Brilliant blunders : from Darwin to Einstein - colossal mistakes by great scientists that changed our understanding of life and the universe /

This book describes how five famous scientists actually made major errors in the interpretation of their data and how the further investigations of these mistakes led to scientific breakthroughs in such disciplines as biology, medicine, and cosmology. Drawing on the lives of these five great scienti...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Livio, Mario, 1945-
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: New York : Simon & Schuster, 2013.
Edition:First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.
Subjects:
Online Access:Cover image
Description
Summary:This book describes how five famous scientists actually made major errors in the interpretation of their data and how the further investigations of these mistakes led to scientific breakthroughs in such disciplines as biology, medicine, and cosmology. Drawing on the lives of these five great scientists: Charles Darwin, William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), Linus Pauling, Fred Hoyle and Albert Einstein, the author shows how even the greatest scientists made major mistakes and how science built on these errors to achieve breakthroughs, especially into the evolution of life and the universe.
Physical Description:341 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references (pages 303-323) and index.
ISBN:9781439192368 (hardback)
1439192367 (hardback)
1439192383 (ebook)
9781439192382 (ebook)