A Century of Science in America

A Century of Science in America is both a celebration and a reckoning: a sweeping portrait of what science became in the hundred years after Benjamin Silliman founded the American Journal of Science in 1818. Issued in the spirit of the Silliman Memorial Lectures, it gathers leading scholars to trace the growth of American science across geology, physics, chemistry, zoology, botany, paleontology, and related fields, while honoring the journal and the man who helped make scientific life in the United States possible. The book opens with a broad historical view, moving from Greek mathematics and astronomy through Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, and the Renaissance revival of observation, to the scientific world as it stood in 1818. From there it measures the astonishing changes of the next century: steam, electricity, flight, wireless communication, X-rays, radioactivity, and the new chemistry and physics that transformed daily life. It also emphasizes the deeper unifying ideas of modern science, especially conservation of energy and evolution, even as it acknowledges enduring mysteries about matter, gravity, life, and energy. Along the way, the volume pays tribute to Benjamin Silliman's life and legacy and explores landmark developments in vertebrate paleontology, fossil footprints, and the early growth of scientific publishing that shaped modern American science. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.