Bardi, Jason Socrates

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Bardi, Jason Socrates

PERSONAL:

Married; wife's name Jennifer (an editor); children: Georgia. Education: University of Hartford, B.A., B.S., 1995; Johns Hopkins University, M.A. (molecular biophysics), 1998, M.A. (science writing), 2001.

ADDRESSES:

Home—College Park, MD. E-mail—[email protected]; [email protected].

CAREER:

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, MD, writer and editor. Science writer for one year at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, and five years at the Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA.

WRITINGS:

The Calculus Wars: Newton, Leibniz, and the Greatest Mathematical Clash of All Time, Thunder's Mouth Press (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Jason Socrates Bardi, who holds degrees in science and science writing, has worked as a professional science writer for private corporations and government agencies. His first book, The Calculus Wars: Newton, Leibniz, and the Greatest Mathematical Clash of All Time, is a study of the battle between two great scientific minds, German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) and Isaac Newton (1642-1727) over which of them invented calculus, the mathematics that concerns bodies in motion. Newton first produced a manuscript describing his method of calculus in 1665, but he hesitated to officially publish his findings after he was accused of plagiarism following the publication of his paper on optics in 1672. The young Newton was accused by Robert Hooke, a member of the Royal Society, which resulted in his shyness in presenting his work. Leibniz created calculus independently and published two papers, which brought him fame, but Newton followers disputed his claim of being first. As time passed both men have been recognized for the achievement, as both are considered to be the greatest scientific thinkers of all time.

A Publishers Weekly contributor wrote: "Bardi provides a timeless lesson about human pride."