One hundred lives and one hundred stories of astonishing discoveries, encompassing all the categories of science-from geometry to cosmology, medicine to atomic particles, chemistry to the Internet. Science profiles one hundred scientists who have changed the way we live in and see the world. The lives and work of these great scientists form a complete and accessible guide to the history of science through the ages. Well written and highly engaging, each entry provides essential biographical information as well as a concise and entertaining outline of each scientist's greatest discoveries. Beginning with Anaximander and ending with Stephen Hawking, the book covers a number of groundbreaking moments in the history of science, from Pythagoras' theorem to the theory of relativity, from the Archimedian' screw to the World Wide Web. To be alive today is to be confronted by the products of science--from aspirin, refrigeration, electric light and the telephone, to the airplane and the computer--to name just a few. In addition to beneficial medicines and life enhancing discoveries, however, scientific research also has led to many dangerous developments, such as the machine gun and the atom bomb. Science explores all of these, telling the story of how observation and testing have changed daily life over the past 2500 years, along with how we understand the world, the cosmos, the body, and the mind. What is most fascinating for students first learning about scientific discovery, and what this book highlights so beautifully through presenting individual scientists, is the way in which simple observation--such as watching the weather, or an object fall--leads to a discovery that radically alters life in the world and our comprehension of how the natural world works. An engaging and clearly explained book, full of pertinent quotations and anecdotes, Science tells a compelling story, inviting its readers to pursue its subject further--… (more)