Science in London: A Guide to Memorials

ISBN-13: 9783030623357 / Angielski / Miękka / 2022 / 300 str.

Istvan Hargittai;Magdolna Hargittai

Opis

This book introduces the reader to the statues, busts, and memorial plaques of scientists, explorers, medicine men and women, and inventors found in the bustling capital of the United Kingdom, London. The former capital of the British Empire, London remains a world center of trade, navigation, finance and many more. It is also a hub of science, the seat of the Royal Society, Royal Institution, Science Museum, British Museum, Natural History Museum, and of great institutions of higher education. The historical figures depicted in these memorials are responsible for creating great institutions, milestone discoveries, contributions to the scientific and technological revolutions, fighting against epidemics, advancing medicine, and contributing to the progress seen during the past four hundred years. This is a guidebook for the visitor and the Londoner alike. It presents memorials that everybody is familiar with and others that the authors discovered during their years of painstaking research. The 750 images and the text, interlarded with anecdotes, is both informative and entertaining.

Recenzje

"The contribution of each of these persons is described in detail, giving the reader a feeling of 'being there' in a living history. And what a walk it is! This is a journey that would take weeks, if not months, to complete in person. ... This book is highly recommended for the lover of science-and should serve as a pleasant vicarious visit for the reader, at his leisure without the rush (and expense) of today's travel." (James L. Marshall, Bulletin for the History of Chemistry, Vol. 47 (3), 2022)

Spis treści

Foreword

Preface

Chapter 1: Why London Is Special

Chapter 2: Explorers

Chapter 3: Scientists: Physicists, Chemists, Naturalists

Chapter 4: Medicine

Chapter 5: Inventors and Technologists

Subject Index

Name Index

Index of Artists and Architects

O autorze

Istvan Hargittai is a physical chemist and professor emeritus (active) at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. He is a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Academia Europaea (London), and a foreign member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (Oslo). He is a PhD and DSc, and has honorary doctorates from Lomonosov Moscow State University, the University of North Carolina, and the Russian Academy of Sciences. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the international periodical Structural Chemistry (Springer). He has authored and edited numerous books about structural chemistry, history of science, the nature of scientific discovery, memorials of scientists, conversations with famous scientists, and other topics. His books have appeared in English, Hungarian, Russian, German, Swedish, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, and in the Farsi language.

Magdolna Hargittai is a physical chemist and a research professor of structural chemistry at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. She is a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Academia Europaea (London). She is a PhD and DSc, and has an honorary doctorate from the University of North Carolina. In addition to her research in structural chemistry, she has been interested in the lives and careers of women scientists and has lectured and published a monograph, Women Scientists, about this topic. She and her husband, Istvan, have joinly worked and published extensively on symmetry, science history, conversations with famous scientists, and, lately, the memorials of scientists in great cities. Her books have appeared in English, Hungarian, Russian, German, Swedish, and Korean. The Hargittais live in Budapest. Their son is a professor of chemistry in the United States and their daughter is a professor of communication studies in Switzerland.