Newton, Darwin, Pasteur, Einstein and other great physicists and biologists are household names, but the great chemists have received little recognition. Yet it could be argued that chemistry, more than any other scientific discipline, has made the modern world possible, largely through products that we take for granted. In the style of the biology classic, The Microbe Hunters, acclaimed science writer Sharon Bertsch McGrayne tells the history of the chemical revolution through the lives of the men who created it. We don't recognize their names, but their legacy is all around us. Before Nicholas LeBlanc discovered the chemical process for making washing soda in the early 1800s, soap was a highly taxed luxury item, and now it's something we use many times everyday without a second thought. Without chemical fertilizer there might have been worldwide starvation in the mid 1900s. Even something as simple as affordable dyes, which brought bright colorful clothing to the masses and democratized fashion, is given full attention. An even-handed account, Prometheans in the Lab describes not only the upside of each pivotal discovery, but also the oftentimes devastating unforseen effects they wrought on the environment and public health.

Prometheans in the Lab: Chemistry and the Making of the Modern World

Science & Math

McGrayne, Sharon Bertsch

Reference

McGraw=Hill

Bayes' rule appears to be a straightforward, one-line theorem: by updating our initial beliefs with objective new information, we get a new and improved belief. To its adherents, it is an elegant statement about learning from experience. To its opponents, it is subjectivity run amok.
In the first-ever account of Bayes' rule for general readers, Sharon Bertsch McGrayne explores this controversial theorem and the human obsessions surrounding it. She traces its discovery by an amateur mathematician in the 1740s through its development into roughly its modern form by French scientist Pierre Simon Laplace. She reveals why respected statisticians rendered it professionally taboo for 150 years—at the same time that practitioners relied on it to solve crises involving great uncertainty and scanty information (Alan Turing's role in breaking Germany's Enigma code during World War II), and explains how the advent of off-the-shelf computer technology in the 1980s proved to be a game-changer. Today, Bayes' rule is used everywhere from DNA de-coding to Homeland Security.
Drawing on primary source material and interviews with statisticians and other scientists, The Theory That Would Not Die is the riveting account of how a seemingly simple theorem ignited one of the greatest controversies of all time.

The Theory That Would Not Die: How Bayes' Rule Cracked the Enigma Code, Hunted Down Russian Submarines, and Emerged Triumphant from Two Centuries of Controversy

History & Philosophy

Yale University Press

The Theory That Would Not Die: How Bayes' Rule Cracked the Enigma Code, Hunted Down Russian Submarines, & Emerged Triumphant from Two Centuries of C

A vivid account of the generations-long dispute over one of the greatest breakthroughs in the history of applied mathematics and statistics Bayes' rule appears to be a straightforward, one-line theorem: by updating our initial beliefs with objective new information, we get a new and improved belief. To its adherents, it is an elegant statement about learning from experience. To its opponents, it is subjectivity run amok.
In the first-ever account of Bayes' rule for general readers, Sharon Bertsch McGrayne explores this controversial theorem and the human obsessions surrounding it. She traces its discovery by an amateur mathematician in the 1740s through its development into roughly its modern form by French scientist Pierre Simon Laplace. She reveals why respected statisticians rendered it professionally taboo for 150 years—at the same time that practitioners relied on it to solve crises involving great uncertainty and scanty information (Alan Turing's role in breaking Germany's Enigma code during World War II), and explains how the advent of off-the-shelf computer technology in the 1980s proved to be a game-changer. Today, Bayes' rule is used everywhere from DNA de-coding to Homeland Security.
Drawing on primary source material and interviews with statisticians and other scientists, The Theory That Would Not Die is the riveting account of how a seemingly simple theorem ignited one of the greatest controversies of all time.

Since 1901 there have been over three hundred recipients of the Nobel Prize in the sciences. Only ten of them -- about 3 percent -- have been women. Why? In this updated version of Nobel Prize Women in Science, Sharon Bertsch McGrayne explores the reasons for this astonishing disparity by examining the lives and achievements of fifteen women scientists who either won a Nobel Prize or played a crucial role in a Nobel Prize - winning project. The book reveals the relentless discrimination these women faced both as students and as researchers. Their success was due to the fact that they were passionately in love with science. The book begins with Marie Curie, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in physics. Readers are then introduced to Christiane Nusslein-Volhard, Emmy Noether, Lise Meitner, Barbara McClintock, Chien-Shiung Wu, and Rosalind Franklin. These and other remarkable women portrayed here struggled against gender discrimination, raised families, and became political and religious leaders. They were mountain climbers, musicians, seamstresses, and gourmet cooks. Above all, they were strong, joyful women in love with discovery. Nobel Prize Women in Science is a startling and revealing look into the history of science and the critical and inspiring role that women have played in the drama of scientific progress. Table of Contents <ul>
<li>Front Matter</li>
<li>1 A Passion for Discovery</li>
<li>2 Marie Sklodowska Curie</li>
<li>3 Lise Meitner</li>
<li>4 Emmy Noether</li>
<li>5 Gerty Radnitz Cori</li>
<li>6 Irene Joliot-Curie</li>
<li>7 Barbara McClintock</li>
<li>8 Maria Goeppert Mayer</li>
<li>9 Rita Levi-Montalcini</li>
<li>10 Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin</li>
<li>11 Chien-Shiung Wu</li>
<li>12 Gertrude Belle Elion</li>
<li>13 Rosalind Elsie Franklin</li>
<li>14 Rosalyn Sussman Yalow</li>
<li>15 Jocelyn Bell Burnell</li>
<li>16 Christiane Nusslein-Volhard</li>
<li>Afterword</li>
<li>Notes</li>
<li>Picture Acknowledgments</li>
<li>Index</li>
<li>About the Author</li>
</ul>

Nobel Prize Women in Science: Their Lives, Struggles, and Momentous Discoveries: Second Edition

Joseph Henry Press

What is the world's largest single-celled organism? What type of grass can support more weight per square inch thanconcrete? What male mammal makes breast milk? Why are dancing cockroaches so fascinating to mathematicians? Get ready to find out fascinating facts about everything from blueroses and deep earthquakes to singing sand dunes and tickinghourglasses. Blue Genes and Polyester Plants takes you on a livelytour of the universe's astonishing oddities and extremes. Based oncutting-edge scientific research, here are hundreds of juicytidbits culled from every corner of science--including biology,medicine, engineering, technology, zoology, chemistry, andastronomy. This exciting overview of modern science is sure toinform, entertain, and astound.

Blue Genes and Polyester Plants: 365 More Suprising Scientific Facts, Breakthroughs, and Discoveries

wiley

Did you know: Chinese ducks store most of the world's supply of flu viruses; 100 million women are missing and presumed dead; there is a battery so tiny that 100 fit into a single human red blood cell; some bacteria thrive in boiling-hot water? Smart, witty, and always crystal clear, science reporter Sharon Bertsch McGrayne tells you all about the biggest, fastest, oldest, smallest, newest, coldest, flattest, hottest...and undeniably most amazing plants, animals, places, things, and ideas in the known universe. Now she gives you a great way to fill the gaps in your knowledge of recent developments in medicine and health, engineering and technology, earth science, zoology, chemistry, computer science, physics, astronomy, and mathematics. Here are hundreds of extraordinary facts guaranteed to deliver astonishing, up-to-the-minute information.

365 Surprising Scientific Facts, Breakthroughs, and Discoveries (Wiley Popular Science)

John Wiley&Sons, Inc.

Explores the reason for the disparity in the number of male and female Nobel Prize recipients by examining the lives and achievements of 15 women scientists who either won a Nobel Prize or played a crucial role in a Nobel Prize-winning project. Begins with Marie Curie--the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in physics--then introduces other winners, including Christiane Nusslein-Volhard, Emmy Noether, Lise Meitner, Barbara McClintock, Chien-Shiung Wu, and Rosalind Franklin. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Nobel Prize Women in Science: Their Lives, Struggles, and Momentous Discoveries

Kensington Pub. Corp

This book tells the stories of the lives and achievements of fifteen women scientists who either won a Nobel Prize or played a crucial role in a Nobel Prize-winning project. NOBEL PRIZE WOMEN IN SCIENCE book reveals the relentless discrimination these women faced both as students and as researchers. They succeeded because they were passionately in love with science.

Nobel Prize Women in Science

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

Bayes' rule appears to be a straightforward, one-line theorem: by updating our initial beliefs with objective new information, we get a new and improved belief. To its adherents, it is an elegant statement about learning from experience. To its opponents, it is subjectivity run amok.In the first-ever account of Bayes' rule for general readers, Sharon Bertsch McGrayne explores this controversial theorem and the human obsessions surrounding it. She traces its discovery by an amateur mathematician in the 1740s through its development into roughly its modern form by French scientist Pierre Simon Laplace. She reveals why respected statisticians rendered it professionally taboo for one hundred and fifty years-at the same time that practitioners relied on it to solve crises involving great uncertainty and scanty information, even breaking Germany's Enigma code during World War II, and explains how the advent of off-the-shelf computer technology in the 1980s proved to be a game-changer. Today, Bayes' rule is used everywhere from DNA decoding to Homeland Security.Drawing on primary source material and interviews with statisticians and other scientists, The Theory That Would Not Die is the riveting account of how a seemingly simple theorem ignited one of the greatest controversies of all time.

Tantor Audio

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by McGrayne, Sharon Bertsch. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by McGrayne, Sharon Bertsch

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by McGrayne, Sharon Bertsch. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Prometheans in the Lab: Chemistry and the Making of the Modern World

The Theory That Would Not Die: How Bayes' Rule Cracked the Enigma Code, Hunted Down Russian Submarines, and Emerged Triumphant from Two Centuries of Controversy

The Theory That Would Not Die: How Bayes' Rule Cracked the Enigma Code, Hunted Down Russian Submarines, & Emerged Triumphant from Two Centuries of C

The Theory That Would Not Die: How Bayes' Rule Cracked the Enigma Code, Hunted Down Russian Submarines, and Emerged Triumphant from Two Centuries of Controversy

Nobel Prize Women in Science: Their Lives, Struggles, and Momentous Discoveries: Second Edition

Blue Genes and Polyester Plants: 365 More Suprising Scientific Facts, Breakthroughs, and Discoveries

365 Surprising Scientific Facts, Breakthroughs, and Discoveries (Wiley Popular Science)

Nobel Prize Women in Science: Their Lives, Struggles, and Momentous Discoveries

Nobel Prize Women in Science

The Theory That Would Not Die: How Bayes' Rule Cracked the Enigma Code, Hunted Down Russian Submarines, and Emerged Triumphant from Two Centuries of Controversy