biography & autobiography / science & technology

Looks at the life and career of American scientist Robert Oppenheimer.

No one sees the world as Jason Padgett does. Water pours from the faucet in crystalline patterns, numbers call to mind distinct geometric shapes, and intricate fractal patterns emerge from the movement of tree branches, revealing the intrinsic mathematical designs hidden in the objects around us. Yet Padgett wasn't born this way. Twelve years ago, he had never made it past pre-algebra. But a violent mugging forever altered the way his brain works, giving him unique gifts. His ability to understand math and physics skyrocketed, and he developed the astonishing ability to draw the complex geometric shapes he saw everywhere. The first documented case of acquired savant syndrome with mathematical synesthesia, Padgett is a medical marvel.

"Drawing on the lives of five great scientists--Charles Darwin, William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), Linus Pauling, Fred Hoyle and Albert Einstein--scientist/author Mario Livio shows how even the greatest scientists made major mistakes and how science built on these errors to achieve breakthroughs, especially into the evolution of life and the universe"--Provided by publisher.

A portrait of celebrated theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, discussing his childhood, his battle with Lou Gehrig's disease, his pursuit of a scientific understanding of the universe, and his rise to international fame.

Explains how the work of scientists Max Delbr?ck and George Gamow in the 1940s and 1950s helped pave the way for modern geneticists and physicists, discussing their breakthroughs in understanding how parents transmit genetic traits to offspring and how stars generate energy and why their work was not recognized until much later.