What are the most important scientific advances in the last couple of centuries? For many of us, the answers that spring to mind are the things that surround us - our computers, televisions, telephones, and lightbulbs. To a scientist, the answers would most likely be different, and might includes Maxwell's theory of electromagnetic radiation, the quantum theory and its extension into quantum mechanics, and the theory of relativity. Why should there be such a discrepancy between these two sets of answers?

The problem lies in part in the distinction between science and technology, or pure and applied science. In To light such a candle, the renowned chemist and historian of science Keith Laidler examines the discoveries of some gifted individuals over the centuries - some scientists, some technologists - and how they have lit candles that have transformed our material lives. Taking seven themes in science and technology, he considers their often complicated inter-relationship. We see how "pure research" (much under threat at present) often leads to practical applications of the greatest importance. Faraday's pure research on electricity had immense technological implications, while Maxwell's theory of electromagnetic radiation led directly to the discovery of radio transmission, something of which Maxwell himself had no conception. Conversely, the early steam engines were by no means science-based, but they led directly to the science of thermodynamics, one of the most fundamental branches of pure science.

Illuminated by many fascinating stories from the history of science, this book provides a powerful argument for the relevance of pure research, and gives the general reader and scientist alike an idea of the nature and importance of the links between science and technology.

Keith J. Laidler's profile page

Keith Laidler is Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at the University of Ottawa. He is the author of the award-winning The World of Physical Chemistry (OUP, 1993).

'The format of the book is attractive, and its argument provides a fairly accessible ... introductory exposition of topics in the history of science. But given the fairly technical level of the text, it is likely to appeal to scientists rather than to the nonscientists whose confusion about the relationship between science and technology the author has sought to clarify.' Nature