HAL HELLMAN is the internationally acclaimed author of 26 popular science books, including the six-book series The World of the Future. He has also written science articles for such periodicals as the New York Times, Omni, Reader's Digest, Psychology Today, and Geo.
Review
"A fascinating new book which details some of the most famous disputes of the ages."
--Courier Mail
"Hellman gives unusual insight into the development of science . . . enthusiastically recommended."
--American Scientist
"Unusual insight into the development of science . . . I was excited by this book and enthusiastically
recommend it to general as well as scientific audiences."
--American Scientist
"Hellman has assembled a series of entertaining tales. . . . many fine examples of heady invective without
parallel in our time."
--Nature
"An entertaining and informative account of the unusual personalities and sometimes bitter rivalries of
some of the world's greatest scientific minds."
--Publishers Weekly
"A fascinating new book which details some of the most famous disputes of the ages."
--Courier Mail
"Dry science history turns into entertaining reading without sacrificing historical accuracy."
--The Christchurch Press
"Great Feuds in Science is wonderful history, as the reader learns how scientists had to fight with religious
leaders and other scientists to get their work recognized, accepted, and even get the credit for it!"
--Bookviews
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Web Site, August, 2000
Summary
Some of the biggest breakthroughs in science have caused battles that have raged over decades, even centuries.
In Great Feuds in Science, internationally celebrated science writer Hal Hellman tells the fascinating stories
of ten of the most heated disputes in the history of science, from the seventeenth through the twentieth centuries.
From Galileo and Kelvin to Leakey and Einstein, Hellman introduces readers to the major players and the times they
lived in, explains the scientific principles involved, and shows how such controversies are not only typical, but
often necessary to the progress of science.
The dramatic stories of ten historic feuds: How they altered the course of discovery--and shaped the modern
world
Hall Hellman tells the lively stories of ten of the most outrageous and intriguing disputes from the seventeenth
to the twentieth centuries. Bringing the cataclysmic clash of ideas and personalities to colorful life, Hellman
explores both the science and the spirit of the times. Along the way, he reveals that scientific feuds are fueled
not only by the purest of intellectual disagreements, but also by intransigence, ambition, jealousy, politics,
faith, and the irresistible human urge to be right.
Table of Contents
Urban VIII versus Galileo: An Unequal Contest.
Wallis versus Hobbes: Squaring the Circle.
Newton versus Leibniz: A Clash of Titans.
Voltaire versus Needham: The Generation Controversy.
Darwin's Bulldog versus Soapy Sam: Evolution Wars.
Lord Kelvin versus Geologists and Biologists: The Age of the Earth.
Cope versus Marsh: The Fossil Feud.
Wegener versus Everybody: Continental Drift.
Johanson versus the Leakeys: The Missing Link.
Derek Freeman versus Margaret Mead: Nature versus Nurture.
