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What if one of the most thrilling stories in the history of science turned out to be wrong? Can urban legends creep into the hallowed grounds of scientific history? As incredible as it may sound, the story of one of the most important elements in modern times – helium - has been often misrepresented in books, encyclopedias, and online sources, despite the fact that archival materials tell a different story. Open the entry for Helium in any encyclopaedia and you will read a false story that has been repeated over the years. ‘Encyclopaedia Britannica’, for example, says that helium was discovered by the French astronomer Pierre Janssen while observing a total solar eclipse from India in ...
He no longer felt like a thirty-seven-year-old loser living with his mother and pretending to be a detective. He was a real detective. He'd solved one real mystery, and was convinced he was about to solve another. He might even catch a real killer. Low-rent "detective" Mike Levine lives at home with his mother, Estelle, who still calls him by the name she gave him-Mordecai. While working his first real mystery, Mike is helped by his sister, Rhonda, an overly enthusiastic reference librarian, and her sarcastic policeman husband, Ralph. Together, they form an unlikely comic team of amateur sleuths. Mike's obsession with obscure historical details-like the bridge in the background of the Mona Lisa-helps him investigate the mysterious disappearance of a bride on her wedding night. An incredible true story from 1760 about a de Launay family scandal proves to be the key to solving the modern-day mystery. And, along the way, Mike unlocks some of his own family secrets. When the mystery turns into murder, Mike's own life is in danger. His only goals now are to stay alive, solve the mystery, and turn his family into a team of real detectives.
Myths of Europe focuses on the identity of Europe, seeking to re-assess its cultural, literary and political traditions in the context of the 21st century. Over 20 authors - historians, political scientists, literary scholars, art and cultural historians - from five countries here enter into a debate. How far are the myths by which Europe has defined itself for centuries relevant to its role in global politics after 9/11? Can 'Old Europe' maintain its traditional identity now that the European Union includes countries previously supposed to be on its periphery? How has Europe handled relations with the non-European Other in the past and how is it reacting now to an influx of immigrants and asylum seekers? It becomes clear that founding myths such as Hamlet and St Nicholas have helped construct the European consciousness but also that these and other European myths have disturbing Eurocentric implications. Are these myths still viable today and, if so, to what extent and for what purpose? This volume sits on the interface between culture and politics and is important reading for all those interested in the transmission of myth and in both the past and the future of Europe.
The author, a well-known astronomer himself, describes the evolution of astronomical ideas, touching only lightly on most of the instrumental developments. Richly illustrated, the book starts with the astronomical ideas of the Egyptian and Mesopotamian philosophers, moves on to the Greek period and then on to the golden age of astronomy, that of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler and Newton. Finally, Pecker concludes with modern theories of cosmology. Written with astronomy undergraduates in mind, this is a fascinating survey of astronomical thinking.
How scientific discoveries and practice were integrated into nineteenth-century French culture and thought. Winner of the Sarton Medal for Lifetime Scholarly Achievement of the History of Science Society There has been a tendency to view science in nineteenth-century France as the exclusive territory of the nation’s leading academic centers and the powerful Paris-based administrators who controlled them. Ministries and the great savants and institutions of the capital seem to have defined the field, while historians have ignored or glossed over traditions on the periphery of science. In The Savant and the State, Robert Fox charts new historiographical territory by synthesizing the practice...
The 1846 discovery of Neptune is one of the most remarkable stories in the history of science and astronomy. John Couch Adams and U.J. Le Verrier both investigated anomalies in the motion of Uranus and independently predicted the existence and location of this new planet. However, interpretations of the events surrounding this discovery have long been mired in controversy. Who first predicted the new planet? Was the discovery just a lucky fluke? The ensuing storm engaged astronomers across Europe and the United States. Written by an international group of authors, this pathbreaking volume explores in unprecedented depth the contentious history of Neptune’s discovery, drawing on newly disco...
المريخُ عالَـمٌ صغيرٌ له شهرةٌ عظيمة. ولَطالما أسَرَنا هذا الكوكبُ الغامض والفريد على مرِّ القرون؛ ببراكينِه الشبيهة بجبل إيفرست، ومجموعةِ أَوْديته التي تَشغلُ مساحةً تُضاهِي مساحةَ الولايات المتحدة بأكملها، ومَشاهِدِه الطبيعية التي ربما احتوتْ على الماءِ فيما مضى. وفي هذا الكتابِ المُمتِع، يتعقَّبُ ستيفن جيمس أوميارا العلاقةَ الغرامية التي وقَعتْ فيها البشريةُ مع هذا الجِرْم...
If any scientific object has over the course of human history aroused the fascination of both scientists and artists worldwide, it is beyond doubt the moon. The moon is also by far the most interesting celestial body when it comes to reflecting on the dualistic nature of photography as applied to the study of the universe. Against this background, Selene’s Two Faces sets out to look at the scientific purpose, aesthetic expression, and influence of early lunar drawings, maps and photographs, including spacecraft imaging. In its approach, Selene’s Two Faces is intermedial, intercultural and interdisciplinary. It brings together not only various media (photography, maps, engravings, lithographs, globes, texts), and cultures (from Europe, America and Asia), but also theoretical perspectives. See inside the book.
In the late fifteenth century, clocks acquired minute hands. A century later, second hands appeared. But it wasn’t until the 1850s that instruments could recognize a tenth of a second, and, once they did, the impact on modern science and society was profound. Revealing the history behind this infinitesimal interval, A Tenth of a Second sheds new light on modernity and illuminates the work of important thinkers of the last two centuries. Tracing debates about the nature of time, causality, and free will, as well as the introduction of modern technologies—telegraphy, photography, cinematography—Jimena Canales locates the reverberations of this “perceptual moment” throughout culture. ...