Remarkable Discoveries [Paperback]

This book takes the reader on an exhilarating tour through scientific discoveries that have benefited humanity.This enthusiastic and engaging narrative explores eighteen exciting scientific discoveries that have had a profound impact on modern life. It relates the histories of such fascinating discoveries as electricity, DNA, microbes, plate tectonics and x-rays.This enthusiastic and engaging narrative explores eighteen exciting scientific discoveries that have had a profound impact on modern life. It relates the histories of such fascinating discoveries as electricity, DNA, microbes, plate tectonics and x-rays.Remarkable Discoveries! is an enthusiastic and engaging narrative that explores eighteen exciting discoveries--found in all areas of science--that have had a profound impact on modern life. Writing in an informative yet relaxed style, the author relates the histories of such fascinating discoveries as electricity, DNA, microbes, plate tectonics, and x-rays. He emphasizes the personalities involved, the role of serendipity, and the elements of surprise and wonder that often accompany scientific research. This book's wonderful vignettes, related in highly readable prose, will leave any reader intrigued and informed.Preface; Useful information; 1. The father of electricity; 2. One giant leap for mankind; 3. Medicine's marvellous rays; 4. Things that glow in the dark; 5. Parcels of light; 6. Dr Einstein's fountain pen; 7. The Big Bang, or how it all began; 8. Molecular soccerballs; 9. Jostling plates, earthquakes and volcanoes; 10. Soda pop, phlogiston and Lavoisier's oxygen; 11. Of beer, vinegar, milk, silk and germs; 12. Of milkmaids, chickens and mad dogs; 13. Malaria's cunning seeds; 14. Penicillin from pure pursuits; 15. DNA, the alphabet of life; 16. Cutting DNA with molecular scissors; 17. DNA, the molecular detective; 18. Magic bullets; Further Reading; Index. Ashall is a fresh voice in popular science writing. In a book directed at those with little ls8