Best of
Science

1951

The Sea Around Us


Rachel Carson - 1951
    Rachel Carson's rare ability to combine scientific insight with moving, poetic prose catapulted her book to first place on The New York Times best-seller list, where it enjoyed wide attention for thirty-one consecutive weeks. It remained on the list for more than a year and a half and ultimately sold well over a million copies, has been translated into 28 languages, inspired an Academy Award-winning documentary, and won both the 1952 National Book Award and the John Burroughs Medal.This classic work remains as fresh today as when it first appeared. Carson's writing teems with stunning, memorable images--the newly formed Earth cooling beneath an endlessly overcast sky; the centuries of nonstop rain that created the oceans; giant squids battling sperm whales hundreds of fathoms below the surface; and incredibly powerful tides moving 100 billion tons of water daily in the Bay of Fundy. Quite simply, she captures the mystery and allure of the ocean with a compelling blend of imagination and expertise.Reintroducing a classic work to a whole new generation of readers, this Special Edition features a new chapter written by Jeffrey Levinton, a leading expert in marine ecology, that brings the scientific side of The Sea Around Us completely up to date. Levinton incorporates the most recent thinking on continental drift, coral reefs, the spread of the ocean floor, the deterioration of the oceans, mass extinction of sea life, and many other topics. In addition, acclaimed nature writer Ann Zwinger has contributed a brief foreword.Today, with the oceans endangered by the dumping of medical waste and ecological disasters such as the Exxon oil spill in Alaska, this illuminating volume provides a timely reminder of both the fragility and the importance of the ocean and the life that abounds within it. Anyone who loves the sea, or who is concerned about our natural environment, will want to read this classic work.

North with the Spring: A Naturalist's Record of a 17,000-Mile Journey with the North American Spring


Edwin Way Teale - 1951
    Washington, Maine, a naturalist's stunning record of his 17,000-mile journey keeping pace with the advancing tide of the North American spring. Illustrated.

Quantum Theory


David Bohm - 1951
    Although it presents the main ideas of quantum theory essentially in nonmathematical terms, it follows these with a broad range of specific applications that are worked out in considerable mathematical detail. Addressed primarily to advanced undergraduate students, the text begins with a study of the physical formulation of the quantum theory, from its origin and early development through an analysis of wave vs. particle properties of matter. In Part II, Professor Bohm addresses the mathematical formulation of the quantum theory, examining wave functions, operators, Schrödinger's equation, fluctuations, correlations, and eigenfunctions.Part III takes up applications to simple systems and further extensions of quantum theory formulation, including matrix formulation and spin and angular momentum. Parts IV and V explore the methods of approximate solution of Schrödinger's equation and the theory of scattering. In Part VI, the process of measurement is examined along with the relationship between quantum and classical concepts.Throughout the text, Professor Bohm places strong emphasis on showing how the quantum theory can be developed in a natural way, starting from the previously existing classical theory and going step by step through the experimental facts and theoretical lines of reasoning which led to replacement of the classical theory by the quantum theory.

Symbol and the Symbolic: Ancient Egypt, Science, and the Evolution of Consciousness


R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz - 1951
    Symbolism is the intuitive means of overcoming the limitations of reason.? Here Schwaller explains how true progress in human thought can be made only if we call upon the "symbolizing" faculty of intelligence, developed and refined in the temple culture of ancient Egypt and reflected in its hieroglyphs.

The Rise of Scientific Philosophy


Hans Reichenbach - 1951
    It treats philosophy as not a collection of systems, but as a study of problems. It recognizes in traditional philosophical systems the historical function of having asked questions rather than having given solutions. Professor Reichenbach traces the failures of the systems to psychological causes.Speculative philosophers offered answers at a time when science had not yet provided the means to give true answers. Their search for certainty and for moral directives led them to accept pseudo-solutions. Plato, Descartes, Spinoza, Kant, and many others are cited to illustrate the rationalist fallacy: reason, unaided by observation, was regarded as a source of knowledge, revealing the physical world and "moral truth." The empiricists could not disprove this thesis, for they could not give a valid account of mathematical knowledge.Mathematical discoveries in the early nineteenth century cleared the way for modern scientific philosophy. Its advance was furthered by discoveries in modern physics, chemistry, biology, and psychology. These findings have made possible a new conception of the universe and of the atom. The work of scientists thus altered philosophy completely and brought into being a philosopher with a new attitude and training. Instead of dictating so-called laws of reason to the scientist, this modern philosopher proceeds by analyzing scientific methods and results. He finds answers to the age-old questions of space, time, causality, and life; of the human observer and the external world. He tells us how to find our way through this world without resorting to unjustifiable beliefs or assuming a supernatural origin for moral standards. Philosophy thus is no longer a battleground of contradictory opinions, but a science discovering truth step by step.Professor Reichenbach, known for his many contributions to logic and the philosophy of science, addresses this book to a wider audience. He writes for those who do not have the leisure or preparation to read in the fields of mathematics, symbolic logic, or physics. Besides showing the principal foundations of the new philosophy, he has been careful to provide the necessary factual background. He has written a philosophical study, not a mere popularization. It contains within its chapters all the necessary scientific material in an understandable form—and, therefore, conveys all the information indispensable to a modern world-view.The late Hans Reichenbach was Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Los Angeles. His previous books include

The Exploration of Space


Arthur C. Clarke - 1951
    Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

The Flood


Alfred Rehwinkel - 1951
    Shows that harmony exists between the biblical record of the flood in Genesis and natural science.

The Internet and Everyone


J. Christopher Jones - 1951
    In the author's words, it is 'a record of trying to think some of the unthinkables that our technologies have brought before us in this pause before the post-industrial breakfast ... '. Based on an analysis of automation (the replacement of human skills by machines, as industrialisation was the replacement of human effort), the possibilities opened up by the transmission of information by electricity, and a refuel to accept that the virtual' world is in any sense less real than the world excluding computers, Jones sees the internet as making possible an awakening from the 'frozen dreaming' of industrial life.

20th Century Magic


Alan Richardson - 1951
    Includes edited diaries of Dion Fortune and Christine Hartley and The old religion by Charles Seymour.

Insects: A Guide to Familiar American Insects


Herbert S. Zim - 1951
    Includes: A key to insect groups. Mature and immature forms. How insects grow and develop and what they eatHow to find and observe them.Full color pictures, nontechnical language, and up-to-date range maps make this a gem of a guide for beginners at any age.

Mathematical Logic


Willard Van Orman Quine - 1951
    V. Quine's systematic development of mathematical logic has been widely praised for the new material presented and for the clarity of its exposition. This revised edition, in which the minor inconsistencies observed since its first publication have been eliminated, will be welcomed by all students and teachers in mathematics and philosophy who are seriously concerned with modern logic.Max Black, in Mind, has said of this book, "It will serve the purpose of inculcating, by precept and example, standards of clarity and precision which are, even in formal logic, more often pursued than achieved."

Doubt and Certainty in Science: A Biologist's Reflections on the Brain


J.Z. Young - 1951
    Young's thesis concludes that the higher activities of humans can be illuminated through an examination of the actual brain functions that produce them, and that these processes can be closely compared to those of a calculating machine.

The Penguin Dictionary of Biology


Michael Thain - 1951
    Long established as the definitive single-volume source, this dictionary has sold over 200,000 copies and is extensively updated for its eleventh edition.

The National Parks: What They Mean to You and Me


Freeman Tilden - 1951
    Forward by George B. Hartzog, Jr., Director of the National Park Service.

A Short History of Science: Origins and Results of the Scientific Revolution


Anonymous - 1951
    The contents were originally delivered as a series of Broadcast Talks to Sixth Forums during 1949-1950.

The Study Of Instinct


Nikolaas Tinbergen - 1951
    This is a reprint of the 1969 edition of The Study of Instinct (originally published in 1951). The first six chapters cover behaviour as a response to stimuli, the neurophysiological bases of innate behaviour as then understood, and the development of behavioural patterns in individuals. The final two chapters are devoted to the adaptativeness of behaviour and evolutionary aspects of behaviour.

Humanity at the Crossroads: Dietary and Lifestyle Guidelines for the Age of Cloning, Genetically Engineered Food, Mad Cow Disease, Microwave Cooking, EMFs, and Global Warming


Michio Kushi - 1951
    The spread of artificial food and destruction of the natural environment, including the rise of cloning, genetic engineering, exposure to artificial electromagnetic fields and other features of modern life are leading to new diseases, weakening DNA, and imperiling the very survival of homosapiens.

Man On His Nature


Charles Scott Sherrington - 1951
    To read this book is to share in wonder at the mystery of life, uncovered by a great scientist who was also a great lyrical writer. To read Sir Charles on the eye making itself (pp. 105-113) is to attend a miracle.

The Great Whales


Herbert S. Zim - 1951
    Describes the whale’s structure and adaptation to water life as a mammal, telling how it breathes, dives, feeds and mates, and briefly notes the importance of the whaling industry.