Remarkable Discoveries! - Hardcover

Ashall, Frank

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521433177 ISBN 13: 9780521433174

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1994

Synopsis

Remarkable Discoveries! is an enthusiastic and engaging narrative that explores eighteen exciting discoveries--found in all areas of science--that have had a profound impact on modern life. Writing in an informative yet relaxed style, the author relates the histories of such fascinating discoveries as electricity, DNA, microbes, plate tectonics, and x-rays. He emphasizes the personalities involved, the role of serendipity, and the elements of surprise and wonder that often accompany scientific research. This book's wonderful vignettes, related in highly readable prose, will leave any reader intrigued and informed.

About this title

About the Author

Frank Ashall is a Doctor of Medicine, a Doctor of Biochemistry, and a campaigner for human rights in healthcare. He obtained a first-class honours degree in biochemistry and a doctorate from the University of Oxford, then spent thirteen years doing biochemical research to Assistant Professor level. His research involved studies of the biochemistry of cancer cells, then later on, the biochemistry of parasitic organisms, in particular the proteases of Trypanosoma cruzi, the cause of Chagas' disease. He left research to do a medical degree (MD) in the USA, where he did his internship and residency, and practised as a physician in internal medicine there for eleven years. Currently he is working as a Professor of Biochemistry at Addis Ababa University/Black Lion Hospital, as a volunteer with Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) UK. He is an enthusiastic supporter for human rights, particularly in healthcare. He is an active campaigner against tobacco, its adverse health effects on people and society, and against the tobacco industry. In particular, he is a strong opponent of the increase in advertising and marketing of tobacco products in developing countries, where smoking rates are generally on the rise, afflicting the world's poor with further health burdens. He has written over thirty-five academic articles and numerous newspaper articles on popular science. He has also given numerous talks to the general public on preventive medicine issues.

From the Back Cover

Remarkable Discoveries! shows how scientists have made great discoveries that have pushed back the frontiers of knowledge and have changed the way we look at the world. Frank Ashall, scientist and writer, takes us on a magical mystery tour of eighteen major scientific discoveries. Electricity, X-rays, DNA fingerprinting and the Big Bang are but a few of the achievements on which the author writes. We delve into the world of the researcher and experience the excitement as each discovery is unfolded. Can we thank chance or just intelligence and hard work for the scientists' success? We learn that most discoveries are in fact made by accident, or from the curiosity of scientists who are interested in learning more about Nature's laws.

Reviews

British biochemist Ashall is a fresh voice in popular science writing. In a book directed at those with little knowledge of the scientific world and its major figures, he covers 18 topics, most in life sciences, and includes some of the standard fare, such as Michael Faraday, the immunology of malaria and the theory of relativity. Areas of more recent headlines encompass Buckyballs and monoclonal antibody technology. Ashall is an able expository writer who doesn't spare the reader the language of experiments, giving this anthology an air of immediacy and authenticity.

Copyright 1994 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521433177
• ISBN 13: 9780521433174
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 292