A Brief History of Science: through the development of scientific instruments

Description

An exploration of scientific advances throughout time. From earliest pre-history, with the dawning understanding of fire and its many uses, up to the astonishing advances of the 21st century, Thomas Crump traces the increasingly sophisticated means employed in our attempts to understand the universe. The result is an account of how our curious nature has continually pushed forward the frontiers of science and, as a consequence, human civilization.

Thomas Crump, successful author of A Brief History of Science, recently underwent a hip operation and brings to this book an understanding of the needs and concerns of the patient. His passionate interest in science and its history has given rise to a number of books, most recently Solar Eclipse and The Anthropology of Numbers. A mathematician and anthropologist, until his retirement in 1994, he taught anthropology at the University of Amsterdam.

'Crump successfully conveys the rich grainy texture of science and discovery, yet in an accessible way... [This] is a serious and fully furnished history of science, from which anyone interested in the development of ideas - or indeed, in history itself - will greatly profit.' - A.C. Grayling, Financial Times; 'He provides lively summaries of the progress in different fields, and succeeds in breathing new life into familiar stories.' - Economist