This gentle self-portrait provides a unique insight into the beliefs and principles of the moral man whose theories on evolution shook the foundations of traditional religion and whose legacy courts both controversy and the accolade of being part of scientific orthodoxy in equal measure to this day.
'A glorious plum-pudding of a book, to be consulted, with pleasure and profit, over and over again' Sir Jeremy Isaacs
Michael Steen's 'Great Composers' was originally published in 2003. A lifetime's work and almost 1000 pages long, it has since become 'the' reference point and key read on the biographical backgrounds to classical music's biggest names.
Authoritative and hugely detailed – but nonetheless a joy to read – this new edition will expand its readership further and capitalise on a newfound popular interest in classical music.
Steen's book helps you explore the story of Bach, the respectable burgher much of whose vast output was composed amidst petty turf disputes in Lutheran Leipzig; or the ugly, argumentative Beethoven in French-occupied Vienna, obsessed by his laundry; or Mozart, the over-exploited infant prodigy whose untimely death was shrouded in rumour.
Read about Verdi, who composed against the background of the Italian Risorgimento; or about the family life of the Wagners; and, Brahms, who rose from the slums of Hamburg to become a devotee of beer and coffee in fin-de-siecle Vienna, a cultural capital bent on destroying Mahler…and much, much more.
So you've read your tea-leaves, examined his handwriting and now you and your sweetheart are engaged. This is the guide to have at your side as you walk together into the sunlit future. Hilarious, utterly mad and yet strangely compelling – a 1930's guide to marriage.
From Hippocrates to Louis Pasteur, the medical profession relied on almost wholly mistaken ideas concerning infectious illness. This text covers 20 incredible years that revolutionised our understanding of disease.
Love, poetry and romantic prose extracts are enduring favourites. Many classic poems and stories revolve around this theme in its many facets, including humorous poems. This anthology should appeal to teenagers' "romantic streak", while adults enjoy the classic content. Ages 14+.
The story of the jet engine tells of what pushing technology to its limits can achieve and of the human emotions and tragedies that can leave ambition in its wake.
The only scientist to appear on the British twenty pound note, Michael Faraday is one of the most recognisable names in the history of science. Faraday's forte was electricity, a revolutionary force in nineteenth-century society. The electric telegraph made mass-communication possible; hopeful inventors during the 1840s looked forward to the day when everything would be done by electricity. By the end of the century, electricity really was in the process of transforming everyday life. What was Faraday's role in all this? How did his science come to have such an impact on the Victorians' (and ultimately on our) lives? Iwan Morus tells the story of his upbringing in scientific London and his apprenticeship at the Royal Institution with the flamboyant chemist, Sir Humphry Davy, against the backdrop of a vibrant scientific culture at the centre of an Empire near the peak of its power.
The mobile phone is one of the wonders of the modern world. This vibrant, popular history tells the story of the mobile, what happened and why.
All is fair in love and war…and the two are more similar than you might think in this facsimile of a 1950s guide to the battle of the sexes. This timeless guide reveals the arsenal of devices, techniques and approaches a man deploys to get what he wants and details the countermeasures a woman can take to come out on top. Learn how to get all that you want without giving men the one thing that they want. Irreverent and witty, this enduring volume is essential reading for any woman who wants to protect her virtue – or appear to!
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) has exerted a huge influence on 20th century philosophy and literature – an influence that looks set to continue into the 21st century. Nietzsche questioned what it means for us to live in our modern world. He was an 'anti-philosopher' who expressed grave reservations about the reliability and extent of human knowledge. His radical scepticism disturbs our deepest-held beliefs and values. For these reasons, Nietzsche casts a 'long shadow' on the complex cultural and philosophical phenomenon we now call 'postmodernism'. "Nietzsche and Postmodernism" explains the key ideas of this 'Anti-Christ' philosopher. It then provides a clear account of the central themes of postmodernist thought exemplified by such thinkers as Derrida, Foucault, Lyotard and Rorty, and concludes by asking if Nietzsche can justifiably be called the first great postmodernist.
Blending science, history and biography, Einstein's Heroes takes you on a journey of discovery about the phenomenon of mathematics – humanity's universal language and one of our most amazing accomplishments. At the book's centre are the brilliant scientists who inspired Einstein, particularly James Clerk Maxwell, Michael Faraday and Isaac Newton. Together Maxwell and Faraday settled a centuries-old physical dispute, which Newton had left in his wake, establishing mathematics as the ultimate arbiter of physical reality. With the talent of a great storyteller, Arianrhod weaves warmly observed biographies into a passionate argument for the beauty and universality of the language of maths. Einstein's Heroes is an enthralling exploration of the special magic of science, and the lives of some of its most brilliant exemplars.
