Acid Tongues and Tranquil Dreamers: Tales of Bitter Rivalry That Fueled the Advancement of Science and Technology

From the laws of gravity to cyberspace, a brilliant examination of some of the most momentous scientific advancements and the human minds and competition behind them.

As George Bernard Shaw said, "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." Like other creative geniuses, scientists have achieved breakthroughs as a result of nonrational motives -- notably the desire to best a rival. In this fascinating, unique book, Michael White paints an intimate portrait of several of the world's greatest minds over the past four centuries and explores eight all-too-human rivalries, revealing how each fired scientific endeavor and resulted in extraordinary discoveries.

White demonstrates how rivalries have evolved from scientist against scientist to modern competition between nations and corporations. Enlightening and entertaining, here is a rich history of intectual achievement that elevates White to the ranks of the best popular science writers, including Dava Sobel, Timothy Ferris, and Richard Rhodes.

FAMOUS RIVALRIES

The Calculus -- Isaac Newton versus Gottfried Leibniz

Oxygen -- Antoine Lavoisier versus Joseph Priestly

Evolution -- Charles Darwin versus Richard Owen

Electric Current -- Nikola Tesla versus Thomas Edison

The Atom Bomb -- The Allies versus the Axis Powers

DNA -- Francis Crick and James Watson versus Linus Pauling versus Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins

The Race to the Moon -- The United States versus the Soviet Union

Cyberspace -- Bill Gates versus Larry Ellison

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael White is the author of more than a dozen books and is a consultant for the Discovery Channel series The Science of the Impossible.