Science in 100 Key Breakthroughs / A Bee in a Cathedral

The myriad marvels of science are on brilliant display in this month’s Dual Featured Selection. Paul Parsons showcases 100 important scientific discoveries across several millennia and numerous disciplines, and Joel Levy uses clever analogies to demonstrate 100 basic science ideas in new and exciting ways. Together they offer a unique way to learn all about the scientific quest.

Science in 100 Key Breakthroughs

Starting with the origins of counting more than 35,000 years ago, Science in 100 Key Breakthroughs encapsulates the history of Western science. For each breakthrough, Paul Parsons defines it, identifies the key players, and summarizes its importance and historical development.

Among the key discoveries you’ll study:
• Curvature of the Earth. In 240 BC, by measuring noontime shadows at Syene and Alexandria in Egypt, and knowing the distance between the two cities, the Greek scholar Eratosthenes was able to infer the circumference of a curved Earth that was close to its actual value.
• Algebra. In AD 820, Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi of Persia published a book with systematic techniques for solving algebraic equations involving unknown quantities and their squares, denoted by x and x², setting the stage for the future development of modern math.
• Linnean taxonomy. Carl Linnaeus’s 1735 book Systema Naturae suggested a hierarchical classification scheme for living things—kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species—that made it easier for naturalists to ponder the relationships among related organisms.
• Wave/particle duality. Among the most exotic consequences of the quantum revolution of the early 20th century was the finding that light is both a wave and a particle, depending on the apparatus via which it is measured—a result now accepted as verified physical fact.
• The double helix. Francis Crick and James Watson ushered in the era of molecular biology in 1953 with their discovery of the structure of the DNA molecule. Understanding the double helix laid the groundwork for the Human Genome Project and further studies of the gene.

Accompanied by 200 photographs and illustrations that complement Parsons’s text, Science in 100 Key Breakthroughs celebrates the true extent of our knowledge of the world around us.

A Bee in a Cathedral

Another way to appreciate science’s wonders is via analogy. For example, if an atom were expanded to the size of a cathedral, the nucleus would be only about the size of a bee. Many more insights like this are featured in A Bee in a Cathedral. Joel Levy covers both quantitative and qualitative analogies from the realms of physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, earth science, human anatomy, and technology.

For example, we learn about:
• The Planck length. In quantum mechanics, the smallest possible distance, the Planck length, equals 1.6 x 10^-35 meters. If you counted off one Planck length per second, it would take 10 million times the current age of the universe to measure the diameter of an atom.
• Collective organisms. In Utah there is a grove of quaking aspen trees that are genetically identical and share a single root system. This colony may be the heaviest organism on Earth, with a weight equivalent to one-quarter the mass of the Titanic or 33 blue whales.
• Black holes. There is a supermassive black hole at the center of the Perseus galaxy cluster that is known to emit blast waves that affect matter 300,000 light years away. This is like heat given off by an area the size of your fingernail affecting the entire Earth.
• Hurricanes. In a single day, a large hurricane can generate energy equivalent to 400 20-megaton hydrogen bombs, or 8,000 megatons. By comparison, the destructive power of the world’s nuclear arsenal at its current size is equivalent to around 7,000 megatons.
• Body