Readership: General readers with an interest in science and history, and in science with a human face; historians of science; scientists and science writers.
John Waller, Lecturer in the History of Medicine, University of Melbourne
Review(s) from previous edition"Waller writes with clarity and flair . . . [he] has a real talent for telling a story. - Roy Porter
"Everyone with an interest in science should read this book." - Focus
"a great read" - Nature
"Waller tells these stories well ... [his] examples are a valuable look sideways at the rolling juggernaut of modern science." - Martin Ince, New Scientist
List of illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction: what is history for? Part 1: Right for the wrong reasons 1: The pasteurization of spontaneous generation 2: 'The battle over the electron' 3: The eclipse of Isaac Newton: Arthur Eddington's 'proof' of general relativity 4: Very unscientific management 5: The Hawthorne studies: finding what you are looking for Conclusion to Part 1: sins against science? Part 2: Telling science as it was 6: Myth in the time of cholera 7: 'The priest who held the key': Gregor Mendel and the ratios of fact and fiction 8: Was Joseph Lister Mr Clean? 9: The Origin of Species by means of use-inheritance 10: 'A is for ape, B is for Bible': science, religion, and melodrama 11: Painting yourself into a corner: Charles Best and the discovery of insulin 12: Alexander Fleming's dirty dishes 13: 'A decoy of Satan' Conclusion to Part 2: sins against history? Notes on sources Index
