Seeing Further

Edited and introduced by Bill Bryson, with contributions from Richard Dawkins, Margaret Atwood, Richard Holmes, Martin Rees, Richard Fortey, Steve Jones, James Gleick and Neal Stephenson amongst others, this beautiful, lavishly illustrated book tells the story of science and the Royal Society, from 1660 to the present. On a damp weeknight in November, 350 years ago, a dozen or so men gathered at Gresham College in London. A twenty-eight year old -- and not widely famous -- Christopher Wren was giving a lecture on astronomy. As his audience listened to him speak, they decided that it would be a good idea to create a Society to promote the accumulation of useful knowledge. With that, the Royal Society was born. Since its birth, the Royal Society has pioneered scientific exploration and discovery. Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Robert Hooke, Robert Boyle, Joseph Banks, Humphry Davy, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, John Locke, Alexander Fleming -- all were fellows. Bill Bryson's favourite fellow was Reverend Thomas Bayes, a brilliant mathematician who devised Bayes' theorem. Its complexity meant that it had little practical use in Bayes' own lifetime, but today his theorem is used for weather forecasting, astrophysics and stock market analysis. A milestone in mathematical history, it only exists because the Royal Society decided to preserve it -- just in case. The Royal Society continues to do today what it set out to do all those years ago. Its members have split the atom, discovered the double helix, the electron, the computer and the World Wide Web. Truly international in its outlook, it has created modern science. 'Seeing Further' celebrates its momentous history and achievements, bringing together the very best of science writing. Filled with illustrations of treasures from the Society's archives, this is a unique, ground-breaking and beautiful volume, and a suitable reflection of the immense achievements of science.

ISBN 0007302568   DEWEY edition DC22 ISBN13 9780007302567 (What's this?)   Pages 496 Publisher HarperCollins Publishers   Weight (grammes) 1360 Imprint HarperPress   Published in London Format Hardback   Height (mm) 236 Publication date 07 Jan 2010   Width (mm) 176 DEWEY 506.041   Academic level General

		Introduction & Acknowledgments by Bill Bryson		1
1		At the Beginning: More Things in Heaven and Earth by James Gleick		17
2		Of the Madness of Mad Scientists: Jonathan Swifts Grand Academy by Margaret Atwood		37
3		Lost in Space: The Spititual Crisis of Newtonian Cosmology by Margaret Wertheim		59
4		Atoms of Cognition: Metaphysics in the Royal Society, 1715-2010 by Neal Stephenson		83
5		What's in a Name? Rivalries and the Birth of Modern Science by Rebecca Newberger. Goldstein		107
6		Charged Atmospheres: Promethean Science and the Royal Society by Simon Schaffer		131
7		A New Age of Flight: Josephy Banks Goes Ballooning by Richard Holmes		157
8		Archives of Life Science and Collections by Richard Fortey		183
9		Darwin's Five Bridges: The Way to Natural Selection by Richard Dawkins		203
10		Images of Progress: Conferences of Engineers by Henry Petroski		229
11		X-Ray Visions: Structural Biologists and Social Action in the Twentieth Century by Georgina Ferry		251
12		Ten Thousand Wedges: Biodiversity, Natural Selection and Random Change by Steve Jones		273
13		Making Stuff: From Bacon to Bakelite by Philip Ball		295
14		Just Typical: Our Changing Place in the Universe by Paul Davies		321
15		Behind the Scenes: The Hidden Mathematics That Rules Our World by Ian Stewart		341
16		Simple. Really: From Simplicity to Complexity - And Back Again by John D. Barrow		361
17		Globe and Sphere, Cycles and Flows: How to See the World by Oliver Morton		385
18		Beyond Ending: Looking Into the Void by Maggie Gee		405
		More...
		Further Reading		488

"Bill Bryson is as amusing as ever . . . As a celebration of modern science, "Seeing Further" is a worthy tribute."--The Economist

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