On Giants' Shoulders

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On Giants' Shoulders
image: On Giants Shoulders cropped.jpg
Author Melvyn Bragg
Country Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
Language English
Publisher Flag of the United Kingdom Hodder and Stoughton
Publication date 1998
Media type Print
Pages 365 pp
ISBN 0-340-71260-0

Contents

[edit] Overview

On Giants Shoulders was written in 1998 by Melvyn Bragg. The book was assembled after a series of interviews Bragg had with current scientists about the worlds greatest scientists such as Einstein, Newton and Archimedes. Bragg who brands himself as a 'non-scientist', conducted these interviews on BBC Radio 4 for other 'non-scientists'. The book looks at the notion of being a 'genius' and through discussions with 20th century scientists looks to what extent the great scientists of history were 'genius'. The book is titled 'On Giants Shoulders' due to Sir Isaac Newtons 1675 quote:"If i have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." It is with this quote that the book creates its basis.

[edit] Inspiration

In the introduction of On Giants' Shoulders Bragg writes that the world of science was one of mystery and that could not be entered nor understood by 'non-scientists' like himself. Thus he wrote this book, along with scientists, to open a door for other 'non-scientists' to view the world of science as it has been for the last two thousand five hundred years or so. By doing so, also explaining the works of the greatest scientists in vernacular understandable by 'non-scientists' and making the world of science less exclusively mysterious.

[edit] Blurb

"The fascinating story of science unfolds in this account of the lives and extraordinary discoveries of twelve of its greatest figures - Archimedes, Galileo, Newton, Lavoisier, Faraday, Darwin, Poincaré, Curie, Freud, Einstein, Crick and Watson. Exploring their impact and legacy with some of today's leading scientists and historians, Melvyn Bragg elucidates the core issues of science past and present, and conveys the excitement and importance of the scientific quest"

[edit] Scientists examined