Science: A Four Thousand Year History rewrites science's past. Instead of focussing on difficult experiments and abstract theories, Patricia Fara shows how science has always belonged to the practical world of war, politics, and business. Rather than glorifying scientists as idealized heroes, she tells true stories about real people - men (and some women) who needed to earn their living, who made mistakes, and who trampled down their rivals in their quest for success. Sweeping through the centuries, from ancient Babylon right up to the latest hi-tech experiments in genetics and particle physics, Patricia Fara illuminates the financial interests, imperial ambitions, and publishing enterprises that have made science the powerful global phenomenon that it is today.

Introduction Part I: Origins 1. Sevens 2. Babylon 3. Heroes 4. Cosmos 5. Life 6. Matter 7. Technology Part II: Interactions 8. Eurocentrism 9. China 10. Islam 11. Scholarship 12. Europe 13. Aristotle 14. Alchemy Part III: Experiments 15. Exploration 16. Magic 17. Astronomy 18. Bodies 19. Machines 20. Instruments 21. Gravity Part IV: Institutions 22. Societies 23. Systems 24. Careers 25. Industries 26. Revolutions 27. Rationality 28. Disciplines Part V: Laws 29. Progress 30. Globalization 31. Objectivity 32. God 33. Evolution 34. Power 35. Time Part VI: Invisibles 36. Life 37. Disease 38. Rays 39. Particles 40. Genes 41. Chemicals 42. Uncertainties Part VII: 43. Warfare 44. Heredity 45. Cosmology 46. Information 47. Rivalry 48. Environment 49. Futures Postscript

Patricia Fara , Senior Tutor, Clare College, Cambridge

`Review from previous edition Fara's book could not be more wide-ranging, beginning [with] the quest to take the story of science as far back as she possibly cab, and ending bang up to date. The content is ambitious. jusiciously and fairly handled...The narrative moves forward in an engaging way, while the enthusiasm and opinions of the author are never far from the surface. It is a book to provoke thought and argument. An impressive achievement.' Jim Bennett, BBC History Magazine |d 01/04/2008