“Marvelous. . . . a superb book.”—Humana.Mente

“Rovelli is the dream writer to behavior us in this journey.”—Nonfiction.fr

“At this day and age, whilst the status of technological know-how is at a low or even easy concerns like weather switch are mired in controversy, Carlo Rovelli offers us an important mirrored image on what technological know-how is, and the place it comes from. Rovelli is a deeply unique philosopher, so it's not dazzling that he has novel perspectives at the very important questions of the character and beginning of science.”—Lee Smolin, founding member and researcher on the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and writer of The difficulty with Physics

Winner of the Prix du Livre Haute Maurienne de l’Astronomie

Carlo Rovelli, a number one theoretical physicist, makes use of the determine of Anaximander because the place to begin for an exam of medical considering itself: its limits, its strengths, its merits to humankind, and its arguable courting with faith. Anaximander, the sixth-century BC Greek thinker, is frequently known as the 1st scientist simply because he used to be the 1st to indicate that order on this planet was once because of typical forces, now not supernatural ones. he's the 1st individual recognized to appreciate that the Earth floats in area; to think that the sunlight, the moon, and the celebs rotate round it—seven centuries prior to Ptolemy; to argue that every one animals got here from the ocean and advanced; and to posit that common legislation regulate all swap on the earth. Anaximander taught Pythagoras, who might construct on Anaximander’s clinical theories by way of using mathematical legislation to normal phenomena.

In the award-winning The First Scientist: Anaximander and His Legacy, translated right here for the 1st time in English, Rovelli restores Anaximander to his position within the background of technological know-how through rigorously reconstructing his theories from what's identified to us and studying them of their ancient and philosophical contexts. Rovelli demonstrates that Anaximander’s discoveries and theories have been decisive impacts, placing Western tradition on its course towards a systematic revolution. constructing this connection, Rovelli redefines technological know-how as a continuing redrawing of our conceptual snapshot of the area. He concludes that clinical thinking—the legacy of Anaximander—is simply trustworthy whilst it consistently checks the boundaries of our present knowledge.