The Story of Science: Aristotle Leads the Way

by Joy Hakim

Overview

Readers will travel back in time to ancient Babylonia, Egypt, and Greece. They will meet the world's first astronomers, mathematicians, and physicists and explore the lives and ideas of such famous people as Pythagoras, Archimedes, Brahmagupta, al-Khwarizmi, Fibonacci, Ptolemy, St. Augustine, and St. Thomas Aquinas. Hakim will introduce them to Aristotle—one of the greatest philosophers of all time—whose scientific ideas dominated much of the world for eighteen centuries.

In the three-book The Story of Science series, master storyteller Joy Hakim narrates the evolution of scientific thought from ancient times to the present. With lively, character-driven narrative, Hakim spotlights the achievements of some of the world's greatest scientists and encourages a similiar spirit of inquiry in readers. The books include hundreds of color photographs, charts, maps, and diagrams; informative sidebars; suggestions for further reading; and excerpts from the writings of great scientists.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781588341600
Publisher:	Smithsonian Institution Press
Publication date:	11/17/2004
Series:	The Story of Science , #1
Pages:	296
Sales rank:	76,000
Product dimensions:	9.38(w) x 7.64(h) x 0.89(d)
Lexile:	950L (what's this?)
Age Range:	16 - 18 Years

About the Author

Author of the prize-winning series A History of US, Joy Hakim is the recipient of the James Michener Award in Writing and the Gold and Silver Parents' Choice Awards in Writing.

Table of Contents

	A Writer's Reasons	vi
	There's More to This Story	viii
1	Birthing a Universe	1
2	Telling It Like They Thought It Was: Myths of Creation	9
3	Making Days: Were the Calendar Makers Lunatics or Just Moonstruck?	20
	Why Does the Moon Dazzle, Then Disappear?	26
	Take a Number, Then Write It Down	32
4	Ionia? What's Ionia?	34
	Measuring with the Mind	42
5	The "A" Team	44
	More on Numerals, Geometry, and Math's Origins	50
6	Elementary Matters: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, Says Empedocles	54
7	Being at Sea	58
	Why Do Polestars Take Turns?	62
8	Worshiping Numbers	64
	Chewing on Pi-or Tasting One of Math's Mysteries	70
9	Pythagoras Knows It's Round	72
	There's Gold in Those Irrationals	82
10	Getting Atom	86
	Ode to an Atom	92
11	Aristotle and His Teacher	94
	Plato, Math, and Perfect Numbers	98
12	Does It Change? No Way, Says A	106
	Why Mars Is a Little Loopy	112
13	Aristarchus Got It Right-Well, Almost!	114
	How Far the Moon? It's About Time	118
14	Alexander's City	120
	Smoke and Mirrors	126
15	What's a Hero?	129
	Hero, an Airhead?	134
16	Euclid in His Elements	136
	Numbers: In Their Prime	143
17	Archimedes' Claw	146
	Is It a Claw or a Flaw?	158
18	Measuring the Earth	160
	How Did Eratosthenes Come So Close?	164
19	Rome Rules	166
20	Longitude and Latitude plus Two Greek Mapmakers	174
	What's the Point?	181
21	The Greatest	184
22	A Saint Who Was No Scientist	190
	Do You Believe the Polyhistor? Well, Lots of People Did	198
23	No Joke-the Earth Is Pancake Flat!	200
24	Don't Worry-the Round Earth Is Back!	206
25	Absolute Zero	218
	Mr. Fibonacci's Numbers	226
26	An "Ox" Who Bellowed	228
	Roger Bacon Predicts	236
27	Books Will Do It	238
28	The Antipodes: Discovering Down Under	248
29	Cosmic Voyagers: Is It Fiction, or Could It Be True?	258
30	Finally! How Science Works	266
	The Prime Number Sieve of Eratosthenes	270
	Suggested Reading	271
	NSTA Recommends	272
	Picture Credits	274
	Permissions	276
	Index	277

Editorial Reviews

As a good—even great—teacher, Hakim knows exactly where students might stumble and is always there, making sure they don't.”—Diana Lutz, Natural History

“Hakim has interwoven creation myths, history, physics, and mathematics to present a seamless, multifaceted view of the foundation of modern science. . . . At its essence, the book displays the most appealing aspect of science and mathematics: that advances result from a practical need solved by curious minds.”—School Library Journal, starred review

“[W]hen master storyteller Joy Hakim wields her pen, take heart: you're in for a breathtaking adventure.”—American Educator

“If Leonardo da Vinci had studied school science, he would have been fascinated with The Story of Science.”—Juliana Texley, lead reviewer for National Science Teacher Association Recommends

From the Publisher

Gr 8 Up-In this first book in a projected series of six, Hakim has interwoven creation myths, history, physics, and mathematics to present a seamless, multifaceted view of the foundation of modern science. The acknowledgments page reads like a Who's Who of the academic physics world, thanking the many researchers and experts who provided fact checking and advice. The entire volume is beautifully organized and the multidisciplinary approach to science is immediately apparent from the table of contents. Chapter headings contain subheadings prefaced by an image that indicates the focus of the chapter-science, math, language arts, technology and engineering, geography, or philosophy. Full-color photos and illustrations appear throughout; quotes and sidebars offer related information. The text never suffers from oversimplification and the writing holds its own with the many compelling visuals. Only a slight amount of fictionalization is evident with the author occasionally suggesting the possible thoughts of ancient groups pondering the mysteries of the universe. At its essence, the book displays the most appealing aspect of science and mathematics: that advances result from a practical need solved by curious minds.-Courtney Lewis, Wyoming Seminary College Preparatory School, Kingston, PA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal