Horizontes

We tend to think that modern science was invented in Europe, the product of great minds such as Nicolaus Copernicus, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin or Albert Einstein. But, this is a mistake. Science is not, nor has it ever been, an exclusively European endeavor. Copernicus relied on mathematical techniques taken from Arabic and Persian texts. When Newton established the laws of motion, he based it on astronomical observations made in Asia and Africa. When Darwin wrote The Origin of Species he consulted a Chinese encyclopedia from the 16th century. And when Einstein was studying quantum mechanics, he was inspired by the Bengali physicist Satyendra Nath Bose. Horizons goes beyond Europe, exploring the ways in which scientists from Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific fit into the history of science, which is best understood as a history of global cultural exchange. With a powerful narrative force, James Poskett takes us on a journey through time around the world and traces the origins of modern science: from the palaces of the Aztecs to Chinese universities, he tells the story of the forgotten pioneers of great knowledge.