Ebook: The scientists : a history of science told through the lives of its greatest inventors

Tells the story of the people who have made science, and of the times in which they lived and worked. Gribbin begins with Copernicus, during the Renaissance, when science replaced mysticism as a means of explaining the workings of the world, and continues through the centuries, creating an unbroken genealogy of not only the greatest but also the more obscure names of Western science, a dot-to-dot line linking amateur to genius, and accidental discovery to brilliant deduction. Read more... Bk. 1: Out of the Dark Ages. Renaissance men ; The last mystics ; The first scientists -- Bk. 2: Founding fathers. Science finds its feet ; The "Newtonian Revolution" ; Expanding horizons -- Bk. 3: The Enlightenment. Enlightened science I : chemistry catches up ; Enlightened science II : progress on all fronts -- Bk. 4: Big picture. The "Darwinian Revolution" ; Atoms and molecules ; Let there be light ; The last hurrah! of classical science -- Bk. 5: Modern times. Inner space ; The realm of life ; Outer space -- Coda : The pleasure of finding things out