History of Modern Science and Mathematics Edition 1 .4 volume set [Hardcover]

Brian S. Baigrie (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Baigrie, associate professor at the Institute for History and Philosophy of Science and Technology at the University of Toronto, has created a very useful reference source. Modern science is defined as post-Copernican, but the thematic coverage of 23 scientific disciplines includes their global historical origins. For example, the history of algebra encompasses Babylonian, Chinese, and Islamic along with the familiar Greek mathematics. Emphasis is on the natural rather than the applied sciences.

This attractive set first presents topical essays, such as "The Relationship Between History of Science and Science" and "What Is a Proof?" followed by overview essays on biology, mathematics, and physics. Histories of the specific disciplines, from "Algebra" to "Systematics," average about 35 pages in length. The longest is "Chemistry," at 95 pages, and the shortest is "Algebra," with 19 pages. Volume 4 concludes with an "Interdisciplinary Timeline" and a name and subject index. The name and subject indexing is very solid. The bibliographies at the end of each essay contain mostly books, but Web sites are also mentioned. The coverage in the bibliographies is impressive. For example, the bibliography after the overview essay on physics includes works by Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer.

The audience for this resource includes advanced high-school students, undergraduates, and general readers. Although some articles, such as "Atomic and Nuclear Physics" and "Calculus," assume prior knowledge, the essays are carefully written to present technical subjects in jargon-free terms. The text is broken up with sidebars, illustrations, graphs, and charts. The use of bold type refers readers to definitions or cross-references in the margins. Sidebars add biographies or information related to scientific instruments, practices, or methods; institutions; connections between science and society; and other topics. Examples include "Scientific Institutions: The Smithsonian and the Practice of Anthropology," in "Anthropology," and "Science and Society: Endangered Species Act, 1973," in "Ecology."

The History of Modern Science and Mathematics will find a home in the reference collection on the history of science. Its topical essays nicely complement the dictionary format of the A Dictionary of the History of Science (Parthenon, 2001), and it has broader coverage in both time and place than recent one-volume history of science encyclopedias, such as Encyclopedia of the Scientific Revolution (Garland, 2000), The History of Science in the United States: An Encyclopedia (Garland, 2001), or The Scientific Revolution: An Encyclopedia [RBB Mr 1 02]. Highly recommended for high-school, public, and university libraries. RBB
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 920 pages
• Publisher: Charles Scribners & Sons; 1 edition (July 19, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684806363
• ISBN-13: 978-0684806365
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 8.7 x 3.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,014,627 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)