TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword by Alan Chodos, PhD
Preface
1.Renaissance Man
1509: Publication of De Divina Proportione
2. Talkin' ‘Bout a Revolution
August 1542: Publication of De Revolutionibus
3. Lens Crafters
Circa 1590: Invention of the Microscope
4. Good Heavens
January 7, 1610: Galileo discovers moons of Jupiter
5. Gravity's Guru
July 1687: Publication of Newton's Principia
6. Drawing Down the Fire
June 1752: Franklin's kite experiment
7. Trompe l'Oeil
1807: Invention of the camera lucida
8. Rules of Attraction
1820: First evidence of electromagnetism
9. Ingenious Engines
Circa 1840s: Babbage's analytical engine
10. Emperors of the Air
September 24, 1852: First dirigible takes flight
11. Disorderly Conduct
June 1871: Maxwell and his demon
12. Queens of Science
November 1872: Death of Mary Somerville
13. Calling Mister Watson
March 10, 1876: First documented transmission of human speech
14. Thrill Seekers
1884: First U.S. roller coaster opens at Coney Island
15. Current Affairs
May 1888: Tesla and electric power generation
16. Shadow Casters
February 2, 1893: Edison films a sneeze
17. Radio Days
1895: Tesla demonstrates wireless radio
18. Mysterious Rays
November 8, 1895: Roentgen discovers X-rays
19. A Thousand Points of Light
October 1897: Discovery of the electron
20. Quantum Leap
October 1900: Planck introduces quanta
21. It's All Relative
June 1905: Einstein introduces special relativity
22. Rocket Man
March 16, 1926: Launch of first liquid-fuel rocket
23. That Darn Cat
1935: Schroedinger's paradoxical cat
24. Copy That
October 1938: First xerographic copy made
25. Life During Wartime
July 1945: The Trinity test
26. Gimme Shelter
June 2-4, 1947: The Shelter Island conference
27. Tiny Bubbles
1948: Reddi-Wip appears on the market
28. Mimicking Mother Nature
May 13, 1958: Velcro trademark registered
29. Energize Me
December 1958: Invention of the laser
30. Small World
December 29, 1959: Feynman's classic CalTech lecture
31. Contemplating Chaos
Circa January 1961: Lorenz and the butterfly effect
32. Kamikaze Cosmos
July 1963: Discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation
33. When Particles Collide
April 1994: Discovery of the top quark
34. Check Mate
May 1997: Deep Blue defeats Kasparov
35. Much Ado About Nothing
December 1998: Discovery of accelerating universe
36. The Case of the Missing Neutrinos
February 2001: Solution to solar neutrino problem
37. Icarus Descending
September 2002: Schoen found guilty of scientific misconduct
38. String Section
October 2003: NOVA special on string theory
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