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Reviews
Reviews
Celebration of ingenuity and the scientific process... filled with troves of examples of how scientific research can transform our lives in important yet often unpredictable ways.
Possessing a talent for crisp analogies that elucidate complex scientific concepts, the author elaborates on five examples in clear, easily digestible prose.
Science Unshackled is entertaining, informative, and thought-provoking—the more I read this well-written book, the more I liked it. Renée James weaves together a narrative that breathes new life into the idea that basic research can lead to the development of practical technologies, even though we can’t always predict the tangible benefits. She also does a good job of explaining complex scientific ideas without dumbing them down. Both experts and general-interest readers will find this book appealing.
With clear descriptions of genetic technology, thrilling details of space science, and riveting descriptions of how curiosity-driven science has led to new cures for pain and potential cures for cancer, James shows the irreplaceable value of pure research. Her expert knowledge, personal experience, and metaphorical felicity provide a rare and spirited defense of pure science with a detailed historical map of the byways from pink Yellowstone slime to genetic fingerprinting, from twitching frog legs to the first battery, and from failed sightings of black hole evaporation to WiFi. The benefits of these kinds of explorations could never be predicted beforehand. They are the results of real science—adults at play, trying to find out about the real world.
Science has surprised humans with incredible insights and great strides in the quality of life for centuries. Renée James’s book walks you through the amazing relationship between scientific research and producing a better world around us—it’s an inspiring, eye-opening journey.
About
Book Details
Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
6
x 9
Pages
216
ISBN
9781421415000
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I: Finding Ourselves
1. A Brief History of Timing
2. Going with the Flow
3. From Principia to Principe
4. The Attraction of Time
5. Fine-tuning Our Clocks
6. Around
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I: Finding Ourselves
1. A Brief History of Timing
2. Going with the Flow
3. From Principia to Principe
4. The Attraction of Time
5. Fine-tuning Our Clocks
6. Around the World in 80 Hours (Give or Take)
Part II: Identity Crisis
7. One Strand
8. Two Strands
9. The First Rungs of the Ladder
10. Interchangeable Pieces
11. Igniting the Fuse
12. Breaking Down, Building Up
13. A Curious Boy
14. Copycat
15. Molecule of the Year
16. The Genetic Bread Machine
Part III: Finding a Hot Spot
17. A Universal "Hot Spot"
18. Classic Black
19. A Tunnel to Oblivion
20. Chasing Wild Geese
21. Going Wireless
22. Where Credit Is Due
23. Anatomy of a Successful Failure
Part IV: Pick Your Poison
24. Desperate Times, Desperate Measures
25. Barking up the Right Tree
26. The Inside Story on Pain
27. A Bitter Sting
28. A Simple Question
29. The Gift of the Magus
Part V: Dreaming of the Star Treatment
30. Ingredients of the Stars
31. The Sun's Secret Recipe
32. Reading between the Lines
33. Through a Star Darkly
34. The Opacity Project
35. The Iron Lady and the Gold Standard
36. Therapy of the Stars
Afterword
References
Index
Featured Contributor
C. Renée James
C. Renee James (SPRING, TX) is a professor of physics and astronomy at Sam Houston State University. She is the author of Science Unshackled: How Obscure, Abstract, Seemingly Useless Scientific Research Turned Out to Be the Basis for Modern Life and Seven Wonders of the Universe That You Probably Took for Granted.Resources
