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Archimedes' bathtub is first lab of mankind

Posted October. 21, 2017 07:46,   

Updated October. 21, 2017 08:06

한국어

John Gribbin is a world renowned science writer who was once described as "one of the best science writers around" by Nature. After earning his doctorate degree in astrophysics from the University of Cambridge, he wrote nearly 100 science books for the general public. His new book includes nearly 190 illustrations and elaborated explanation to help general readers understand easily.

The book begins with Archimedes in the 3rd Century B.C. who was asked to determine if the crown was pure gold. Archimedes' experiment is considered the first scientific experiment of mankind through which he saw water flooding out of a bathtub and realized the principle of the buoyant force and how to measure the volume of fluid. Archimedes' Eureka moment makes readers get excited.

Gribbin particularly deals with the English scientist William Gilbert. His book "De Magnete," published in 1600, consisted of scientific work only for the first time in human history. The writer believes that the perspective of mankind toward a world shifted to a scientific approach from mysticism after the book was released.

Gribbin's new book is filled with stories of various experiments and watershed moments for science including Alhazen's experiment in optics and the LIGO experiment for gravitational waves. This book is recommended to those who are interested to learn more about science.



Won-Mo Yu onemore@donga.com