Horizons: The Global Origins of Modern Science

The history of science as it has never been told before: a tale of outsiders and unsung heroes from far beyond the Western canon that most of us are taught

When we think about the origins of modern science, we usually recall pioneers such as Nicolaus Copernicus, Isaac Newton, and Charles Darwin. But science is not, and has never been, a uniquely European endeavor. Copernicus used mathematical techniques from Arabic and Persian texts. Newton relied on astronomical observations made in Asia and Africa. And when Darwin was writing On the Origin of Species, he consulted a sixteenth-century Chinese encyclopedia. In this timely revisionist history, James Poskett recasts the history of science, uncovering the vital contributions of scientists the world over to what is truly a global story.