Who discovered what when? : five hundred years of great scientific discoveries / David Ellyard.

Previous edition: 2005.

Includes bibliographic references and index.

Featuring a multitude of stories of extraordinary scientific endeavour and outstanding discoveries. Each chapter covers half a century and include 200 to 300 word stories which are arranged chronologically. Each of the 400 plus stories are largely self-contained and cross references will guide the reader to earlier or later developments that complete each story. Presents the scientists who have hypothesised, experimented and revealed the physical working of our world. It spans disciplines as broad as astronomy, paleontology, chemistry, mathematics, geology, physics, biology and medicine. The book also sets scientific ideas in the context of the world stage at the time, sketching out what was happening in politics, the arts, exploration and technology.