A Biographical Encyclopedia of Scientists and Inventors in American Film and TV Since 1930

A. Bowdoin Van Riper

doi:10.5771/9780810881297

Summary

Films that dramatize historical events and the lives of historical figures-whether they are intended to educate or to entertain—play a significant role in shaping the public's understanding of the past. In The Hollywood History of Science and Technology, A. Bowdoin Van Riper focuses on the dramatized portrayals of a particular group of historical figures—scientists, engineers, and inventors—that have appeared on American film and television screens. This volume analyzes individual portrayals, the public images of particular scientists and inventors, and the ideas about science and technology that, collectively, they represent. In this first in-depth study of how historic scientists and inventors have been portrayed on screen, Van Riper catalogs nearly 300 separate performances and includes essays on the screen images of more than 80 historic scientists, inventors, engineers, and medical researchers. The individuals covered include Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Dian Fossey, and Bill Gates. Arranged chronologically by the subject's date of birth, entries for each individual explain their major contributions to science and technology, analyze the ways in which they've been portrayed in film and on television, and conclude with a complete list of screen portrayals and a discussion of suggestions for further reading. The Hollywood History of Science and Technology will be of interest to anyone concerned with the depiction of historical events and historical figures in film and television, and to anyone interested in the public understanding of science and technology.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2011
ISBN-Print: 978-0-8108-8128-0
ISBN-Online: 978-0-8108-8129-7
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 324
Product type: Book Titles

1. Contents No access
2. Acknowledgments No access
3. Introduction No access
1. Hippocrates of Kos (460–370 BC) Greek Physician No access
2. Aristotle (384–322 BC) Greek Philosopher and Naturalist No access
3. Archimedes (c. 287–212 BC) Greek Mathematician, Physicist, and Engineer No access
4. Gutenberg, Johan (c. 1400–1462) German Inventor No access
5. Da Vinci, Leonardo (1452–1519) Italian Scientist and Engineer No access
6. Copernicus, Nicholas (1473–1543) German-Polish Mathematician and Astronomer No access
7. Bacon, Francis (1561–1626) English Philosopher and Physicist No access
8. Galileo (1564–1642) Italian Astronomer, Physicist, and Mathematician No access
9. Digby, Kenelm (1603–1665) English Mathematician, Natura lPhilosopher, and Student of Magic No access
10. Newton, Isaac (1642–1717) English Mathematician and Physicist No access
11. Halley, Edmond (1656–1742) English Astronomer, Mathematician, Physicist, Meteorologist, and Inventor No access
12. Harrison, John (1693–1776) English Carpenter and Clockmaker No access
13. Franklin, Benjamin (1706–1790) English (Later American) Physicist No access
1. Fulton, Robert (1765–1815) American Artist, Engineer, Inventor, and Naval Architect No access
2. Whitney, Eli (1765–1825) American Teacher and Inventor No access
3. Oersted, Hans Christian (1777–1851) Danish Physicist No access
4. Audubon, John James (1785–1851) American Ornithologist, Naturalist, and Artist No access
5. Babbage, Charles (1791–1871) English Mathematician and Inventor No access
6. Cooper, Peter (1791–1883) American Industrialist and Inventor No access
7. Morse, Samuel F. B. (1791–1872) American Artist and Inventor No access
8. Bowie, James (1796–1836) American Frontiersman No access
9. Ericsson, John (1803–1889) Swedish-Born American Mechanical Engineer and Designer No access
10. De Lesseps, Ferdinand (1805–1894) French Diplomat No access
11. Darwin, Charles (1809–1882) English Geologist and Biologist No access
12. Lovelace, Augusta Ada ByronKing, Countess of (1815–1852) English Mathematician and Computer Scientist No access
13. Mitchell, Maria (1818–1889) American Astronomer No access
14. Pasteur, Louis (1822–1895) French Chemist and Microbiologist No access
15. Kelvin, William Thomson,Lord (1824–1907) British Physicist and Engineer No access
16. Nobel, Alfred (1833–1896) Swedish Chemist and Inventor No access
17. Crapper, Thomas (1834–1910) English Plumber No access
18. Langley, Samuel P. (1834–1906) American Astronomer and Aircraft Designer No access
19. Powell, John Wesley (1834–1902) American Geologist and Ethnographer No access
20. Newcomb, Simon (1835–1909) American Astronomer No access
21. Holland, John Philip (1840–1914) American Engineer and Designer No access
22. Bell, Alexander Graham (1847–1922) Scottish (Later American)Scientist and Inventor No access
23. Edison, Thomas (1847–1931) American Inventor No access
24. Ehrlich, Paul (1854–1915) German Chemist and Immunologist No access
1. Freud, Sigmund (1856–1939) Austrian Psychologist No access
2. Tesla, Nikola (1856–1943) Croatian-Born (Naturalized American)Electrical Engineer No access
3. Ford, Henry (1863–1947) American Engineer, Inventor, and Automobile Manufacturer No access
4. Carver, George Washington (1864–1943) American Agronomist and Agricultural Chemist No access
5. Curie, Marie Sklodowska (1867–1934) Polish (Later French) Physicist and Chemist No access
6. Wright, Wilbur (1867–1912) and Orville (1871–1948) American Aircraft Designers No access
7. Adler, Alfred (1870–1937) Austrian Psychologist No access
8. Carter, Howard (1874–1939) English Archaeologist No access
9. Marconi, Guglielmo (1874–1937) Italian Electrical Engineer No access
10. Jung, Carl Gustav (1875–1961) Swiss Psychologist No access
11. Kroeber, Alfred (1876–1960) American Anthropologist No access
12. Einstein, Albert (1879–1955) German (Later American) Physicist No access
13. Kenny, Elizabeth (1880–1952) Australian Nurse and Physical Therapist No access
14. Goddard, Robert H. 1882–1945) American Rocket Designer No access
15. Malinowski, Bronislaw (1884–1942) Polish Anthropologist No access
16. Fokker, Anthony (1890–1939) Dutch Aircraft Engineer No access
17. Kinsey, Alfred (1894–1956) American Biologist and Sex Researcher No access
18. Momsen, Charles Bowers “Swede” (1896–1967) American Naval Officer, Engineer, and Inventor No access
19. Blalock, Alfred (1899–1964) American Surgeon and Medical Researcher No access
20. Williams, David Marshall (1900–1975) American Gunsmith No access
1. Tucker, Preston (1903–1956) American Automobile Designer and Manufacturer No access
2. Oppenheimer, J. Robert (1904–1967) American Physicist No access
3. Hughes, Howard R., Jr. (1905–1976) American Industrialist, Aviator, Filmmaker, and Engineer No access
4. Farnsworth, Philo T. (1906–1971) American Electrical Engineer No access
5. Von Braun, Wernher (1912–1977) German (Later American) Rocket Engineer No access
6. Wilkins, Maurice (1916–2004) English Physicist No access
7. Feynman, Richard (1918–1988) American Physicist No access
8. Franklin, Rosalind (1920–1958) English Chemist and Crystallographer No access
9. Mowat, Farley (1921–) Canadian Naturalist and Conservationist No access
10. Kearns, Robert (1927–2005) American Electrical Engineer No access
11. Bull, Gerald (1928–1990) Canadian Engineer and Weapons Designer No access
12. Nash, John Forbes, Jr. (1928–) American Mathematician No access
13. Watson, James D. (1928–) American Molecular Biologist and Geneticist: Crick, Francis H. C. (1916–2004) English Molecular Biologist and Physicist No access
14. Fossey, Dian (1932–1985) American Primatologist No access
15. Sacks, Oliver (1933–) British-Born American Physician and Author No access
16. Boisjoly, Roger (1938–) American Rocket Engineer No access
17. Canfield, William American Biochemist No access
18. Jobs, Steve (1955–) American Computer Scientist and Entrepreneur No access
19. Gates, Bill (1955–) American Computer Engineer and Entrepreneur No access
Index No access Pages 311 - 322
About the Author No access Pages 323 - 324