附註:Includes bibliographical references (pages 355-376) and index.
Science and technology -- James Watt and the science of thermodynamics -- Daguerre, Talbot, and the legacy of photography -- Michael Faraday and electric power -- James Clark Maxwell and radio transmission -- J.J. Thomson and the electronic age -- The Braggs and molecular architecture -- Planck, Einstein, the quantum theory, and relativity -- Scientists, science, and society.
摘要:In To Light Such a Candle, renowned chemist and science historian Keith Laidler examines the progress of science and technology over the centuries, tracing the often separate paths of these pursuits, showing how they have ultimately worked together to transform everyday life. Faraday's pure research on electricity, for example, had immense technological implications, while Maxwell's theory of electromagnetic radiation led directly to the discovery of radio transmission, something of which Maxwell himself had no conception. Conversely, the early steam engines were by no means science-based, but they led directly to the science of thermodynamics, one of the most fundamental branches of pure science. Illuminated by many fascinating stories from the history of science, this book provides a powerful argument for the relevance of pure research, and gives the general reader and scientist alike an idea of the nature and importance of the links between science and technology.
