Science at the Extreme: Scientists on the Cutting Edge of Technology - Hardcover

Taylor, Peter Lane

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0071354190 ISBN 13: 9780071354196

Publisher: Schaum Outline Series, 2000

Synopsis

The experiences of nine "extreme" scientists show that there is a special breed of scientists that will go anywhere, from scuba diving in crushing glaciers to hanging from suspension bridges, to get the data they need.

About this title

Review

Science At the Extreme profiles a breed of scientists who don't wear lab coats or hover over test tubes and formulas. What sets these researchers apart from their more sedentary peers is what they do in the field: They hand from suspension bridges, climb the world's tallest trees, and crawl through narrow shafts into the deepest bowels of the earth. They swim with great white sharks, wade with crocodiles, rappel into active volcanoes, and scuba dive inside creaking glacial caves, gathering data in perilous, unforgiving places. "Extreme Science," as I've dubbed this new style of research, is defined by a simple, time-honored principle: Screw up, and you die.

From the Back Cover

Enter the endless possibilities of extreme science

With a fascinating narrative and stunning photography, Science at the Extreme destroys the stereotypes of the scientist as a white-coated laboratory hermit cut off from the real world. This dazzling new breed of candid, impassioned, and risk-taking explorers have emerged to tackle today's most bewildering scientific mysteries, and are the practitioners of what Taylor has dubbed "extreme science."

Framing the adventures within the larger context of science's enduring mission to test the limits of human knowledge, Taylor vividly relates his exploits alongside nine extreme scientists. Together they hang from suspension bridges, climb the tallest trees on earth, crawl into the cores of glaciers, and explore the cauldrons of active volcanoes. These stories hold tight to the axiom that there is no substitute for first-hand experience and absolutely no room for mistakes.

Featuring over 140 striking photographs and a foreword by Thomas E. Lovejoy biodiversity counselor to the Smithsonian Institution and the United Nations Science at the Extreme is a finely wrought, rich narrative; a consistently eye-opening achievement, transporting readers to realms as exotic and endangered as any that could be imagined.

Edition details

• Publisher: Schaum Outline Series
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0071354190
• ISBN 13: 9780071354196
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256