Great Essays in Science
By Martin Gardner (Editor)
Prometheus Books | January 1994 | ISBN-10: 0879758538 | 442 pages | DJVU/PDF | 5.49/10.4 mb
https://www.amazon.com/Great-Essays-Science-Martin-Gardner/dp/0879758538
PDF conversion is mine.
Martin Gardner, author of numerous books on science, mathematics, and pseudo-science, has assembled thirty-four extraordinary essays by eminent philosophers, scientists, and writers on the fundamental aspects of modern science.
As Gardner makes clear in his preface to the formerly titled Sacred Beetle and Other Great Essays in Science, his intent is not to teach the reader science or to report on the latest trends and discoveries. "Rather, the purpose of this book is to spread before the reader, whether his or her interest in science be passionate or mild, a sumptuous feast of great writing - absorbing, thought-disturbing pieces that have something to say about science and say it forcibly and well."
Gardner's entertaining biographical commentaries make Great Essays in Science a rich store of good reading and an informal history of the people and ideas that have shaped our culture and transformed our everyday lives. This collection includes works by Isaac Asimov, Rachel Carson, Charles Darwin, John Dewey, Albert Einstein, Jean Henri Fabre, Sigmund Freud, Stephen Jay Gould, Aldous Huxley, Julian Huxley, William James, Ernest Nagel, Bertrand Russell, Carl Sagan, Lewis Thomas, H.G. Wells, and others.
About the Author
Martin Gardner, the creator of Scientific American’s "Mathematical Games" column, which he wrote for more than twenty-five years, is the author of almost one hundred books, including The Annotated Ancient Mariner, Martin Gardner’s Favorite Poetic Parodies, From the Wandering Jew to William F. Buckley Jr., and Science: Good, Bad and Bogus. For many years he was also a contributing editor to the Skeptical Inquirer.
CONTENTS
Preface
Prologue
FRANCIS BACON The Sphinx
CHARLES DARWIN Recapitulation and Conclusion
JOHN DEWEY The Influence of Darwinism on Philosophy
STEPHEN JAY GOULD Nonmoral Nature
WIWAMJAMES The Problem of Being
HAVELOCK ELLIS What Makes a Woman Beautiful?
JEAN HENRI FABRE The Sacred Beetle
GILBERT KEITH CHESTERTON The Logic of Elfland
CARL SAGAN Can We Know the Universe? Reflections on a Grain of Salt
JOSEPH WOOD KRUTCH The Colloid and the Crystal
JOSE ORTEGA Y GASSET The Barbarism of "Specialization"
THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY Science and Culture
JOHN BURROUGHS Science and Literature
ISAAC ASIMOV Science and Beauty
ERNEST NAGEL Automation
JONATHAN NORTON LEONARD Other-Worldly Life
J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER Physics in the Contemporary World
ALFRED NORTH WHITEHEAD Religion and Science
JOHN DOS PASSOS Proteus
JULIAN HUXLEY An Essay on Bird-Mind
ARTHUR STANLEY EDDINGTON The Decline of Determinism
ALDOUS HUXLEY Science in the Brave New World
RACHEL CARSON The Sunless Sea
MAURICE MAETERLINCK The Nuptial Flight
H.G. WELLS The New Source of Energy, Science and Ultimate Truth
LAURA FERMI Success
SAMUEL GOUDSMIT The Gestapo in Science
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON Pan's Pipes
SIGMUND FREUD Dreams of the Death of Beloved Persons
BERTRAND RUSSELL The Science to Save Us from Science, The Greatness of Albert Einstein
ALBERT EINSTEIN E=mc2
LEWIS THOMAS Seven Wonders
