Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

Heavenly Intrigue: Johannes Kepler, Tycho Brahe, and the Murder Behind One of History's Greatest Scientific Discoveries

Heavenly Intrigue: Johannes Kepler, Tycho Brahe, and the Murder Behind One of History's Greatest Scientific Discoveries

by Joshua Gilder

Johannes Kepler changed forever our understanding of the universe. Through his efforts to chart the orbits of the planets—elliptical, not circular—Kepler became one of the most important astronomers of all time. His contributions continued as he laid the groundwork for the discovery of gravitation, setting physics on the course of revelation it follows to this day. Yet if it hadn't been for the now lesser known... (more)

Sea Legs: Talees of a Woman Oceanographer

Sea Legs: Talees of a Woman Oceanographer

by Kathleen Crane

Sea Legs is the story of Kathleen Crane, one of the first women oceanographers out of the world-renowned Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California. By turns personal and objective, Crane tells how her quest for freedom led her to the sea and her research of deep-sea underwater volcanoes. As research doors in the United States closed during the 1980s, Crane charted her scientific future with the... (more)

The Astronomical Revolution: Copernicus-Kepler-Borelli

The Astronomical Revolution: Copernicus-Kepler-Borelli

by Alexandre Koyre?

Lucid scholarly study illuminates contributions of three great pioneers in astronomy whose work in the 16th and 17th centuries completely altered mankind’s conception of the universe. Included are many key passages from the writings of Nicolaus Copernicus, Johannes Kepler and Giovanni Borelli. Translated by Dr. R. E. W. Maddison, the Librarian of the Royal Astronomical Society. 59 black-and-white illustrations.

Francis Galton: Pioneer of Heredity and Biometry

Francis Galton: Pioneer of Heredity and Biometry

by M. G. Bulmer

If not for the work of his half cousin Francis Galton, Charles Darwin's evolutionary theory might have met a somewhat different fate. In particular, with no direct evidence of natural selection and no convincing theory of heredity to explain it, Darwin needed a mathematical explanation of variability and heredity. Galton's work in biometry—the application of statistical methods to the biological sciences—laid... (more)

Explorers (Women in Profile Series)

by Carlotta Hacker

Women in Profile series celebrates remarkable twentieth-century women who have made significant achievements in a wide variety of fields. Each book in this series of twelve titles features: -- six major profiles of women from different continents, cultures, religions, and time periods -- a dozen other distinguished women briefly highlighted to encourage further investigation -- glossary, index, and a suggested... (more)

Mr. Gatling's Terrible Marvel: The Gun That Changed Everything and the Misunderstood Genius Who Invented It

Mr. Gatling's Terrible Marvel: The Gun That Changed Everything and the Misunderstood Genius Who Invented It

by Julia Keller

A Pulitzer Prize winner explores the role of the first machine gun in transforming America into a superpower Although it was little used during the American Civil War—the time in which it was invented—the Gatling gun soon changed the nature of warfare and the course of world history. Discharging two hundred shots per minute with alarming accuracy, the world’s first machine gun became vitally important to... (more)

The New Explorers, Women in Antarctica

by Barbara Land

Galileo's Finger: The Ten Great Ideas of Science

Galileo's Finger: The Ten Great Ideas of Science

by P. W. Atkins

Why Galileo's finger? Galileo, one of whose fingers is preserved in a vessel displayed in Florence, provided much of the impetus for modern science, pointing the way out of medieval ignorance. In this brilliant account of the central ideas of contemporary science, Peter Atkins celebrates the effectiveness of Galileo's symbolic finger for revealing the nature of our universe, our world, and ourselves. Galileo's... (more)

E=mc2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation

E=mc2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation

by David Bodanis

Already climbing the bestseller lists-and garnering rave reviews-this "little masterpiece"* sheds brilliant light on the equation that changed the world. "This is not a physics book. It is a history of where the equation <E=mc2> came from and how it has changed the world. After a short chapter on the equation's birth, Bodanis presents its five symbolic ancestors in sequence, each with its own chapter and... (more)

The Eye of Heaven: Ptolemy, Copernicus, Kepler (Masters of Modern Physics)

The Eye of Heaven: Ptolemy, Copernicus, Kepler (Masters of Modern Physics)

by Owen Gingerich

"I can think of few better ways of introducing students to the history of astronomy than by using The Eye of Heaven as a text....This is science at its best....Not only does Gingerich make you think, he also forces you back in time and makes you think as astronomers did then. Students need this inspiration." David Hughes, New Scientist Astronomer and historian Owen Gingerich provides a fascinating introduction... (more)

Madame Curie: A Biography

by Eve Curie, Curie, Eve

The professional triumphs and personal struggles of a pioneering woman scientist. This account of the remarkable life and astonishing mind of one of the greatest scientists of the century, written by her daughter, it remains a landmark and an inspiration for students, scientists, and young women everywhere.

Women of Discovery: A Celebration of Intrepid Women Who Explored the World

Women of Discovery: A Celebration of Intrepid Women Who Explored the World

by Milbry Polk

Across the centuries and from many lands, women have set forth on journeys of exploration. Visionaries, adventurers, artists, and scientists, these women challenged the limitations, both physical and social, of their times and, in the face of formidable challenges, expanded the world's body of knowledge. Yet despite their extraordinary achievements, they have remained unknown and unsung for too long. No longer.... (more)

Four to the Pole!: The American Women's Expedition to Antarctica, 1992-1993

Four to the Pole!: The American Women's Expedition to Antarctica, 1992-1993

by Nancy Loewen

*This title was chosen as a 2001 Honor Book by the Society of School Librarians International. On January 14, 1993, four women made history by becoming the first women to reach the South Pole on foot. For sixty-seven days and 660 miles they skied, dragging 200-pound sleds, across the white plains of Antarctica, challenged by its bitter temperatures and strong winds. But the biggest hardships they faced were... (more)

Kepler

by Max Caspar

Definitive biography by foremost scholar offers fascinating erudite picture of great mathematician’s scientific accomplishments: formulation of laws of planetary motion, work with optics and calculus, much more. Also detailed chronicle of Kepler’s public and personal life (childhood and youth, education, mother’s trial as a witch, fear of religious persecution, etc.). Introduction and Notes by Owen Gingerich.... (more)

Kepler's Witch: An Astronomer's Discovery of Cosmic Order Amid Religious War, Political Intrigue, and the Heresy Trial of His Mother

Kepler's Witch: An Astronomer's Discovery of Cosmic Order Amid Religious War, Political Intrigue, and the Heresy Trial of His Mother

by James A. Connor

Set against the backdrop of the witchcraft trial of his mother, this lively biography of Johannes Kepler – 'the Protestant Galileo' and 16th century mathematician and astronomer – reveals the surprisingly spiritual nature of the quest of early modern science. In the style of Dava Sobel's Galileo's Daughter , Connor's book brings to life the tidal forces of Reformation, Counter–Reformation, and social upheaval.... (more)

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Tags: biography-scientists and inventors