List of Illustrations xiii
Acknowledgments xv
Preface: Or, How to use this book xvii
Part I The Beginnings
1. The First Science Texts: The first written attempt to explain the physical world in physical terms 3
2. Beyond Man: The first big-picture accounts of the universe 9
3. Change: The first theory of evolution 16
4. Grains of Sand: The first use of mathematics to measure the universe 21
5. The Void: The first treatise on nature to dispense entirely with the divine 32
6. The Earth-Centered Universe: The most influential science book in history 37
7. The Last Ancient Astronomer: An alternate explanation for the universe, with better mathematics, but no more proof 46
Part II The Birth of the Method
8. A New Proposal: A challenge to Aristotle, and the earliest articulation of the scientific method 55
9. Demonstration: The refutation of one of the greatest ancient authorities through observation and experimentation 63
10. The Death of Aristotle: The overthrow of ancient authority in favor of observations and proofs 70
11. Instruments and Helps: Improving the experimental method by distorting nature and extending the senses 80
12. Rules of Reasoning: Extending the experimental method across the entire universe 94
Part III Reading the Earth
13. The Genesis of Geology: The creation of the science of the earth 105
14. The Laws of the New Science: Two different theories are proposed as explanations for the earth's present form 115
15. A Long and Steady History: Uniformitarianism becomes the norm 128
16. The Unanswered Question: Calculating the age of the earth 134
17. The Return of the Grand Theory: Continental drift 141
18. Catastrophe, Redux: Bringing extraordinary events back into earth's history 149
Part IV Reading Life (With Special Reference to Us)
19. Biology: The first systematic attempt to describe the history of life 157
20. Natural Selection: The first naturalistic explanation for the origin of species 164
21. Inheritance: The laws, and mechanisms, of heredity revealed 174
22. Synthesis: Bringing cell-level discoveries and the grand story of evolution together 179
23. The Secret of Life: Biochemistry tackles the mystery of inheritance 185
24. Biology and Destiny: The rise of neo-Darwinist reductionism, and the resistance to it 199
Part V Reading the Cosmos (Reality)
25. Relativity: The limits of Newtonian physics 215
26. Damn Quantum Jumps: The discovery of subatomic random swerves 225
27. The Triumph of the Big Bang: Returning to the question of beginnings, and contemplating the end 238
28. The Butterfly Effect: Complex systems, and the (present) limits of our understanding 252
Notes 257
Works Cited 279
Index 295