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Louis Pasteur : groundbreaking chemist & biologist
Biography of the famous scientist, Louis Pasteur.
BOOK
Science and Immortality
From the eighteenth century until as recently as World War II, the natural scientist was depicted as a kind of moral superhero: objective, modest, ascetic, and selflessly dedicated to the betterment of humanity. What accounts for the widespread diffusion of this myth? In Science and Immortality, Charles B. Paul provides a partial explanation. The modern ideology of the scientist as disinterested seeker after truth arose partly through the transformation of an ancient literary form--the commemoration of heroes. In 1699 Bernard de Fontenelle, as Secretary of the Paris Academy of Sciences, inaugurated the tradition of the éloge, or eulogy, in honor of members of the Academy. The moral qualities that had once been attributed to the idealized Stoic philosopher were transferred in the eulogies to the \"natural philosopher,\" or scientist. The over two hundred éloges composed between 1699 and 1791 by Fontenelle and his successors--Mairan, Fouchy, and Condorcet--served as a powerful device for the popularization of science. It was the intention of the secretaries, though, not only to exhibit the natural scientist as a modern-day hero but also to present a truthful record of scientific activity in France. Paul examines the éloges both as a literary form that used rhetorical and stylistic devises to reconcile these two conflicting goals and as a collective biography of a new breed of savants--one that already contained the seed of the conflict between self-image and reality embedded in the modern scientific enterprise. A unique history of science in eighteenth-century France, Science and Immortality illuminates the record in the éloges of the professionalization of some sciences and the maturation of others, the recognition of their utility to society and the state, and the widening trust in science as the remedy to economic restriction and political
absolutism. Paul's thorough catalog of the éloges, extensive bibliography, and translations of representative éloges make this book an essential source for scholars in the field. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1980.
eBook
Henri Poincaré
Henri Poincaré (1854-1912) was not just one of the most inventive, versatile, and productive mathematicians of all time--he was also a leading physicist who almost won a Nobel Prize for physics and a prominent philosopher of science whose fresh and surprising essays are still in print a century later. The first in-depth and comprehensive look at his many accomplishments,Henri Poincaréexplores all the fields that Poincaré touched, the debates sparked by his original investigations, and how his discoveries still contribute to society today.
Math historian Jeremy Gray shows that Poincaré's influence was wide-ranging and permanent. His novel interpretation of non-Euclidean geometry challenged contemporary ideas about space, stirred heated discussion, and led to flourishing research. His work in topology began the modern study of the subject, recently highlighted by the successful resolution of the famous Poincaré conjecture. And Poincaré's reformulation of celestial mechanics and discovery of chaotic motion started the modern theory of dynamical systems. In physics, his insights on the Lorentz group preceded Einstein's, and he was the first to indicate that space and time might be fundamentally atomic. Poincaré the public intellectual did not shy away from scientific controversy, and he defended mathematics against the attacks of logicians such as Bertrand Russell, opposed the views of Catholic apologists, and served as an expert witness in probability for the notorious Dreyfus case that polarized France.
Richly informed by letters and documents,Henri Poincarédemonstrates how one man's work revolutionized math, science, and the greater world.
eBook
L'Astronomie au XIXe siècle
Extrait: \"L'origine de l'astronomie paraît fort simple quand on l'attribue à la contemplation des cieux, par des bergers, ou des poètes admirateurs des beautés de la création. La curiosité, issue de l'activité, ainsi que l'envie de connaître la destinée humaine, tournèrent bientôt les idées vers la philosophie et vers les superstitions à l'usage des intelligences incultes et crédules. Cette tendance, produit essentiel de l'état social...\"À PROPOS DES ÉDITIONS LIGARANLes éditions LIGARAN proposent des versions numériques de qualité de grands livres de la littérature classique mais également des livres rares en partenariat avec la BNF. Beaucoup de soins sont apportés à ces versions ebook pour éviter les fautes que l'on trouve trop souvent dans des versions numériques de ces textes. LIGARAN propose des grands classiques dans les domaines suivants: • Livres rares
• Livres libertins
• Livres d'Histoire
• Poésies
• Première guerre mondiale
• Jeunesse
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eBook
Louis Pasteur
\"Louis was born at a time when doctors were still trying to figure out what made people sick. As a teen, he discovered a love for science. As an adult, his curiosity led him to discover that microbes cause illnesses, and his groundbreaking research resulted in the creation of vaccines that have saved countless lives around the world. This amazing story of one of the fathers of modern medicine features a fact and photo section at the back.\"-- Page 4 of cover.
BOOK
The man who flattened the earth
Self-styled adventurer, literary wit, philosopher, and statesman of science, Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (1698-1759) stood at the center of Enlightenment science and culture. Offering an elegant and accessible portrait of this remarkable man, Mary Terrall uses the story of Maupertuis's life, self-fashioning, and scientific works to explore what it meant to do science and to be a man of science in eighteenth-century Europe. Beginning his scientific career as a mathematician in Paris, Maupertuis entered the public eye with a much-discussed expedition to Lapland, which confirmed Newton's calculation that the earth was flattened at the poles. He also made significant, and often intentionally controversial, contributions to physics, life science, navigation, astronomy, and metaphysics. Called to Berlin by Frederick the Great, Maupertuis moved to Prussia to preside over the Academy of Sciences there. Equally at home in salons, cafés, scientific academies, and royal courts, Maupertuis used his social connections and his printed works to enhance a carefully constructed reputation as both a man of letters and a man of science. His social and institutional affiliations, in turn, affected how Maupertuis formulated his ideas, how he presented them to his contemporaries, and the reactions they provoked. Terrall not only illuminates the life and work of a colorful and important Enlightenment figure, but also uses his story to delve into many wider issues, including the development of scientific institutions, the impact of print culture on science, and the interactions of science and government. Smart and highly readable, Maupertuis will appeal to anyone interested in eighteenth-century science and culture.
eBook
Henri poincaré
On July 17, 2012, the centenary of Henri Poincaré's death was commemorated; his name being associated with so many fields of knowledge that he was considered as the Last Universalist. In Pure and Applied Mathematics, Physics, Astronomy, Engineering and Philosophy, his works have had a great impact all over the world. Poincaré acquired in his lifetime such a reputation that, both nationally and internationally, his life and career were made the object of various articles in the daily papers not only in France, but also in the USA. Some of his philosophical concepts have even caused sharp controversies in the Press (as we will discover in this book).
This work presents an original portrait of Henri Poincaré based on various press cuttings from The New York Times, The San Francisco Sunday Call, The Times, The Sun, The Washington Post that chronicled unknown anecdotes of his life (for example, his first name was actually not Henri, but Henry; he obtained his high school diploma in sciences with a zero in mathematics, etc.). Such an approach enables the discovering of many forgotten or unknown aspects of his scientific and philosophical works as well as his important role in the public sphere.
eBook