع مبدأ الفلسفة اليونانية. فيثاغورس هو أول من اعتقد ان الطبيعة تتبع لقوانين رياضية. ولكن لم يحدث لفيثاغورس أن يطبق أيا من القوانين الرياضية بهدف فهم الطبيعة بعمق كبير. ولم يكن تلميذ فيثاغورس وأستاذ أرسطو (أفلاطون) هو من فعل ذلك، بل كان العظيم أرسطو هو من بدأ هذه الحكاية. هذه الصورة توضح ارسطو الى اليمين ومعلمه أفلاطون الى اليسار.
نظريات أرسطو في فهم الكون، مع أنها كانت تعتمد أحيانا على الرياضيات، إلى أنها اعتمدت اعتمادا أكثر على الفلسفة والمنطق. من ناحية أخرى، فإن معظم نظرياته كانت تعتمد على النوعية وليس على الكمية. مثال ذلك، لشرح السرعة، أرسطو قال " بعض الأشياء تمشي لمسافة أطول من أشياء أخرى في نفس الزمن". بناءا على هذا التعريف، كان من الواضح أن أرسطو في وقته لم يكن ليكترث كثيرا في مبدأ السرعة والقوة والتسارع.
من المآخذ الأخرى على علم أرسطو، أنه كان يركز جل تفكيره على أهداف ونهايات الحركة بدل من محاولة فهم الكيفية التي تحدث فيها الحركة وخصائص هذه الحركة. فمثلا كان يصف أن الأغنام تتحرك من أجل البحث عن الطعام. الأمطار تهطل من أجل أن يخرج النبات، النبات يخرج من أجل إطعام الحيوانات. فبالنسبة له، الكون هو عبارة عن نظام متزن وكان يحاول أن يفهم كيفية هذا الاتزان من ناحية سببية. علم أرسطو ترنح بعض الشيء بعد وفاته ولكن تم إحياؤه مرة أخرى في القرون الوسطى عن طريق العرب. ثم انتقل من العرب الى الغرب. مع بعض التعديلات، علم أرسطو كان الفلسفة البشرية الرسمية لمعدة تسعة قرون. فكان خلال تلك الفترة أن تدرس الطبيعة هو أن تدرس علم أرسطو.
انتعاش العلوم بعد الميلاد، كان قد بدأ من البلاد العربية حين بدأ العرب بترجمة الكتب الإغريقية الى اللغة العربية. خلال هذه الفترة (1000 سنة بعد الميلاد) أحرز العلماء العرب تطورا ملحوظا في الرياضيات والفلك والطب (للأسف الشديد الكاتب مر على هذه المرحلة مرور الكرام). ولكن في القرن الثالث عشر والرابع عشر، بدأ العرب يتراجعو بالعلوم وبدأ الاوروبيون بالاستيقاظ. بدأ الاستيقاظ الأوروبي تقريبا في نهاية القرن الحادي عشر بعد الميلاد حينما بدأ كوستنتينوس أفريكانوس بترجمة الكتب العربية الى اللغة اللاتينية. كانت الضربة القاسمة هي عندما احتل (او استرجع) المسيحيون اسبانيا ووقعت في يدهم الاف الكتب العربية. بعد هذه الفترة كان العلم يزحف زحفا لا بأس به. فتطورت الرياضيات وتم اختراع عدة اختراعات (من أهمها الساعة الدقيقة والطابعة الميكانيكية). ولكن أول نقلة نوعية لفهم السرعة والتسارع والطبيعة بشكل عام كانت مع العبقري غاليليو غاليلي (1564 – 1642).
من أهم إضافات غاليليو انه دحض نظرية ارسطو بالسقوط الحر الذي استنتج أن الأجسام تسقط بمعدل سرعة يتناسب مع وزنها. غاليليو نفى ذلك باستنتاج أن جميع الأجسام تسقط بنفس المعدل مع غياب مقاومة من الوسط الذي يسقط به الجسم. مرة أخرى غاليليو يدحض نظرية أخرى لأرسطو الذي كان قد استنتج أن الأجسام (مثل كرة المدفع) لكي تتحرك بالهواء فهي بحاجة الى قوة دافعة مستمرة لها ولكن غاليليو دحض ذلك بالتجربة ليجد أن الأجسام التي تتحرك حركة منتظمة سوف تحافظ على هذه الحركة (في حال غياب مقاومة من الوسط) تماما كما تحافظ الأجسام الساكنة على سكونها. لم يكتف غاليليو بذلك، بل دق مسمارا آخر في نعش العلم الأرسطوي. فبعد أن صمم تيليسكوب تمكن من خلاله من رؤية القمر و المشتري، استنتج غاليليو أن الأرض هي ليست مصدر الكون كمان كان يعتقد أرسطو. وذلك لأن المشتري كان لديه أقماره الخاصة به التي تدور حول المشتري وليس حول الأرض.
من عبقرية غاليليو الذي سهل الطريق كثيرا لعلماء الفيزياء بعده خاصة بعد ادخاله لمبدأ التجربة وبعد استنتاجته المذكورة مسبقا، خرج النجم نيوتن. حاقدا على أمه وزوج أمه ومتمنيا لهم الموت ليلا ونهارا، نيوتن غير تاريخ الفيزياء بعلمه وأبحاثه. فبعد أن كان منهمكا بحل الشيفرات في الإنجيل وبعلوم التبصير، لقد استطاع أن يضع قوانين للجاذبية (ملاحظة: قصة التفاحة هذه لا أساس لها من الصحة، يبدو أنها مستعارة من الحاجة أم عبدو) وقوانين للحركة غيرت مجرى التاريخ الى يومنا هذا. بالإضافة الى اسهامه الكبير في علم الفيزياء، فإن لنيوتن الفضل في ايجاد علم التغيرات (التفاضل والتكامل). من أكبر مساهماته في علم الفيزياء كانت قوانين نيوتن الثلاثة في الحركة وكتابه (برينسيبا).
من علم الفيزياء الى علم الكيمياء الذي بدأ على شكل خيمياء من أيام الفراعنة الذين اهتمو اهتماما شديدا في هذه العلوم بهد�� انتاج الذهب. من ألمع نجوم علم الكيمياء الحديثة (في القرنين السابع والثامن عشر) برز روبيرت بويل الذي استنتج أن حرق الخشب ينتج عنه غليان للماء وبذلك دحض لنظرية أرسطو أن المادة مكونة من النار والماء والهواء. بالإضافة الى ذلك أجرى تجارب استنتج منها أنه لابد ان يوجد غاز لتسهيل عملية التنفس. استكمل هذه الرحلة جوزيف بريستلي والذي استنج وجود غاز الأكسجين ولكن بدون فهم لخصائصه. ثم لمع الأسطورة الفرنسي لافوسير الذي فهم خصائص غاز الأكسجين وأعطاه اسمه. بالإضافة الى ذلك، لافوسير كان أول من فسر ظاهرة التفاعل الكيميائي ولكن بدون فهم للتفاصيل. لمع بعد ذلك العالم دالتون، الذي من أشهر اضافاته، اختراعه لطريقة حساب الوزن الذري عن طريق الاستنتاج. بالرغم من قلة التكنولوجيا في ذلك الوقت الا ان دالتون كان قد تمكن من تقديم حسابات دقيقة لوزن الذرات. مستخدما كل ما سبقه من علوم، خرج الينا العبقري ميندليف الذي كان يكتب كتابا وكان قد احتار في كيفية ترتيب فصوله ومن هذه الحيرة احتار في كيفية ترتيب العناصر فيه، ليقدم لنا اختراع من أعظم الاختراعات في علم الكيمياء الحديثة، الجدول الدوري.
من الكيمياء الى الأحياء. وهنا أعتقد أن الكاتب قد تجاهل بعض من أهم العلماء في هذا المجال وركز جل تركيزه على داروين. قبل داروين يذكر الكاتب كيف ان العالم هوك قدم للناس كتابا في تشريح الحشرات والكائتنا الصغيرة. ومن ثم تلاه ليووينهويك الذي أجرى تجارب مشابهة باستخدام مايكروسكوب أكثر دقة. ومن ثم انتقل الى داروين، صاحب نظرية التطور الأكثر جدلا بالتاريخ. بالرغم من كل الخلافات مع العلماء في هذا المجال، الى أن داروين قدم كتابا يعتبره الكاتب من أهم الكتابات في تاريخ البشرية. ومن خلاله أوضح داروين أنه يؤمن أن هناك إله قد قام بتصميم الكون بقوانين بحيث أن جميع الكائتنا تتطور بإتجاه الكمال العقلي والفسيولوجي حسب البيئة التي تعيش بها.
من علم المحسوس الى علم الغير محسوس، حيث يتحدث الكاتب عن الذرة، ظروف اكتشافها وتطبيقات اكتشافها. من أهم العلماء الذين ساهمو في اكتشاف الذرة كان العالم ماكس بلانك الذي تمكن من بناء بعض المعادلات الرياضية لشرح كيفية عمل الذرة والضوء كان من خلالها ولادة لعلم الكم (كوانتم). ولا يمكن الحديث عن فيزياء الكم بدون الحديث عن العظيم ألبيرت أنيشتاين. بعد قصة معاناة طويلة مع البطالة (والد أنيشتاين قال يوما: أبني حزين جدا في وضع البطالة هذا، هو عالة علينا في وضعنا الصعب هذا) أنيشتاين استطاع أن ينشر ثلاث أوراق علمية قلبت علم الفيزياء رأسا على عقب. من أهم هذه النظريات هي النظرية النسبية التي قال من خلالها أنيشتاين أن الوقت والمكان دائما مع يعتمد نسبيا على الشخص المشاهد لهذه القياسات. بهذه النظريات، أنيشتاين دحض الكثير من نظريات ورياضيات نيوتن. بهذا الفهم، تمكن العلماء من فهم ظاهرة الطاقة والضوء بشكل أفضل. ومن خلال هذا الفهم، تمكنو من فهم مبدأ الذرة بشكل أفضل ليجتاح هذا الفهم الى كل مجالات الحياة، بالأحياء والتكنولوجيا والكمبيوتر ووو.
من عباقرة الذرة في القرن العشرين كان العالم رذرفورد والعبقري بور اللذان قدما أفضل تفسير للذرة وأجرا تجارب أثبتو فيها أن الذرة تحتوي على بروتونات في النواة والكترونات تسبح بأفلاك حول النواة. بور من ناحية أخرى تقدم على رذرفورد في شرح مفصل لكيفية حركة الإلكترونات وكيفية انتقالها من قلك الى آخر وما ينجم عن ذلك من اصدار للطاقة. أينشتاين قال عن اختراع بور أنه من أفضل الاختراعات على وجه التاريخ.
اخيرا ينتقل الكاتب الى ذكر بعض العمالقة وانجازاتهم في مجال الفيزياء الكمية والتي ابتدأ فيها العلماء في مناقشة الغير محسوس وفي قبول نظريات "مجنونة" بدون الحاجة الى تطبيقها على أرض الواقع. فكرتها الأساسية تنص على أن الأشياء لا يوجد لها خصائص محددة مثلا المكان والسرعة وحتى ولو حاولت قياس هذه الخصائص بشتى الطرق. تم تقبل هذا العلم الجديد بشكل واسع لدرجة أن أحد علماء الفيزياء، ماكس بورن، قال "أنا الآن مقتنع في أن الفيزياء النظرية هي نوع من أنواع الفلسفة. من بعض وأهم العلماء الذين تبنو هذا العلم كان: هايزنبرق، شرودينقر، اينشتاين، جوهن بيل، بور وغيرهم الكثير. بالرغم من عبقرية هذه العلوم، الا أنها تأخرت كثيرا مع قدوم هتلر. كان الألمان يسمون هذه العلوم بالفيزياء اليهودية، بحيث أن معظم من كان يعملو فيها كانو من اليهود. هتلر فتت الجمع، وهرب معظم هؤلاء العلماء الى أمريكا وبريطانيا خوفا على حياتهم.
بالنهاية يستنتج الكاتب أن كل ما نعرفه عن الطاقة والأكوان والبيولوجيا في كل مختبرات العالم، ما هي الا أقل من 5% مما يوجد في هذا الكون الفسيح. نحن أقل بكثير مما نعتقد.
من وجهة نظر الكاتب، فإن الحكاية قد ابتدأت من 2 مليون سنة عندما قرر الجد هومو هابيليس (أو الرجل ذو الأيدي) أن يضرب حجر بالآخر بزاوية معينة فإنة يسحصل على حجر مدبب مثل السكين. هذه كانت أم البدايات ليتعلم الأجداد أنهم بإمكانهم تحويل الطبيعة والتلاعب بالطبيعة لتحسين وجودهم.
من ثم تطورت هذه الأدوات بحيث أصبح بإمكان البشر الصيد وأن لا يعتمدو على الجيف لتناول طعامهم. كان هذا بفضل الجد هومو إريكتس (الرجل المنتصب). هذه القدرة قد مكنت الجنس البشري من الإنتقال من افريقيا الى أوروبا البلد وآسيا.
بقيت هذه القصة على ما بقيت عليه حتى أتى الجد الأكثر شبها للجنس البشري اليوم. كان هذا قبل 200000 سنة قبل الميلاد. من هنا شرف الجد (هومو سابينس) أو الرجل الحكيم (طبعا اسمه الرجل الحكيم، هذا ما يحدث عندما يتسنى لك اختيار اسمك). الشيء الأكثر تمييز لهذا الرجل الحكيم، أنه ولأول مرة، تلك العضلة الغريبة التي يقال لها المخ، تستهلك 20% من الطاقة الكلية (ثاني أكثر عضو مستهلك للطاقة بعد القلب).
بقيت الأمور على ما هي حتى ما قبل 12000 سنة حينما حدثت ثورة العصر الحجري الجديد، في هذه الثورة، لم تكن الأدوات هي التي تغيرت ولكن طريقة التفكير، الأسئلة التي نسألها، ومناقشة مواضيع تتعلق بالوجود. في هذه الفترة بدأ الأجداد بالتعبد وبدأو يهتمو بالجانب الروحي من الحياة، فكان أول معبد في تاريخ البشرية (جوبيكلي تيبي) في تركيا. هذا المعبد كان بعيدا عن أي منطقة سكنية قريبة، لذلك رجح العلماء أن الناس كان يحجو إليه حجا من أجل التعبد.
بعد هذه الفترة بدأ اكتشاف القرى والمدن وبدأ البشر يتقنون فن التواصل والتعاون وبناء الحضارات. بإختصار، كانت نقلة نوعية للبشر عندما بدأو يستوعبو المبدأ البسيط: القزم الواقف على أكتاف عملاق، يستطيع أن يرى أكثر من العملاق نفسه. من أعظم المدن العريقة في هذه الفترة كانت مدينة أوروك العراقية، يقطنها من خمسين ألف الى مئة ألف مواطن. في هذه المدينة تم إثبات أن المواطنين كانو يحفرو قنوات الري، كانو يزرعو الفواكه والقمح والشعير والبلح. بالإضافة الى ذلك، فقد كانو يربو الأغنام والحمير والخنازير وكانو أول المدن التي تم إثبات أنهم كانو يحتسو الكثير من الجعة.
مع كثرة الزراعة والتجارة والرعاية، كان لابد من من تنظيم الواردات والخارجات لهذه المدن الكبيرة، من هنا، وأيضا من المدينة العراقية السامرية، أتى أول حرف عرفته البشرية. كانت الكتابة بعكس اللغة اللتي تأتي بالفطرة، هي من أهم الإختراعات في العصر البشري. كان هذا 3000 عام قبل الميلاد تقريبا. كان الهدف من الكتابة بعيدا كل البعد عما تستخدم به الكتابة حاليا (غالبا كأي اختراع بالتاريخ، فمثلا ثوماس ايديسون اخترع المسجل ظنا منه أنه سيكون مفيدا لتسجيل صوت الوصية للأشخاص على فراش الموت)، فالكتابة اخترعت بالبداية للمحافظة على قوائم المواشي والمحاصيل الزراعية.
لم تكد تمر 500 عام، لتفاجئتنا العراق مرة أخرى بإختراع أول مدارس التاريخ والتي كانت تستخدم لتعليم الكتابة. كانت هذه لحظة تاريخية أخرى في تاريخ البشرية. فلأول مرة يذهب البشر الى مكان يقال له المدرسة لتلقي العلم. تطورت من خلال هذه المدارس الكتابة، فأصبحت تعتمد بشكل على الرموز بدل من الصور ومن خلاله بدأ الأجداد يتحدثو ليس فقط عن الحمير والشعير، بل بدأو يتحدثو عن العاطفة. دليل ذلك كان اكتشاف أقدم قصيدة حب، في مكان قريب من مدينة بغداد العظيمة، من فتاة الى الملك والتي تقول فيها:
أيها العريس العزيز على قلبي
يا لجمالك الإلهي، يا جميل
لقد أسرتني، جعلتني أرجف أمامك
عريسي العزيز، سوف أذهب الى غرفة النوم
عريسي العزيز، لقد أخذت سعادتك مني
قل ذلك لأمي، سوف تعطيك الحلوى، أبي سوف يعطيك الهدايا
(واضح انها عيلة صايعة اوبن مايند)
بعد ذلك تم اكتشاف الحروف واكتشاف الرياضيات (العمليات الحسابية البسيطة) من مدن العراق الجميلة، وبعدها من العراق الى مصر، حيث تم اكتشاف اول الطرق الحسابية لحسابات المساحة. كانت مصر المتصدرة في علوم المساحة بسبب الحاجة الى ذلك، فقد كان يفيض نهر النيل على الحقول المجاورة كل عام، وكان من الضروري إعادة حساب حصة كل مزارع لأغراض الضرائب. كانت رياضيات المساحة والجيوديزيا متقدمة لدى المصريين القدامى لدرجة أنه كان بإمكانهم بناء عارضة بطول 55 قدم بنسبة خطأ (1 من 50 من الانش).
من هنا، بقيت الأمور على ما هي عليه، حتى هاجم الكسندر المقدوني معاقل الدولة الفارسية انذاك ومن ضمنها بلاد ما بين النهرين. في هذه الحملة، أصبح كل شيء يوناني مرغوبا لدى الجميع، فقد أصبح الأطفال يتنافسون لحفظ اللغة اليونانية وحفظ الشعر اليوناني والفلسلفة اليونانية (مثل الأمريكان في عصرنا الحالي). قبل ذلك بثلاث قرون (600 عام قبل الميلاد)، كان اليونانيون قد بدأو بالتحضر وبدراسة الفلسفة ومناقشة أمور الكون. من هنا تم بناء مدينة ميليتس التي كانت بمقام مدينة نيويورك بالعصر الحالي. واقعة على البحر الأسود، كل الفقراء كانو يتجهو الى مدينة مليتس بحثا عن حياة أفضل. من هذه المدينة، بدأ الانسان يعي أن لديه أوقات فراغ، ومن أوقات الفراغ، قل التفكير في البطون وزاد التفكير في الوجود.
خلال هذه الفترة، خرج لنا السيد فيثاغورس ليضع حجر الأساس للرياضيات الحديثة وليخترع مبدأ الفلسفة اليونانية. فيثاغورس هو أول من اعتقد ان الطبيعة تتبع لقوانين رياضية. ولكن لم يحدث لفيثاغورس أن يطبق أيا من القوانين الرياضية بهدف فهم الطبيعة بعمق كبير. ولم يكن تلميذ فيثاغورس وأستاذ أرسطو (أفلاطون) هو من فعل ذلك، بل كان العظيم أرسطو هو من بدأ هذه الحكاية. هذه الصورة توضح ارسطو الى اليمين ومعلمه أفلاطون الى اليسار.
نظريات أرسطو في فهم الكون، مع أنها كانت تعتمد أحيانا على الرياضيات، إلى أنها اعتمدت اعتمادا أكثر على الفلسفة والمنطق. من ناحية أخرى، فإن معظم نظرياته كانت تعتمد على النوعية وليس على الكمية. مثال ذلك، لشرح السرعة، أرسطو قال " بعض الأشياء تمشي لمسافة أطول من أشياء أخرى في نفس الزمن". بناءا على هذا التعريف، كان من الواضح أن أرسطو في وقته لم يكن ليكترث كثيرا في مبدأ السرعة والقوة والتسارع.
من المآخذ الأخرى على علم أرسطو، أنه كان يركز جل تفكيره على أهداف ونهايات الحركة بدل من محاولة فهم الكيفية التي تحدث فيها الحركة وخصائص هذه الحركة. فمثلا كان يصف أن الأغنام تتحرك من أجل البحث عن الطعام. الأمطار تهطل من أجل أن يخرج النبات، النبات يخرج من أجل إطعام الحيوانات. فبالنسبة له، الكون هو عبارة عن نظام متزن وكان يحاول أن يفهم كيفية هذا الاتزان من ناحية سببية. علم أرسطو ترنح بعض الشيء بعد وفاته ولكن تم إحياؤه مرة أخرى في القرون الوسطى عن طريق العرب. ثم انتقل من العرب الى الغرب. مع بعض التعديلات، علم أرسطو كان الفلسفة البشرية الرسمية لمعدة تسعة قرون. فكان خلال تلك الفترة أن تدرس الطبيعة هو أن تدرس علم أرسطو.
انتعاش العلوم بعد الميلاد، كان قد بدأ من البلاد العربية حين بدأ العرب بترجمة الكتب الإغريقية الى اللغة العربية. خلال هذه الفترة (1000 سنة بعد الميلاد) أحرز العلماء العرب تطورا ملحوظا في الرياضيات والفلك والطب (للأسف الشديد الكاتب مر على هذه المرحلة مرور الكرام). ولكن في القرن الثالث عشر والرابع عشر، بدأ العرب يتراجعو بالعلوم وبدأ الاوروبيون بالاستيقاظ. بدأ الاستيقاظ الأوروبي تقريبا في نهاية القرن الحادي عشر بعد الميلاد حينما بدأ كوستنتينوس أفريكانوس بترجمة الكتب العربية الى اللغة اللاتينية. كانت الضربة القاسمة هي عندما احتل (او استرجع) المسيحيون اسبانيا ووقعت في يدهم الاف الكتب العربية. بعد هذه الفترة كان العلم يزحف زحفا لا بأس به. فتطورت الرياضيات وتم اختراع عدة اختراعات (من أهمها الساعة الدقيقة والطابعة الميكانيكية). ولكن أول نقلة نوعية لفهم السرعة والتسارع والطبيعة بشكل عام كانت مع العبقري غاليليو غاليلي (1564 – 1642).
من أهم إضافات غاليليو انه دحض نظرية ارسطو بالسقوط الحر الذي استنتج أن الأجسام تسقط بمعدل سرعة يتناسب مع وزنها. غاليليو نفى ذلك باستنتاج أن جميع الأجسام تسقط بنفس المعدل مع غياب مقاومة من الوسط الذي يسقط به الجسم. مرة أخرى غاليليو يدحض نظرية أخرى لأرسطو الذي كان قد استنتج أن الأجسام (مثل كرة المدفع) لكي تتحرك بالهواء فهي بحاجة الى قوة دافعة مستمرة لها ولكن غاليليو دحض ذلك بالتجربة ليجد أن الأجسام التي تتحرك حركة منتظمة سوف تحافظ على هذه الحركة (في حال غياب مقاومة من الوسط) تماما كما تحافظ الأجسام الساكنة على سكونها. لم يكتف غاليليو بذلك، بل دق مسمارا آخر في نعش العلم الأرسطوي. فبعد أن صمم تيليسكوب تمكن من خلاله من رؤية القمر و المشتري، استنتج غاليليو أن الأرض هي ليست مصدر الكون كمان كان يعتقد أرسطو. وذلك لأن المشتري كان لديه أقماره الخاصة به التي تدور حول المشتري وليس حول الأرض.
من عبقرية غاليليو الذي سهل الطريق كثيرا لعلماء الفيزياء بعده خاصة بعد ادخاله لمبدأ التجربة وبعد استنتاجته المذكورة مسبقا، خرج النجم نيوتن. حاقدا على أمه وزوج أمه ومتمنيا لهم الموت ليلا ونهارا، نيوتن غير تاريخ الفيزياء بعلمه وأبحاثه. فبعد أن كان منهمكا بحل الشيفرات في الإنجيل وبعلوم التبصير، لقد استطاع أن يضع قوانين للجاذبية (ملاحظة: قصة التفاحة هذه لا أساس لها من الصحة، يبدو أنها مستعارة من الحاجة أم عبدو) وقوانين للحركة غيرت مجرى التاريخ الى يومنا هذا. بالإضافة الى اسهامه الكبير في علم الفيزياء، فإن لنيوتن الفضل في ايجاد علم التغيرات (التفاضل والتكامل). من أكبر مساهماته في علم الفيزياء كانت قوانين نيوتن الثلاثة في الحركة وكتابه (برينسيبا).
من علم الفيزياء الى علم الكيمياء الذي بدأ على شكل خيمياء من أيام الفراعنة الذين اهتمو اهتماما شديدا في هذه العلوم بهد�� انتاج الذهب. من ألمع نجوم علم الكيمياء الحديثة (في القرنين السابع والثامن عشر) برز روبيرت بويل الذي استنتج أن حرق الخشب ينتج عنه غليان للماء وبذلك دحض لنظرية أرسطو أن المادة مكونة من النار والماء والهواء. بالإضافة الى ذلك أجرى تجارب استنتج منها أنه لابد ان يوجد غاز لتسهيل عملية التنفس. استكمل هذه الرحلة جوزيف بريستلي والذي استنج وجود غاز الأكسجين ولكن بدون فهم لخصائصه. ثم لمع الأسطورة الفرنسي لافوسير الذي فهم خصائص غاز الأكسجين وأعطاه اسمه. بالإضافة الى ذلك، لافوسير كان أول من فسر ظاهرة التفاعل الكيميائي ولكن بدون فهم للتفاصيل. لمع بعد ذلك العالم دالتون، الذي من أشهر اضافاته، اختراعه لطريقة حساب الوزن الذري عن طريق الاستنتاج. بالرغم من قلة التكنولوجيا في ذلك الوقت الا ان دالتون كان قد تمكن من تقديم حسابات دقيقة لوزن الذرات. مستخدما كل ما سبقه من علوم، خرج الينا العبقري ميندليف الذي كان يكتب كتابا وكان قد احتار في كيفية ترتيب فصوله ومن هذه الحيرة احتار في كيفية ترتيب العناصر فيه، ليقدم لنا اختراع من أعظم الاختراعات في علم الكيمياء الحديثة، الجدول الدوري.
من الكيمياء الى الأحياء. وهنا أعتقد أن الكاتب قد تجاهل بعض من أهم العلماء في هذا المجال وركز جل تركيزه على داروين. قبل داروين يذكر الكاتب كيف ان العالم هوك قدم للناس كتابا في تشريح الحشرات والكائتنا الصغيرة. ومن ثم تلاه ليووينهويك الذي أجرى تجارب مشابهة باستخدام مايكروسكوب أكثر دقة. ومن ثم انتقل الى داروين، صاحب نظرية التطور الأكثر جدلا بالتاريخ. بالرغم من كل الخلافات مع العلماء في هذا المجال، الى أن داروين قدم كتابا يعتبره الكاتب من أهم الكتابات في تاريخ البشرية. ومن خلاله أوضح داروين أنه يؤمن أن هناك إله قد قام بتصميم الكون بقوانين بحيث أن جميع الكائتنا تتطور بإتجاه الكمال العقلي والفسيولوجي حسب البيئة التي تعيش بها.
من علم المحسوس الى علم الغير محسوس، حيث يتحدث الكاتب عن الذرة، ظروف اكتشافها وتطبيقات اكتشافها. من أهم العلماء الذين ساهمو في اكتشاف الذرة كان العالم ماكس بلانك الذي تمكن من بناء بعض المعادلات الرياضية لشرح كيفية عمل الذرة والضوء كان من خلالها ولادة لعلم الكم (كوانتم). ولا يمكن الحديث عن فيزياء الكم بدون الحديث عن العظيم ألبيرت أنيشتاين. بعد قصة معاناة طويلة مع البطالة (والد أنيشتاين قال يوما: أبني حزين جدا في وضع البطالة هذا، هو عالة علينا في وضعنا الصعب هذا) أنيشتاين استطاع أن ينشر ثلاث أوراق علمية قلبت علم الفيزياء رأسا على عقب. من أهم هذه النظريات هي النظرية النسبية التي قال من خلالها أنيشتاين أن الوقت والمكان دائما مع يعتمد نسبيا على الشخص المشاهد لهذه القياسات. بهذه النظريات، أنيشتاين دحض الكثير من نظريات ورياضيات نيوتن. بهذا الفهم، تمكن العلماء من فهم ظاهرة الطاقة والضوء بشكل أفضل. ومن خلال هذا الفهم، تمكنو من فهم مبدأ الذرة بشكل أفضل ليجتاح هذا الفهم الى كل مجالات الحياة، بالأحياء والتكنولوجيا والكمبيوتر ووو.
من عباقرة الذرة في القرن العشرين كان العالم رذرفورد والعبقري بور اللذان قدما أفضل تفسير للذرة وأجرا تجارب أثبتو فيها أن الذرة تحتوي على بروتونات في النواة والكترونات تسبح بأفلاك حول النواة. بور من ناحية أخرى تقدم على رذرفورد في شرح مفصل لكيفية حركة الإلكترونات وكيفية انتقالها من قلك الى آخر وما ينجم عن ذلك من اصدار للطاقة. أينشتاين قال عن اختراع بور أنه من أفضل الاختراعات على وجه التاريخ.
اخيرا ينتقل الكاتب الى ذكر بعض العمالقة وانجازاتهم في مجال الفيزياء الكمية والتي ابتدأ فيها العلماء في مناقشة الغير محسوس وفي قبول نظريات "مجنونة" بدون الحاجة الى تطبيقها على أرض الواقع. فكرتها الأساسية تنص على أن الأشياء لا يوجد لها خصائص محددة مثلا المكان والسرعة وحتى ولو حاولت قياس هذه الخصائص بشتى الطرق. تم تقبل هذا العلم الجديد بشكل واسع لدرجة أن أحد علماء الفيزياء، ماكس بورن، قال "أنا الآن مقتنع في أن الفيزياء النظرية هي نوع من أنواع الفلسفة. من بعض وأهم العلماء الذين تبنو هذا العلم كان: هايزنبرق، شرودينقر، اينشتاين، جوهن بيل، بور وغيرهم الكثير. بالرغم من عبقرية هذه العلوم، الا أنها تأخرت كثيرا مع قدوم هتلر. كان الألمان يسمون هذه العلوم بالفيزياء اليهودية، بحيث أن معظم من كان يعملو فيها كانو من اليهود. هتلر فتت الجمع، وهرب معظم هؤلاء العلماء الى أمريكا وبريطانيا خوفا على حياتهم.
بالنهاية يستنتج الكاتب أن كل ما نعرفه عن الطاقة والأكوان والبيولوجيا في كل مختبرات العالم، ما هي الا أقل من 5% مما يوجد في هذا الكون الفسيح. نحن أقل بكثير مما نعتقد.
January 13, 2024
Un omagiu adus oamenilor de știință care au știut să învingă tiparele gândirii epocii lor și au contribuit la evoluția societății noastre.
June 8, 2020
I sincerely wish Leonard Mlodinow comes out with a students' edition of this remarkable book. This is a book that needs to be made prescribed, if not compulsory reading for every student who has taken up Science and every other student who wished he had taken up the subject. Covering within its sweep themes such as evolutionary biology, theoretical and quantum physics and chemistry, Mlodinow's magnificent tour de force traces the cultural, social, sociological, and scientific evolution of man. The journey covering millions and millions of years introduces the awe-inspired reader to pioneering personalities who have changed the course of the world with their stupendous inventions and discoveries. These colossal figures beginning with the prodigious Aristotle and concluding with maestros such as Stephen Hawking demonstrated to the world in their own fundamentally simple fashion that all it takes to alter the course of history is an unfettered curiosity to question. Uprooting the conventional and debating the stereotypical is what fosters genuine progress in most of the social as well as physical sciences.
The astounding examples of Dmitri Mendeleev, Charles Darwin, Werner Heisenberg et al furnished ample testimony to the qualities of patience and perseverance. Their exploits undoubtedly serve as irresistible inspiration to every aspiring individual striving to make a mark in his chosen field of profession. Mlodinow himself is a theoretical physicist of some repute. The deft and dexterity with which he manages to condense the import of esoteric subjects into extraordinarily lucid and conceptual language is the biggest highlight of the book. The moving tribute paid by the author to his late father (a survivor of Nazi atrocities) makes for a memorably moving passage that begs re-reading.
"The Upright Thinkers" - has the potential to be an enduring Masterpiece!
The astounding examples of Dmitri Mendeleev, Charles Darwin, Werner Heisenberg et al furnished ample testimony to the qualities of patience and perseverance. Their exploits undoubtedly serve as irresistible inspiration to every aspiring individual striving to make a mark in his chosen field of profession. Mlodinow himself is a theoretical physicist of some repute. The deft and dexterity with which he manages to condense the import of esoteric subjects into extraordinarily lucid and conceptual language is the biggest highlight of the book. The moving tribute paid by the author to his late father (a survivor of Nazi atrocities) makes for a memorably moving passage that begs re-reading.
"The Upright Thinkers" - has the potential to be an enduring Masterpiece!
January 16, 2020
I thought this started off interesting, talking about what makes humans different from other animals - about our ability to ask questions and seek answers about why things are the way they are. But eventually, I felt it got too bogged down in science, especially about the many obscure and known scientists and how they contributed to the subjects. I don't have a lot of formal education in most of the sciences he discussed, and I didn't really learn much, just a lot of details about how various things were discovered. Perhaps with more formal science education, I might have enjoyed reading about the people who made it all happen.
The author did do a good job of making some of the things interesting, and adding some humor here and there. Perhaps it would have been better to have read the actual hardcopy book instead of electronic version, so I could skim over material easier. But as it was, the more I read, the more I just wanted to finish the book and get on to something more interesting.
The author did do a good job of making some of the things interesting, and adding some humor here and there. Perhaps it would have been better to have read the actual hardcopy book instead of electronic version, so I could skim over material easier. But as it was, the more I read, the more I just wanted to finish the book and get on to something more interesting.
November 20, 2015
This was a remarkable book synthesizing many fields and filtering its analysis through the very human perspective and voice of its author. An incredible journey filled with interest both human and scientific. A profound and vital series of discoveries. I strongly recommend this book, even to those who are already familiar (as I was) with most of the scientific ground covered. The perspective it gives you on the evolution of human understanding is both humbling and empowering.
October 22, 2021
I often find a mere five stars an inadequate scale for rating a book highly enough! Three cheers for popular science books written by those with that rare and enviable mix of qualities: expertise in one or more branches of science, and talent in lucid, written explanations of all things scientific. With The Upright Thinkers: The Human Journey from Living in Trees to Understanding the Cosmos, author Leonard Mlodinow is certainly in the excellent company of such notables as Siddartha Mukherjee, Helen Czerski, and Neil deGrasse Tyson, not to mention Hope Jahren, Edmund O. Wilson, and Penelope Lewis.
The Upright Thinkers is a sort of cradle-to-grave story of the events and pivotal moments—albeit selected events and pivotal moments—that takes human ingenuity from banging rocks together to create sharp-edged tools, to imagining unseen forces at play in order to explain quantum mechanics. Mlodinow takes a comfortable but firm hold on readers’ hands right from Chapter 1, conducts them through eleven more entertaining chapters, and only lets go after safely depositing them on the far side of the Epilogue.
Along the way, he profiles some early upright thinkers, from Aristotle, Galileo Galilei, and Isaac Newton, to some of the nineteenth- and twentieth-century cerebral powerhouses, such as Neils Bohr, Max Planck, and inevitably, Albert Einstein. And he doesn’t just focus on their science-based activities: his fulsome, biographical sketches place scientists in accurate social contexts of the time and among influential and competing contemporaries. Nor does he overlook scientists’ humanity, such as when they face conflicting choices in religion, political ideology, and verifiable facts in the sciences of physics, chemistry, and biology.
There are many pivotal moments to choose from in The Upright Thinkers that accelerated or advanced knowledge. By way of example, my personal favorite is Charles Darwin and his theory of natural selection. It is tempting to think that Darwin voyaged on The Beagle, hopped from one Galapagos Island to another, had his “Aha!” moment about evolutions and natural selection, and returned home to write his famous book, On the Origin of Species. That’s not how it happened.
Darwin pored over not only all the data he collected, but over mountains of data amassed by others. He was a critical thinker who questioned his own assumptions about everything. He believed in the value of just “thinking about things” and he had the patience to do so. He returned from his voyage in 1836, and it was over twenty years later that his famous theory of natural selection was published in 1859.
Dimitri Mendeleev gave the world another pivotal moment when he developed the Periodic Table of Elements. Again, he didn’t set out to develop such a table; he was simply trying to write a chemistry textbook, and it was in thinking about how to organize his material that led to his famous table. I once came across a saying (I regret not knowing the attribution) related to research work, which said something like: “The art of research is to see what everyone sees and to think what nobody has thought!” That remains as true of today’s advancements as it was for past pivotal moments.
Lest you think Mlodinow is just piling dry science onto your head, his engaging narrative is peppered every few pages with samples of an irrepressible and impish wit. He delights poking fun at himself, and his children are not spared as another source of humor. Mlodinow’s fluid and smooth prose is clear evidence of a gifted writer. Though he packs a lot into less than 300 pages, his synthesis of the major disciplines of study over four million years is deftly done—readers from all walks of life will thoroughly enjoy this wonderful book!
[Note: This reviewer also recommends by the same author, The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives, and Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior.]
The Upright Thinkers is a sort of cradle-to-grave story of the events and pivotal moments—albeit selected events and pivotal moments—that takes human ingenuity from banging rocks together to create sharp-edged tools, to imagining unseen forces at play in order to explain quantum mechanics. Mlodinow takes a comfortable but firm hold on readers’ hands right from Chapter 1, conducts them through eleven more entertaining chapters, and only lets go after safely depositing them on the far side of the Epilogue.
Along the way, he profiles some early upright thinkers, from Aristotle, Galileo Galilei, and Isaac Newton, to some of the nineteenth- and twentieth-century cerebral powerhouses, such as Neils Bohr, Max Planck, and inevitably, Albert Einstein. And he doesn’t just focus on their science-based activities: his fulsome, biographical sketches place scientists in accurate social contexts of the time and among influential and competing contemporaries. Nor does he overlook scientists’ humanity, such as when they face conflicting choices in religion, political ideology, and verifiable facts in the sciences of physics, chemistry, and biology.
There are many pivotal moments to choose from in The Upright Thinkers that accelerated or advanced knowledge. By way of example, my personal favorite is Charles Darwin and his theory of natural selection. It is tempting to think that Darwin voyaged on The Beagle, hopped from one Galapagos Island to another, had his “Aha!” moment about evolutions and natural selection, and returned home to write his famous book, On the Origin of Species. That’s not how it happened.
Darwin pored over not only all the data he collected, but over mountains of data amassed by others. He was a critical thinker who questioned his own assumptions about everything. He believed in the value of just “thinking about things” and he had the patience to do so. He returned from his voyage in 1836, and it was over twenty years later that his famous theory of natural selection was published in 1859.
Dimitri Mendeleev gave the world another pivotal moment when he developed the Periodic Table of Elements. Again, he didn’t set out to develop such a table; he was simply trying to write a chemistry textbook, and it was in thinking about how to organize his material that led to his famous table. I once came across a saying (I regret not knowing the attribution) related to research work, which said something like: “The art of research is to see what everyone sees and to think what nobody has thought!” That remains as true of today’s advancements as it was for past pivotal moments.
Lest you think Mlodinow is just piling dry science onto your head, his engaging narrative is peppered every few pages with samples of an irrepressible and impish wit. He delights poking fun at himself, and his children are not spared as another source of humor. Mlodinow’s fluid and smooth prose is clear evidence of a gifted writer. Though he packs a lot into less than 300 pages, his synthesis of the major disciplines of study over four million years is deftly done—readers from all walks of life will thoroughly enjoy this wonderful book!
[Note: This reviewer also recommends by the same author, The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives, and Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior.]
March 12, 2018
An amiable and quite readable excursion into a kind of explanatory history of the development of certain types of thinking is presented here for your reading pleasure!
Mlodinow is a gentle guide: he uses the trope of providing an explanation of his fascination with physics as if he were talking to his (now deceased) father — by trying to “explain” to a non-physicist how and why he considers physics so important for humanity’s understanding of our physical world. Thus, for me, the intention of this book is to open up insights into what might be a vague subject for the ordinary reader, and in my opinion, the author does a pretty good job of it.
Mlodinow’s journey takes us from just about the year dot — or at least from the time of Homo habilis — right up to the beginning of the 21st-c CE, and all in less than 300 pages… so it is rather obvious that some serious selection process is required as to what to include and what to exclude. The originating place is the human race’s curiosity about the world it inhabits, and how it initially reacted and responded to that world. The main “anchoring” device, of course, confines it as much as is possible to the physical world, so as a rule, anything which is not directly or indirectly relatable to this aspect of our intellectual development is gently (but ruthlessly) relegated as surplus to requirements. Some readers might find this problematic, especially if they are expecting a more holistic history. But then I would suggest that their concerns might not be really fair to the author or his work.
The technique used for the grand narrative of this book can be considered as a type of “just-so” story, and as such its main concern is to explain more or less precisely just how our thinking about physics developed to what it is today. As such it becomes a rather exciting and thrilling tale. That’s what makes it a great read!
By the same token, “just-so” stories, especially when they are tied in with history, should give the reader cause for concern as to the basic assumptions that underlie such “histories”.
One such assumption is that time progresses purely linearly [it may well be that in certain circumstances it is cyclical, for example; a consequence of the linear approach tends to make one think that “earlier” attempts at dealing with the world are considered “wrong”— when perhaps a better phrase would be “no longer appropriate”] ; another is that our advances are, in fact, progressive [or are we going the “wrong” way? — and maybe we won’t know if or when another “more appropriate” approach might occur]. Nor, perhaps, is adequate consideration given to human, social, religious and other historical accidents and/or events at certain periods of time, which either accelerated or hindered “progress” along certain lines… Furthermore, the parallel lines of development of many other technologies and mathematical devices which permitted us to advance in certain ways in the past, may themselves be subject to re-consideration of “more appropriate” technologies and mathematics to give us a completely different picture and a new world-view. And so it goes.
The problem with these “problems” is that addressing each will result with different “just-so” narratives, each of which might be just as valid and as exciting — stimulating! — as this work is. So, bearing in mind the above caveats, accept and appreciate it for what it is, rather than what it is not. You won’t be disappointed.
Mlodinow is a gentle guide: he uses the trope of providing an explanation of his fascination with physics as if he were talking to his (now deceased) father — by trying to “explain” to a non-physicist how and why he considers physics so important for humanity’s understanding of our physical world. Thus, for me, the intention of this book is to open up insights into what might be a vague subject for the ordinary reader, and in my opinion, the author does a pretty good job of it.
Mlodinow’s journey takes us from just about the year dot — or at least from the time of Homo habilis — right up to the beginning of the 21st-c CE, and all in less than 300 pages… so it is rather obvious that some serious selection process is required as to what to include and what to exclude. The originating place is the human race’s curiosity about the world it inhabits, and how it initially reacted and responded to that world. The main “anchoring” device, of course, confines it as much as is possible to the physical world, so as a rule, anything which is not directly or indirectly relatable to this aspect of our intellectual development is gently (but ruthlessly) relegated as surplus to requirements. Some readers might find this problematic, especially if they are expecting a more holistic history. But then I would suggest that their concerns might not be really fair to the author or his work.
The technique used for the grand narrative of this book can be considered as a type of “just-so” story, and as such its main concern is to explain more or less precisely just how our thinking about physics developed to what it is today. As such it becomes a rather exciting and thrilling tale. That’s what makes it a great read!
By the same token, “just-so” stories, especially when they are tied in with history, should give the reader cause for concern as to the basic assumptions that underlie such “histories”.
One such assumption is that time progresses purely linearly [it may well be that in certain circumstances it is cyclical, for example; a consequence of the linear approach tends to make one think that “earlier” attempts at dealing with the world are considered “wrong”— when perhaps a better phrase would be “no longer appropriate”] ; another is that our advances are, in fact, progressive [or are we going the “wrong” way? — and maybe we won’t know if or when another “more appropriate” approach might occur]. Nor, perhaps, is adequate consideration given to human, social, religious and other historical accidents and/or events at certain periods of time, which either accelerated or hindered “progress” along certain lines… Furthermore, the parallel lines of development of many other technologies and mathematical devices which permitted us to advance in certain ways in the past, may themselves be subject to re-consideration of “more appropriate” technologies and mathematics to give us a completely different picture and a new world-view. And so it goes.
The problem with these “problems” is that addressing each will result with different “just-so” narratives, each of which might be just as valid and as exciting — stimulating! — as this work is. So, bearing in mind the above caveats, accept and appreciate it for what it is, rather than what it is not. You won’t be disappointed.
February 4, 2016
This is basically a science history book starting from the early humanoids, and ending with modern day science. When it comes to modern times, Mlodinow focuses predominantly on physics. As that, it is an excellent, and wonderful book (just as the other books by Mlodinow). At the end of the book, Mlodinow promotes a rather weak argument for why physics is where the most explosive issues are to be found. In this case he probably should had emphasized “remember who is talking – a physicist”.
Mlodinow adds spice to the history by putting it in perspective to his father’s live and his father’s perspective to this history of science. Mlodinow succeeds in making this work but he is walking a thin line, where you may find it more for the writer’s sake than the reader.
This book could also be described as what happens when a physicist rewrites Bill Brysons "A Short History of Nearly Everything", and appears mildly inspired by Bertrand Russells' "A History of Western Philosophy". Compared to Brysons’ bestseller, Mlodinow does a better job on the science part, and is sharper when he occasionally dwells deeper on philosophy of science.
But in its genre, “A Short History of Nearly Everything” is a difficult book to compete with, and even though Mlodinow is an excellent author according to my taste, it is all but impossible not to compare the two books, and here Brysons writing style makes the difference.
Even if this book has a very close relative in “A Short History of Nearly Everything”, it is still, in my opinion a nice addition worth reading.
Mlodinow adds spice to the history by putting it in perspective to his father’s live and his father’s perspective to this history of science. Mlodinow succeeds in making this work but he is walking a thin line, where you may find it more for the writer’s sake than the reader.
This book could also be described as what happens when a physicist rewrites Bill Brysons "A Short History of Nearly Everything", and appears mildly inspired by Bertrand Russells' "A History of Western Philosophy". Compared to Brysons’ bestseller, Mlodinow does a better job on the science part, and is sharper when he occasionally dwells deeper on philosophy of science.
But in its genre, “A Short History of Nearly Everything” is a difficult book to compete with, and even though Mlodinow is an excellent author according to my taste, it is all but impossible not to compare the two books, and here Brysons writing style makes the difference.
Even if this book has a very close relative in “A Short History of Nearly Everything”, it is still, in my opinion a nice addition worth reading.
March 22, 2015
A very readable and fascinating history of humankind's relationship with science and the long path of discovery which has lead to the understanding of the universe we now possess. Split into 3 sections - the thousands of years of pre-history and early civilization leading to the scientific revolution; the hundreds of years in which science came of age; and the more recent past in which our world has been altered unimaginably by quantum physics and high technology - Mlodinow shows how our world is built on an accumulation of knowledge ("standing on the shoulders of giants") which has accelerated exponentially during humanity's brief reign on Earth.
Having read quite a lot of science history type books, there wasn't too much which I found new in The Upright Thinkers (compared to, for example, Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind), but I would heartily recommended to anyone with an interest in the subject. Essentially, this is what I call a meze book - a variety of delicious bite size pieces from which you might find a love of olives or an addiction to houmous or, in this case, reading more in-depth books about Socratic thought or Newton's discoveries or Darwinian theory.
Having read quite a lot of science history type books, there wasn't too much which I found new in The Upright Thinkers (compared to, for example, Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind), but I would heartily recommended to anyone with an interest in the subject. Essentially, this is what I call a meze book - a variety of delicious bite size pieces from which you might find a love of olives or an addiction to houmous or, in this case, reading more in-depth books about Socratic thought or Newton's discoveries or Darwinian theory.
November 7, 2016
An enjoyable primer on the history of science. Particularly strong in its meticulous tracing of how our minds changed in response to new inventions and discoveries, and illustrating how these came about by initially haphazard process of accumulation, which grew only ever so slightly more systematic with the passing of centuries, until we reached the point where modern science is today.
The methodical approach by which this is achieved is, nevertheless, often at the expense of the sense of awe and adventure, that one finds on the pages of Sagan or Tyson. On the other hand, Mlodinow does have a keen eye for interesting anectodes and sounds more like a witty friend, than a professor, which makes his prose amusing and easy to read.
Gets quite heavy on physics in the final third of the book, though, so don't expect much discussion of DNA or space exploration; nevertheless I'd say that Mlodinow deals most adeptly with the areas he chooses to address.
The methodical approach by which this is achieved is, nevertheless, often at the expense of the sense of awe and adventure, that one finds on the pages of Sagan or Tyson. On the other hand, Mlodinow does have a keen eye for interesting anectodes and sounds more like a witty friend, than a professor, which makes his prose amusing and easy to read.
Gets quite heavy on physics in the final third of the book, though, so don't expect much discussion of DNA or space exploration; nevertheless I'd say that Mlodinow deals most adeptly with the areas he chooses to address.
January 9, 2018
A very enthralling read! This is the book on natural science and physics that I've always wanted to read. It's extremely engaging, and despite dealing with ideas too grand for my own knowledge, Mlodinow manages to present them in such a way that you as a reader get a glimpse of what they're about anyway. It's a great resource to be able to explain difficult ideas with simple language.
The book is an exposé of human thinking. It goes back to the earliest humans, and tries to explain how our fascination with knowing how everything works came about. It's a real page-turner, which is not common for books dealing with these subjects. (Some books that are not page-turners are of course also good, in their own right, but take more time to get through.)
Two things that I feel are lacking in this book are perhaps these: 1) More of an analysis of why scientific breakthrough often originate in some countries and not others, and whether this is about to change or not. 2) An attempt to try to discuss the gender issue here, i.e. why so many scientists still are men. There's a small section on one female scientist, with some discussion, but I would have wanted more, since men constitute only 50% of the human race.
The personal side of the book, where Leonard Mlodinow retells discussions on physics and more that he had with his father, are great. When he connects the story to Hitler and human evil (the holocaust and persecution of the Jews), you start thinking that, yeah, humans can be great thinkers, but they can be absolute scum as well. So now I feel I want to read something on sociology, dealing with questions of human evil. Or perhaps I should read Pinker's The Better Angels of our Nature, to try to start thinking positively again.
The book is an exposé of human thinking. It goes back to the earliest humans, and tries to explain how our fascination with knowing how everything works came about. It's a real page-turner, which is not common for books dealing with these subjects. (Some books that are not page-turners are of course also good, in their own right, but take more time to get through.)
Two things that I feel are lacking in this book are perhaps these: 1) More of an analysis of why scientific breakthrough often originate in some countries and not others, and whether this is about to change or not. 2) An attempt to try to discuss the gender issue here, i.e. why so many scientists still are men. There's a small section on one female scientist, with some discussion, but I would have wanted more, since men constitute only 50% of the human race.
The personal side of the book, where Leonard Mlodinow retells discussions on physics and more that he had with his father, are great. When he connects the story to Hitler and human evil (the holocaust and persecution of the Jews), you start thinking that, yeah, humans can be great thinkers, but they can be absolute scum as well. So now I feel I want to read something on sociology, dealing with questions of human evil. Or perhaps I should read Pinker's The Better Angels of our Nature, to try to start thinking positively again.
August 9, 2020
Ο αγώνας για τη γνώση,κοπιαστικός και σκληρός, ειναι αυτό που δικαιολογεί την εξέλιξη του ανθρώπου και την παρουσία του τελικά στη Γη. Η γνώση κάνει τον άνθρωπο. Μου θυμίζει τον παππού μου, που λίγο πριν πεθάνει μου είπε: « Δε φοβάμαι που πεθαίνω, φοβάμαι που δεν θα μπορώ πια να μαθαινω».
October 28, 2020
Gerçekten harika bir kitapmış. Mladinow bilim tarihini insan evriminden neredeyse günümüzedek incelemiş ve bilimsel gelişmeleri oldukça ilginç bir şeyle açıqlamış: insan merakı.
Bu kitabı bilim tarihini öğrenmek isteyen herkese tavsiye ederim 😎
Bu kitabı bilim tarihini öğrenmek isteyen herkese tavsiye ederim 😎
May 31, 2017
Good book, but would have been more enjoyable if more of the "story" was new information to me. Would be a great introduction to many people, though.
March 30, 2017
I think that this is a book that everyone in high school should read. Mlodinow writes in a way that even a middleschooler could understand a comprehensive history of physics, biology, and chemistry. I think it's super important that we take advantage of all of this knowledge that's in easy reach. This book is fun to read and uses humor in a way that I would never expect from a book about the history of science. And I think I could easily read this book again and come away with new things that I didn't pick up the first time. I think it's super exciting to be able to read a book knowing that I've just learned in 300pages what took thousands of years to discover. What I find as highschool physics you couldn't possibly explain to the top scientists of the 1800s and I think that's the most amazing thing ever.
November 30, 2017
I liked this book a lot. There's a lot of history of physics, a lot of it modern, some Newtonian.
There's also bits of history of chemistry. Just a little bit though, probably to make sure that the reader wouldn't get too excited about chemistry and forget about physics. And then there's also the beginning of the book that is about evolution. All in all it's a nice mixture, although it's in most parts physics :). I find it interesting how Mlodinow went into great lengths in writing about the different approaches that Heisenberg, Schrödinger and others took to quantum mechanics....
More here
There's also bits of history of chemistry. Just a little bit though, probably to make sure that the reader wouldn't get too excited about chemistry and forget about physics. And then there's also the beginning of the book that is about evolution. All in all it's a nice mixture, although it's in most parts physics :). I find it interesting how Mlodinow went into great lengths in writing about the different approaches that Heisenberg, Schrödinger and others took to quantum mechanics....
More here
May 10, 2016
Fiz a resenha em vídeo:
https://youtu.be/xLRHmSuDAf0
É similar ao livro Sapiens. Percorre o mesmo trajeto desde as nossas origens até a origem e desenvolvimento da ciência, mas enquanto o primeiro tem uma visão um pouco mais metafísica e voltada a imaginar nosso caráter futuro esse se concentra em conceitos mais objetivos nos dando uma visão bem mais consistente do ponto em que estamos na ciência e na consciência.
É uma das melhores obras que li até hoje nesse tema.
https://youtu.be/xLRHmSuDAf0
É similar ao livro Sapiens. Percorre o mesmo trajeto desde as nossas origens até a origem e desenvolvimento da ciência, mas enquanto o primeiro tem uma visão um pouco mais metafísica e voltada a imaginar nosso caráter futuro esse se concentra em conceitos mais objetivos nos dando uma visão bem mais consistente do ponto em que estamos na ciência e na consciência.
É uma das melhores obras que li até hoje nesse tema.
June 15, 2015
This is easily the most readable book on the history of science one could ever find. And funny, too. I admire the way the author interjects and blends his own story into the whole, especially how he shared his father's wisdom, such as it was, to help the story further.
December 17, 2016
This was an interesting book to begin with, but unfortunately it couldn't keep my attention for long. After the first few chapters I didn't want to keep reading, but continued hoping that it would improve. It didn't.
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