Great Essays in Science : Isaac Asimov, Rachel Carson, Charles Darwin, John Dewey, Albert Einstein, Jean Henri Fabre, Sigmund Freud, Stephen Jay Gould, Aldous Huxley, Julian Huxley, William James, Ernest Nagel, Bertrand Russell, Carl Sagan, Lewis Thomas,

The sphinx / Francis Bacon -- Recapitulation and conclusion / Charles Darwin -- The influence of darwinism on philosophy / John Dewey -- Nonmoral nature / Stephen Jay Gould -- The problem of being / William James -- What makes a woman beautiful? / Havelock Ellis -- The sacred beetle / Jean Henri Fabre -- The logic of elfland / Gilbert Keith Chesterton -- Can we know the universe? Reflections on a grain of salt / Carl Sagan -- The colloid and the crystal / Joseph Wood Krutch -- The barbarism of "specialization" / Jose Ortega Y Gasset -- Science and culture / Thomas Henry Huxley -- Science and literature / John Burroughs -- Science and beauty / Isaac Asimov -- Automation / Ernest Nagel -- Other-worldly life / Jonathan Norton Leonard -- Physics in the contemporary world / J. Robert Oppenheimer -- Religion and science / Alfred North Whitehead -- Proteus / John Dos Passos -- Julian Huxley / An essay on bird-mind -- The decline of determinism / Arthur Stanley Eddington -- Science in the brave new world / Aldous Huxley -- The sunless sea / Rachel Carson -- The nuptial flight / Naurice Maeterlinck -- The new source of energy science and ultimate truth / H. G. Wells -- Success / Laura Fermi -- The gestapo in science / Samuel Goudsmit -- Pan's pipes / Robert Louis Stevenson -- Dreams of the death of beloved persons / Sigmund Freud -- The science to save us from science the greatness of Albert Einstein -- E-mc2 / Albert Einstein -- Seven Wonders / Lewis Thomas Martin Gardner, author of numerous books on science, mathematics, and pseudo-science, has assembled thirty-four extraordinary essays by eminent philosophers, scientists, and writers on the fundamental aspects of modern science.As Gardner makes clear in his preface to the formerly titled Sacred Beetle and Other Great Essays in Science, his intent is not to teach the reader science or to report on the latest trends and discoveries. "Rather, the purpose of this book is to spread before the reader, whether his or her interest in science be passionate or mild, a sumptuous feast of great writing - absorbing, thought-disturbing pieces that have something to say about science and say it forcibly and well."Gardner's entertaining biographical commentaries make Great Essays in Science a rich store of good reading and an informal history of the people and ideas that have shaped our culture and transformed our everyday lives. This collection includes works by Isaac Asimov, Rachel Carson, Charles Darwin, John Dewey, Albert Einstein, Jean Henri Fabre, Sigmund Freud, Stephen Jay Gould, Aldous Huxley, Julian Huxley, William James, Ernest Nagel, Bertrand Russell, Carl Sagan, Lewis Thomas, H.G. Wells, and others. Martin Gardner, author of numerous books on science, mathematics, and pseudo-science, has assembled thirty-four extraordinary essays by eminent philosophers, scientists, and writers on the fundamental aspects of modern science. As Gardner makes clear in his preface to the formerly titled Sacred Beetle and Other Great Essays in Science, his intent is not to teach the reader science or to report on the latest trends and discoveries. "Rather, the purpose of this book is to spread before the reader, whether his or her interest in science be passionate or mild, a sumptuous feast of great writing - absorbing, thought-disturbing pieces that have something to say about science and say it forcibly and well." Gardners entertaining biographical commentaries make Great Essays in Science a rich store of good reading and an informal history of the people and ideas that have shaped our culture and transformed our everyday lives. This collection includes works by Isaac Asimov, Rachel Carson, Charles Darwin, John Dewey, Albert Einstein, Jean Henri Fabre, Sigmund Freud, Stephen Jay Gould, Aldous Huxley, Julian Huxley, William James, Ernest Nagel, Bertrand Russell, Carl Sagan, Lewis Thomas, H.G. Wells, and others

More than 30 brilliant essays by eminent philosophers, scientists, and writers who deal with the fundamental aspects of modern science.

Booknews

Reprint of Gardner's 1984 collection, The Sacred Beetle and Other Great Essays in Science. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Includes thirty-four essays by some of the eminent philosophers, scientists, and writers on the fundamental aspects of modern science. This title presents an informal history of the people and ideas that have shaped our culture and transformed our everyday lives.