A01=Simon Werrett
Author_Simon Werrett
Category=PDX
Category=TTP
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_science
eq_tech-engineering
Product details
- ISBN 9780226893778
- Weight: 680g
- Dimensions: 16 x 23mm
- Publication Date: 01 May 2010
- Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
Fireworks are synonymous with celebration in the twenty-first century. But pyrotechnics - in the form of rockets, crackers, wheels, and bombs - have exploded in sparks and noise to delight audiences in Europe ever since the Renaissance. Here, Simon Werrett shows that, far from being only a means of entertainment, fireworks helped foster advances in natural philosophy, chemistry, mathematics, and many other branches of the sciences. "Fireworks" brings to vibrant life the many artful practices of pyrotechnicians, as well as the elegant compositions of the architects, poets, painters, and musicians they inspired. At the same time, it uncovers the dynamic relationships that developed among the many artists and scientists who produced pyrotechnics. In so doing, the book demonstrates the critical role that pyrotechnics played in the development of physics, astronomy, chemistry and physiology, meteorology, and electrical science. Richly illustrated and drawing on a wide range of new sources, "Fireworks" takes readers back to a world where pyrotechnics were both divine and magical and reveals for the first time their vital contribution to the modernization of European ideas.
Simon Werrett is associate professor in the Department of History at the University of Washington.
