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Books > Language & Literature > Biography & autobiography > Science, technology & engineering
This biography of Charles Darwin, first published in 1937, re-lives Darwin's life year by year, allowing the reader to share his experiences. The book displays Darwin's ideas and how they developed and grew over time. This title will be of great interest to students of the history of science and philosophy.
In Bound by Muscle, Andrew Brown details the lives and achievements of two physiologists, Archibald Vivian Hill (1886-1977) and Otto Fritz Meyerhof (1884-1951). Hill and Meyerhof shared the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries related to metabolic changes underlying muscle activity. Bound by Muscle describes how Hill and Meyerhof's lives and careers intersected and diverged and how their work changed the course of biological science. Bound by Muscle is organized chronologically. The first four chapters consider Hill and Meyerhof's childhoods and early careers; subsequent chapters address the Nobel Prize nomination and award and how their lives were affected by the World Wars. Bound by Muscle details Hill and Meyerhof's scientific breakthroughs and professional accomplishments. The book also examines the historical context that shaped their work and how the two men differed. Hill embodied the pragmatic style of British science. He became an outspoken critic of fascism as well as an effective humanitarian. As a senior scientist, he played major roles in preparing Great Britain for World War II. In contrast, Meyerhof was shy and philosophical. A non-observant Jew, he was reluctant to leave his superb laboratory in Heidelberg as the Nazi threat became apparent. His dramatic eventual escape is described in detail for the first time. Throughout, Bound by Muscle reflects on how individual differences and historical events have shaped the trajectory of science.
This is the biography of controversial and flamboyant nineteenth century doctor Francis Tumblety. The doctor's exploits include arrests for complicity in the Lincoln assassination, for selling abortion drugs, for killing patients, and for indecent assault, and scrutiny as a possible suspect in the "Jack the Ripper" murders. Tumblety's sheen of respectability appeared crafted to cover his homosexuality and his provocative fields of practice.
One day in 1996, the neuroscientist Eric R. Kandel took a call from his program officer at the National Institute of Mental Health, who informed him that he had been awarded a key grant. Also, the officer said, he and his colleagues thought Kandel would win the Nobel Prize. "I hope not soon," Kandel's wife, Denise, said when she heard this. Sociologists had found that Nobel Prize winners often did not contribute much more to science, she explained. In this book, Kandel recounts his remarkable career since receiving the Nobel in 2000-or his experience of proving to his wife that he was not yet "completely dead intellectually." He takes readers through his lab's scientific advances, including research into how long-term memory is stored in the brain, the nature of age-related memory loss, and the neuroscience of drug addiction and schizophrenia. Kandel relates how the Nobel Prize gave him the opportunity to reach a far larger audience, which in turn allowed him to discover and pursue new directions. He describes his efforts to promote public understanding of science and to put brain science and art into conversation with each other. Kandel also discusses his return to Austria, which he had fled as a child, and observes Austria's coming to terms with the Nazi period. Showcasing Kandel's accomplishments, erudition, and wit, There Is Life After the Nobel Prize is a candid account of the working life of an acclaimed scientist.
Over his four-decade career, Sid Meier has produced some of the world's most popular video games, including Sid Meier's Civilization, which has sold more than 51 million units worldwide and accumulated more than one billion hours of play. Sid Meier's Memoir! is the story of an obsessive young computer enthusiast who helped launch a multi-million-pound industry. Writing with warmth and ironic humour, Meier describes the genesis of his influential studio, MicroProse, founded in 1982 after a trip to a Las Vegas arcade, and recounts the development of landmark games, from vintage classics like Pirates! and Railroad Tycoon, to Civilization and beyond. Articulating his philosophy that a videogame should be "a series of interesting decisions", Meier also shares his perspective on the history of the industry, the psychology of gamers and fascinating insights into the creative process, including his ten rules of good game design.
An inside look at one of the nation's most famous public hospitals, Cook County, as seen through the eyes of its longtime Director of Intensive Care, Dr. Cory Franklin. Filled with stories of strange medical cases and unforgettable patients culled from a thirty-year career in medicine, Cook County ICU offers readers a peek into the inner workings of a hospital. Author Dr. Cory Franklin, who headed the hospital's intensive care unit from the 1970s through the 1990s, shares his most unique and bizarre experiences, including the deadly Chicago heat wave of 1995, treating some of the first AIDS patients in the country before the disease was diagnosed, the nurse with rare Munchausen syndrome, the first surviving ricin victim, and the famous professor whose Parkinson's disease hid the effects of the wrong medication. Surprising, darkly humorous, heartwarming, and sometimes tragic, these stories provide a big-picture look at how the practice of medicine has changed over the years, making it an enjoyable read for patients, doctors, and anyone with an interest in medicine.
The Doctor Is In! America’s best-loved therapist, Dr. Ruth, is known for her wise counsel on all matters of the heart. Here she shares private stories from her past and her present, and her insights into living life to the fullest, at any age. Everyone knows Dr. Ruth as the most famous and trusted sex therapist, but few people know she narrowly escaped death from the Holocaust, was raised in an orphanage in Switzerland, or that she was a sniper during Israel's War of Independence. After years spent as a student in Paris, Dr. Ruth came to America dreaming of a new life though never expecting the dramatic turns that would take place. And at the age of eighty-seven, she is as spirited as ever. Through intimate and funny stories, Dr. Ruth sheds light on how she's learned to live a life filled with joie de vivre. And she shows readers how they too can learn to deal with tragedy and loss, challenges and success, all while nourishing an intellectual and emotional spark, and, above all, having fun! Hilarious, inspiring, and profound, The Doctor Is In will change the way you think about life and love, in all their limitless possibilities.
A fascinating, forgotten story of the six brilliant women who launched modern computing. As the Cold War began, America's race for tech supremacy was taking off. Experts rushed to complete the top-secret computing research started during World War II, among them six gifted mathematicians: a patriotic Quaker, a Jewish bookworm, a Yugoslav genius, a native Gaelic speaker, a sophomore from the Bronx, and a farmer's daughter from Missouri. Their mission? Programming the world's first and only supercomputer-before any code or programming languages existed. These pioneers triumphed against sexist attitudes and huge technical challenges to invent computer programming, yet their monumental contribution has never been recognised-until now. Over a decade, Kathy Kleiman met with four of the original six ENIAC Programmers and recorded their stories. Here, with a light touch and a serious mind, she exposes the deliberate erasure of their achievements and restores the women to their rightful place as revolutionaries, bringing to life their camaraderie, their determination, and their rapidly changing world. As big tech struggles with gender inequality and momentum builds in restoring women to history, the time has come for this engrossing story to be uncovered and celebrated.
The enthralling Sunday Times-bestselling biography of the shepherd boy who changed the world with his revolutionary engineering and whose genius we still benefit from today Thomas Telford's name is familiar; his story less so. Born in 1757 in the Scottish Borders, his father died in his infancy, plunging the family into poverty. Telford's life soared to span almost eight decades of gloriously obsessive, prodigiously productive energy. Few people have done more to shape our nation. A stonemason turned architect turned engineer, Telford invented the modern road, built churches, harbours, canals, docks, the famously vertiginous Pontcysyllte aqueduct in Wales and the dramatic Menai Bridge. His constructions were the greatest in Europe for a thousand years, and - astonishingly - almost everything he ever built remains in use today. Intimate, expansive and drawing on contemporary accounts, Man of Iron is the first full modern biography of Telford. It is a book of roads and landscapes, waterways and bridges, but above all, of how one man transformed himself into the greatest engineer Britain has ever produced.
Book of the Year in The Economist, Guardian, New Statesman, Wall Street Journal and New York Times. Shortlisted for the Duff Cooper Prize, the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography and the British Society for the History of Science Hughes Prize. 'A wonderful book about one of the most important, brilliant and flawed scientists of the 20th century.' Peter Frankopan 'Superb' Matt Ridley, The Times 'Fascinating... The best Haldane biography yet.' New York Times J.B.S. Haldane's life was rich and strange, never short on genius, never lacking for drama. He is best remembered as a geneticist who revolutionized our understanding of evolution, but his peers thought him a polymath; one student called him 'the last man who knew all there was to be known'. Beginning in the 1930s, Haldane was also a staunch Communist - a stance that enhanced his public profile, led him into trouble, and even drew suspicions that he was spying for the Soviets. He wrote copiously on science and politics for the layman, in newspapers and magazines, and he gave speeches in town halls and on the radio, all of which made him, in his day, as famous in Britain as Einstein. Arthur C. Clarke called Haldane 'the most brilliant science popularizer of his generation'. He frequently narrated aspects of his life: of his childhood, as the son of a famous scientist; of his time in the trenches in the First World War and in Spain during the Civil War; of his experiments upon himself; of his secret research for the British Admiralty; of his final move to India, in 1957. A Dominant Character unpacks Haldane's boisterous life in detail, and it examines the questions he raised about the intersections of genetics and politics - questions that resonate all the more strongly today.
Rudolph Glossop made a unique contribution to the early development of both geotechnical engineering and engineering geology and this volume presents a fascinating and revealing perspective on his involvement by means of selected extracts from personal diaries, letters and journals. From his early experience as an undergraduate and the four years spent in the Gold Coast to the establishment of Soil Mechanics Ltd and his time as director of Mowlems, Glossop became one of the key figures and was involved in many of the key stages in the development of geotechnology. His journal provides a fuller understanding of the Mulberry Harbour, which was a key factor in the success of the D-Day landings in northern France, June 1944; while his diaries give a unique account of the significant challenges that had to be overcome during construction of Derwent Dam, N.E. England.The famous Skempton, in his obituary of Glossop, refers to works of original scholarship, written with the clarity and style of which Glossop was a master - by his own example and by the example of others, he never lost sight of the importance of bringing together the practical and academic aspects of both geology and soil mechanics. A" Ron Williams has painstakingly pieced together a fascinating account of the life and career of an outstanding engineer, and in the process has painted a vivid portrait of Rudolph Glossop and his achievements. Not before time will today's engineers and scientists have the opportunity to appreciate the achievements of one of the key figures in geotechnical engineering.
Few people have changed the world like the Nobel Prize winners. Their breakthrough discoveries have revolutionised medicine, chemistry, physics and economics. Nobel Life consists of original interviews with twenty-four Nobel Prize winners. Each of them has a unique story to tell. They recall their eureka moments and the challenges they overcame along the way, give advice to inspire future generations and discuss what remains to be discovered. Engaging and thought-provoking, Nobel Life provides an insight into life behind the Nobel Prize winners. A call from Stockholm turned a group of twenty-four academics into Nobel Prize winners. This is their call to the next generations worldwide.
This book is an enthusiastic account of Pierre Laszlo's life and pioneering work on catalysis of organic reactions by modified clays, and his reflections on doing science from the 1960s to 1990s. In this autobiography, readers will discover a first-hand testimony of the chemical revolution in the second half of the 20th century, and the author's perspective on finding a calling in science and chemistry, as well as his own experience on doing science, teaching science and managing a scientific career. During this period, Pierre Laszlo led an academic laboratory and worked also in three different countries: the US, Belgium and France, where he had the opportunity to meet remarkable colleagues. In this book, he recalls his encounters and collaborations with important scientists, who shaped the nature of chemistry at times of increased pace of change, and collates a portrait of the worldwide scientific community at that time. In addition, the author tells us about the turns and twists of his own life, and how he ended up focusing his research on clay based chemistry, where clay minerals were turned in his lab to catalysis of key chemical transformations. Given its breath, the book offers a genuine information on the life and career of a chemist, and it will appeal not only to scientists and students, but also to historians of science and to the general reader.
Alan Turing is a patron saint of Manchester, remembered as the Mancunian who won the war, invented the computer, and was all but put to death for being gay. Each myth is related to a historical story. This is not a book about the first of those stories, of Turing at Bletchley Park. But it is about the second two, which each unfolded here in Manchester, of Turing's involvement in the world's first computer and of his refusal to be cowed about his sexuality. Manchester can be proud of Turing, but can we be proud of the city he encountered?
Following his blockbuster biography of Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson’s New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed The Innovators is a “riveting, propulsive, and at times deeply moving” (The Atlantic) story of the people who created the computer and the internet. What were the talents that allowed certain inventors and entrepreneurs to turn their visionary ideas into disruptive realities? What led to their creative leaps? Why did some succeed and others fail? The Innovators is a masterly saga of collaborative genius destined to be the standard history of the digital revolution—and an indispensable guide to how innovation really happens. Isaacson begins the adventure with Ada Lovelace, Lord Byron’s daughter, who pioneered computer programming in the 1840s. He explores the fascinating personalities that created our current digital revolution, such as Vannevar Bush, Alan Turing, John von Neumann, J.C.R. Licklider, Doug Engelbart, Robert Noyce, Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, Tim Berners-Lee, and Larry Page. This is the story of how their minds worked and what made them so inventive. It’s also a narrative of how their ability to collaborate and master the art of teamwork made them even more creative. For an era that seeks to foster innovation, creativity, and teamwork, The Innovators is “a sweeping and surprisingly tenderhearted history of the digital age” (The New York Times).
CHOSEN AS A BOOK OF 2022 BY THE GUARDIAN AND THE NEW STATESMAN 'A STAND OUT' SUNDAY TIMES 'STARTLINGLY HONEST AND DEVASTATINGLY GOOD' RACHEL CLARKE, GUARDIAN 'BRILLIANT' OBSERVER 'POWERFUL AND EVOCATIVE' ADAM KAY 'YOU EMERGE KNOWING HOW LUCKY YOU ARE TO HAVE READ IT' ALI SMITH, NEW STATESMAN From the frontlines of the NHS, the story of a junior doctor's love, loss and grief through the Covid-19 crisis ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In early 2020, junior doctor Roopa Farooki lost her sister to cancer. But just weeks later, she found herself plunged into another kind of crisis, fighting on the frontline of the battle taking place in her hospital, and in hospitals across the country. Everything is True is the story of Roopa's first forty days of the Covid-19 crisis from the frontlines of A&E and the acute medical wards, as struggling through her grief, she battles for her patients' and colleagues' survival. Working thirteen-hour shifts, she returns home each evening to write through her exhaustion, chronicling the devastating losses and slowly eroding dehumanisation happening in real time on the ward.
All in Good Time is the remarkable story of George Daniels (1926-2011), the master craftsman, who was born into poverty but raised himself to become the greatest watchmaker of the twentieth century. Daniels stands alone in modern times as the inventor of the revolutionary co-axial escapement, the first substantial advance in portable mechanical timekeeping over the lever escapement, which has dominated ever since its invention in 1759. Daniels's love of mechanics embraced not only the minute, however - he was also a passionate collector and driver of historic motorcars. This revised and expanded edition of his autobiography also contains a new section that illustrates and discusses over thirty of the pocket and wrist-watches Daniels himself made over the years. Witness here the triumph of intelligence, ingenuity, matchless skill and singularity of purpose over the most unpromising of beginnings.
First published in 2003. Hewett Cottrell Watson was a pioneer in a new science not yet defined in Victorian times - ecology - and was practically the first naturalist to conduct research on plant evolution, beginning in 1834. The correspondence between Watson and Darwin, analysed for the first time in this book, reveals the extent to which Darwin profited from Watson's data. Darwin's subsequent fame, however, is one of the reasons why Watson became almost forgotten. This biography traces both the influences and characteristics that shaped Watson's outlook and personality, and indeed his science, and the institutional contexts within which he worked. At the same time, it makes evident the extent of his real contributions to the science of the plant ecology and evolution.
Best known outside the scientific community for the Nobel Prize in Physics he won in 1991, Pierre-Gilles de Gennes was exceptional amongst scientists for the breadth and depth of his contributions in multiple fields of physics. He was also much ahead of his time in his desire to break down barriers between scientific disciplines and between fundamental and applied science. He was equally unusual in his willingness to explain the nature and purpose of his work to society at large and to young people in particular. Laurence Pl vert's fascinating work retraces the influences and experiences that moulded this complex, charismatic, charming and eclectic genius. It follows him from his unconventional childhood on the fringes of the old French aristocracy and in war-divided France, through his glittering school and early scientific career, up to the revolutionary breakthroughs in fields as diverse as superconductivity, liquid crystals, polymers and soft matter, culminating in the final consecration of the Nobel prize. Constructed from exclusive interviews with the physicist himself, his family, friends and colleagues, this biography immerses us in the work and character of a truly remarkable figure, a Renaissance man of the 20th century.
The Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans curls around an old sugar plantation that long housed one of America's most painful secrets. Locals knew it as Carville, the site of the only leprosy colony in the continental United States, where generations of afflicted Americans were isolated-often against their will and until their deaths. Following the trail of an unexpected family connection, acclaimed journalist Pam Fessler has unearthed the lost world of the patients, nurses, doctors, and researchers at Carville who struggled for over a century to eradicate Hansen's disease, the modern name for leprosy. Amid widespread public anxiety about foreign contamination and contagion, patients were deprived of basic rights-denied the right to vote, restricted from leaving Carville, and often forbidden from contact with their own parents or children. Neighbors fretted over their presence and newspapers warned of their dangerous condition, which was seen as a biblical "curse" rather than a medical diagnosis. Though shunned by their fellow Americans, patients surprisingly made Carville more a refuge than a prison. Many carved out meaningful lives, building a vibrant community and finding solace, brotherhood, and even love behind the barbed-wire fence that surrounded them. Among the memorable figures we meet in Fessler's masterful narrative are John Early, a pioneering crusader for patients' rights, and the unlucky Landry siblings-all five of whom eventually called Carville home-as well as a butcher from New York, a 19-year-old debutante from New Orleans, and a pharmacist from Texas who became the voice of Carville around the world. Though Jim Crow reigned in the South and racial animus prevailed elsewhere, Carville took in people of all faiths, colors, and backgrounds. Aided by their heroic caretakers, patients rallied to find a cure for Hansen's disease and to fight the insidious stigma that surrounded it. Weaving together a wealth of archival material with original interviews as well as firsthand accounts from her own family, Fessler has created an enthralling account of a lost American history. In our new age of infectious disease, Carville's Cure demonstrates the necessity of combating misinformation and stigma if we hope to control the spread of illness without demonizing victims and needlessly destroying lives. |
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