''The World of Science'' was a youth-oriented science book first published in 1958 under the Golden Books imprint. The principal author was Jane Werner Watson, but the science material was contributed by contemporary scientists, many of whom worked at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

, including the author's husband Earnest C. Watson (1892-1970), who was Dean of the Faculty from 1945 to 1959. Rather than being an introduction to science in the usual sense, ''The World of Science'' concentrated on describing the activities of scientists at the time of publication. Topics included geology and other Earth sciences, biology including plant genetics and embryonic development, physics including high energy particle physics and theoretical physics, chemistry with electron and X-ray diffraction analysis, modern mathematics including set theory, astronomy (both visual and radio), and aerodynamics including supersonic wind tunnels and

Schlieren photography Schlieren photography is a process for photographing fluid flow. Invented by the German physicist August Toepler in 1864 to study supersonic motion, it is widely used in aeronautical engineering to photograph the flow of air around objects. C ...

. The book was illustrated in color, presenting charts, images from scientific instruments and photographs of scientists and engineers at work in the field and inside laboratories. Some of the pictures were unusual for a publication of the time, including pictures of an African-American researcher at work in a chemistry laboratory. One notable topic, covered in the section on theoretical physics, was the recently discovered phenomenon of parity violation in

beta decay In nuclear physics, beta decay (β-decay) is a type of radioactive decay in which a beta particle (fast energetic electron or positron) is emitted from an atomic nucleus, transforming the original nuclide to an isobar of that nuclide. For ...

, a subject almost unknown outside the world of physics. One photograph, of two unnamed theoretical physicists in front of a blackboard, actually depicts

Richard Feynman Richard Phillips Feynman (; May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist, known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of the superfl ...

talking to

Murray Gell-Mann Murray Gell-Mann (; September 15, 1929 – May 24, 2019) was an American physicist who received the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the theory of elementary particles. He was the Robert Andrews Millikan Professor of Theoretical ...

. In 1958 both were relatively unknown. Feynman won the Nobel Prize in 1965 while Gell-Mann won in 1969. The book is cited by some as their inspiration for a scientific career.

Summary of contents

* Geology : Glaciers, Seismology, Dating rocks, Finding and analyzing fossils. * Astronomy : Modern telescopes, Study of Galaxies, History of Astronomy, Spectroscopy and Red Shift, Radio Astronomy. * Mathematics : Calculations, Set theory, Computers, Statistics and Probability. * Physics : Cosmic Rays, "Atom Smashers", Cryophysics (incl. Helium II), Theoretical Physics. * Chemistry : Atmospheric reactions and smog, Organic Chemistry (incl. sugars), Physical Chemistry (incl. crystallography), "Giant Molecules" (proteins). * Biology : Plant Ecology, Genetics and Virology, Immunology, the Human Brain. * Engineering : Hydraulic & Civil Engineering, Aerodynamics (incl. supersonic flight), Communications and Automation.

Notable Contributors

* Geology: Clair Cameron Patterson,

Frank Press Frank Press (December 4, 1924 – January 29, 2020) was an American geophysicist. He was an advisor to four U.S. presidents, and later served two consecutive terms as president of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (1981–1993). He was the au ...

. * Physics:

Carl David Anderson Carl David Anderson (September 3, 1905 – January 11, 1991) was an American physicist. He is best known for his discovery of the positron in 1932, an achievement for which he received the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physics, and of the muon in 1936. B ...

, Robert Bacher,

Felix Boehm Felix Hans Boehm (June 9, 1924, Basel – May 25, 2021, Altadena, California) was a Swiss-American experimental physicist, known for his research on weak interactions, parity violation, and neutrino physics. Biography He had four brothers and bot ...

, Robert Walker. * Chemistry: Linus Pauling * Biology:

George Wells Beadle George Wells Beadle (October 22, 1903 – June 9, 1989) was an American geneticist. In 1958 he shared one-half of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Edward Tatum for their discovery of the role of genes in regulating biochemical eve ...

Roger Wolcott Sperry Roger Wolcott Sperry (August 20, 1913 – April 17, 1994) was an American neuropsychologist, neurobiologist, cognitive neuroscientist, and Nobel laureate who, together with David Hunter Hubel and Torsten Nils Wiesel, won the 1981 Nobel Prize ...

* Engineering: Hans W. Liepmann

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:World of Science Golden Books books