Tree of Knowledge

Claudio Ronchi Dr., Gartenstrasse 37, D 76689 Karlsdorf-Neuthard, claron@arcor.deCLAUDIO RONCHI was born in Milan in 1940. He attended the Classic Grammar School and after graduating in mathematics and physics from the State University of Milan, he joined the European Fast Reactor Project. He worked in German, French, English and Americans laboratories. In the 1990s he was requisitioned by the European Commission to establish a collaborative effort with the countries of the former Soviet Union. To this end he coordinated the first joint nuclear research projects with important Russian and European laboratories. Until his retirement he was head of the Materials Research Division of the European Institute of Transuranium Elements to Karlsruhe, where he also supervised  PhD works of students from all over the world. He presently lives in Germany.

• Introduction.- Time of Growth.- Birth an Floruit of Science in the Occident.- Scientific Research as a Global Enterprise.- The Crisis of Growth.- Orthodoxy vs. Heresy.- The Dissemination of Knowledge.- Beyond Mankind.- Artificial Intelligence and Post-Humanity.- Beginning and End.- Epilogue.

From the reviews: "This is a fascinating, extensive, and insightful journey through the history of science. ... as a work of sound scholarship, it belongs in all college libraries. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty." (V. V. Raman, Choice, Vol. 51 (10), June, 2014)