Libros de Historia de la ciencia, página 4 de 16

While the influence of Alexander von Humboldt 1769 1859 looms large over the natural sciences his legacy reaches far beyond the field notebooks of naturalists Von Humboldt s 1799 1804 research expedition to Central and South America with botanist Aime Bonpland not only set the course for the great scientific surveys of the nineteenth century but also served as the raw material for his many volumes works of both scientific rigor and aesthetic beauty that inspired such essayists and artists as Emerson Goethe Thoreau Poe and Frederic Edwin Church Views of Nature or Ansichten der Natur was von Humboldt s best known and most influential work and his personal favorite While the essays that comprise it are themselves remarkable as innovative early pieces of nature writing they were cited by Thoreau as a model for his own work the book s extensive endnotes incorporate some of von Humboldt s most beautiful prose and mature thinking on vegetation structure its origins in climate patterns and its implications for the arts Written for both a literary and a scientific audience Views of Nature was translated into English twice Spanish and French in the nineteenth century and it was read widely in Europe and the Americas But in contrast to many of von Humboldt

An enchanting biography of the most resonant and most necessary chemical element on Earth Carbon It is the building block of every cell that makes up every living thing It is the essential component of the food we eat the fuel we burn the wood we use and the air we breathe It is worth billions as a luxury and half a trillion as a necessity but there are still mysteries to be solved about the element that can be both diamond and coal Where does it come from what does it do and why above all does life need it In Symphony in C leading carbon scientist Robert M Hazen takes us on a vibrant journey through the origin and evolution of life s most widespread element The story unfolds in four movements Earth Air Fire and Water and transports us through nearly 14 billion years of cosmic history explaining how carbon is formed in the hearts of stars and why all life forms earthbound or alien use it as the basis of their biology Symphony in C is a sweeping chronicle of carbon from its birth amidst the stars to its unknowable life cycle deep within the Earth s core and its role in the evolution of all life in the universe

A Nobel Prize winning scientist reveals biology s most transformative achievements in decades a Double Helix for the dawning of the RNA age

Discover and understand the key ideas that underpin the core science of chemistry and learn about the great minds who uncovered them Written in plain English The Chemistry Book is packed with short pithy explanations of some of the most historic moments in science from the birth of atomic theory to the discovery of polyethylene and the development of new vaccine technologies to combat COVID 19 Simple graphics such as flowcharts and mind maps support the text and make the explanation of key concepts easy to follow Arranged in chronological order the book covers key themes in the physical and natural sciences such as geochemistry and the elements Within each chapter a series of articles traces the history of scientific thought and introduces the work of the scientists who have shaped the subject such as John Dalton Marie Curie Dmitri Mendeleev Kathleen Lonsdale and Stephanie Kwolek Along the way the book addresses some of the most fundamental questions in science such as what is the universe made of how is matter created and what are the chemical bonds that make life possible Whether you are new to chemistry a student of the sciences or just want to keep up with and understand the latest news and scientific debates The Chemistry Book is for you

Science is a serious business right Wrong Scientists have been participants in the best reality show of all time with all the highs lows bust ups and strange personalities of any show on telly today From Luke O Neill the science teacher you wish you d had this hugely accessible history of science reveals the human stories behind the biggest discoveries For example we meet Charles Darwin as he weighs up the pros and cons of marrying his cousin constant companion vs less money for books Tough call To Boldly Go Where No Book Has Gone Before covers everything from space travel and evolution to alchemy and AI Written by one of our leading scientists this is an insider s account that celebrates the joy of science It is filled with all the juicy bits that other histories leave out

Physics 100 Ideas in 100 Words offers the essential facts at your fingertips satisfying your scientific curiosity and helping you to understand the biggest concepts in physics in concise 100 word summaries One of the first titles in a cutting edge new series created in partnership with The Science Museum this book introduces 100 key areas of physics such as gravitational fields momentum general relativity and quantum uncertainty and explains each topic in just 100 words Perfect for getting your head around big ideas clearly and quickly or refreshing your memory of the fundamentals of physics this book covers the most up to date terms and theories and inspires a heightened level of understanding and enjoyment to the core areas of physics explored in The Science Museum

An in depth look at the history of the environment Is it possible for the economy to grow without the environment being destroyed Will our lifestyles impoverish the planet for our children and grandchildren Is the world sick Can it be healed Less than a lifetime ago these questions would have made no sense This was not because our ancestors had no impact on nature nor because they were unaware of the serious damage they had done What people lacked was an idea a way of imagining the web of interconnection and consequence of which the natural world is made Without this notion we didn t have a way to describe the scale and scope of human impact upon nature This idea was the environment In this fascinating book Paul Warde Libby Robin and Sverker Sorlin trace the emergence of the concept of the environment following World War II a period characterized by both hope for a new global order and fear of humans capacity for almost limitless destruction It was at this moment that a new idea and a new narrative about the planet wide impact of people s behavior emerged closely allied to anxieties for the future Now we had a vocabulary for talking about how we were changing nature resource exhaustion and energy biodiversity pollution and eventually climate

A masterpiece of evocative scientific storytelling BRIAN COX Will appeal to fans of Yuval Noah Harari s Sapiens Mail on Sunday The extraordinary story of the species that became our allies Dogs became our companions Wheat fed a booming population Cattle gave us meat and milk Maize fuelled the growth of empires Potatoes brought us feast and famine Chickens led us to wonder about tomorrow Rice promised us a golden future Horses gave us strength and speed Apples travelled with us HUMANS TAMED THEM ALL For hundreds of thousands of years our ancestors depended on wild plants and animals to stay alive until they began to tame them Combining archaeology and cutting edge genetics Tamed tells the story of the greatest revolution in human history and reveals the fascinating origins of ten crucial domesticated species and how they in turn transformed us In a world creaking under the strain of human activity Alice Roberts urges us to look again at our relationship with the natural world and our huge influence upon it AN ECONOMIST AND MAIL ON SUNDAY BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017

Para este libro he elegido textos sobre la ciencia durante el Renacimiento principalmente, en España e Hispanoamérica, pero no sólo acerca de ese periodo histórico. Cuando incluyo mis trabajos sobre comentarios de libros en la Biblioteca Complutense y de literatura y ciencia o farmacia, no me limito al Renacimiento. Me salgo del periodo por ambos extremos; tambien al analizar la terapeutica barroca, aunque las referencias a la renacentista son constantes

The epic story of human evolution from our primate beginnings more than five million years ago to the agricultural eraOver the course of five million years our primate ancestors evolved from a modest population of sub Saharan apes into the globally dominant species Homo sapiens Along the way humans became incredibly diverse in appearance language and culture How did all of this happen In The Five Million Year Odyssey Peter Bellwood synthesizes research from archaeology biology anthropology and linguistics to immerse us in the saga of human evolution from the earliest traces of our hominin forebears in Africa through waves of human expansion across the continents and to the rise of agriculture and explosive demographic growth around the world Bellwood presents our modern diversity as a product of both evolution which led to the emergence of the genus Homo approximately 2 5 million years ago and migration which carried humans into new environments He introduces us to the ancient hominins including the australopithecines Homo erectus the Neanderthals and others before turning to the appearance of Homo sapiens circa 300 000 years ago and subsequent human movement into Eurasia Australia and the Americas Bellwood then explores the invention of agric

How do scientists evaluate environmental knowledge for public policy? Discerning Experts examines three sets of landmark environmental assessments involving acid rain, ozone depletion, and sea level rise, exploring how experts judge scientific evidence and determine what the scientific facts are. The three case studies also explore how scientists come to agreement on contested issues, why consensus is considered important, and what factors contribute to confusion, bias, and error, and how scientists understand and navigate the boundaries between science and policy. The authors also suggest strategies for improving the assessment process. As the first study of the internal workings of large environmental assessments, this book explores the strengths and weaknesses of the assessment process and explains what it canand cannotbe expected to contribute to public policy and the common good.

AI expert Jerry Kaplan explains how generative AI will revolutionize virtually every human activity Highly recommended Francis Fukuyama Political scientist and author of The End of History and the Last Man Advances in Generative Artificial Intelligence GAI have created a new class of computer systems that exhibit astonishing proficiency on a wide variety of tasks with superhuman performance producing novel text images music and software by analyzing enormous collections of digitized information Soon these systems will provide expert medical care offer legal advice draft documents write computer programs tutor our children and generate music and art These advances will accelerate progress in science art and human knowledge but they will also bring new dangers Have we finally discovered the holy grail of AI machines that match or exceed human intelligence Which industries and professions will thrive and which will wither What risks and dangers will it pose How can we ensure that these systems respect our ethical principles Will the benefits be broadly distributed or accrue to a lucky few How will GAI alter our political systems and international conflicts Are we merely a stepping stone to a new form of non biological life or are we just

Galaxies are the building blocks of the Universe standing like islands in space each is made up of many hundreds of millions of stars in which the chemical elements are made around which planets form and where on at least one of those planets intelligent life has emerged Our own galaxy the Milky Way is just one of several hundred million other galaxies that we can now observe through our telescopes Yet it was only in the 1920s that we realised that there is more to the Universe than the Milky Way and that there were in fact other islands out there In many ways modern astronomy began with this discovery and the story of galaxies is therefore the story of modern astronomy Since then many exciting discoveries have been made about our own galaxy and about those beyond how a supermassive black hole lurks at the centre of every galaxy for example how enormous forces are released when galaxies collide how distant galaxies provide a window on the early Universe and what the formation of young galaxies can tell us about the mysteries of Cold Dark Matter In this Very Short Introduction renowned science writer John Gribbin describes the extraordinary things that astronomers are learning about galaxies and explains how this can shed light on the origins a

This book presents a complete explanation of consciousness and a probable history from inert matter to the formation of single-celled life, then to multicellular and intelligent life and finally describes human consciousness. In this book consciousness is defined and the living effect that corresponds to it is described. It explains consciousness and all its states and characteristics in a very complete way. This book is part of Bepe Popu's Theory of Everything which aims to explain everything from the formation of the universe to the emergence of life, intelligent life, humanity and describes a universal cyclical performance, but the most unusual thing is that the theory en Based on classical physics. According to this theory, reality is constantly changing, since new effects are constantly taking shape, generating a single future reality that is the succession of the previous reality. Probable effects are those that are likely to occur. When these effects come to fruition, they become part of the current reality that will form the future reality. The author maintains that reality is the sum of all concrete effects from probable effects. This means that any specific effect that occurs can be reproduced in the future if the conditions are met, but they will be different effects because they occur in a present different from the previous one because their own probable condition occurs. The author also maintains that concrete effects will continue to be part of future realities, because any present effect will be a cause of future effects and future effects will be causes of the following effects. Thus a continuity is maintained that gives the cumulative character of physical reality.

A fascinating look at the cutting edge science and technologies that are on the cusp of changing everything from where we ll live how we ll look and who we ll be by the popular science broadcaster and bestselling author Jay Ingram Where will we live How will we get around What will we look like These are just some of the questions bestselling author and popular science broadcaster Jay Ingram answers in this exciting examination of the science and technologies that will affect every aspect of human life In these pages Ingram explores the future of our technological civilization He reports on cutting edge research in organ and limb regeneration advances in prosthetics the merging of the human and the synthetic and gene editing Vertical farming and lab grown food might help feed millions and alleviate pressure on the planet Cities could accommodate green space and the long awaited flying car Finally he speculates on the future of artificial general intelligence even artificial superintelligence as well as our place on Earth and in the universe The potential impact of these developments in science and technology will be powerful and wide ranging complicated by ethics and social equity And they will inevitably revolutionize every aspect of life and eve

How science has changed our perceptions of God from the age of Newton to the era of quantum mechanics

Hace unos doce mil años se produjo la Revolución agrícola por la cual unos grupos de homínidos se convirtieron en la especie humana a la que pertenecemos. En este brevísimo lapso temporal esta especie ha colonizado la Tierra y se ha convertido en la unica que puede decidir sobre su destino. Esta breve historia propone un recorrido por las distintas revoluciones cientificas y tecnicas que han llevado, en sucesion cada vez mas acelerada desde el s. XVII, al dominio de energias como la electrica, la termodinamica o la electronica, con los cambios sociales, politicos y economicos aparejados. Partiendo de las preguntas donde estamos y como hemos llegado hasta aqui, se invita al lector a imaginar un futuro y a pensar en cual puede ser, en el momento actual, el puesto del hombre en el cosmos.

An astonishing tour of the key astronomical events of the past century and of all the accidents and human error involved in our pursuit of asteroids radio waves new stars and alien life Now updated to include a new Afterword A riveting real life Hitchhiker s Guide to the Galaxy Telegraph An enjoyable tour of astronomical discoveries His excellent book is a layman s guide to the surprises Daily Mail Lintott s boundless enthusiasm for everything cosmic makes it hard to put this book away once you start reading BBC Sky at Night Magazine Entertaining and enlightening The Idler The BBC presenter of Sky at Night and Gresham Professor of Astronomy Chris Lintott takes us on an astonishing tour of bizarre accidents big characters and human error to tell the story of some of the most important astronomical events of the past hundred years Our first views of the earliest galaxies were brought to us by the Hubble Space Telescope when it was pointed at absolutely nothing The ice covered Enceladus one of Saturn s nearly one hundred moons was revealed as a

La pandemia de gripe de 1918-1919 está considerada la crisis epidemica mundial más mortífera del siglo XX. Marcada por el influjo de la Gran Guerra (que movilizó mercancías, soldados y trabajadores por paises como China, Estados Unidos, Francia o Sierra Leona), mas de cien años despues, investigadores y especialistas continuan preguntandose por su origen y las razones de su intensidad. Pese al injusto sobrenombre de “española” (a causa de la censura militar impuesta en los paises beligerantes), esta enfermedad tambien hizo estragos en nuestro pais, donde conto con hasta tres grandes brotes, que se ensañaron especialmente con la capital y sus alrededores. La experiencia de la pandemia transformo la sociedad en casi todos los ordenes y su impacto pervivio decadas y condiciono la respuesta a las siguientes pandemias, pero pasada la urgencia, parte de las reformas sanitarias y sociales propuestas para modernizar y mejorar el pais se demoraron, otras se abandonaron y, con ello, se perdio una gran oportunidad y se lastro nuestro desarrollo durante mucho tiempo.