Everything's Relative: And Other Fables from Science and Technology
The surprising truth behind many of the most cherished "facts" in science history
Morse invented the telegraph, Bell the telephone, Edison the light bulb, and Marconi the radio . . . right? Well . . . the truth is slightly more complicated. The history of science and technology is riddled with apocrypha, inaccuracies, and falsehoods, and physicist Tony Rothman has taken it upon himself to throw a monkey wrench into the works.
Combining a storyteller's gifts with a scientist's focus and hardheaded devotion to the facts—such as they may be—Rothman breaks down many of the most famous "just-so" stories of physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology, and technology to give credit where credit is truly due. From Einstein's possible misunderstanding of his own theories to actress Hedy Lemarr's role in the invention of the radio-controlled torpedo, he dredges his way through the legends of science history in relating the fascinating stories behind some of the most important, and often unsung, breakthroughs in science.
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Book details
- Author
- Tony Rothman
- Imprint
- Trade Paper Press, an imprint of Turner Publishing Company
- Published
- Pages
- 272
- Formats
- Hardcover
- Subjects
- Science › Physics
- Topics
- history of science · scientific myths · popular science · physics · history of technology · science history debunked · astronomy · inventors and inventions
- ISBN-13
- 9780471202578
About the author
TONY ROTHMAN is an American theoretical physicist and cosmologist who has authored more than a dozen books of fiction and nonfiction. His books include Sacred Mathematics: Japanese Temple Geometry.
Rothman’s work on Galois won the Mathematical Association of America’s Ford Writing Award for 1983, and Sacred Mathematics: Japanese Temple Geometry received the 2008 American Association of Publishers Award for Professional and Scholarly Excellence in mathematics. He holds a B.A. from Swarthmore College and a Ph.D. from the Center for Relativity at the University of Texas, Austin, and has taught physics at Harvard, Princeton, and NYU.
When not writing, Rothman serves on the editorial board of Scientific American, where his specialization in cosmology informs his engagement with scientific publishing.