The Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way Aristotle Leads the Way

by Hakim, Joy

• ISBN13: 9781588341600
• ISBN10: 1588341607
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-11-17
• Publisher: RANDOM HOUSE

Summary

Readers will travel back in time to ancient Babylonia, Egypt, and Greece. They will meet the world's first astronomers, mathematicians, and physicists and explore the lives and ideas of such famous people as Pythagoras, Archimedes, Brahmagupta, al-Khwarizmi, Fibonacci, Ptolemy, St. Augustine, and St. Thomas Aquinas. Hakim will introduce them to Aristotleone of the greatest philosophers of all timewhose scientific ideas dominated much of the world for eighteen centuries. In the three-bookThe Story of Scienceseries, master storyteller Joy Hakim narrates the evolution of scientific thought from ancient times to the present. With lively, character-driven narrative, Hakim spotlights the achievements of some of the world's greatest scientists and encourages a similiar spirit of inquiry in readers. The books include hundreds of color photographs, charts, maps, and diagrams; informative sidebars; suggestions for further reading; and excerpts from the writings of great scientists.

Author Biography

Author of the prize-winning series A History of US, Joy Hakim is the recipient of the James Michener Award in Writing and the Gold and Silver Parents' Choice Awards in Writing.

Table of Contents

A Writer's Reasons	p. vi
There's More to This Story	p. viii
Birthing a Universe	p. 1
Telling It Like They Thought It Was: Myths of Creation	p. 9
Making Days: Were the Calendar Makers Lunatics or Just Moonstruck?	p. 20
Why Does the Moon Dazzle, Then Disappear?	p. 26
Take a Number, Then Write It Down	p. 32
Ionia? What's Ionia?	p. 34
Measuring with the Mind	p. 42
The "A" Team	p. 44
More on Numerals, Geometry, and Math's Origins	p. 50
Elementary Matters: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, Says Empedocles	p. 54
Being at Sea	p. 58
Why Do Polestars Take Turns?	p. 62
Worshiping Numbers	p. 64
Chewing on Pi-or Tasting One of Math's Mysteries	p. 70
Pythagoras Knows It's Round	p. 72
There's Gold in Those Irrationals	p. 82
Getting Atom	p. 86
Ode to an Atom	p. 92
Aristotle and His Teacher	p. 94
Plato, Math, and Perfect Numbers	p. 98
Does It Change? No Way, Says A	p. 106
Why Mars Is a Little Loopy	p. 112
Aristarchus Got It Right-Well, Almost!	p. 114
How Far the Moon? It's About Time	p. 118
Alexander's City	p. 120
Smoke and Mirrors	p. 126
What's a Hero?	p. 129
Hero, an Airhead?	p. 134
Euclid in His Elements	p. 136
Numbers: In Their Prime	p. 143
Archimedes' Claw	p. 146
Is It a Claw or a Flaw?	p. 158
Measuring the Earth	p. 160
How Did Eratosthenes Come So Close?	p. 164
Rome Rules	p. 166
Longitude and Latitude plus Two Greek Mapmakers	p. 174
What's the Point?	p. 181
The Greatest	p. 184
A Saint Who Was No Scientist	p. 190
Do You Believe the Polyhistor? Well, Lots of People Did	p. 198
No Joke-the Earth Is Pancake Flat!	p. 200
Don't Worry-the Round Earth Is Back!	p. 206
Absolute Zero	p. 218
Mr. Fibonacci's Numbers	p. 226
An "Ox" Who Bellowed	p. 228
Roger Bacon Predicts	p. 236
Books Will Do It	p. 238
The Antipodes: Discovering Down Under	p. 248
Cosmic Voyagers: Is It Fiction, or Could It Be True?	p. 258
Finally! How Science Works	p. 266
The Prime Number Sieve of Eratosthenes	p. 270
Suggested Reading	p. 271
NSTA Recommends	p. 272
Picture Credits	p. 274
Permissions	p. 276
Index	p. 277
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