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    Revolutionary Science
    Revolutionary Science
    Revolutionary Science
    Ebook390 pages6 hours

    Revolutionary Science

    By Steve Jones

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    About this ebook

    Paris at the time of the French Revolution was the world capital of science. The city was saturated in scientists; many had an astonishing breadth of talents. Paris in the century around 1789 saw the first lightning conductor, the first flight, the first estimate of the speed of light and the invention of the tin can and the stethoscope. The theory of evolution came into being. Perhaps the greatest Revolutionary scientist of all, Antoine Lavoisier, founded modern chemistry and physiology, transformed French farming, and much improved gunpowder manufacture. His political activities brought him a fortune, but in the end led to his execution. The judge who sentenced him to death claimed that "the Revolution has no need for geniuses."In this enthralling and dazzling book, acclaimed science writer Steve Jones shows how wrong this was and takes a new look at Paris, its history, and its science, to give the reader dazzling new insight into the City of Light.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPegasus Books
    Release dateJan 10, 2017
    ISBN9781681773735
    Revolutionary Science
    Author

    Steve Jones

    Steve Jones has a powerful reputation as a holistic martial arts teacher and pioneer of his own Body Mind Spirit (BMS) system. He has two successful schools in London with around 200 members and a wide range of regular corporate clients including Apple Computers, Regency Hotel and Goldschmidt Chemicals.

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    • 4/5
      The concept is to profile science and scientists at the time of the French Revolution. It was the Enlightenment, and all over England and northern Frances “scientists” were inventing, discovering and collaborating as never before. In France, the government supported it. (In England, it was entirely private.) In France, revolutionary courts guillotined them. Those who survived went on to be governors and senators. Several became enormously wealthy for inventing things like tanning for leather and bleach.The book wanders all over scientific fields, expanding on what the scientists started, describing the state of the art today, pointing out where they were wrong, and the value of what they did. It also describes the context, the surrealist environment of an impoverished and filthy city in the midst of a violent upheaval. All very colorful and engaging. Jones is a scientist, and his enthusiasm and passion make the whole enterprise glide effortlessly.This is the American edition of the British original, but unfortunately the American publisher didn’t bother to edit it – except for the title, which they changed to Revolutionary Science –without explanation. It was No Need For Geniuses – which is what the judge said when sentencing one very prominent scientist to the guillotine. Jones refers to his original title four times in the course of the book, and it is confusing to say the least. So now you know what he’s talking about.One point worth remembering came from Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, who Jones calls France’s greatest optimist. He actually invented the word biology. He spent his life in biology and paleontology (beating Darwin to the evolutionary punch), and came to the conclusion that Man “is destined to exterminate himself after having rendered the globe uninhabitable.” That was at the turn of the century – the nineteenth century.David Wineberg

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