HISTORIES
OF SCIENTIFIC INSIGHTS
Igor Ushakov, (Edited by Arne
Mortensen)
Extracts from references
This
book will be extremely useful for school teachers who can brighten
their classes on math, physics, astronomy, geography and even
art.
Dr.
Sci. Igor Sokolov
***
My
belief is that it is a real masterpiece!
Professor Yakob Genis
***
This
is a brilliant, even a unique book! It will widen your horizons
regardless of your age and education.
Dr. of
Science Henrik Knizhnik
***
Perfect selection of material, beautiful language, fascinating
information, a lot of humor.
Dr.
Marc Kaminsky
Readers’
reviews
Dr. Sci. Igor Sokolov
(English translation)
The
book “Histories of Scientific Insights” is written in an excellent
literature style and reads easily, even through those problems in
consideration which are far from trivial.
For
whom is this book? What is the audience that will be interested in
reading it? In my opinion there is no “specific” audience.
Doubtlessly, the book will be interesting to schoolchildren,
starting probably from the 5th grade. This book will be
extremely useful for school teachers who can brighten their classes
on math, physics, astronomy, geography and even art.
For
college students, it will give a comprehensive vision of the
interconnection of various physical discoveries. At the same time,
I know personally how professors read with interest this book,
taking from it new information about the lives of geniuses –
creators of the science.
What
parents would not like to awaken the slipping talents of their
children with this smart and absorbing book?
Director of the Informatics Problem Institute
of the Russian Ac. of Sci.
Corresponding member RAS,
Dr.Sci. Igor Sokolov
isokolov@ipiran.ru
Professor Yakob Genis
(English translation)
I have
an e-version of “Histories of Scientific Insights” book that
Professor Ushakov sent me in the beginning of 2007. I did not like
the so-called “popular” books, so I didn’t touch the book for
several weeks. Then once, on Saturday I started to read it… I found
that it was so interesting to me that I could not stop reading it.
My
belief is that it is a real masterpiece! I never met something
written as comprehensively and so absorbing about histories of
science and scientists’ lives!
Professor Yakob Genis
yashag5@yahoo.com
Dr. of Science Henrik
Knizhnik
(English translation)
This is
a brilliant, even a unique book! It will widen your horizons
regardless of your age and education. You find here so much new
information about seemingly well known things! Scientists, whom you
used to picture like dry leaves in a herbarium, will come alive.
The
book is excellently written, with vivid language (that is not met so
often in such books) and supplied with many of illustrations.
Doubtlessly it will be interesting to everybody: from schoolchildren
to high level professionals. I know many skeptical scientists who
have read it with excitement.
“Histories of Scientific Insights” is really a “book without
borders”!
Dr. of Science Henrik Knizhnik
synthezis@yandex.ru
Dr. Marc Kaminsky
Perfect
selection of material, beautiful language, fascinating information,
a lot of humor. It is a real art to write so entertainingly about
things that usually are considered too serious and even “dull”.
Never thought before reading “Histories of Scientific Insights” that
I know so few about subjects where I consider myself a professional…
Sr. Researcher Dr. Marc Kaminsky
mkaminskiy@hotmail.com
About the book:
From the Editor of the book
(excerpt)
Igor
Ushakov originated the idea of this book and wrote (in Russian) all
the meaningful content. Although the author loves his work and is
prone to write just for personal satisfaction, he thrills at the
thought of sharing his work with readers, who he hopes will become
as inspired by the beauty of the discoveries as he is. To that end,
he has attempted to write a lighthearted and easy to read historical
accounting of selected significant developments in Man’s progress in
science and technology.
The
fundamental character of this book is like that of an art
appreciation book. We want to walk the readers through a museum of
“paintings,” giving them a way to appreciate the works of art. Our
book is not a textbook or a how to book; its purpose is to walk you
through a gallery of masterpieces, in the same way as you would take
in the works at, say, the Museo del Prado in Madrid.
I think
it is exciting to note the synergism of scientists and
mathematicians to create the engineer. However, there is further
excitement in the realization that Man’s distinction from all other
animals and, hence, his ability to create is the result of synergism
in all disciplines.
This
book is about the beauty of mathematics, I think it is a selected
history of Man’s accomplishments, a history that shows that science,
mathematics, language, etc. do not march on independently of one
another. It is the synergism of all these disciplines that leads to
greatness. And, remarkably, there is room for all of us to
contribute to Man’s greatness.
Arne Mortensen
What is
this book about? For whom is it written? Why is it written in this
manner, not in another? Discussion about geometry, algebra and
similar topics definitely hint that this is about mathematics. On
the other hand, you cannot find within a proof of any statement or
strong chronology of facts. Thus, this is not a tutorial book on
mathematics or history of science.
Our
book is open for everybody who likes to enrich their intelligence
with the history of genius insights and great mistakes (mistakes
also can be great!), and with biographies of creators of
mathematical thinking and mathematical approaches in the study of
the World.
Who are
the readers of the proposed book? We believe that there is no
special audience in the sense of education or age. The books could
be interesting to schoolteachers and university professors (not
necessarily mathematicians!) who would like to make their lectures
more vivid and intriguing. At the same time, students of different
educational levels as well as their parents may find here many
interesting facts and ideas. We can imagine that the book could be
interesting even for state leaders whose educational level is enough
to read something beyond speeches prepared for them by their
advisors.
This
book is not intended to convert you to a “mathematical religion”.
Indeed, there is no need to do this: imagine how boring life would
be if everybody were a mathematician? However, to be honest, we
pursued the objective: we tried to convince you, the reader, that
without mathematics homo erectus would never transform into
homo sapiens.
Now,
let us travel into the very interesting place: Terra Mathematica.
We’ll try to make this your trip interesting and exciting.
Igor Ushakov
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART
1: MAN’S FIRST STEP.
This is
about measurements of object and distances in the Solar System,
creating the model of the Universe. Considering astronomy, we cannot
leave unobserved astrology and “black magic”. Then we consider
calendars and its development with time. The final part is about
units of measurement of length, volume, time, etc. A special section
is called Pantheon. Here you find biographies of great scientists of
all times and peoples with a number of usually unknown facts:
Eratosthenes of Cyrene, Aristarchus of Samos, Claudius Ptolemy,
Nicolas Copernicus, Òycho Brahe, Giordano Filippo Bruno, Johannes
Kepler, Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, Pierre-Simon Laplace ,
and Albert Einstein.
PART
2: IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE NUMBER…
Here
you find various numerals (ancient Egypt, Greek, Sumerian, Roman,
Arabic).You find interesting human prejudice about numbers. Of
course, you know about primes, but do you know about Mersenne’s
primes? What do you know about perfect numbers? You will know many
interesting things about numbers “e” and “pi”. Then you meet with
really huge numbers… Finally, you will be introduced to “magic
squares” and sudoku.
Pantheon in this part of the book includes Euclid, Archimedes of
Syracuse, and Leonhard Euler.
PART
3: THE MAGIC OF GEOMETRY
Here
you find strange one-, two- and three-dimensional figures. Fractals
will show you its beauty…After this you find strange objects (Möbius
Strip and Klein Bottle) and even impossible ones! You will know a
lot about “golden section” and how it connects to
Fibonacci numbers. And of course, geometry is impossible to imagine
without Pythagoras’ Theorem. In Pantheon you meet with
Pythagoras of Samos, Leonardo Fibonacci, Fra Luca Bartolomeo de
Pacioli, and Leonardo da
Vinci.
SOME “NOT TOO RANDOM”
SUBSTRACTS FROM THE BOOK
…
Let’s now follow Aristarchus and his
disciples to see how they measured the distance to the Sun and its
radius. Aristarchus realized that the Earth and the Moon have
orbits around the Sun that lie in the same plane. After that
realization, he applied simple math to the problem as follows: When
we observe exactly a half of the moon disk (on the 7th
and 21st days of a lunar month), it means that the
“eye-moon-sun” angle must be a right angle.
۞ ۞ ۞
…
Of course, a curious person might ask: how could such a complex
system come about? Perhaps the Universe was created in six days in
the mysterious way told to us in the Bible. In the middle of the
18th century German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, was absorbed by the
idea of finding an alternative to the Biblical version of the
creation of Life and the Universe by God. Kant was the first who
suggested a theory that the Solar system came from a nebula. His
theoretical musing preceded the future work of future astronomers in
this area.
۞ ۞ ۞
…
From where did the word “calendar”
come? In ancient Rome a New Year was declared to start on the day
of the first new Moon in March. The first days of each New Year were
called calendae. These were special days when all citizens
had to pay their debts and interests. Because of that, the debt
book was called a calendarium.
۞ ۞ ۞
|
|
|
|
 |
A professor
asked a student:
– What is the horsepower?
– That is the force of the horse with height of 1
meter
and weight of
1 kilogram…
–
My dear
friend! Where can you find such a horse?! – asked the
angry Professor.
–
It is not so
simple, Professor. That horse is hidden in Paris at the
Bureau of Longitude…
|
|
|
|
۞ ۞ ۞
…
Copernicus is famous as a very good
physician. Some his original prescriptions have been saved. There
is a legend that during the defense of the city, where he was a
member of governing body, Copernicus took a special anti-epidemic
measure: he ordered that buttered sliced bread be given to the
citizens. This combination of bread and butter was highly
appreciated by people. Thus, the name of Copernicus is known in
gastronomic history as well!
۞ ۞ ۞
…
Giordano Bruno mostly is well known for
his martyrdom. However, he was not only a martyr who preferred to
die rather than recant his ideas but was a great philosopher who
influenced future generations, who helped transform medieval
philosophy into modern philosophy. His vision of the Universe was
unique and almost unbelievable for his time.
By the
way, he is the only one who is still on the Catholic Church list of
“heretics."
۞ ۞ ۞
…
Laplace had always changed his views
and opinions in accordance with the current political situation.
During the political changes in France he sought favor with the
Revolution, consul, emperor, and King. It gave him success and
comfort but could not improve his relations with colleagues who saw
his changes of views as merely attempts to win favor.
As
Napoleon's power increased, Laplace abandoned his republican
principles. As a result, Laplace in 1806 was decreed by Napoleon to
be Count of the Empire. In 1814 Laplace supported the restoration
of the Bourbon monarchy and in the Senate voted against his former
patron, Napoleon. Napoleon’s Hundred Days were a real embarrassment
to him, and he left Paris during this critical period. After the
downfall of Napoleon in 1814 and the restoration of the Bourbons, he
was nominated Peer of France, with the right of a seat in the
Chamber, and in 1817 he was elevated to marquis.
۞ ۞ ۞
Einstein’s Aphorisms
-
All religions, arts
and sciences are branches of the same tree.
-
Anyone who has never
made a mistake has never tried anything new.
-
Education is what
remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.
-
Everything should be
made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
-
Gravitation is not
responsible for people falling in love.
-
I never think of the
future – it comes soon enough.
-
If the facts don't fit
the theory, change the facts.
-
Only a life lived for
others is a life worthwhile.
-
Only two things are
infinite, the universe and human stupidity.
-
The difference between
stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.
-
The world is a
dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because
of those who look on and do nothing.
-
Try not to become a
man of success but rather to become a man of value.
-
You can never solve a
problem on the level on which it was created.
۞ ۞ ۞
…
Probably, the most
astonishing case occurred in Russia: in 1883 a priest of a village
in the Northern Russia Ivan Mikheevich Pervoushin with no special
calculation tools proved that Ì61=2305843009213693951
is prime.
۞ ۞ ۞
…
Pythagoreans trying to conceal the
discovery of irrational numbers created a myth about the death of
Hippasus, Pythagoras’ pupil, who disclosed the fact of irrational
numbers. (Who knows: may be it is not a myth but a real event?)
According to the legend, Hippasus tried to find a fraction, which
would be equal to the ratio between the side of a square and its
diagonal. At last, he came to the conclusion that there is no such
fraction at all.
Hippasus’ discovery “could” destroy the entire Pythagorean
mathematical concept of Nature. For this “scientific sin” the
Pythagorean Brotherhood condemned him to death through drowning…
۞ ۞ ۞
…
A Japanese mental health counselor has
broken the world record for reciting “pi” from memory. Akira
Haraguchi, 59, managed to recite the number's first 83,431 decimal
places, almost doubling the previous record held by another
Japanese. He had to stop three hours into his recital after losing
his place, and had to start from the beginning.
۞ ۞ ۞
…
Due to the appearance that Sudoku is a
Japanese name, many think that Sudoku puzzles originated in Japan.
However, this assumption is wrong. Sudoku makes its first
appearance in modern times American magazine, “Mathematical Puzzles
and Logical Problems,” in 1979. The author of this puzzle is
74-year old pensioner Howard Garns. The magazine published the
problem under the title «Number Place».
This
magazine was seen in Japan, and in 1984 a Japanese magazine began to
publish such puzzles under the name of Sudoku, which almost is a
direct transliteration of the American name («su» means «number»,
and «doku» – «place»).
۞ ۞ ۞
…
An example of a 3-dimensional landscape
synthesized by Martin Murphy using a software program, Bryce,
based on fractals, is shown below. Clouds, mountains, trees, light
and shadows are realistic, aren’t they? Note that Mandelbrot, the
father of fractal geometry, contributed significantly to the
creation of this program.
۞ ۞ ۞
…
The following equation involves the
golden ratio, x:
.
It
follows that only the positive root has physical meaning:
Leonardo da Vinci coined the name “Golden Section”, or “Golden
Ratio.”
Let’s
rewrite our previous equation:
x 2 = x + 1,
in the form:
.
It is
interesting that for the value of x, one can construct an
elegant chain fraction in the following way: Substitute for x in
the denominator to form the following fraction:
Continuing the procedure, one generates an infinite chain fraction
of the kind:
One can get another interesting representation of x. Let us
rewrite the equation x 2 = x + 1 in the form
.
Making substitution of x under the square root, one gets
,
and then continuing the procedure infinitely, one gets a new
representation of the Golden Section:
۞ ۞ ۞
…
A scandalous event happened in 1476.
In those days it was usual to put anonymous accusations in a wooden
box, which was put up in front of the City Hall. Leonardo and four
others artists from Verrocchio’s studio were accused of having a
homosexual affair («Peccato di Sodomia») with a boy, who was
a model. Within six months from the initial accusation the
anonymous accusation was repeated. At that time the punishment for
Sodomy was very severe; an accused potentially could be burned to
death in the city square. The trial was held, but no evidence was
presented, so all defendants were acquitted of the charge. Despite
the acquittal, all of the defendants were whipped (presumable, to
demonstrate official power). It was suspected that somebody decided
to settle a score with one of Verrocchio’s pupils.
۞ ۞ ۞
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