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Darrera modificació: 2009-10-02
Bases de dades: Sciència.cat
Ben-Menahem, Ari (dir.), Historical Encyclopedia of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, Berlín, Springer (Springer Reference), 2009, 6 vols. (xxviii + 5.988 pp.), il.
- Resum
- This milestone extensive work combines the essentials of history – biography, chronology, political and economic background – with the observations, theories, principles, laws and equations that constitute the specifics of science. The 5800-page Encyclopedia arises from the conviction that the optimal perspective on science is through the lens of history, setting aside traditional divisions of discipline and specialty, and rising above geopolitical boundaries. Reaching from 4,200 BCE to the 21st century CE, the Encyclopedia relates (as the author himself puts it) "not only who did it and when it was done but also precisely what was done." The author, Ari Ben-Menahem, surveys 100 generations of great thinkers, offering 2070 detailed biographies of scientists, engineers, explorers and inventors, who left their mark on the history of science and technology. The span of coverage is all-encompassing: mathematics, philosophy, logic, physical and environmental sciences (including physics, chemistry, astronomy, earth and space sciences and cosmology), life sciences (biology, medicine, physiology, botany, zoology and biochemistry), associated engineering disciplines, and the social sciences (among them economics, psychology, sociology, anthropology, linguistics and more).
The six-volume Encyclopedia also includes 380 articles summarizing the time-line of ideas in the leading fields of science, technology, mathematics and philosophy, plus useful tables, figures and photos, and 20 ‘Science Progress Reports’ detailing scientific setbacks. Interspersed throughout are quotations, gathered from the wit and wisdom of sages, savants and scholars throughout the ages from antiquity to modern times.
Contents:
Part I
Pre-Science
1. Origins – Splendor of the Simple (4200 bce–529 ce)
· Calendars, or the Conquest of Time
· Wheels and Numerals
· Papyri and Clay
· Birth of Science in Ionia
· Blossom in Alexandria
2. Slumber and Awakening (529–1583)
· In the Womb of Asia
· Diffusion of Greco-Hindu Lore into Western Europe
· Rise of the Universities
· Renaissance
· The Scientific Revolution
· Voyagers and Explorers
Part II
3. The Clockwork Universe (1583–1819)
· Beyond the Greeks
· Infinitesimals and Infinities
· Rise of Mechanics
· The New Astronomy
· Enlightenment
· Social Revolutions and Industrialization
· Algebraization of Geometry and Exploitation of the Calculus
· Emergence of the Theories of Numbers, Probability and Statistics
· From Alchemy to Chemistry
· Evolution of the Steam Engine
4. Abstraction and Unification (1820–1894)
· Emergence of Algebraic Structures and the Rise of Abstract Algebras
· Breakaway from Euclidean Geometry
· The Arithmetization of Analysis
· Complex Analysis; Differential and Integral Equations
· Advent of Electromagnetism: Unification of Optics, Electricity and Magnetism
· Quantification of Thermal Phenomena: Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics
· The Periodic Table of the Elements
· Organic Chemistry and Cell Theory
· The Theory of Biological Evolution
· Alternating Current Technology; Discovery of Photoconductivity
· Oceanography – The Conquest of Inner Space
· Emergence of World Communication: Telephone, Telegraph, Facsimile
Part III
5. Demise of the Dogmatic Universe (1895–1950)
· Maturation of Abstract Algebra and the Grand Fusion of Geometry, Algebra, Arithmetic and Topology
· Logic, Set Theory, Foundations of Mathematics and the Genesis of Computer Science
· Modern Analysis
· Electrons, Atoms, Nuclei and Quanta
· Einstein’s Relativity and the Geometrization of Gravity; The Expanding Universe
· Preliminary Attempts to Geometrize Non-Gravitational Interactions; Kaluza – Klein Models With Compactified Dimensions
· Subatomic Physics: Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Electrodynamics; Nuclear and Particle Physics
· Reduction of Chemistry to Physics; Condensed Matter Physics; The 4th State of Matter
· The Conquest of Distance by Automobile, Aircraft and Wireless Communications; Cinematography
· The ‘Flaming Sword’: Antibiotics and Nuclear Weapons
· Unfolding Basic Biostructures: Chromosomes, Genes, Hormones, Enzymes and Viruses; Proteins and Amino Acids
· Electromagnetic Technology: Early Laser Theory; Holography; Magnetic Recording and Vacuum Tubes; Invention of the Transistor
· ‘Big Science’: Accelerators; The Manhattan Project
6. Deep Principles – Complex Structures (1950–2008)
· Continuation of Abstraction and Unification of Pure Mathematics
· Discrete Mathematics and the Ubiquitous Algorithm; Computation Beyond Algorithms
· Nonlinearity, Stochasticity and the Science of Complexity; Adding Noise to Deterministic Evolution
· Mathematization of the Biological, Environmental and Social Sciences
· Abstract Algebra and Group Theory in Modern Theoretical Physics
· Particle Physics and the Coming of Gauge
· The New Cosmology: Whence, Whither and Why?
· General Relativity meets Quantum Mechanics and Particle Physics
· Quantum Technology
· RF Engineering and Particle-Accelerator Technology
· Worldwide Communications and Information Technology
· Modern Microscopy and Telescopy
· Material Science
· Computer Technology; Computer Simulation – the Third mode of Science
· Molecular Biology, Genetics and Biochemistry
· Biotechnology of Nature and Man
· Big Science
- Matèries
- Història de la ciència
Matemàtica
Filosofia - Filosofia natural
Diccionaris i enciclopèdies
- Notes
- Fitxa de l'editor: http://www.springer.com/math/book/978-3-540-68831-0
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