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Beautiful Experiments
An Illustrated History of Experimental Science
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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
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Description
Featuring two hundred colour plates, this history of the craft of scientific inquiry is as exquisite as the experiments it documents.
This illustrated history of experimental science is more than just a celebration of the ingenuity that scientists and natural philosophers have used throughout the ages to study—and to change—the world. Here we see in intricate detail experiments that have, in some way or another, exhibited elegance and beauty: in their design, their conception, and their execution.
Celebrated science writer Philip Ball invites readers to marvel at and admire the craftsmanship of scientific instruments and apparatus on display, from the earliest microscopes to the giant particle colliders of today. With Ball as our expert guide, we are encouraged to think carefully about what experiments are, what they mean, and how they are used.
Ranging across millennia and geographies, Beautiful Experiments not only demonstrates why "experiment" remains a contested notion in how the work of science is done, but also explains how we came to understand how the world functions, what it contains, and where the pursuit of that understanding has brought us today.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Philip Ball's Beautiful Experiments delves into the elegance of scientific experimentation throughout history, illustrating the richness in both success and failure. The book presents sixty carefully curated scientific investigations spanning from antiquity to the modern era, interwoven with rich historical details and philosophical insights. Critics praise its succinct yet deep exploration of the experimental process, combining scientific detail with anecdotes about prominent scientists. With its stunning visual material and engaging narrative, it provides both an informative and aesthetically pleasing journey into the world of scientific discovery.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780226825823
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 15 September 2023
Country: United States
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Illustration: 200 color plates
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 33.0mm
Width: 191.0mm
Height: 248.0mm
Weight: 966g
Pages: 240
Collections
About the Author
Philip Ball is a freelance writer and broadcaster whose many books on the interactions of the sciences, the arts, and the wider culture include Bright Earth, Curiosity, Patterns in Nature, How to Grow a Human, The Modern Myths, The Elements, and, most recently, The Book of Minds, all also published by the University of Chicago Press. His book Critical Mass won the 2005 Aventis Prize for Science Books. Ball is also the 2022 recipient of the Royal Society’s Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar Medal for contributions to the history, philosophy, or social roles of science. He trained as a chemist at the University of Oxford and as a physicist at the University of Bristol, and he was an editor at Nature for more than twenty years. He lives in London.
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