The Ascent of Science.

New York:: Oxford University Press, 1998., 1998. 8vo. xviii, 534 pp. Illus., index. Quarter black cloth over beige boards, dust jacket. Burndy bookplate. Fine. ISBN: 0195116992 'This book is a report of the scientific campaign up to now. It is not a history of science but rather an account of the major battles, the frequently eccentric generals and the ways in which science has deeply influenced man's picture of the world and of himself. It is not a final summing-up. We know that we are far from a real understanding of nature. We press on. Michelangelo's divine discontent gives us no rest. And although the history of science may be a trail littered with broken theories and discarded concepts, science is also a triumph of reason, luck, and above all imagination. There are few more successful, exciting, or strange journeys.' From the author's preface. Brian L. Silver was Professor of Physical Chemistry at the Techion, or Institute of Technology, in Israel. Preface – Introduction – Part 1 – 1: Newton Gets It Completely Wrong – 2: I Believe – Part 2 – 3: Thomas Aquinas Vs. Neil Armstrong – 4: The Second Law – 5: Predicting Catastrophe – 6: From Newton to de Sade - The Partial Triumph of Reason – 7: From Rousseau to Blake - The Revolt Against Reason – Part 3 – 8: Lodestone, Amber, and Lightning – 9: Belief and Action – Part 4 – 10: The Demise of Alchemy – 11: The Nineteenth Century – 12: The Material Trinity - The Atom – 13: The Stuff of Existence – 14: Scipio's Dream – Part 5 – 15: Making Waves – 16: The Ubiquity of Motion – 17: Energy – 18: Entropy - Intimations of Immortality – 19: Chaos – Part 6 – 20: The Slow Birth of Biology – 21: In A Monastery Garden – 22: Evolution – 23: The Descent of Man – 24: The Gene Machine – 25: The Lords of Nature? – 26: Life - The Molecular Battle – 27: The Origin of Life? Take your Choice – Part 7 – 28: The Inexplicable Quantum – 29: New Ways of Thinking – 30: The Land of Paradox – 31: The Elementary Particles – Part 8 – 32: Relativity – 33: Cosmology – 34: The Cosmos and Peeping Tom – 35: The Impossibility of Creation – Part 9 – 36: The Tree of Death – 37: "What the Devil Does it All Mean?" – Part 10 – 38: The Future.