On Giants' Shoulders
Encyclopedia
Overview
On Giants Shoulders was written in 1998 by Melvyn BraggMelvyn Bragg
Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg FRSL FRTS FBA, FRS FRSA is an English broadcaster and author best known for his work with the BBC and for presenting the The South Bank Show...
. 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
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
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
Standing on the shoulders of giants
Dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants is a Western metaphor meaning "One who develops future intellectual pursuits by understanding the research and works created by notable thinkers of the past," a contemporary interpretation. However, the metaphor was first recorded in the twelfth century...
."
It is with this quote that the book creates its basis.
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 exclusive and mysterious.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"
Scientists examined
- ArchimedesArchimedesArchimedes of Syracuse was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity. Among his advances in physics are the foundations of hydrostatics, statics and an...
(c. 287 BC - 212 BC)
- Galileo GalileiGalileo GalileiGalileo Galilei , was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations and support for Copernicanism...
(1564 - 1642)
- Sir Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727)
- Antoine LavoisierAntoine LavoisierAntoine-Laurent de Lavoisier , the "father of modern chemistry", was a French nobleman prominent in the histories of chemistry and biology...
(1743 - 1794)
- Michael FaradayMichael FaradayMichael Faraday, FRS was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry....
(1791 - 1867)
- Charles DarwinCharles DarwinCharles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
(1809 - 1882)
- Jules Henri Poincaré (1854 - 1912)
- Sigmund FreudSigmund FreudSigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
(1856 - 1912)
- Marie CurieMarie CurieMarie Skłodowska-Curie was a physicist and chemist famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first person honored with two Nobel Prizes—in physics and chemistry...
(1867 - 1934)
- Albert EinsteinAlbert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
(1879 - 1955)
- Francis CrickFrancis CrickFrancis Harry Compton Crick OM FRS was an English molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist, and most noted for being one of two co-discoverers of the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953, together with James D. Watson...
(1916 - 2004)
- James WatsonJames D. WatsonJames Dewey Watson is an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist, best known as one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA in 1953 with Francis Crick...
(1928 -)