Eight Against The World
Warriors of the Scientific Revolution
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
TRILOGY BOOK 1 - Eight Against The World: Warriors Of The Scientific Revolution
. . .(from page 11). . .
2 Eight Against The World: Leaders Of The Scientific Revolution
"Our lives must not pass without leaving some memory of ourselves in the lives of men."
Leonardo da Vinci
. . .All these men were God-fearing Christians. In fact, a number of them were first taught in ecclesiastic schools. However they also fought vehemently with the established Catholic Church over a number of different issues. Copernicus feared excommunication so much he refused to publish his work literally until he died. Galileo fought with the Church his whole life in a legendary battle he could not possibly win. Kepler was excommunicated from the Lutheran Church because he refused to sign on principle a printed confession of his faith. Nostradamus rushed out of town just a few steps ahead of the dreaded Inquisition
3 Johann Gutenberg: Building A New World Out Of Words
"In memory of the inventor of the art of printing, Sacred to God in the Highest, To Johann Gensfleisch (Gutenberg) deserver of the best from all nations and tongues to the immortal memory of his name, Adam Gelthus places this memorial, his remains rest peacefully in the church of St. Francis, Mainz."
Plaque at the Cathedral at Mainz
. . .(from page 30). . .Bankrupt, betrayed, cast out, slandered, stolen from, plotted against, it is difficult for us to imagine the last years of Johann Gutenberg's life, especially in light of the gift he gave to humanity and the enormous impact his invention had on the world. He was a master of survival and an excellent businessman despite his financial difficulties that were caused mainly by those who wished to steal his invention along with the vision that was his alone.
. . .(from page 31). . .Finally it is rather surprising that Johann left almost no record of his personal perceptions and thoughts. He never kept a diary, never made a journal of his work aside from accounting records, and didn't, as far as researchers can determine, write down his own feelings about the events that transpired around him. He was a technician - even more, a technologist who, although blessed with the talent and dream of creating a better method for making books, never wrote a single book of his own.
4 Leonardo Da Vinci: Genius Of The Renaissance
"The natural desire of good men is knowledge; the only true sustenance of the soul, for nothing can be loved until it is known. He who wastes his life leaves no more trace of himself upon the earth than smoke does in the air or foam upon the waters.
Leonardo da Vinci
. . .(from page 36). . .
The Mona Lisa painting is more than a piece of remarkable artwork - it is an adventure into the unknown. It is a human quality to want to know and understand others, even to understand ourselves. In this sense, the Mona Lisa is an attempt to look through the veil of the public self and into the mystery of the real self. A young lady appears before us, yet she is unreachable and eternally unknowable, a permanent enigma that centuries of art experts have not been able to solve. Her crossed hands complement perfectly the shape of her face, the torso, and the landscape background.
. . .Leonardo kept this painting with him until the day he died saying that it was still unfinished. This painting, above all others in history, is the most famous in the world.
. . .In his lifetime, Leonardo painted less than a dozen paintings, yet each one became immortal. Each painting is a masterpiece and each is still regarded as the outstanding pinnacle of the Renaissance.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
The Becker Technology Trilogy presents a thumbnail sketch of key events from the beginning of the Renaissance in Europe to the amazing air and space technologies of the 21st century. Mixed with equally startling cultural and political perspectives, events are presented in three companion volumes.
Book 1, Eight Against The World: Warriors Of The Scientific Revolution, follows the close-knit lives of eight extraordinary men of science and technology – Gutenberg, Leonardo, Copernicus, Nostradamus, Brahe, Galilei, Kepler and Newton to the doorstep of the Industrial Revolution. These giants of the past, willing to endure heartbraking hardships, dedicated their lives to building the foundation of today’s technological and scientific achievements.
Book 2, A Season Of Madness: Life and Death In The 1960s, begins the author’s participation in the emergence of new technologies as an eyewitness to the final two-thirds of the 20th century. Incredible events come to life as the background of the cultural disorders of the Civil Rights Movement, Cuban Missile Crisis, the Space Race for the Moon, 1967 Detroit Riot, and the Kent State University Massacre.
Book 3, The Race For Technology: Conquering The High Frontier is an explanation of major science and technology events from about 1970 to the start of the 21st century. Global miracles of invention such as the Hubble Space Telescope, the Assault On Mars, Thames River Flood Barrier and Netherlands Ijsselmeer Project, satellites searching for the Chernobyl Disaster, the Armada To Halley’s Comet, and the changing nature of hurricanes on our doorstep, are highlighted in terms of everyday cultural technology. The Trilogy is being published in 2007 and 2008 – three must-read, exciting books you need to have on your own bookshelf to be alive and well in the 21st century.
About the Author
After discharge from the U.S. Navy, Tom Becker graduated from the University of Missouri as a high school history teacher and quickly became drawn into the world of space science and technologies. He spent forty years teaching gifted young people including sixteen years classroom teaching, and engaged in on-site technology research in America and Europe. Studying American and Soviet space programs as a start, his work eventually encompassed space technologies of Canada, China, Japan, India and the European Space Agency learning about technologies for both manned and unmanned space exploration As an eyewitness to the 20th century, his work took him from the launch pads of Apollo-Saturn moon rockets to the doorways of North Atlantic hurricanes and the look-alike Mars geology of the American southwest. He taught space technology to gifted high-school scholars for three seasons in the Missouri Scholars Academy and later for five seasons at the British national space school at Brunel University in west London. He learned foreign and domestic cultural technologies from Arizona’s Meteor Crater and the New York Finger Lakes to the Thames River Flood Control Barrier and the Ijsselmeer construction in the Netherlands focusing on satellite imaging and emerging new technologies. A past-editor for three commercial magazines and the recipient of numerous literary and public awards and honors, Tom authored more than 300 professional articles and 12 books having to do with numismatics, science and technology education. He was on-site investigator, for example, during numerous Apollo-Moon launches, Atlantic hurricanes, the 1967 Detroit Riot, and the Viking spacecraft to Mars. He and his wife live in Pottstown, Pennsylvania where he occasionally gives teacher-training seminars and speaks to public audiences about science, culture and society.