The Oxford Dictionary of Scientific Quotations

Paperback edition of this outstanding addition to the Oxford stable of classic reference books which should be on the shelf of every reader interested in science and its history. Like the Dictionary of Quotations, it is arranged in biographical alphabetical order with an index of themes at the back. The width of reference is astonishing in that the reader will find Augustine, Newman and Aquinas sitting alongside the more obvious great names of science - indeed anyone who wrote notably about science. Also rewarding is the sheer level of detail. Some individual entries amount to nearly a whole column - so they are more extracts than quotations. The erudition displayed in this volume bears the stamp of its late co-editor, Roy Porter, to whom it is dedicated. An evocative vignette portrays him commuting up to London while poring over successive volumes of Nobel Prize addresses - a fellow commuter expressed her amazement at his breadth of interests!