History of Science & Mathematics

Science is a body of empirical, theoretical, and practical knowledge about the natural world, produced by a global community of researchers making use of scientific methods, which emphasize the observation, experimentation and explanation of real world phenomena. Given the dual status of science as objective knowledge and as a human construct, good historiography of science draws on the historical methods of both intellectual history and social history. While empirical investigations of the natural world have been described since antiquity, and scientific methods have been employed since the Middle Ages, the dawn of modern science is generally traced back to the early modern period, during what is known as the Scientific Revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries. Scientific methods are considered to be so fundamental to modern science that some—especially philosophers of science and practicing scientists—consider earlier inquiries into nature to be pre-scientific. Traditionally, historians of science have defined science sufficiently broadly to include those inquiries.

The area of study known as the history of mathematics is primarily an investigation into the origin of new discoveries in mathematics. To a lesser extent it isan investigation into the standard mathematical methods and notation of the past. Before the modern age and the worldwide spread of knowledge, written examples of new mathematical developments have come to light only in a few locales. All of these texts concern the so-called Pythagorean theorem, which seems to be the most ancient and widespread mathematical development after basic arithmetic and geometry. One striking feature of the history of ancient and medieval mathematics is that bursts of mathematical development were often followed by centuries of stagnation. Beginning in Renaissance Italy in the 16th century, new mathematical developments, interacting with new scientific discoveries, were made at an ever increasing pace, and this continues to the present day.

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2000 Years of Space Travel
by Russell Freedman
from Holiday House
for 7th-10th grade
in History of Science & Mathematics (Location: SCI-HIS)
Alchemy, the Ancient Science
by Neil Powell
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All About Famous Inventors and Their Inventions
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Angel of Mercy
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Apollo on the Moon
by Henry S. F. Cooper, Jr.
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Audubon
by Constance Rourke, illustrated by James MacDonald
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1937 Newbery Honor Book
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Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
World's Greatest Literature
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Benjamin Franklin
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Benjamin Franklin
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Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci
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Carver: A Life in Poems
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Charles Darwin and the Origin of Species
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Charles Darwin's Around-the-World Adventure
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Discovery
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Doctor Like Papa
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Doctors Who Conquered Yellow Fever
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Dr. Jenner and the Speckled Monster
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Dr. William Harvey and the Discovery of Circulation
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Einstein's Universe
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Eli Whitney: Great Inventor
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Encyclopedia of Science and Technology
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Epidemic
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Evolution of Useful Things
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Eye Wonder: Invention
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First Transatlantic Cable
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Florence Nightingale
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From the Eagle's Wing
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Galileo: First Observer of Marvelous Things
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Genius
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2006 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
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George Washington Carver: America's Scientist
Heroes of History for Young Readers
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George Washington Carver: The Man Who Overcame
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Girl Who Drew Butterflies
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Great Inventions
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Great Men of Medicine
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Great Men of Science
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Great Scientists in Bite-Sized Chunks
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History News: Medicine
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History of Invention
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How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning
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Ideas That Changed the World: Transportation
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Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
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Inventing the Future
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Islands of Truth
by Ivars Peterson
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John Audubon, Boy Naturalist
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John James Audubon
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John James Audubon: Painting America's Wildlife
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Leonardo da Vinci
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Leonardo da Vinci
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Librarian Who Measured the Earth
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Life & Times of Leonardo
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Longitude
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Longitude
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Louis Braille
by J. Alvin Kugelmass
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Louis Pasteur
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Man Who Made Time Travel
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2004 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
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Marconi: Pioneer of Radio
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Mathematics: The Story of Numbers, Symbols and Space
Golden Library of Knowledge
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Medical Corps Heroes of World War II
Landmark #120
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Medical Technology: Inventing the Instruments
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Men of Science and Invention
by Michael Blow
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Mission Control, This Is Apollo
by Andrew Chaikin, Victoria Kohl
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Mr. Bell Invents the Telephone
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My First Summer in the Sierra
by John Muir
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My First Summer in the Sierra
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Nansen
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1941 Newbery Honor Book
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Nibbling on Einstein's Brain
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One Giant Leap
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Out of My Life and Thought
by Albert Schweitzer
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Pasteur and the Invisible Giants
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People, Places, Things, Ideas - 4 Volume Set
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Personal Life of David Livingstone
Heroes of the Faith
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Picture Book of Thomas Alva Edison
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Planets, The
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Prophet With Honor
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Romance of Leonardo da Vinci
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Runner of the Mountain Tops
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1940 Newbery Honor Book
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Snowflake Bentley
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Biographies of Scientists and Inventors for 1st-3rd grade
1999 Caldecott Medal winner
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So You Want To Be an Inventor?
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Space Shuttle: A Photographic History
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Steam Engine
Inventions That Changed Our Lives
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Story of Albert Schweitzer
World Landmark #33
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Story of Atomic Energy
World Landmark #48
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