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WHY? It's the most basic question known to humankind, the query that has set us apart from all other species ever since our earliest ancestor stood erect and wondered what made the sun rise every morning or how fire could be tamed. We call ourselves Homo sapiens -- the wise men -- and our thirst for knowledge is science in its purest form. Each answer sparks new questions in an endless quest for knowledge. The rigorous methods and sophisticated tools modern scientists use to investigate everything from the smallest subatomic particles to the farthest reaches of our universe all trace to our intellectual curiosity, that uniquely human trait acquired in our prehistoric past. Highlighted by more than 300 vivid photographs and illustrations, this fascinating history chronicles the important milestones of scientific thought, each a building block for new revelations. Award-winning science writer Curt Suplee identifies the key ideas and discoveries that shaped our understanding of our world and ourselves and introduces the men and women whose questing intellects illuminated the very nature of reality itself. We hear Archimedes shout Eureka and listen as Aristotle ponders nature's mysteries. We peer through Galileo's telescope as he revolutionizes astronomy, and through Leeuwenhoek's microscope as he finds life teeming in a single drop of water. We meet Marie Curie in a darkened lab lit by the ghostly glow of radium and stand beside the physicists of Los Alamos as the nuclear age is born in a flash of blinding light. And these are only a few of the scientific pioneers whose insights are explored and explained, a brilliant roll call that sweeps from Euclid to Edison to Einstein, from Pythagoras and Ptolemy to Descartes, Newton, Darwin, Marconi, and many, many others. In this engrossing, enlightening volume, Suplee brings science vividly to life, revealing a vital, intense pursuit far different from the dry and intimidating discipline we imagine all too often. Instead, he presents a comprehensive, compelling drama of discovery and accomplishment that encompasses every aspect of human experience as we seek to answer the quintessential question: why