Source Books in the History of the Sciences – serie

The phenomenal growth of modern astronomy, including the invention of the coronagraph and major developments in telescope design and photographic technique, is unparalleled in many centuries. Theories of relativity, the concept and measurement of the expanding universe, the location of sun and planets far from the center of the Milky Way, the exploration of the interiors of stars, the pulsation theory of Cepheid variation, and investigations of interstellar space have profoundly altered the astronomer's approach.These fundamental discoveries are reported in papers by such eminent scientists as Albert Einstein, Sir Arthur S. Eddington, Henry Norris Russell, Sir James Jeans, Meghnad Saha, Otto Struve, Fred L. Whipple, Bernard Lyot, Jan H. Oort, and George Ellery Hale. The Source Book's 69 contributions represent all fields of astronomy. For example, there are reports on the equivalence of mass and energy (E = mc²) of the special theory of relativity; building the 200-inch Palomar telescope; the scattering of galaxies suggesting a rapidly expanding universe; stellar evolution; and the Big Bang and Steady State theories of the universe's origin.

An understanding of the developments in classical analysis during the nineteenth century is vital to a full appreciation of the history of twentieth-century mathematical thought. It was during the nineteenth century that the diverse mathematical formulae of the eighteenth century were systematized and the properties of functions of real and complex variables clearly distinguished; and it was then that the calculus matured into the rigorous discipline of today, becoming in the process a dominant influence on mathematics and mathematical physics.This Source Book, a sequel to D. J. Struik’s Source Book in Mathematics, 1200–1800, draws together more than eighty selections from the writings of the most influential mathematicians of the period. Thirteen chapters, each with an introduction by the editor, highlight the major developments in mathematical thinking over the century. All material is in English, and great care has been taken to maintain a high standard of accuracy both in translation and in transcription. Of particular value to historians and philosophers of science, the Source Book should serve as a vital reference to anyone seeking to understand the roots of twentieth-century mathematical thought.

This remarkable volume presents a panorama of geographical writings from Hesiod to Humboldt, from the beginnings of geographical thought in the Western world to the emergence of topical specialization. It includes a wealth of material from non-Western sources, particularly Moslem and Chinese, that has not been collected before.The selections are arranged chronologically, and contain geographical theory, descriptions of terrestrial phenomena by early observers, and excerpts from major voyages of discovery. Some are obvious classics: Socrates on the nature of the Earth, Ezekiel’s description of the commerce of Tyre, Columbus’s first glimpse of the West Indies, Buffon on the history of the Earth, and Kant’s geographical lectures. Yet more commonly, George Kish provides a sense of the discovery with such finds as the ambassador’s report to the Caliph of Baghdad on the lands and customs of the Norsemen, the study of the Tartar Empire by John of Monte Corvino, Archbishop of Peking, and Jefferson’s private memo to Alexander von Humboldt seeking information on the American West.Each section is highlighted by a brief but engagingly written introduction by the editor. Throughout, the unique cultural and professional perspective of Kish is very much in evidence.

Since 1900, the science of geology has grown in a spectacular fashion. Not only have field studies been undertaken throughout vast areas of the earth’s surface previously unexplored or only superficially surveyed, but recent discoveries in physics, chemistry, and biology have provided geologists with new techniques of observation and experimentation, and radically new concepts and theories have been developed. This book presents source literature for the most important contributions to this remarkable expansion of geological knowledge. One of the world’s most distinguished geologists provides excerpts from sixty-five articles by sixty-three authors, selected with the advice of more than a score of leading scientists from all parts of the globe. Among the subjects discussed in this comprehensive volume are the constitution of the earth’s interior, the causes of earthquakes, radioactive timekeepers, the interpretation of submarine features and deep-sea cores, the origin and entrapment of petroleum, and crystal structure. Included are articles which led directly to the development of theories of paleomagnetism, metamorphism, cryopedology, and isostasy.Source Book in Geology, 1900–1950 makes available several papers previously to be found in the libraries of only a few universities, and eight articles translated into English for the first time, of which four are by leading Soviet geologists.

Covering the general fields of mathematics, astronomy, mathematical geography, physics, chemistry and chemical technology, geology and meteorology, biology, medicine, and physiological psychology, the present collection surveys the field of Greek scientific achievement over a thousand-year period.Many Greek scientific treatises were written and read by cultivated people who did not regard themselves as specialists. These works should appeal today to those readers who wish to understand not only the foundations of modern science, but also a vital element of the humanistic tradition.

Modern scholarship has exposed the intrinsic importance of medieval science and confirmed its role in preserving and transmitting Greek and Arabic achievements. This Source Book offers a rare opportunity to explore more than ten centuries of European scientific thought. In it are approximately 190 selections by about 85 authors, most of them from the Latin West. Nearly half of the selections appear here for the first time in any vernacular translation.The readings, a number of them complete treatises, have been chosen to represent “science” in a medieval rather than a modern sense. Thus, insofar as they are relevant to medieval science, selections have been drawn from works on alchemy, astrology, logic, and theology. Most of the book, however, reflects medieval understanding of, and achievements in, the mathematical, physical, and biological sciences. Critical commentary and annotation accompany the selections. An appendix contains brief biographies of all authors.This book will be an indispensable resource for students and scholars in the history of science.

This is the reprint of a well-known and valuable work that has been out of print and widely sought for a number of years. A volume in the series Source Books in the History of the Sciences, it consists of selections from the writings of the great physicists from the sixteenth through the nineteenth century—such figures as Galileo and Newton, Franklin and Faraday, Rowland, Hertz, and the Curies—making available to the student in English translation their most important contributions, described in their own words, together with biographical and explanatory notes by the editor.