Table of Contents
Introduction & Acknowledgments Bill Bryson 1
1 At The Beginning: More Things In Heaven And Earth James Gleick 17
2 Of The Madness Oe Mad Scientists: Jonathan Swift's Grand Academy Margaret Atwood 37
3 Lost In Space: The Spiritual Crisis Oe Newtonian Cosmology Margaret Wertheim 59
4 Atoms Of Cognition: Metaphysics In The Royal Society. 1715-2010 Neal Stephenson 83
5 What's In A Name? Rivalries And The Birth Op Modern Science Rebecca Newberger Goldstein 107
6 Charged Atmospheres: Promethean Science And The Royal Society Simon Schaffer 131
7 A New Age Of Elight: Joseph Banks Goes Ballooning Richard Holmes 157
8 Archives Oe Life: Science And Collections Richard Fortey 183
9 Darwin's Live Bridges: The Way To Natural Selection Richard Dawkins 203
10 Images Of Progress: Conferences Oe Engineers Henry Petroski 229
11 X-Rayvisions: Structural. Biologists And Social Action In The Twentieth Century Georgina Ferry 251
12 Ten Thousand Wedges: Biodiversity. Naturae Selection And Random Change Steve Jones 273
13 Making Stuff: From Bacon To Rakelite Philip Ball 295
14 Just Typical: Our Changing Place In The Universe Paul Davies 321
15 Behind The Scenes: The Hidden Mathematics That Rules Our World Ian Stewart 341
16 Simple, Really- From Simplicity To Complexity - And Back Again John D. Barrow 361
17 Globe And Sphere. Cycles And Plows: How To See The World Oliver Morton 385
18 Beyond Ending: Looking Into The Void Maggie Gee 405
19 Confidence. Consensus And The Uncertainty Cops: Tackling Risk Management In Climate Change Stephen H. Schneider 425
20 Time: The Winged Chariot Gregory Benford 445
Conclusion: Looking Fifty Years Ahead Martin Rees 467
Further Reading 486
List Of Illustrations 490
Index 491