What do you think?
Rate this book
Science: Its History and Development
Discusses the origins of science and traces the history of scientific fields, including astronomy, biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics
Paperback
Published January 1, 1985
2 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
Colin A. Ronan
75 books3 followersColin A. Ronan was a British author and specialist in the history and philosophy of science.
He was educated at Abingdon School in Oxfordshire and served in the British Army from 1940–1946, achieving the rank of major. After the war he obtained a BSc in Astronomy, and then took an administrative post at the secretariat of The Royal Society. While there he did an MSc in the History and Philosophy of Science under Herbert Dingle at University College London. After leaving the Royal Society he took up writing, and during a long career as an author produced over forty books, mainly on astronomy, and the history and philosophy of science. Later in life he collaborated with Joseph Needham on an abridgement of Needham's great work on China, producing The Shorter Science and Civilization in China in several volumes. He played key roles in the administration of the British Astronomical Association, where he was president from 1989 to 1991, and for many years he was the editor of its journal, and director of the historical section.
For a considerable period in the 1980s and early 1990s he collaborated with Sir Patrick Moore in lecture tours. These lecture tours took the form of weekend residential symposia on single topics such as the return of Halley’s Comet. Notable and hilarious, the interplay between Ronan’s sober and intellectual analysis along with Moore’s more extravagant character, led frequent disagreements that were usually solved over several bottles of red wine. These weekends were an enormous success and made a valuable and irreplaceable contribution to the amateur astronomical scene
With his second wife Ann, he founded the Ronan Picture Library, which specialises in scientific and historical pictures. Among his many books on the history of science were studies of scientists such as Galileo, William Herschel and Edmond Halley. He also wrote scientific books for children, along with books such as The Practical Astronomer (1981) written for beginner amateur astronomers.
Ronan had an asteroid named in honour of his achievements: 4024 Ronan belongs to the Floras family, discovered by E. Bowell on November 24, 1981, at Anderson Mesa.
He was educated at Abingdon School in Oxfordshire and served in the British Army from 1940–1946, achieving the rank of major. After the war he obtained a BSc in Astronomy, and then took an administrative post at the secretariat of The Royal Society. While there he did an MSc in the History and Philosophy of Science under Herbert Dingle at University College London. After leaving the Royal Society he took up writing, and during a long career as an author produced over forty books, mainly on astronomy, and the history and philosophy of science. Later in life he collaborated with Joseph Needham on an abridgement of Needham's great work on China, producing The Shorter Science and Civilization in China in several volumes. He played key roles in the administration of the British Astronomical Association, where he was president from 1989 to 1991, and for many years he was the editor of its journal, and director of the historical section.
For a considerable period in the 1980s and early 1990s he collaborated with Sir Patrick Moore in lecture tours. These lecture tours took the form of weekend residential symposia on single topics such as the return of Halley’s Comet. Notable and hilarious, the interplay between Ronan’s sober and intellectual analysis along with Moore’s more extravagant character, led frequent disagreements that were usually solved over several bottles of red wine. These weekends were an enormous success and made a valuable and irreplaceable contribution to the amateur astronomical scene
With his second wife Ann, he founded the Ronan Picture Library, which specialises in scientific and historical pictures. Among his many books on the history of science were studies of scientists such as Galileo, William Herschel and Edmond Halley. He also wrote scientific books for children, along with books such as The Practical Astronomer (1981) written for beginner amateur astronomers.
Ronan had an asteroid named in honour of his achievements: 4024 Ronan belongs to the Floras family, discovered by E. Bowell on November 24, 1981, at Anderson Mesa.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
February 7, 2017
Ne kitaptı ama! 1983 basımı bu kitap bilim tarihi konusunda yazılmış en kapsamlı eserlerden biri. Eski Yunan, Eski Çin, Hindistan, Roma ve Orta çağ, İslam’ın altın çağı… İnsanlık tarihinin hiçbir dönemi atlanmadan bütün zaman dilimlerindeki bilimsel gelişmeler tarafsız bir dille anlatılıyor. Pascal üçgeni Pascal’dan 300 yıl önce Çin’de kullanılıyordu, öyleyse neden Pascal ismiyle anılıyor? İslam medeniyeti nerede hata yaptı, bilimde geri kaldı? Medeniyetlerin doğduğu Mezopotamya’daki bilimsel gelişmelerden Antik Yunan’a, oradan İslam coğrafyasına ve sonra Rönesans’a harika bir bilim serüveni. Son olarak da 20. yy bilimi ile nereden nereye geldiğimizi görüyoruz. Mutlaka okuyun.
Displaying 1 of 1 review