Paul Dirac was among the greatest scientific geniuses of the modern age. One of Einstein's most admired colleagues, he helped discover quantum mechanics, and his prediction of antimatter was one of the greatest triumphs in the history of physics. In 1933 he became the youngest theoretician ever to win the Nobel Prize in Physics. Dirac's personality, like his achievements, is legendary. The "Strangest Man" uses previously undiscovered archives to reveal the many facets of Dirac's brilliantly original mind.

This encyclopedia surveys the scientific research on gender throughout the ages-the people, experiments, and impact-of both legitimate and illegitimate findings on the scientific community, women scientists, and society at large. Women, Science, and Myth: Gender Beliefs from Antiquity to the Present examines the ways scientists have researched gender throughout history, the ways those results have affected society, and the impact they have had on the scientific community and on women, women scientists, and women's rights movements. In chronologically organized entries, Women, Science, and Myth explores the people and experiments that exemplify the problematic relationship between science and gender throughout the centuries, with particular emphasis on the 20th century. The encyclopedia offers a section on focused cross-period themes such as myths of gender in different scientific disciplines and the influence of cultural norms on specific eras of gender research. It is a timely and revealing resource that celebrates science's legitimate accomplishments in understanding gender while unmasking the sources of a number of debilitating biases concerning women's intelligence and physical attributes. Chronologically organized entries describing people and events influential in the development of scientific research on gender 40 thematic entries looking at larger issues across regions, disciplines, and historical eras A section of supportive demographic/statistical information

This book offers a fresh perspective on some of the central experimental and theoretical works that laid the foundations for today's quantum mechanics: It traces the theoretical and mathematical development of the hypotheses that put forward to explain puzzling experimental results; it also examines their interconnections and how they together evolved into modern quantum theory. Particular attention is paid to J.J. Thomson's atomic modeling and experiments at the Cavendish Laboratory, Max Planck's struggle to explain the experimental results of Heinrich Rubens and Ferdinand Kurlbaum, as well as the path leading from Louis de Broglie's ideas to the wave theory of Erwin Schroedinger. Combining his experience in teaching quantum mechanics with his interest in the historical roots of the subject, the author has created a valuable resource for understanding quantum physics through its history, and a book that is appreciated both by working physicists and historians.

This book presents a compelling account of atomic development over the last century that demonstrates how humans have repeatedly chosen to ignore the associated impacts for the sake of technological, scientific, military, and economic expediency. In 1945, Albert Einstein said, "The release of atomic power has changed everything except our way of thinking ... the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind." This statement seems more valid today than ever. Romancing the Atom: Nuclear Infatuation from the Radium Girls to Fukushima presents compelling moments that clearly depict the folly and shortsightedness of our "atomic mindset" and shed light upon current issues of nuclear power, waste disposal, and weapons development. The book consists of ten nonfiction historical vignettes, including the women radium dial painters of the 1920s, the expulsion of the Bikini Island residents to create a massive "petri dish" for post-World War II bomb and radiation testing, the government-subsidized uranium rush of the 1950s and its effects on Native American communities, and the secret radioactive material development facilities in residential neighborhoods. In addition, the book includes original interviews of prominent historians, writers, and private citizens involved with these poignant stories. More information is available online at www.romancingtheatom.com. Draws from top-secret government and military documents from the history of atomic development, archival documents from the Library of Congress, and letters from Albert Einstein and other prominent scientists during the 1950s and 1960s Presents chronological histories of events such as the displacement and relocation of the Bikini Islanders, uranium mines on Native American lands, and the cleanup of a secret uranium milling facility in a residential neighborhood in Oxford, Ohio Contains various maps including radioactive cleanup sites in the United States and other parts of the world Includes many photographs and illustrations that accompany the text Provides a bibliography containing a significant collection of books, magazine articles, newspaper reports, movies, comics, government documents, and other related archival materials

This well-documented and fascinating book tells how, over the centuries, a series of visionaries, scientists, technologists, and politicians fostered the involvement of Italy in space exploration. The lives of these pioneers was often far from easy, yet they persevered. The fruits of their efforts can today be witnessed in Italy's success within the cutting-edge space sector. Italy's history in space started at the end of the fourteenth century and continued with the development of fireworks. Later, the nineteenth century marked the beginning of research into rockets in a more scientific way. After World War II, rocket technology was advanced with the aid of German scientists, and in the 1960s Luigi Broglio, the father of Italian space exploration, designed the San Marco satellite. In 1979 the first Italian Space Plan was launched, but it was the foundation of the Italian Space Agency in 1988 that kick-started a program of exploration in various fields of cosmic research. The outcome was construction of the Vega launcher and collaboration in the International Space Station. Now the Italian space industry stands ready to play an important role in the Gateway orbital station. All of this history, and more, is explored in this riveting book.

A History of Anthropology as a Holistic Science defends the holistic scientific approach by examining its history, which is in part a story of adventure, and its sound philosophical foundation. It shows that activism and the holistic scientific approach need not compete with one another. This book discusses how anthropology developed in the nineteenth century during what has been called the Second Scientific Revolution. It emerged in the United States in its holistic four field form from the confluence of four lines of inquiry: the British, the French, the German, and the American. As the discipline grew and became more specialized, a tendency of divergence set in that weakened its holistic appeal. Beginning in the 1960s a new movement arose within the discipline which called for abandoning science as anthropology's mission in order to convert into an instrument of social change; a redefinition which weakens its effectiveness as a way of understanding humankind, and which threatens to discredit the discipline.

This book highlights a series of new itinerant electron models proposed based on the experimental results of electron spectra obtained since 1970. Although conventional magnetic ordering models were established before 1960, many problems remain to be solved. The new models in this book include an O 2p itinerant electron model for magnetic oxides, a new itinerant electron model for magnetic metals, and a Weiss electron pair model for the origin of magnetic ordering energy of magnetic metals and oxides. With these models, the book explains typical magnetic ordering phenomena including those that cannot be explained using conventional models. These new models are easier to understand than the conventional magnetic ordering models.

What happens in our brains and minds at the last hour of life? What occurs during the moment of separation between the human body and the unseen individual soul and spirit? In the third volume of the three-book series on Christianity and the human brain, author Ramsis F. Ghaly, MD, focuses on the brain and its final journey during the last moments of life.

Every human soul will see death one day. But few of us know what occurs during the transitional time when the physical brain surrenders and the spiritual brain takes over. We also do not know what the human mind will see and interact with as it approaches the final moments of departure. A Coptic Orthodox Christian and American board-certified neurosurgeon, anesthesiologist, and pain specialist, Ghaly sheds light on this intriguing phenomenon. Drawing on his interaction with thousands of individuals who have entered this last hour of life, Ghaly offers examples and a realistic portrait of a human being's final moments.

"Christianity and the Brain, Volume III: The Christian Brain and the Journey to the Last Hour" blends neuroscience and medical knowledge with the Bible of our loving Lord.

A unique chronology with entries describing the key events in the 3,000-year conflict between religion and science over the explanation and definition of life on Earth. Exhaustively researched and authoritative, Chronology of the Evolution-Creationism Controversy does what no other work does: it examines the conflict between the religious and scientific views of life on Earth in its full 3,000-year historical context, showing readers how this roiling debate has played out over the centuries. With hundreds of entries, Chronology of the Evolution-Creationism Controversy describes specific cultural, religious, and scientific events relevant to the evolution-creationism controversy from the first notions of creationism in ancient Egypt to the present. Within this historical approach, it identifies a number of recurring themes that have shaped the debate through the ages, including famous court cases, the recurrence of the "intelligent design" argument, disagreements over the age of the Earth, and the impact of technological advances on both the scientific and faith-based viewpoints. While approaching the subject globally throughout, the book's second half focuses on tensions between science and religious thought in the United States since the early 1900s. Comprises over 1,400 chronologically arranged entries on important political, legal, and social events in the ongoing controversy between science- and faith-based views of the Earth and life Offers a thorough bibliography spanning historical aspects of the controversy, creationist literature, and resources from evolutionary biology Includes a one-of-a-kind glossary for easy access to definitions of relevant terms used by both anti-evolutionists and scientists Provides an extensive index serving as a reference tool and as a way to explore recurring themes Presents detailed appendices on estimating Earth's age, the geologic timescale, major species of known Hominines, and key legal decisions involving the teaching of evolution and creationism

This book offers to the international reader a collection of original articles of some of the most skillful historians and philosophers of biology currently working in Latin American universities. During the last decades, increasing attention has been paid in Latin America to the history and philosophy of biology, but since many local authors prefer to write in Spanish or in Portuguese, their ideas have barely crossed the boundaries of the continent. This volume aims to remedy this state of things, providing a good sample of this production to the English speaking readers, bringing together contributions from researchers working in Brazilian, Argentinean, Chilean, Colombian and Mexican universities. The stress on the regional provenance of the authors is not intended to suggest the existence of something like a Latin American history and philosophy of biology, supposedly endowed with distinctive features. On the contrary, the editors firmly believe that advances in this field can be achieved only by stimulating the integration in the international debate. Based on this assumption, the book focuses on two topics, life and evolution, and presents a selection of contributions addressing issues such as the history of the concept of life, the philosophical reflection on life manipulation and life extension, the structure and development of evolutionary theory as well as human evolution. Life and Evolution - Latin American Essays on the History and Philosophy of Biology will provide the international reader with a rather complete picture of the ongoing research in the history and philosophy of biology in Latin America, offering a snapshot of this dynamic community. It will also contribute to contextualize and develop the debate concerning life and evolution, and the relation between the two phenomena.

In volume two of a three-book series, author Ramsis F. Ghaly, MD, continues his study of Christianity and the human brain. "Christianity and the Brain, Volume II: The Christian Brain and the Journey between Earth and Heaven" focuses on what occurs in the human mind under various conditions while passing through the earthly journey.

A Coptic Orthodox Christian and American board-certified neurosurgeon, anesthesiologist, and pain specialist, Ghaly centers his medical specialties on faith and medicine to heal the mind, body, and spirit. Ghaly believes the brain is the seed of the person on earth that will grow to be his or her eternal tree in heaven. The road to spiritual victory begins when man's brain is equipped to face illnesses and tribulation. If this is accomplished, then man is prepared to complete the first earthly journey leading to the second journey of eternal life.

By learning about both journeys, the purpose of the earthly voyage will be clear, and the spiritual voyage will be conceivable. Ghaly encourages you to consider what lies beyond the events of daily life, broaden your vision, and eagerly anticipate your spiritual future

In his most powerful book to date, award-winning author TimothyFerris makes a passionate case for scienceas the inspiration behind the rise of liberalismand democracy. Ferris showshow science was integral to the AmericanRevolution but misinterpreted inthe French Revolution; reflects on thehistory of liberalism, stressing its widelyunderestimated and mutually beneficialrelationship with science; and surveysthe forces that have opposed scienceand liberalism--from communism andfascism to postmodernism and Islamicfundamentalism. A sweeping intellectualhistory, The Science of Liberty is a stunninglyoriginal work that transcends theantiquated concepts of left and right.

This book provides an overview of the key theoretical and empirical issues relating to autobiographical memory: the extraordinarily complex psychological activity that enables us to retrieve, relive and reappraise our pasts. The first part of the book retraces the genesis and historical development of the psychology of autobiographical memory, from the pioneering contributions of Francis Galton, Victor Henri and Sigmund Freud, to the most recent research in the fields of cognitivism, cognitive science and neuroscience. The author then moves on to two key topics in the contemporary panorama: the content and organisation of autobiographical memory (what we remember from our lives and how we link together specific segments of our personal pasts) and the functions of autobiographical memory (why we remember our pasts). This book will provide a valuable scholarly overview for cognitive psychologists and an authoritative critical introduction to the field for students and scholars from across psychology, philosophy, literary criticism, sociology and law.

This collection pieces together a wealth of material in order to get inside the experience of scientific practice in the long nineteenth century. It aims to reach, or perhaps to facilitate, an understanding of the ways in which the value of scientific knowledge was produced, lived and challenged. The new turn to the history of experience suggests a logic to the compilation of material that is completely original: the sources are not selected according to the historical success of an idea or experiment, but for the ways in which scientific endeavour loaded knowledge claims with political or moral value, coupled with attendant practical justifications. Thus, 'bad ideas' sit alongside 'good'; now discountenanced practices take their place among the revered. In sum, they reveal an experimental culture that was not merely orientated toward cold knowledge or intellectual output, but defined by shifting sets of affective practices and procedures and the making of expertise out of the lived experience of doing science.