MAN MASTERS NATURE --- 25 CENTURIES OF SCIENCE
by Roy Porter, editor. George Braziller, Inc., 1988
    INTRODUCTION by Roy Porter, ed. (p8-15)

    1) Aristotle --- the theory and practice of science

    2) Ptolemy --- the synthesis of ancient astronomy

    3) Galileo Galilei --- "modern" science

    4) Johannes Kepler --- the new astronomy

    5) William Harvey --- the discovery of the circulation of the blood

    6. Issac Newton --- the mathematical key to nature

    7) Joseph Priestley --- science, religion, and politics in the "Age of Revolution"

    8) Antione-Laurent Lavoisier --- the chemical revolution

    9) Hanes Watt --- cross-fertilization between science and industry

    10) Michael Faraday --- the use of pure science

    IN CLOSING (p695-697)

    APPENDIXES (p698-699)

    GLOSSARY (p704-711)

    REFERENCES AND NOTES (p712-824)

    SOURCE NOTES (p825-826)

    INDEX (p827-844)

    REVIEWS

      [1] From Publishers Weekly

      Those who feel a lacuna in their knowledge of the history of science will find this book a treasure trove, an overview of great scientific minds from Ptolemy to James Watson and Francis Crick written in a style that can be followed by a reader of intelligence who pays close attention. The contributors (mostly British) are impressive: Geoffrey Lloyd, professor of ancient philosophy and science at Cambridge, writing on Aristotle; Alfred Rupert Hall, professor of the history of science and technology at Imperial College, on Newton; Donald Cardwell, emeritus professor of science and technology at the University of Manchester, on James Watt. As British science historian Porter notes in his introduction, Western science teaches students to be critical and objective, and to look for unity and comprehensiveness. Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

      [2] From Library Journal

      Porter (Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine) has brought together essays on Western science by 16 distinguished scholars. Contributions cover the physical, life, and human sciences from the Greeks to the double helix, and the result is a synoptic view of the scientific spirit and accomplishments over the past 2500 years. The breadth of coverage and short length of the text recommend this work as a basic source for beginning undergraduate students with an interest in the history of science and for informed lay readers. Frances Groen, McGill Univ. Lib., Montreal Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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