Classics of modern science : (Copernicus to Pasteur) by William S. Knickerbocker
"Classics of Modern Science (Copernicus to Pasteur)" by William S. Knickerbocker is a curated anthology of scientific writings written in the early 20th century. The volume gathers representative primary texts from foundational figures of modern science, framed for students and general readers to trace the rise of the scientific method and its civilizational impact. It emphasizes accessible language, the human qualities behind discovery, and the use of these classics to illuminate how
scientific ideas were forged. The likely topic is the evolution of modern scientific thought from early method and astronomy through chemistry, biology, and medicine. The opening of the anthology presents a preface arguing that the history of science is the real history of humankind, praising the scientific attitude (patience, humility, honesty), urging clear prose for lay readers, and positioning the book as a teaching reader. It then offers editorial headnotes and substantial excerpts: Francis Bacon’s Novum Organum passages critique dogmatism and skepticism, advocate a disciplined inductive method guided by “prerogative instances,” and outline practical modes of acting on nature to restore human “empire” through experiment. Copernicus’s introduction explains his dissatisfaction with Ptolemaic inconsistencies, defends heliocentrism, and argues for a spherical, moving earth (including daily rotation) to harmonize celestial phenomena. Kepler’s Epitome defines astronomy, situates it among the sciences, contrasts common-sense appearances with Copernican insight, and marshals lines of argument for Earth’s rotation. The Galileo dialogue then stages a debate on whether daily celestial motion belongs to the heavens or to Earth, favoring the Earth’s rotation while previewing further Copernican reasoning. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Editor | Knickerbocker, William S. (William Skinkle), 1892-1972 |
|---|---|
| LoC No. | 28016211 |
| Title | Classics of modern science : (Copernicus to Pasteur) |
| Original Publication | New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1927. |
| Contents | The method of inductive science on the interpretation of nature, or the reign of man / Francis Bacon -- The new idea of the universe / Nicolaus Copernicus -- On the principles of astronomy / Johann Kepler -- The Copernican versus the Ptolemaic astronomies / Galileo Galilei -- The circulation of blood in animals / William Harvey -- The discovery of the law of the compressibility of gases / Robert Boyle -- The wave theory of light / Christian Huygens -- Observations on animalculæ / Anthony von Leeuwenhoeck -- The theory of gravitation / Sir Isaac Newton -- The identity of lightning and electricity / Benjamin Franklin -- The sex of plants / Linnaeus -- The discovery of carbonic acid gas / Joseph Black -- The discovery of oxygen / Joseph Priestley -- The combination of hydrogen and oxygen into water / Henry Cavendish -- The discovery of Uranus; On the name of the new planet; On nebulous stars / Sir William Herschel -- The constituents of air / Karl Wilhelm Scheele -- The nature of combustion / Antoine Laurent Lavoisier -- New galvanic instrument / Alessandro Volta -- The nebular hypothesis / Pierre Simon Laplace -- The theory of vaccination / Edward Jenner -- The nature of heat / Count Rumford -- The atomic theory / John Dalton -- The doctrine of tissues / Marie François Xavier Bichat -- The molecules in gases proportional to the volumes / Amadeo Avogrado -- On some new phenomena of chemical changes produced by electricity / Sir Humphrey Davy -- On fluid chlorine; Electricity from magnetism / Michael Faraday -- On the production of currents and sparks of electricity from magnetism / Joseph Henry -- Uniformity in the series of past changes in the animate and inanimate world / Sir Charles Lyell -- Natural selection / Charles Darwin -- Cell theory / Theodor Schwann -- The conservation of energy / Hermann von Helmholtz -- Inoculation for hydrophobia / Louis Pasteur -- The Maxwell and Herz theory of electricity and light / James Clerk Maxwell -- The continuity of the germ-plasm as the foundation of a theory of heredity / August Weismann -- The chemistry of the stars / Sir Norman Lockyer -- Theory of bacteria / Robert Koch. |
| Credits | Tim Miller, Laura Natal and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | Q: Science |
| Subject | Science |
| Subject | Science -- History |
| Category | Text |
| EBook-No. | 77076 |
| Release Date | Oct 18, 2025 |
| Copyright Status | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 588 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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