In Why It's Not All Rocket Science, Robert Cave examines 100 extraordinary
projects, theories and experiments that have been conducted in the name of
science. Some, including various nuclear tests, have attracted controversy and
hostility; others, such as Johann Wilhelm Ritter's erotic self-experiments with
a voltaic pile, seem downright weird. But Cave demonstrates, thoroughly and
informatively, that it is only by doggedly asking awkward questions, and paying
close attention to the answers, that scientists have been able to make progress.
From spider monkeys to human cyborgs, and from swimming in syrup to chaos
theory, Cave places each experiment and discovery in its scientific context to
present an entertaining