The grand contraption : (Record no. 101848)

MARC details
000 -LEADER
fixed length control field 05281nam a22004574a 4500
001 - CONTROL NUMBER
control field ocm56614342
003 - CONTROL NUMBER IDENTIFIER
control field OCoLC
005 - DATE AND TIME OF LATEST TRANSACTION
control field 20251028092333.0
008 - FIXED-LENGTH DATA ELEMENTS--GENERAL INFORMATION
fixed length control field 060407s2005 njuab b 001 0 eng
010 ## - LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CONTROL NUMBER
LC control number 2004022624
020 ## - INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BOOK NUMBER
International Standard Book Number 0691121338 (alk. paper)
020 ## - INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BOOK NUMBER
International Standard Book Number 9780691121338
029 1# - OTHER SYSTEM CONTROL NUMBER (OCLC)
OCLC library identifier NLGGC
System control number 268503656
035 ## - SYSTEM CONTROL NUMBER
System control number (Sirsi) i9780691121338
035 ## - SYSTEM CONTROL NUMBER
System control number (Sirsi) i9780691121338
035 ## - SYSTEM CONTROL NUMBER
System control number (Sirsi) i9780691121338
035 ## - SYSTEM CONTROL NUMBER
System control number (Sirsi) i9780691121338
035 ## - SYSTEM CONTROL NUMBER
System control number (Sirsi) i9780691121338
035 ## - SYSTEM CONTROL NUMBER
Canceled/invalid control number (Sirsi) 169511
040 ## - CATALOGING SOURCE
Original cataloging agency DLC
Transcribing agency DLC
Modifying agency YDX
-- EYE
-- BAKER
-- XY4
-- VP@
-- NLGGC
-- VF$
042 ## - AUTHENTICATION CODE
Authentication code pcc
050 00 - LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CALL NUMBER
Classification number Q125
Item number .P323 2005
090 ## - LOCALLY ASSIGNED LC-TYPE CALL NUMBER (OCLC); LOCAL CALL NUMBER (RLIN)
Classification number (OCLC) (R) ; Classification number, CALL (RLIN) (NR) Q 125 .P323 2005
100 1# - MAIN ENTRY--PERSONAL NAME
Personal name Park, David,
Dates associated with a name 1919-2012.
245 14 - TITLE STATEMENT
Title The grand contraption :
Remainder of title the world as myth, number and chance /
Statement of responsibility, etc. David Park.
260 ## - PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC.
Place of publication, distribution, etc. Princeton :
Name of publisher, distributor, etc. Princeton University Press,
Date of publication, distribution, etc. c2005.
300 ## - PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Extent xiv, 331 p. :
Other physical details ill., maps ;
Dimensions 25 cm.
504 ## - BIBLIOGRAPHY, ETC. NOTE
Bibliography, etc. note Includes bibliographical references (p. [311]-325) and index.
505 0# - FORMATTED CONTENTS NOTE
Formatted contents note Voices from the Sands -- Managing the World -- Guesswork -- Earth and Heaven -- Beginnings and Endings -- Philosophy Continued -- Interlude: The World Map -- Towards a New Astronomy -- What is the World Made of? -- The Universe Measured -- The View from Here.
520 ## - SUMMARY, ETC.
Summary, etc. The story of humankind's attempts to make sense of the world, understand its physical nature, and know its real and imagined inhabitants is chronicled in an in-depth study that brings together the fields of history, philosophy, literature, religion, and the physical sciences in an analysis of four thousand years of written history in which humans have imagined the earth they inhabit. "The Grand Contraption is the long-needed antidote to all those top-heavy histories of scientific thought that pass brusquely over the philosophies of the ancient world, eager to find the sure footing of modernity. Park tells us not only what science now knows, but how it got to know it: from an enthralling mix of myth, genius, logic, careful observation, guesswork, invention, and a dash of inspired lunacy."--Philip Ball, author of Life's Matrix and consultant editor, Nature "This book literally grabs you. The facts presented, the stories told, the author's reflections on the information he presents, are rendered beautifully-and masterfully. This is a labor of love, and the passion with which David Park has written the book is readily apparent and makes one want to keep on reading. And in doing so one is richly rewarded with keen insights, judicious appraisals, and with questions regarding courses of action and consequences that are not only thought provoking but also relevant."--Silvan S. Schweber, Brandeis University and Harvard University, author of QED and the Men Who Made It (Princeton) "The Grand Contraption is an impressive feat of scholarship in the history of science, and it is even more impressive if one considers that it is written in clear and unpretentious English. Park offers, in plain language, an attractive way to think about cosmological ideas from a single perspective. No one will put this book down without having their level of consciousness raised by a few notches."--Christian Wildberg, Princeton University Annotation. The Grand Contraption tells the story of humanity's attempts through 4,000 years of written history to make sense of the world in its cosmic totality, to understand its physical nature, and to know its real and imagined inhabitants. No other book has provided as coherent, compelling, and learned a narrative on this subject of subjects. David Park takes us on an incredible journey that illuminates the multitude of elaborate "contraptions" by which humans in the Western world have imagined the earth they inhabit--and what lies beyond. Intertwining history, religion, philosophy, literature, and the physical sciences, this eminently readable book is, ultimately, about the "grand contraption" we've constructed through the ages in an effort to understand and identify with the universe. According to Park, people long ago conceived of our world as a great rock slab inhabited by gods, devils, and people and crowned by stars. Thinkers imagined ether to fill the empty space, and in the comforting certainty of celestial movement they discerned numbers, and in numbers, order. Separate sections of the book tell the fascinating stories of measuring and mapping the Earth and Heavens, and later, the scientific exploration of the universe. The journey reveals many common threads stretching from ancient Mesopotamians and Greeks to peoples of today. For example, humans have tended to imagine Earth and Sky as living creatures. Not true, say science-savvy moderns. But truth isn't always the point. The point, says Park, is that Earth is indeed the fragile bubble we surmise, and we must treat it with the reverence it deserves.
650 #0 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name entry element Science
General subdivision History.
650 #0 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name entry element Science
General subdivision Social aspects.
650 #0 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name entry element Science and civilization.
650 #0 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name entry element Natuurkunde.
650 #0 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name entry element Kosmologie.
650 #0 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name entry element Sterrenkunde.
650 #0 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name entry element Regelmaat.
856 41 - ELECTRONIC LOCATION AND ACCESS
Materials specified Table of contents
Uniform Resource Identifier <a href="http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip051/2004022624 .html">http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip051/2004022624 .html</a>
Holdings
Withdrawn status Lost status Source of classification or shelving scheme Damaged status Not for loan Home library Current library Shelving location Date acquired Total checkouts Full call number Barcode Date last seen Price effective from Koha item type
    Library of Congress Classification     Storms Research Center Storms Research Center Main Collection 10/28/2025   Q 125 .P323 2005 98630512 10/28/2025 10/28/2025 Book