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  • Published: 17 October 2016
  • ISBN: 9780141981017
  • Imprint: Penguin Press
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 352
  • RRP: $39.99

The Upright Thinkers

The Human Journey from Living in Trees to Understanding the Cosmos




An inspiring and entertaining account of scientific discovery from the invention of stone tools to theories of quantum physics

In this illuminating work, Leonard Mlodinow guides us through the critical eras and events in the development of science, all of which, he demonstrates, were propelled forward by humankind's collective struggle to know. From the birth of reasoning and culture to the formation of the studies of physics, chemistry, biology, and modern-day quantum physics, we come to see that much of our progress can be attributed to simple questions - why? how? - bravely asked. At once authoritative and accessible, and infused with the author's trademark wit, this deeply insightful book is a stunning tribute to humanity's intellectual curiosity.

  • Published: 17 October 2016
  • ISBN: 9780141981017
  • Imprint: Penguin Press
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 352
  • RRP: $39.99

About the author

Leonard Mlodinow

Leonard Mlodinow is the best selling author of The Drunkard's Walk, Subliminal and Elastic. He co-authored two books with Stephen Hawking and later wrote an acclaimed memoir, Stephen Hawking, about their time together. He has written for television, including multiple episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, as well as helping Steven Spielberg and Robin Williams make a video game. There are now over one million copies of Leonard Mlodinow's books in print.

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Praise for The Upright Thinkers

The Upright Thinkers playfully tracks the evolution of man's understanding of the world over millions of years. . . An accessible and engaging read that brings science's brilliant minds to life

Financial Times

Mlodinow never fails to make science both accessible and entertaining

Stephen Hawking, author of A Brief History of Time

An entrancing tale of scientific history. . . Mlodinow provides many cultural touchstones and tells personal stories, both poignant and amusing, about his experiences as a theoretical physicist to draw us even closer to the history

Washington Post

Mlodinow is an engaging narrator who leavens the proceedings with a mischievous wit

Wall Street Journal

An audacious encapsulation of our species' trek from savannah to city

Nature

Mlodinow vividly traces the revolutions in thought and culture that define our civilization and, as a bonus, presents a stimulating overview of the history and majestic sweep of modern science

V. S. Ramachandran, author of The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Quest for What Makes Us Human

An enjoyable and readable introduction to the history of western science, beginning with the first stone tools and ending in the era of quantum physics. Mlodinow takes us on a tour of some of the high points of scientific discovery from Egyptian and Mesopotamian mathematics, to Pythagoras and Aristotle, to the classical era of Galileo and Newton, and finally to the strange worlds of Einsteinian relativity and the uncertainty principle, which taught us how to study worlds beyond the reach of our everyday senses

David Christian, co-author of Big History: Between Nothing and Everything