INTRODUCTION: SERENDIPITY
THE LOVES OF THE TRIANGLES
POETRY, GEOMETRY, AND SATIRE
I.1: Erasmus Darwin
I.2: The Loves of the Triangles
I.3: A Triangle of Poets
THE LOVES OF THE PLANTS
BOTANY, WOMEN, AND MORALITY
II.1: The Loves of the Plants
II.2: Women on Trial
II.3: Seraglios
THE ECONOMY OF VEGETATION
KNOWLEDGE, POWER, AND SOCIETY
III.1: The Lunar Society
III.2: The Economy of Vegetation
III.3: The Triangular Slave Trade
THE TEMPLE OF NATURE
PROGRESS, RACE, AND EVOLUTION
IV.1: Defining People
IV.2: The Temple of Nature
IV.3: Origins
CONCLUSION: REPUTATIONS & REFLECTIONS
Appendix: 'The Loves of the Triangles'
Bibliography
Index
Patricia Fara lectures in the history of science at Cambridge
University, where she is the Senior Tutor of Clare College. A
specialist in Enlightenment England, her main passion is explaining
to non-academic audiences why the history of science is so
fascinating and so important. Her most recent book, Science: A Four
Thousand Year History (2009), won the Dingle prize awarded by the
British Society for the History of Science. Her other
successful
publications include Newton: The Making of Genius (2002), Sex,
Botany and Empire (2003) and Pandora's Breeches: Women, Science and
Power in the Enlightenment (2004). An experienced public lecturer,
she appears regularly
in TV documentaries and radio programmes such as In our Time and
Start the Week. She also contributes articles and reviews to many
journals, including History Today, BBC History, New Scientist,
Prospect, Nature, and the Times Literary Supplement.
`Review from previous edition Engagingly written, appealingly
presented and historically insightful...the judges agreed that in
its admirably broad scope, its historical and historiographical
depth and its engaging re-presentation of the best of recent
scholarship, the 2011 Dingle Prize should be awarded to Patricia
Fara for Science: A Four Thousand Year History.
'
Dingle Prize Judges
`Review from previous edition Fara's book could not be more
wide-ranging, beginning [with] the quest to take the story of
science as far back as she possibly can, and ending bang up to
date. The content is ambitious, judiciously and fairly
handled...The narrative moves forward in an engaging way, while the
enthusiasm and opinions of the author are never far from the
surface. It is a book to provoke thought and argument. An
impressive achievement.'
Jim Bennett, BBC History Magazine
`For a very long time, reputable historians of science have lacked
the desire, the knowledge, or the nerve to undertake a book like
this -- an attempt to survey the development of science from
Antiquity to the present, notably including non-European materials.
Patricia Fara has succeeded: Science is an elegant and compact
creative synthesis of the piecemeal researches of generations of
academic historians. It deserves the widest possible
readership.'
Steven Shapin, Professor of the History of Science, Harvard, and
author of The Scientific Revolution
`Dismantling popular myths, taking a truly global view and
dispensing with false idols, Fara's highly readable survey of
science's histories is a breath of fresh air. She unerringly
pinpoints the defining moods of each age, treating the past with
respect and the present with discernment. This wonderfully literate
book tells a story that is far, far more interesting than the tidy
fictions of hindsight.
'
Philip Ball, Consultant Editor of Nature
`Patricia Fara has written a fascinating account.'
John Gribbin, Literary Review
`Wide-ranging and provocative... Romps through history at a
terrific rate.'
The Economist 11/06/2009
`Epic history of science'
Jo Marchant, New Scientist
`An impressive and commendable effort to square the circle, to tell
science's history, from the beginning.'
Martin D. Gordin, Science
`An engaging book...Fara is to be commended for stepping back - way
back - to assess the history of science in its entirety.'
Robert J Malone, excutive director of the History of Science
Society
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