The Birth of Science (Springer Praxis Books)

This book reveals the multi-generational process involved in humanity's first major scientific achievement, namely the discovery of modern physics, and examines the personal lives of six of the intellectual giants involved. It explores the profound revolution in the way of thinking, and in particular the successful refutation of the school of thought inherited from the Greeks, which focused on the perfection and immutability of the celestial world. In addition, the emergence of the scientific method and the adoption of mathematics as the central tool in scientific endeavors are discussed. The book then explores the delicate thread between pure philosophy, grand unifying theories, and verifiable real-life scientific facts. Lastly, it turns to Kepler’s crucial 3rd law and shows how it was derived from a mere six data points, corresponding to the six planets known at the time. Written in a straightforward and accessible style, the book will inform and fascinate all aficionados of science, history, philosophy, and, in particular, astronomy.

Alex Ely Kossovsky is the author of the books “BENFORD’S LAW: Theory, the General Law of Relative Quantities, and Forensic Fraud Detection Applications,” “STUDIES IN BENFORD’S LAW: Arithmetical Tugs of War, Quantitative Partition Models, Prime Numbers, Exponential Growth Series, and Data Forensics,” and “SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL: Why the Small is Numerous but the Big is Rare in the World.” Kossovsky is the inventor of a patented mathematical algorithm used in data fraud detection and analysis, and is considered by some to be the world’s leading expert on the topic of Benford’s Law and its many applications. The author specialized in Applied Mathematics and Statistics at the City University of New York and in Physics and Pure Mathematics at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.