A Dictionary of the History of Science [Hardcover]

Anton Sebastian (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2001

The only work of its kind, this dictionary is uniquely focused on the history of applied science, including medical and biomedical applications. It contains approximately 3000 detailed, extensively researched entries painstakingly compiled by Dr. Anton Sebastian, respected author of A Dictionary of the History of Medicine. A work of exceptional scholarship totaling some 400 double-column pages it contains many rarely seen illustrations from original sources involving hundreds of books and journals. This dictionary offers special value to scientists, doctors, and students as a source of hard-to-find, authoritative information about notable scientific figures, inventions, terms and dates, captivating anecdotes, and background material. The entries include each term's Greek and Latin origins and concise biographies.

Editorial Reviews

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ABBOT, Charles Greely (1872-1973) An American physicist from Wilton, New Hampshire, who lived for 100 years. He served as Director of the Astrophysical Observatory at the Smithsonian Institution from 1907 to 1944 and invented a device for converting solar energy to power. He published The Sun (1907) and The Earth and the Stars (1925).

Product Details

• Hardcover: 380 pages
• Publisher: The Parthenon Publishing Group; 1 edition (January 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 185070418X
• ISBN-13: 978-1850704188
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 8.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,598,972 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gleanings from the bones of scientific history, February 18, 2004

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W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Dictionary of the History of Science (Hardcover)

A random walk through oft-forgotten pathways in history. Sebastian is to be commended for his scholarship in finding obscure and sometimes charming nuggets of details. The Dictionary seems to be a labour of love.

Possibly the best known of the people mentioned might be Occam. Many of the others are now thoroughly obscure.

Hard to say that the book is, or could ever be, comprehensive. But perhaps that is beside the point. It aggregates gleanings scraped off the bones of scientific history, and makes these available to us, who would otherwise have no comprehension of them.