{"product_id":"9781805110187","title":"The Last Man who Knew Everything: Thomas Young","description":"\u003cp\u003eNo one has given the polymath Thomas Young (1773-1829) the all-round examination he so richly deserves-until now. Celebrated biographer Andrew Robinson portrays a man who solved mystery after mystery in the face of ridicule and rejection, and never sought fame.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs a physicist, Young challenged the theories of Isaac Newton and proved that light is a wave. As a physician, he showed how the eye focuses and proposed the three-colour theory of vision, only confirmed a century and a half later. As an Egyptologist, he made crucial contributions to deciphering the Rosetta Stone. It is hard to grasp how much Young knew.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis biography is the fascinating story of a driven yet modest hero who cared less about what others thought of him than for the joys of an unbridled pursuit of knowledge-with a new foreword by Martin Rees and a new postscript discussing polymathy in the two centuries since the time of Young. It returns this neglected genius to his proper position in the pantheon of great scientific thinkers.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Open Book Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46311697088753,"sku":"9781805110187","price":40.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0674\/5433\/7265\/files\/9781805110187_p0.jpg?v=1765306674","url":"https:\/\/shop.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781805110187","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble","version":"1.0","type":"link"}