# kb

id: the-ambidextrous-universe-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ambidextrous_Universe-0.md
category: reference
title: The Ambidextrous Universe
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ambidextrous_Universe
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:03:04.904731+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: the-ambidextrous-universe-20260505-0
summary:
The Ambidextrous Universe is a popular science book by Martin Gardner, covering aspects of symmetry and asymmetry in human culture, science and the wider universe. It culminates in a discussion of whether nature's conservation of parity (the symmetry of mirrored quantum systems) is ever violated, which had been proven experimentally in 1956. The book was originally published in 1964 with the subtitle Left, Right, and the Fall of Parity, with a revised version following in 1969. A second edition was released in 1979 with the new subtitle Mirror Asymmetry and Time-Reversed Worlds. The third edition was released in 1990 under the title The New Ambidextrous Universe: Symmetry and Asymmetry from Mirror Reflections to Superstrings; this was re-released with minor revisions in 2005. == Content == The book begins with the subject of mirror reflection, and from there passes through symmetry in geometry, poetry, art, music, galaxies, stars, planets and living organisms. It then moves down into the molecular scale and looks at how symmetry and asymmetry have evolved from the beginning of life on Earth. There is a chapter on carbon and its versatility and on chirality in biochemistry. The last several chapters deal with a conundrum called the Ozma


id: the-ancient-engineers-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ancient_Engineers-0.md
category: reference
title: The Ancient Engineers
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ancient_Engineers
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:03:06.107193+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: the-ancient-engineers-20260505-0
summary:
The Ancient Engineers is a 1963 science book by L. Sprague de Camp, one of his most popular works. It was first published by Doubleday and has been reprinted numerous times by other publishers. Translations into German and Polish have also been published. Portions of the work had previously appeared as articles in the magazines Fate, Isis and Science Digest. == Contents == The work is an examination of engineering through the ages from 3000 BC to 1519 AD, from the monumental works of the Egyptians through the speculative inventions of Leonardo da Vinci. The technological legacies of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, China, the medieval Arabs and Europeans, and Renaissance Europe, are all covered in separate sections, focusing particularly on architectural, military and civil engineering. == Review == The following review is often quoted in reference to this book: Mr. de Camp has the trick of being able to show technology engaging in feats as full of derring-do as those of Hannibal's army. History as it should be told. —Isaac Asimov, The New York Times Book Review, 15 May 1963 == See also == Lest Darkness Fall == Notes == == External links == The Ancient Engineers title listing at


id: antarctic-conquest-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_Conquest-0.md
category: reference
title: Antarctic Conquest
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_Conquest
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:03:07.356907+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: antarctic-conquest-20260505-0
summary:
Antarctic Conquest: the Story of the Ronne Expedition 1946-1948 is a 1949 science book by Norwegian-American Antarctic explorer Finn Ronne and science fiction writer L. Sprague de Camp, published in hardcover by G. P. Putnam's Sons. The role of de Camp, who was commissioned as a ghost writer to recast Ronne's manuscript into publishable form, is uncredited. Ronne's working title was reportedly "Conquering the Antarctic". == Summary == The book relates the story of the Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition, which researched the area surrounding the head of the Weddell Sea in Antarctica from 1947–1948. == Relationship to other works == De Camp's work with Ronne is reflected in two of his contemporary Viagens Interplanetarias science fiction stories set on the fictional planet Krishna. One, the short story "Calories," adopts an Antarctic setting not utilized in any of the series's other stories; in the other, the novel The Hand of Zei, the protagonist adopts the alias of an inhabitant of the planet's Antarctic and is, like de Camp, employed as a ghostwriter for his explorer boss. == Notes == == External links == Book review in the Geographical Review, v. 40, no. 1 (Jan. 1950), pp. 154-155


id: antiquarian-science-books-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiquarian_science_books-0.md
category: reference
title: Antiquarian science books
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiquarian_science_books
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:03:08.591517+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: antiquarian-science-books-20260505-0
summary:
Antiquarian science books are original historical works (e.g., books or technical papers) concerning science, mathematics and sometimes engineering. These books are important primary references for the study of the history of science and technology, they can provide valuable insights into the historical development of the various fields of scientific inquiry (History of science, History of mathematics, etc.) The landmark are significant first (or early) editions typically worth hundreds or thousands of dollars (prices may vary widely based on condition, etc.). Reprints of these books are often available, for example from Great Books of the Western World, Dover Publications or Google Books. Incunabula are extremely rare and valuable, but as the Scientific Revolution is only taken to have started around the 1540s, such works of Renaissance literature (including alchemy, Renaissance magic, etc.) are not usually included under the notion of "scientific" literature. Printed originals of the beginning Scientific Revolution thus date to the 1540s or later, notably beginning with the original publication of Copernican heliocentrism. Nicolaus Copernicus' De revolutionibus orbium coelestium of 1543 sold for more than US$2 million at auctions. == List of notable books == === 16th century === Tartaglia, Niccolò. Nova Scientia (A New Science). Venice, 1537. Ballistics.


id: antiquarian-science-books-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiquarian_science_books-1.md
category: reference
title: Antiquarian science books
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiquarian_science_books
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:03:08.591517+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: antiquarian-science-books-20260505-0
summary:
=== 19th century === Gauss, Carl Friedrich (Germany). Disquisitiones Arithmeticae. Leipzig, 1801. Number theory Young, Thomas (England). Experiments and Calculations Relative to Physical Optics, 1803. Light Argand, Jean-Robert (Switzerland). Essai sur une maniere de representer les quantities imaginaries dans les constructions geometriques, 1806. Imaginary numbers. Dalton, John (England). A New System of Chemical Philosophy. London, 1808. Atomic theory Berzelius, Jöns Jacob (Sweden). Läroboken i kemien, 1808. Chemistry Cayley, George (England). On Aerial Navigation. Brompton, 3 Vol, 1809. Aeronautics. Ørsted, Hans Christian (Denmark). Experimenta circa effectum conflictus electrici in acum magneticam. Copenhagen, 1820. Electromagnetism. Fourier, Joseph (France). Théorie Analytique de la Chaleur. Paris, 1822. Fourier series. Fresnel, Augustin-Jean (France). Mémoire Sur Un Nouveau Système D'Éclairage Des Phares Lu À L'Académie Des Sciences. Paris, 1822. Wave optics Babbage, Charles (England). Mr. Babbage's invention: Application of machinery to the purpose of calculating and printing mathematical tables. London, 1823. Computing Lobachevsky, Nikolai (Russia). Geometriya. 1823. Non-Euclidean geometry Cauchy, Augustin-Louis (France). Le calcul infinitesimal. Paris, 1823. Mathematical analysis Carnot, Sadi (France). Réflexions sur la Puissance Motrice du Feu et sur les machines propres à déveloper cette puissance. Paris, 1824. Thermodynamics Ampère, André-Marie (France). Mémoire sur la théorie mathématique des phénomènes électrodynamiques, 1827. Electromagnetism Laplace, Pierre-Simon


id: antiquarian-science-books-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiquarian_science_books-2.md
category: reference
title: Antiquarian science books
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiquarian_science_books
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:03:08.591517+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: antiquarian-science-books-20260505-0
summary:
=== 20th century (pre-Cold War) === Planck, Max (Germany). Zur Theorie des Gesetzes der Energieverteilung im Normalspectrum. Leipzig, 1900. Quantum mechanics Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin Eduardovich (Russia). The Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices. Kaluga, 1903. Rockets Rutherford, Ernest (New Zealand). Radio-activity. Cambridge, 1904. Nuclear physics Lorentz, Hendrik (Netherlands). Electromagnetic phenomena in a system moving with any velocity smaller than that of light. Amsterdam, 1904. Special relativity Einstein, Albert (Germany). Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Körper ("On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies") Leipzig, 1905. Special relativity Einstein, Albert (Germany). Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content? Leipzig, 1905. Physics Richardson, Lewis (England). The Approximate Arithmetical Solution by Finite Differences of Physical Problems Involving Differential Equations, with an Application to the Stresses in a Masonry Dam. London, 1910. Computational mechanics Boas, Franz (Germany/America). The Mind of Primitive Man. New York, 1911. Anthropology Bohr, Niels (Denmark). On the Constitution of Atoms and Molecules. London, 1913. Quantum mechanics Einstein, Albert (Germany). Die Grundlage Der Allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie (Foundations of the General Theory of Relativity). Leipzig, 1916. Physics. Goddard, Robert Hutchings (America). A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes. Washington, D.C, 1919. Rockets de Broglie, Louis (France). Recherches sur la théorie des quanta


id: the-ape-man-within-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ape-Man_Within-0.md
category: reference
title: The Ape-Man Within
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ape-Man_Within
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:03:09.754305+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: the-ape-man-within-20260505-0
summary:
The Ape-Man Within is a 1995 science book by L. Sprague de Camp, published in hardcover by Prometheus Books. == Summary == The book undertakes to demonstrate how humankind's self-inflicted problems are rooted in its evolutionary past, with primitive survival traits appropriate to ancestral primates who were organized in small, foraging bands still manifesting in modern societies as competitive, adversarial behavior. == Contents == 1. Darwinian Man 2. Our Handy Kin 3. The Noble Savage 4. The Breeds of Man 5. The Phantom Aryans 6. Race and Power 7. Goat Island 8. What Makes Us Tick? 9. "And Hate Alone Is True" 10. Conclusions Notes Bibliography == Reception == De Camp's approach to his subject has been criticized for oversimplification and inaccuracy in matters of detail. == Notes == == External links == "The Ape-Man Within by L. Sprague de Camp – Book Review" - a positive book review by Tudor Vieru "Darwinism made too simple" - a negative book review by Jeffrey McKee


id: apollo-s-arrow-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo's_Arrow-0.md
category: reference
title: Apollo's Arrow
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo's_Arrow
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:03:10.939266+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: apollo-s-arrow-20260505-0
summary:
Apollo’s Arrow: The Science of Prediction and the Future of Everything is a non-fiction book about prediction written by Canadian author and mathematician David Orrell. The book was initially published in Canada by HarperCollins in 2007, and was a national bestseller. It was published in the United States as The Future of Everything: The Science of Prediction, and translated versions were also published in Japan, South Korea and China. The book was taught as part of a university course in “Forecasting via Mathematical Modeling” at Gustavus Adolphus College in 2009. == Summary == In this book, Orrell explains the science of prediction to a general audience. The book begins with a general history of prediction from the Delphic oracle to the present day. The next part considers three different areas of prediction in detail: weather, health and economics. It argues that these are all examples of complex systems that cannot be reduced to equations. As mathematical models become more refined, the number of unknown parameters tends to explode. At the same time, networks of interlocking feedback loops make the models unstable. According to Orrell, the resulting model error (rather than e.g. the butterfly effect) is the main reason why forecasts


id: bad-pharma-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Pharma-0.md
category: reference
title: Bad Pharma
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Pharma
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:03:12.142240+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bad-pharma-20260505-0
summary:
Bad Pharma: How Drug Companies Mislead Doctors and Harm Patients is a book by the British physician and academic Ben Goldacre about the pharmaceutical industry, its relationship with the medical profession, and the extent to which it controls academic research into its own products. It was published in the UK in September 2012 by the Fourth Estate imprint of HarperCollins, and in the United States in February 2013 by Faber and Faber. Goldacre argues in the book that "the whole edifice of medicine is broken", because the evidence on which it is based is systematically distorted by the pharmaceutical industry. He writes that the industry finances most of the clinical trials into its own products and much of doctors' continuing education, that clinical trials are often conducted on small groups of unrepresentative subjects and negative data is routinely withheld, and that apparently independent academic papers may be planned and even ghostwritten by pharmaceutical companies or their contractors, without disclosure. Describing the situation as a "murderous disaster", he makes suggestions for action by patients' groups, physicians, academics and the industry itself. Responding to the book's publication, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry issued a statement in 2012 arguing that the


id: bad-pharma-20260505-1
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Pharma-1.md
category: reference
title: Bad Pharma
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Pharma
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:03:12.142240+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bad-pharma-20260505-0
summary:
=== Chapter 2: "Where Do New Drugs Come From?" === In the second chapter, the book describes the process as new drugs move from animal testing through phase 1 (first-in-man study), phase 2, and phase 3 clinical trials. Phase 1 participants are referred to as volunteers, but in the US are paid $200–$400 per day, and because studies can last several weeks and subjects may volunteer several times a year, earning potential becomes the main reason for participation. Participants are usually taken from the poorest groups in society, and outsourcing increasingly means that trials may be conducted in countries with low wages by contract research organizations (CROs). The rate of growth for clinical trials in India is 20 percent a year, in Argentina 27 percent, and in China 47 percent, while trials in the UK have fallen by 10 percent a year and in the US by six percent. The shift to outsourcing raises issues about data integrity, regulatory oversight, language difficulties, the meaning of informed consent among a much poorer population, the standards of clinical care, the extent to which corruption may be regarded as routine in certain countries, and the ethical problem of raising a population's expectations for


id: bad-pharma-20260505-2
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Pharma-2.md
category: reference
title: Bad Pharma
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Pharma
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:03:12.142240+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bad-pharma-20260505-0
summary:
=== Chapter 6: "Marketing" === In the final chapter, Goldacre looks at how doctors are persuaded to prescribe "me-too drugs," brand-name drugs that are no more effective than significantly cheaper off-patent ones. He cites as examples the statins atorvastatin (Lipitor, made by Pfizer) and simvastatin (Zocor), which he writes seem to be equally effective, or at least there is no evidence to suggest otherwise. Simvastatin came off patent several years ago, yet there are still three million prescriptions a year in the UK for atorvastatin, costing the National Health Service (NHS) an annual £165 million extra. He addresses the issue of medicalization of certain conditions (or, as he argues, of personhood), whereby pharmaceutical companies "widen the boundaries of diagnosis" before offering solutions. Female sexual dysfunction was highlighted in 1999 by a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which alleged that 43 percent of women were suffering from it. After the article appeared, the New York Times wrote that two of its three authors had worked as consultants for Pfizer, which at the time was preparing to launch UK-414,495, known as female Viagra. The journal's editor said that the failure to disclose the relationship with Pfizer was


id: bad-pharma-20260505-3
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Pharma-3.md
category: reference
title: Bad Pharma
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Pharma
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:03:12.142240+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bad-pharma-20260505-0
summary:
== Reception == The book was generally well received. The Economist described it as "slightly technical, eminently readable, consistently shocking, occasionally hectoring and unapologetically polemical". Helen Lewis in the New Statesman called it an important book, while Luisa Dillner, writing in the Guardian, described it as a "thorough piece of investigative medical journalism". Andrew Jack wrote in the Financial Times that Goldacre is "at his best in methodically dissecting poor clinical trials. ... He is less strong in explaining the complex background reality, such as the general constraints and individual slips of regulators and pharma companies' employees." Jack also argued that the book failed to reflect how many lives have been improved by the current system, for example with new treatments for HIV, rheumatoid arthritis and cancer. Max Pemberton, a psychiatrist, wrote in the Daily Telegraph that "this is a book to make you enraged ... because it's about how big business puts profits over patient welfare, allows people to die because they don't want to disclose damning research evidence, and the tricks they play to make sure doctors do not have all the evidence when it comes to appraising whether a drug really works or not." The Association of


id: the-beauty-of-fractals-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beauty_of_Fractals-0.md
category: reference
title: The Beauty of Fractals
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beauty_of_Fractals
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:03:13.365504+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: the-beauty-of-fractals-20260505-0
summary:
The Beauty of Fractals is a 1986 book by Heinz-Otto Peitgen and Peter Richter which publicises the fields of complex dynamics, chaos theory and the concept of fractals. It is lavishly illustrated and as a mathematics book became an unusual success. The book includes a total of 184 illustrations, including 88 full-colour pictures of Julia sets. Although the format suggests a coffee table book, the discussion of the background of the presented images addresses some sophisticated mathematics which would not be found in popular science books. In 1987 the book won an Award for distinguished technical communication. == Summary == The book starts with a general introduction to Complex Dynamics, Chaos and fractals. In particular the Feigenbaum scenario and the relation to Julia sets and the Mandelbrot set is discussed. The following special sections provide in depth detail for the shown images: Verhulst Dynamics, Julia Sets and Their Computergraphical Generation, Sullivan's Classification of Critical Points, The Mandelbrot Set, External Angles and Hubbard Trees, Newton's Method for Complex Polynomials: Cayley's Problem, Newtons's Method for Real Equations, A Discrete Volterra-Lotka System, Yang-Lee Zeros, Renormalization (Magnetism and Complex Boundaries). The book also includes invited Contributions by Benoît Mandelbrot, Adrien Douady, Gert Eilenberger and


id: bending-science-20260505-0
file: data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bending_Science-0.md
category: reference
title: Bending Science
tags: science, encyclopedia
source_url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bending_Science
date_saved: 2026-05-05T03:03:14.514474+00:00
instance: kb-cron
parent: bending-science-20260505-0
summary:
Bending Science: How special interests corrupt public health research is a 2008 book by Thomas O. McGarity and Wendy E. Wagner, published by Harvard University Press. Bending Science explores the ways that science is manipulated in the process of making public policy and the law. It has been called a "fascinating and troubling investigation." The authors present a collection of case studies, undertaken largely by industry and designed to distort the scientific process. Thomas McGarity and Wendy Wagner are both University of Texas law professors. == See also == List of books about the politics of science == References ==


