The World as Myth, Number, and Chance
Buch, Englisch, 348 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 593 g
ISBN: 978-0-691-13053-8
Verlag: Princeton University Press
The Grand Contraption tells the story of humanity's attempts through 4,000 years of written history to make sense of the world in its cosmic totality, to understand its physical nature, and to know its real and imagined inhabitants. No other book has provided as coherent, compelling, and learned a narrative on this subject of subjects. David Park takes us on an incredible journey that illuminates the multitude of elaborate "contraptions" by which humans in the Western world have imagined the earth they inhabit--and what lies beyond. Intertwining history, religion, philosophy, literature, and the physical sciences, this eminently readable book is, ultimately, about the "grand contraption" we've constructed through the ages in an effort to understand and identify with the universe. According to Park, people long ago conceived of our world as a great rock slab inhabited by gods, devils, and people and crowned by stars. Thinkers imagined ether to fill the empty space, and in the comforting certainty of celestial movement they discerned numbers, and in numbers, order. Separate sections of the book tell the fascinating stories of measuring and mapping the Earth and Heavens, and later, the scientific exploration of the universe. The journey reveals many common threads stretching from ancient Mesopotamians and Greeks to peoples of today. For example, humans have tended to imagine Earth and Sky as living creatures. Not true, say science-savvy moderns. But truth isn't always the point. The point, says Park, is that Earth is indeed the fragile bubble we surmise, and we must treat it with the reverence it deserves.
Autoren/Hrsg.
Fachgebiete
- Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Wissenschaftstheorie, Wissenschaftsphilosophie
- Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wissenschafts- und Universitätsgeschichte
- Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Wissenschaften: Theorie, Epistemologie, Methodik
- Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften, Formalen Wissenschaften & Technik
- Mathematik | Informatik Mathematik Mathematik Allgemein Geschichte der Mathematik
- Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Geschichte der Human- und Sozialwissenschaften
- Naturwissenschaften Physik Physik Allgemein Geschichte der Physik
Weitere Infos & Material
List of Illustrations ix
Preface xiii
CHAPTER ONE: Voices from the Sands 1
1.1 The Biblical Universe 1
1.2 Tales from Sumer and Egypt 6
1.3 Two More Worlds 15
1.4 Deluge 18
1.5 The Twisted Axle 22
CHAPTER TWO: Managing the World 26
2.1 Dramatis Personae 27
2.2 The Lower Tier 31
2.3 The Shape of the World 35
2.4 Fortune-Telling 40
2.5 The Stars Move Westward 44
2.6 Guiding Hands 47
CHAPTER THREE: Guesswork 54
3.1 A Mass of Rock 54
3.2 Ionians 57
3.3 Earth, Sun, Moon, and Law 60
3.4 A World Made of Numbers 62
3.5 Change and Eternity 68
3.6 Theories of Matter 72
3.7 Atoms and the Pursuit of Happiness 78
CHAPTER FOUR: Earth and Heaven 83
4.1 Law and Nature 83
4.2 Measuring Months and Years 87
4.3 Plato?s Fantasy 88
4.4 Aristotle?s Optimism 96
CHAPTER FIVE: Beginnings and Endings 107
5.1 Time and Space 107
5.2 Creation 111
5.3 The Universe Recycled 116
5.4 The End of Everything 120
CHAPTER SIX: Philosophy Continued 126
6.1 The Stars in Motion 126
6.2 Stars, Earth, and Numbers 132
6.3 Omens and Demons 136
6.4 Remembrance of Things Past 142
6.5 Motes of Dust 148
6.6 The Great Design 153
INTERLUDE: The World Map 161
I.1 Earth and Cosmos 162
I.2 Explorers and Traders 164
I.3 The Christian Earth 168
I.4 Travelers? Tales 172
I.5 The Age of Exploration 180
CHAPTER SEVEN: Toward a New Astronomy 190
7.1 The Sun Stands Still 191
7.2 The Mathematical Plan 197
7.3 The World Observed 204
7.4 A World Invented 210
7.5 Isaac Newton 217
CHAPTER EIGHT: What Is the World Made Of? 225
8.1 Atoms Reborn 226
8.2 Transformations 228
8.3 A Theory of Matter 231
8.4 Atoms and Numbers 233
8.5 Ether and the Nature of Light 239
CHAPTER NINE: The Universe Measured 245
9.1 Surveyors at Work 245
9.2 The Age of the Earth 251
9.3 The Long Descent of Man 255
CHAPTER TEN: The Exploding Universe 269
10.1 The Cosmos in Motion 269
10.2 The Big Bang 272
10.3 What?s Out There? 279
CHAPTER ELEVEN: The View from Here 283
11.1 Is There Anyone Else? 283
11.2 The Best of All Possible Worlds? 286
11.3 Will It Ever End? 289
11.4 Reflections 292
References and Further Reading 297
Bibliography 311
Index 327
