Brilliant Blunders: From Darwin to Einstein - Colossal Mistakes by Great Scientists That Changed Our Understanding of Life and the UniverseDrawing on the lives of five great scientists, this “scholarly, insightful, and beautifully written book” (Martin Rees, author of From Here to Infinity) illuminates the path to scientific discovery. Charles Darwin, William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), Linus Pauling, Fred Hoyle, and Albert Einstein all made groundbreaking contributions to their fields—but each also stumbled badly. Darwin’s theory of natural selection shouldn’t have worked, according to the prevailing beliefs of his time. Lord Kelvin gravely miscalculated the age of the earth. Linus Pauling, the world’s premier chemist, constructed an erroneous model for DNA in his haste to beat the competition to publication. Astrophysicist Fred Hoyle dismissed the idea of a “Big Bang” origin to the universe (ironically, the caustic name he gave to this event endured long after his erroneous objections were disproven). And Albert Einstein speculated incorrectly about the forces of the universe—and that speculation opened the door to brilliant conceptual leaps. As Mario Livio luminously explains in this “thoughtful meditation on the course of science itself” (The New York Times Book Review), these five scientists expanded our knowledge of life on earth, the evolution of the earth, and the evolution of the universe, despite and because of their errors. “Thoughtful, well-researched, and beautifully written” (The Washington Post), Brilliant Blunders is a wonderfully insightful examination of the psychology of five fascinating scientists—and the mistakes as well as the achievements that made them famous. |
Contents
Preface | 1 |
The Origin | 12 |
Yea All Which It Inherit Shall Dissolve | 37 |
How Old Is the Earth? | 60 |
Certainty Generally Is Illusion | 84 |
Interpreter of Life | 103 |
Whose DNA Is It Anyway? | 136 |
B for Big Bang | 157 |
The Same Throughout Eternity? | 184 |
The Biggest Blunder | 221 |
Out of Empty Space | 246 |
Coda | 269 |
| 303 | |
| 327 | |
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Brilliant Blunders: From Darwin to Einstein, Colossal Mistakes by Great ... Mario Livio Limited preview - 2013 |
Brilliant Blunders: From Darwin to Einstein - Colossal Mistakes by Great ... Mario Livio Limited preview - 2013 |
Common terms and phrases
alpha-helix astronomer astrophysics atoms B2FH big bang biggest blunder biologists blending Bondi Burbidge calculation Caltech Cambridge carbon chapter Chargaff chemist Corey cosmic expansion cosmological constant cosmos Darwin Darwin’s theory density described discovered discovery distance Earth Eddington Einstein elements energy entire equations estimate evolution fact Figure Franklin Fred Hoyle galaxies Gamow gene genetic geological geologists Georges Lemaître gravity heat helical helium helix heredity Hoyle’s Hubble Hubble’s hydrogen idea Jenkin King’s known later Lemaître letter Lord Kelvin mass mathematical Maurice Wilkins Mendel’s million molecule natural selection neutrons Nobel nuclear nucleic acids nucleus observations original paper Pauling Pauling’s Perry Perutz physicist physics precisely prediction principle problem proteins protons published radioactive reason relativity Ryle scientific scientists showed space-time species stars steady state theory steady state universe stellar structure of DNA Sun’s tion universe Watson and Crick Wilkins wrote X-ray