Asimov’s Biographical Encyclopedia Of Science And Technology

1004 Pages·1982·51.399 MB·English

by  Isaac Asimov

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
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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