The Story of Science: Newton at the Center

by Hakim, Joy

• ISBN13: 9781588341617
• ISBN10: 1588341615
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-11-01
• Publisher: RANDOM HOUSE

Summary

In volume two, students will watch as Copernicus's systematic observations place the sun at the center of our universeto the dismay of establishment thinkers. After students follow the achievements and frustrations of Galileo, Kepler, and Descartes, they will appreciate the amazing Isaac Newton, whose discoveries about gravity, motion, colors, calculus, and Earth's place in the universe set the stage for modern physics, astronomy, mathematics, and chemistry. 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

The Scientific Quest...and This Book	ix
Off-Center? It Can't Be!	1	(13)
A New Age: Bringing New Ways of Seeing	14	(22)
What's to Be Made of Leonardo?	32	(4)
On Revolutions and Fools	36	(8)
Tycho Brahe: Taking Heaven's Measure	44	(18)
Holding a Ruler to the Sky	58	(4)
Renaissance Men	62	(10)
Gazing at a Star Named Galileo	72	(8)
Moving Relatively or Relatively Moving?	80	(10)
Are Novas Really ``New'' Stars? As to Supernovas---Wow!	90	(8)
About Suns and Stuff (Galileo Didn't Know Any of This)	95	(3)
Moving the Sun and the Earth	98	(12)
Who Did Invent the Telescope?	106	(4)
Do You Think You Have Troubles?	110	(8)
Getting Along by Staying Apart: Religion and Science	116	(2)
Poor Kepler	118	(14)
Those Eccentric Ellipses	129	(3)
Descartes and His Coordinates	132	(12)
At Last, Proof of the Last	141	(3)
What's the Big Attraction?	144	(10)
Gravity---How Absurd!	154	(10)
Calculus? Who Done It?	160	(4)
Newton Sees the Light	164	(8)
Newton Moves	172	(6)
Fame Finds Newton	178	(10)
Edmond Halley, Mr. Comet	184	(4)
A Dane Lights the Way	188	(10)
Clocking Time (and Speed) with Io: Here's the Math	196	(2)
What's the Matter? (About Elements and Alchemy)	198	(12)
An Elemental Tale	208	(2)
Robert Boyle, Skeptic---or Airhead?	210	(10)
Is Air Something---or Nothing?	216	(4)
Daniel and the Old Lion Hunter	220	(10)
Brains and Beauty Squared	230	(8)
It's a Gas! Take Its Temperature!	238	(12)
Turning on the Heat	246	(4)
Weighing the World	250	(10)
The Right Man for the Job	260	(6)
A Man with a Powerful Head	266	(12)
France Sings a Metric Tune	275	(3)
Dalton Takes Us Back to Greece---and Atoms	278	(10)
A Molecule-and-Number Man	288	(10)
Chemical Bondage	294	(4)
Putting Things in Order	298	(14)
The Periodic Table: A Chemical Family Tree	309	(3)
The Heated Story of an American Spy	312	(10)
A Shocking Science	322	(16)
A Pendulum's Proof	334	(4)
Michael Faraday Has a Field Day	338	(18)
Turning on the Light	352	(4)
Maxwell's Charges	356	(14)
Again and Again and Again---That's Frequency	366	(4)
Bulldog Boltzmann	370	(14)
How Fast Is a Gas?	374	(6)
Inside the Atom	380	(4)
Wake Up! This Is About Work, Which Takes Energy	384	(10)
Information-Age Thinking in the Industrial Era	390	(4)
A Number-One Law, Thermodynamically Speaking	394	(6)
Obeying the (Second) Law	400	(12)
Tying Down a Demon	412	(4)
Nothing to Do?	416	(10)
Wrapping Up and Getting Ready	426	(6)
Suggested Reading	432	(4)
NSTA Recommends	436	(2)
Picture Credits	438	(4)
Permissions	442	(1)
Scientific Abbreviations	443	(1)
Index	444