Science--A.S.A.P.: As Simple as Possible: 6

Quick--who was the first person to calculate the size of the Earth? (Eratosthenes in 240 B.C.--and he was surprisingly close to the mark). And whatever is Ohm's Law? (""The cornerstone of electrical science and engineering."") More than 200 great advances in science and math are reviewed here in short, easily digested chunks, one or two pages in length. While many of these facts were probably part of your high school curricula (Archimedes' principle, the Curies' work with radioactivity), others may be unfamiliar (the production of the first synthetic plastic in 1855). The selection is far-ranging, from biology to ethology and paleontology (though some might question how scientific the work of Josef Breuer and Freud was), and Axelrod (author of 60 books) offers deft, clear explanations even of such elusive discoveries as those in quantum mechanics. This is a useful little book to have on hand if you're a little rusty in science.