Science: 100 Scientists Who Changed the World [Paperback]

Jon Balchin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 25, 2005

One hundred lives and accounts of astonishing discoveries, encompassing all the categories of science-from cosmology to subatomic particles and the Internet.

By looking at one hundred scientists from the perspectives of both individual biography and scientific accomplishment, Science beautifully illustrates how simple questions and observations can lead to discoveries that radically alter life in the world and our comprehension not only of the natural world but of the cosmos, the body, and the mind as well. Science thereby presents a picture of scientific exploration and discovery that takes observation and method as well as imagination and sheer chance into account. By evaluating the discoveries that have changed life over the past 2,500 years, each two-page biography that makes up Science succeeds in assessing how and why each of the one hundred lives presented led to significant changes in our world.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6 Up-The chronological arrangement makes this book easy for students to use as they work their way through the time lines of history. The scientists are grouped by century, making it easy to chart progress, as men and women built on the theories of those who came before. In the first entry, Anaximander ponders the shape of the earth, thinking it may not be flat. The last entry, on Tim Berners-Lee, shows how every corner of our world is accessible via the World Wide Web. Each two-page entry offers a chronology, biographical material, scientific contributions, and a portrait of the individual. While the information is brief, it is more interesting reading than similar entries in an encyclopedia, and includes a discussion of the scientific theory or the discovery's impact on society. While there is no question about the contributions of the scientists included, the book is light on women and minorities. Nonetheless, this is a solid collective biography that will assist students with their understanding of the evolution of scientific discovery.
Julie Webb, Shelby County High School, Shelbyville, KY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Balchin has produced a compact, highly readable panorama of two and a half millennia of science, who created most of it, and how it has shaped our lives and culture." --Science Books & Film

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books (August 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592700470
• ISBN-13: 978-1592700479
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 6.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,311,564 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but with some strange choices, November 7, 2009

By 

Metallurgist (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Science: 100 Scientists Who Changed the World (Paperback)

As the title states, this a book containing 100 biographies. They are arranged chronologically, from Anaxinander (611-574BC) to Tim Berners-Lee (1955- ). Each biography is short (only two page long) and contains a picture or photograph of the individual (or a thermometer in the case of Daniel Fahrenheit), a brief chronology of important events, one page of text relating their contribution and a small insert containing an important or interesting aspect of their life or scientific contribution. The book was informative, but I found some of the choices very strange. In my opinion, about 10-20% of the individuals covered were not essential scientists. For instance, I wonder why Alfred Nobel, Thomas Alva Edison, Alexander Graham Bell and the Wright Brothers were included. They were very important inventors and technologists, but I would not include them in a list that was restricted to only 100 of the most "essential" scientists. I would more easily have accepted these inclusions had the author not left out very important and very essential scientists such as J. Willard Gibbs, Paul Dirac, and Richard Feynman.

The book was interesting and covers the fields of chemistry and biology in addition to physics. A lot of interesting reference information is included. I would have rated it 5* had it included some more of what most people interested in science and the history of science consider as being essential scientists.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shows the Uncomfortable Rewards of Being a Great Scientist, February 17, 2007

By 

Jim Harrigan "the dirt man" (Arizona) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Science: 100 Scientists Who Changed the World (Hardcover)

So you've always wanted to discover something great and go down in history so everyone will always know your name. Turns out that many didn't lead comfortable lifestyles or never knew credit for their own discoveries - certainly not capitalistic rewards. A few examples:

Galileo Galilei died in prison because he wouldn't submit to religious dogma. Galileo had forged the modern approach to experimental and mathematical physics by breaking large problems down into smaller ones.

Nikola Tesla came to America as a penniless immigrant in 1884. He would sell his idea of alternating current to transmit electricity efficiently. Westinghouse bought the idea and become a powerhouse. Tesla would die penniless after receiving 800 patents.

Robert Oppenheimer would be stripped of his security clearance to prevent his work on the hydrogen bomb. Someone had accused him of being a Communist sympathizer. Oppenheimer had already successfully lead the Manhattan Project which concluded the second world war.

Rosalind Franklin discovered the fruitlessness of being a brilliant scientist and a woman. She would die of cancer while her colleague would steal credit for her discovery. Franklin had figured out the helical structure of DNA.

There are many more. This book is a dose of reality for anyone interested in the truth about science and scientists. Real and Brilliant.