Description
Temporarily out of stock
Title: Newton’s Apple & Other Myths about Science
Author: NUMBERS ROLAND L/KAMPOURAKIS KOSTAS
Format: PAPERBACK
Publication date: 15/12/2019
Imprint: HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Price: $32.00
Publishing status: Active
A Guardian “Favourite Reads-as Chosen by Scientists”
A falling apple inspired Isaac Newton’s insight into the law of gravity-or did it really?
Among the many myths debunked in this refreshingly irreverent book are the idea that alchemy was a superstitious pursuit, that Darwin put off publishing his theory of evolution for fear of public reprisal, and that Gregor Mendel was ahead of his time as a pioneer of genetics. More recent myths about particle physics and Einstein’s theory of relativity are discredited too, and a number of dubious generalizations, like the notion that science and religion are antithetical, or that science can neatly be distinguished from pseudoscience, go under the microscope of history.
Newton’s Apple brushes away popular fictions and refutes the widespread belief that science advances when individual geniuses experience “Eureka!” moments and suddenly grasp what those around them could never imagine.
“[A] provocative collection that tackles some of science’s most enduring misconceptions and dubious assumptions.”
-Discover
“Delightful…thought-provoking… Every reader should find something to surprise them.”
-Jim Endersby, Science
ISBN: 9780674241565
Pages: 304