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Asimov’s Biographical Encyclopedia Of Science And Technology PDF

1004 Pages·1982·51.399 MB·English
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ASIMOV’S BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA of SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY The Lives and Achievements of Great Scientists from 1510 Ancient Times to the Present Chronologically Arranged ISAAC ASIMOV by Second Revised Edition v| Doubledßy NEW YORK LONDON TORONTO SYDNEY AUCKLAND Published by Doubleday, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10103 Doubleday and the portrayal of an anchor with a dolphin are trademarks of Doubleday, a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. PICTURE CREDITS Numbers 4, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 27, 34, 39, 41, 42, 43, 45, 49, 50, 51, 52, 54, 55, 56, 57, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 73, 74: The Bettmann Archive Numbers 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 77, 78, 79, 86, 92: Wide World Photos Numbers 59, 72, 75, 76: Lotte Jacobi Number 3: Musée du Louvre Number 25: Town Hall Committee of the Manchester Corporation Numbers 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 93: United Press International Photos ISBN: 0-385-17771-2 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER 81-47861 copyright© 1964, 1972, 1982 by Isaac asimov ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 9 BG TO MY DAUGHTER, ROBYN, FOR HER PATIENCE AND FOR HER GOODNESS OF HEART HOW TO USE THIS BOOK The 1510 biographical entries are arranged in chronological order, not alpha­ betical. They are numbered from 1 to 1510 and this numbering system I con­ sider more significant than the page numbers. It is, in my opinion, the individual biography and not the page that should be taken as the unit of reference. For this reason the index references at the end are by biography number and not by page number. In a very few cases, this means searching through several pages; in most, it means a glance through less than one page. To help find individual scientists to begin with, I have supplied a table of con­ tents at the start in which all the biographical entries are listed in alphabetical order, with the biography number given for each. In the body of each biography I have inserted numerous cross references (again to biography number rather than page number). It may be that some readers dipping into the book at random, or with the purpose of looking up a particular individual, will be lured into looking up the cross references, then into chasing after the new cross references. If they do so assiduously enough, they will find that, no matter where they start, they are likely to end by reading the whole book. But then, science is a complex skein, intricately interknotted across the arti­ ficial boundaries we draw only that we may the more easily encompass its parts in our mind. Pick up any thread of that skein and the whole structure will fol­ low. And so it is with this book. Isaac Asimov PREFACE TO THE SECOND REVISED EDITION This time I have introduced no changes in the format of the Encyclopedia; I have merely enlarged it. I have added 310 additional biographies, about half of them taken from contemporary scientists and half distributed through time. The total is now 1510. Of the biographies that were present in the previous edition, most have been slightly enlarged as I gathered additional information about each scientist. This edition is, therefore, substantially larger than the previous one. Nevertheless, it is still entirely a one-man job. No one else but myself (and my good editor) has touched it. This means that, although I have corrected a number of errors and misstatements in the earlier editions, I am very likely to have overlooked some and to have introduced others. I take the full responsi­ bility for that and, as always, I welcome corrections and comments from my readers. Isaac Asimov New York, New York April 1981 PREFACE TO THE FIRST REVISED EDITION The differences between this revised edition and the first are as follows: (1) Almost every biography has been enlarged and, when necessary, altered, in accordance with the findings of my continuing researches over the last five years. (2) Nearly two hundred new biographies, including recent Nobel Prize win­ ners and a number of earlier individuals (even a few ancient Greeks), have been added. (3) I have abolished the system of main biographies and “footnote” biog­ raphies as an element of artificiality and now list all entries, without exception, in strict chronological order according to birth. (4) I have added a contents section at the front of the book in which all en­ tries are listed alphabetically, with their biography number, for easy reference. I must now repeat what I said in the preface to the first edition, to the effect that I alone am responsible for the choice of those to include and for the deci­ sion as to how much space to give each person—and, of course, for all errors, omissions, and infelicities. The “alone” part is stronger than some people realize, I think, for from a number of comments I have received in connection with the first edition, I have detected some tendency to take it for granted that the book is a community en­ deavor and that I have headed a sizable team engaged in research and in writing. This is not so! I alone have done every bit of the necessary research and writ­ ing; and without any assistance whatever, not even that of a typist. This is not because of any parsimony on the part of Doubleday & Company, my esteemed publishers. They have been generous in their offers to finance research and secretarial assistance but I have—quite deliberately—refused those offers. It means, of course, that, as a lone worker, I am incomplete in places where some help might have brought matters to completion; and wrong outright, in some places where a little help might have righted me. On the other hand, be­ cause the book is the product of one mind and two hands and no more (except for the invaluable editing the manuscript received at Doubleday) it has its own particular flavor, style, and point of view—whether for good or ill—throughout. And besides, the book is a labor of love, and I loved it far too much to want to share it in the slightest. Isaac Asimov New York, New York August 1971

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