000			04264cam a2200625Ma 4500
001			on1035312016
003			OCoLC
005			20220908100140.0
006			m o d |
007			cr |||||||||||
008			040924s2005 njuab ob 001 0 eng d
040			_aINARC _beng _epn _cINARC _dOCLCO _dOCLCA _dOCLCF _dOCLCQ _dEBLCP _dOCLCO _dJSTOR _dIEEEE _dOCLCO
019			_a1255223551
020			_a9780691233185
020			_a0691233187
020			_z0691121338 _q(alk. paper)
020			_z9780691121338 _q(alk. paper)
029	1		_aAU@ _b000069620555
035			_a(OCoLC)1035312016 _z(OCoLC)1255223551
037			_a22573/ctv1m4s8q3 _bJSTOR
037			_a9507062 _bIEEE
050		4	_aQ125 _b.P323 2005
072		7	_aSCI _x034000 _2bisacsh
082	0	4	_a509
049			_aMAIN
100	1		_aPark, David, _d1919-2012. _965115
245	1	4	_aThe grand contraption : _bthe world as myth, number and chance / _cDavid Park.
260			_aPrinceton : _bPrinceton University Press, _c�2005.
300			_a1 online resource (xiv, 331 pages : _billustrations, maps
336			_atext _btxt _2rdacontent
337			_acomputer _bc _2rdamedia
338			_aonline resource _bcr _2rdacarrier
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references (pages 311-325) and index.
505	0		_aVoices from the sands -- Managing the world -- Guesswork -- Earth and heaven -- Beginnings and endings -- Philosophy continued -- The world map -- Towards a new astronomy -- What is the world made of? -- The universe measured -- The view from here.
520			_aThe Grand Contraption tells the story of humanity's attempts through 4,000 years of written history to make sense of the world in its cosmic totality, to understand its physical nature, and to know its real and imagined inhabitants. No other book has provided as coherent, compelling, and learned a narrative on this subject of subjects. David Park takes us on an incredible journey that illuminates the multitude of elaborate "contraptions" by which humans in the Western world have imagined the earth they inhabit--and what lies beyond. Intertwining history, religion, philosophy, literature, and the physical sciences, this eminently readable book is, ultimately, about the "grand contraption" we've constructed through the ages in an effort to understand and identify with the universe. According to Park, people long ago conceived of our world as a great rock slab inhabited by gods, devils, and people and crowned by stars. Thinkers imagined ether to fill the empty space, and in the comforting certainty of celestial movement they discerned numbers, and in numbers, order. Separate sections of the book tell the fascinating stories of measuring and mapping the Earth and Heavens, and later, the scientific exploration of the universe. The journey reveals many common threads stretching from ancient Mesopotamians and Greeks to peoples of today. For example, humans have tended to imagine Earth and Sky as living creatures. Not true, say science-savvy moderns. But truth isn't always the point. The point, says Park, is that Earth is indeed the fragile bubble we surmise, and we must treat it with the reverence it deserves.
590			_aIEEE _bIEEE Xplore Princeton University Press eBooks Library
650		0	_aScience _xHistory. _964702
650		0	_aScience _xSocial aspects. _914444
650		0	_aScience and civilization. _925546
650		6	_aSciences _xHistoire. _964770
650		6	_aSciences _xAspect social. _965116
650		6	_aSciences et civilisation. _965117
650		7	_aSCIENCE / History _2bisacsh _919261
650		7	_aScience. _2fast _0(OCoLC)fst01108176 _919043
650		7	_aScience and civilization. _2fast _0(OCoLC)fst01108517 _925546
650		7	_aScience _xSocial aspects. _2fast _0(OCoLC)fst01108360 _914444
655		4	_aElectronic books. _93294
655		7	_aHistory. _2fast _0(OCoLC)fst01411628 _95289
776	0	8	_iPrint version: _aPark, David, 1919-2012. _tGrand contraption. _dPrinceton : Princeton University Press, �2005 _w(DLC) 2004022624
856	4	0	_uhttps://ieeexplore.ieee.org/servlet/opac?bknumber=9507062
938			_aInternet Archive _bINAR _ngrandcontraption00park
938			_aProQuest Ebook Central _bEBLB _nEBL6630873
942			_cEBK
994			_a92 _bINTKS
999			_c81404 _d81404