Book picks similar to
Scientific Autobiography and Other Papers by Max Planck
science
biography
non-fiction
physics
Epitome of Copernican Astronomy and Harmonies of the World
Johannes Kepler - 1621
This volume contains two of his most important works: The Epitome of Copernican Astronomy (books 4 and 5 of which are translated here) is a textbook of Copernican science, remarkable for the prominence given to physical astronomy and for the extension to the Jovian system of the laws recently discovered to regulate the motions of the Planets. Harmonies of the World (book 5 of which is translated here) expounds an elaborate system of celestial harmonies depending on the varying velocities of the planets.
Science and Method
Henri Poincaré - 1908
Drawing on examples from many fields, it explains how scientists analyze and choose their working facts, and it explores the nature of experimentation, theory, and the mind. 1914 edition.
Elements of Chemistry
Antoine Lavoisier - 1789
First explicit statement of law of conservation of matter in chemical change; first modern list of chemical elements; more. Facsimile reprint of original (1790) Kerr translation. Introduction by Professor Douglas McKie.Introduction1 Of the formation & decomposition of aeriform fluids, of the combustion of simple bodies & the formation of acids 2 Of the combination of acids with salifiable bases & of the formation of neutral salts3 Description of the instruments & operations of chemistryAppendix
On The Motion Of The Heart And Blood In Animals
William Harvey - 1628
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.
An Introduction to Mathematics
Alfred North Whitehead - 1958
This distinguished little book is a brisk introduction to a series of mathematical concepts, a history of their development, and a concise summary of how today's reader may use them.
The Works of Archimedes
Archimedes
Remarkable for his range of thought and his mastery of treatment, Archimedes addressed such topics as the famous problems of the ratio of the areas of a cylinder and an inscribed sphere; the measurement of a circle; the properties of conoids, spheroids, and spirals; and the quadrature of the parabola. This edition offers an informative introduction with many valuable insights into the ancient mathematician's life and thought as well as the views of his contemporaries. Modern mathematicians, physicists, science historians, and logicians will find this volume a source of timeless fascination.
Principles of Geology
Charles Lyell - 1830
Written with clarity and a dazzling intellectual passion, it is both a seminal work of modern geology and a compelling precursor to Darwinism, exploring the evidence for radical changes in climate and geography across the ages and speculating on the progressive development of life. A profound influence on Darwin, Principles of Geology also captured the imagination of contemporaries such as Melville, Emerson, Tennyson and George Eliot, transforming science with its depiction of the powerful forces that shape the natural world.
Scepticism and Animal Faith
George Santayana - 1923
The central concept of his philosophy is found in a careful discrimination between the awareness of objects independent of our perception and the awareness of essences attributed to objects by our mind, or between what Santayana calls the realm of existents and the realm of subsistents. Since we can never be certain that these attributes actually inhere in a substratum of existents, skepticism is established as a form of belief, but animal faith is shown to be a necessary quality of the human mind. Without this faith there could be no rational approach to the necessary problem of understanding and surviving in this world.Santayana derives this practical philosophy from a wide and fascinating variety of sources. He considers critically the positions of such philosophers as Descartes, Euclid, Hume, Kant, Parmenides, Plato, Pythagoras, Schopenhauer, and the Buddhist school as well as the assumptions made by the ordinary man in everyday situations. Such matters as the nature of belief, the rejection of classical idealism, the nature of intuition and memory, symbols and myth, mathematical reality, literary psychology, the discovery of essence, sublimation of animal faith, the implied being of truth, and many others are given detailed analyses in individual chapters.
Representative Men: Seven Lectures
Ralph Waldo Emerson - 1850
Emerson offers timeless meditations on the value of individual greatness, reconnecting readers with the everyday virtues of his “Representative Men”: Plato, in whose writings are contained “the culture of nations”; Emanuel Swedenborg, a “rich discoverer” who strove to unite the scientific and spiritual planes; Michel de Montaigne, “the frankest and honestest of all writers”; William Shakespeare, who “wrote the text of modern life”; Napoleon Bonaparte, who had the “virtues and vices” of common men writ large; and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who “in conversation, in calamity…finds new materials.”This Modern Library Paperback Classic reflects the author’s corrections for an 1876 reprinting.
A Discourse on Political Economy
Jean-Jacques Rousseau - 1755
Rousseau's concepts of "the general will" as a way for individuals' self-interest to unite for a common good, and the individual's submission to government by contract, stand at the heart of democracy. A must-read book for all who care about the foundations of liberty. Newly designed and typeset in a modern 5.5-by-8.5-inch format by Waking Lion Press.
The Geometry of René Descartes: with a Facsimile of the First Edition
René Descartes - 1637
Originally published in 1637, it has been characterized as "the greatest single step ever made in the progress of the exact sciences" (John Stuart Mill); as a book which "remade geometry and made modern geometry possible" (Eric Temple Bell). It "revolutionized the entire conception of the object of mathematical science" (J. Hadamard).With this volume Descartes founded modern analytical geometry. Reducing geometry to algebra and analysis and, conversely, showing that analysis may be translated into geometry, it opened the way for modern mathematics. Descartes was the first to classify curves systematically and to demonstrate algebraic solution of geometric curves. His geometric interpretation of negative quantities led to later concepts of continuity and the theory of function. The third book contains important contributions to the theory of equations.This edition contains the entire definitive Smith-Latham translation of Descartes' three books: Problems the Construction of which Requires Only Straight Lines and Circles; On the Nature of Curved Lines; and On the Construction of Solid and Supersolid Problems. Interleaved page by page with the translation is a complete facsimile of the 1637 French text, together with all Descartes' original illustrations; 248 footnotes explain the text and add further bibliography.
Human Knowledge: Its Scope and Value
Bertrand Russell - 1948
Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
The Philosophical Writings of Niels Bohr, Vol. 1: Atomic Theory and the Description of Nature
Niels Bohr - 1931
First published in 1934, and reprinted in 1961, this collection contains four articles and an introductory survey. Originally written for various journals during the 1920s, the articles concern themselves with the epistemological significance of discoveries in quantum physics.
The Autobiography: Truth and poetry: from my own life
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - 1833
German poet, dramatist, novelist, translator, scientist and musician, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) is universally recognized as a towering figure in world literature.