杏吧原创

A Bedside Nature by Walter Gratzer (Macmillan. 拢19.95/$29.95, ISBN 0 333 651316) may not be the ideal book of its kind as it is likely to keep you reading into the small hours. Its subsidiary title explains why. 鈥淕enius and Eccentricity in Science 1869 to 1953鈥� is a collection of significant contributions to the famous science journal under both heads, so you may run across R枚ntgen rays and also Oliver Lodge wondering if radium can assist milk to turn sour, debate over the term 鈥渟cientist鈥�, the famous appearance of nuclear fission and the survival of an earwig immersed in mercury. The illustrations are marvellously evocative.