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''The Intelligent Man's Guide to Science'' is a general guide to the sciences written by Isaac Asimov. It was first published in 1960 by Basic Books in two volumes, ''Physical Sciences'' and ''Biological Sciences'', though some subsequent editions were published as single volumes. A paperback edition was published in 1969 by Washington Square Press in two volumes under the titles ''The Intelligent Man's Guide to the Physical Sciences'' and ''The Intelligent Man's Guide to the Biological Sciences''. Later, updated editions were: * ''The New Intelligent Man's Guide to Science'' (1965) * ''Asimov's Guide to Science'' (1972) * ''Asimov's New Guide to Science'' (1984) ==Writing and publication== Asimov was first contacted by Leon Svirsky of Basic Books in 1959 about the possibility of writing a book that would provide an overview of science, and the two met at Asimov's home on 13 May to discuss the details. Six days later, Asimov received a contract for the book, along with a $1500 advance.〔Asimov 1980: 11:2〕 At this point in his life, it had been just over a year since Asimov had given up his teaching duties at Boston University and taken up writing full-time. He had published 11 nonfiction books, including books on chemistry, physics, astronomy, a college-level biochemistry textbook, and a collection of science essays. However, he was momentarily daunted by the prospect of writing a major book on all of science, and he delayed signing the contract until 15 July, after receiving encouragement from his friend (and future wife) Janet Jeppson.〔Asimov 1980: 11:10〕 The book's title was Svirsky's, chosen as a deliberate homage to George Bernard Shaw's ''The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism''. Asimov feared the title would be seen as elitist and condescending, and he suggested ''Everyone's Guide to Science'' as an alternative, but Svirsky refused. Years later, when he was confronted by annoyed feminists who asked why the book was restricted to men, Asimov would claim that the "intelligent man" of the title referred to himself〔Asimov 1980: 12:2〕 — thus anticipating the title ''Asimov's Guide to Science'' adopted for the third edition. Svirsky also wanted the book confined to scientific advances made in the 20th century. Asimov, however, preferred to approach each field in a historical manner, starting with the ancient Greeks or, at the very least, Galileo. As often happened when Asimov was given editorial directions he disagreed with, he ignored them, and wrote the book just as he wanted to.〔Asimov 1980: 12:6〕 In organizing the various fields of science, Asimov chose to begin with the universe as a whole and work inward in narrowing circles until he was inside the brain at the end.〔Asimov 1980: 12:2〕 Asimov began work on the book on 2 October, and found that he had no trouble with it at all, writing anywhere from 6000 to 10,000 words a day without any sense of strain.〔Asimov 1980: 11:7〕 By 27 January 1958, Asimov was able to deliver the first half of the completed manuscript to Basic Books,〔Asimov 1980: 12:11〕 but at a meeting a month later, Svirsky suggested cutting the book in half so it could fit in one volume.〔Asimov 1980: 12:13〕 At that point, Asimov was only two chapters shy of finishing the book, but saw no reason to complete it if it would be subjected to such radical abridgement, and halted work.〔Asimov 1980: 12:16〕 He resumed work after being informed on 11 March That Svirsky would not try to reduce the book by half, but would instead publish it in two volumes.〔Asimov 1980: 12:17〕 Svirsky also insisted that the book include an introduction by the geneticist George Wells Beadle. Asimov felt that his work didn't need an introduction by anyone else, and even though he found Beadle's introduction to be very elegant, he still resented its inclusion.〔Asimov 1980: 13:1〕 Asimov delivered the final chapters to Basic Books on 21 April,〔Asimov 1980: 12:22〕 and the appendices on 4 May.〔Asimov 1980: 12:23〕 When he began proofing the book's galleys, Asimov was horrified to find that Svirsky still cut out some 30% of the book's material. Asimov reinserted as much information into the galley proofs as he could, but he remained unhappy with the book.〔Asimov 1980: 13:1〕 The book, Asimov's thirty-ninth, was published by Basic Books in October 1960. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Intelligent Man's Guide to Science」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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