Scientific Jefferson Revealed

Scientific Jefferson Revealed

Author: Martin Richard Clagett

Publisher: Uva - Office of the President

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13:

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Study of Thomas Jefferson as a scientist, including the various branches of science he studied and to which he made lasting contributions. Also examines how science shaped his views on the politics, religion, economics, and social developments in his own country.


Science and the Founding Fathers

Science and the Founding Fathers

Author: I. Bernard Cohen

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 378

ISBN-13: 9780393315103

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Thomas Jefferson was the only president who could read and understand Newton's Principia. Benjamin Franklin is credited with establishing the science of electricity. John Adams had the finest education in science that the new country could provide, including "Pnewmaticks, Hydrostaticks, Mechanicks, Staticks, Opticks." James Madison, chief architect of the Constitution, peppered his Federalist Papers with references to physics, chemistry, and the life sciences. For these men science was an integral part of life--including political life. This is the story of their scientific education and of how they employed that knowledge in shaping the political issues of the day, incorporating scientific reasoning into the Constitution.


Nature's Ghosts

Nature's Ghosts

Author: Mark V. Barrow

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2011-04-15

Total Pages: 511

ISBN-13: 0226038157

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The rapid growth of the American environmental movement in recent decades obscures the fact that long before the first Earth Day and the passage of the Endangered Species Act, naturalists and concerned citizens recognized—and worried about—the problem of human-caused extinction. As Mark V. Barrow reveals in Nature’s Ghosts, the threat of species loss has haunted Americans since the early days of the republic. From Thomas Jefferson’s day—when the fossil remains of such fantastic lost animals as the mastodon and the woolly mammoth were first reconstructed—through the pioneering conservation efforts of early naturalists like John James Audubon and John Muir, Barrow shows how Americans came to understand that it was not only possible for entire species to die out, but that humans themselves could be responsible for their extinction. With the destruction of the passenger pigeon and the precipitous decline of the bison, professional scientists and wildlife enthusiasts alike began to understand that even very common species were not safe from the juggernaut of modern, industrial society. That realization spawned public education and legislative campaigns that laid the foundation for the modern environmental movement and the preservation of such iconic creatures as the bald eagle, the California condor, and the whooping crane. A sweeping, beautifully illustrated historical narrative that unites the fascinating stories of endangered animals and the dedicated individuals who have studied and struggled to protect them, Nature’s Ghosts offers an unprecedented view of what we’ve lost—and a stark reminder of the hard work of preservation still ahead.


Mr. Jefferson and the Giant Moose

Mr. Jefferson and the Giant Moose

Author: Lee Alan Dugatkin

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2019-04-04

Total Pages: 179

ISBN-13: 022663910X

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Capturing the essence of the origin and evolution of the so-called "degeneracy debates," over whether the flora and fauna of America (including Native Americans) were naturally weaker and feebler than species elsewhere in the world, this book chronicles Thomas Jefferson's efforts to counter French conceptions of American degeneracy, culminating in his sending of a stuffed moose to Buffon


Friends Divided

Friends Divided

Author: Gordon S. Wood

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 530

ISBN-13: 0735224714

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A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of 2017 A Wall Street Journal Best Book of 2017 From the great historian of the American Revolution, New York Times-bestselling and Pulitzer-winning Gordon Wood, comes a majestic dual biography of two of America's most enduringly fascinating figures, whose partnership helped birth a nation, and whose subsequent falling out did much to fix its course. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams could scarcely have come from more different worlds, or been more different in temperament. Jefferson, the optimist with enough faith in the innate goodness of his fellow man to be democracy's champion, was an aristocratic Southern slaveowner, while Adams, the overachiever from New England's rising middling classes, painfully aware he was no aristocrat, was a skeptic about popular rule and a defender of a more elitist view of government. They worked closely in the crucible of revolution, crafting the Declaration of Independence and leading, with Franklin, the diplomatic effort that brought France into the fight. But ultimately, their profound differences would lead to a fundamental crisis, in their friendship and in the nation writ large, as they became the figureheads of two entirely new forces, the first American political parties. It was a bitter breach, lasting through the presidential administrations of both men, and beyond. But late in life, something remarkable happened: these two men were nudged into reconciliation. What started as a grudging trickle of correspondence became a great flood, and a friendship was rekindled, over the course of hundreds of letters. In their final years they were the last surviving founding fathers and cherished their role in this mighty young republic as it approached the half century mark in 1826. At last, on the afternoon of July 4th, 50 years to the day after the signing of the Declaration, Adams let out a sigh and said, At least Jefferson still lives. He died soon thereafter. In fact, a few hours earlier on that same day, far to the south in his home in Monticello, Jefferson died as well. Arguably no relationship in this country's history carries as much freight as that of John Adams of Massachusetts and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia. Gordon Wood has more than done justice to these entwined lives and their meaning; he has written a magnificent new addition to America's collective story.


Gentlemen Scientists and Revolutionaries

Gentlemen Scientists and Revolutionaries

Author: Tom Shachtman

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2014-10-07

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 1137278250

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A fresh exploration of the scientific pursuits of the Founding Fathers that reveals their science as critical to the great political "experiment" of the day


American Sphinx

American Sphinx

Author: Joseph J. Ellis

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 1998-11-19

Total Pages: 463

ISBN-13: 0375727469

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NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER Following Thomas Jefferson from the drafting of the Declaration of Independence to his retirement in Monticello, Joseph J. Ellis unravels the contradictions of the Jeffersonian character. He gives us the slaveholding libertarian who was capable of decrying mescegenation while maintaing an intimate relationship with his slave, Sally Hemmings; the enemy of government power who exercisdd it audaciously as president; the visionarty who remained curiously blind to the inconsistencies in his nature. American Sphinx is a marvel of scholarship, a delight to read, and an essential gloss on the Jeffersonian legacy.


The Engines of Our Ingenuity

The Engines of Our Ingenuity

Author: John H. Lienhard

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2003-04-10

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 9780195167313

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This book explores the nature of creativity in engineering and technology, and how it relates to creativity in art or science. Lienhard has for ten years done a twice-weekly radio show, carried on about 35 NPR stations, consisting of 3-minute essays on technology. He uses the substance of selected segments of his radio program to create a continuous narrative presenting his insights on technological creativity. This book has the same title as his radio program, to further draw the attention of his one million listeners.