Remarkable Discoveries!

by Frank Ashall

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521433174
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	09/01/1994
Pages:	292
Product dimensions:	6.26(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.91(d)

About the Author

Frank Ashall is a Doctor of Medicine, a Doctor of Biochemistry, and a campaigner for human rights in healthcare. He obtained a first-class honours degree in biochemistry and a doctorate from the University of Oxford, then spent thirteen years doing biochemical research to Assistant Professor level. His research involved studies of the biochemistry of cancer cells, then later on, the biochemistry of parasitic organisms, in particular the proteases of Trypanosoma cruzi, the cause of Chagas' disease. He left research to do a medical degree (MD) in the USA, where he did his internship and residency, and practised as a physician in internal medicine there for eleven years. Currently he is working as a Professor of Biochemistry at Addis Ababa University/Black Lion Hospital, as a volunteer with Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) UK. He is an enthusiastic supporter for human rights, particularly in healthcare. He is an active campaigner against tobacco, its adverse health effects on people and society, and against the tobacco industry. In particular, he is a strong opponent of the increase in advertising and marketing of tobacco products in developing countries, where smoking rates are generally on the rise, afflicting the world's poor with further health burdens. He has written over thirty-five academic articles and numerous newspaper articles on popular science. He has also given numerous talks to the general public on preventive medicine issues.

Table of Contents

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.

Editorial Reviews

"Ashall is a fresh voice in popular science writing. In a book directed at those with little knowledge of the scientific world and its major figures, he covers 18 topics, most in life sciences...Ashall is an able expository writer who doesn't spare the reader the language of experiments, giving this anthology an air of immediacy and authenticity." Publishers Weekly

"...the stories of discovery are fascinating..." Roy Herbert, New Scientist

"Remarkable Discoveries! is an enlightening and informative celebration of scientific achievement, succeeding within its own modest ambitions." Times Literary Supplement

From the Publisher

British biochemist Ashall is a fresh voice in popular science writing. In a book directed at those with little knowledge of the scientific world and its major figures, he covers 18 topics, most in life sciences, and includes some of the standard fare, such as Michael Faraday, the immunology of malaria and the theory of relativity. Areas of more recent headlines encompass Buckyballs and monoclonal antibody technology. Ashall is an able expository writer who doesn't spare the reader the language of experiments, giving this anthology an air of immediacy and authenticity. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly