"Our understanding of nature - as a succession of forms assumed by eternal elements - emerged during the hundred years between 1840 and 1940, when theories of thermodynamics, atomic structure, and the equivalence of matter and energy all took shape. In Peter Whitfield's view, it represents probably the greatest single achievement of human thought.". "In the course of his stimulating and wide-ranging survey, Whitfield describes the long and complex process of discovery that lies behind that achievement, from the earliest times up to the mid-20th century. He shows how people with enquiring minds and a range of beliefs have tried to 'build bridges between nature and eternity', and he argues that the history of science, like that of art, is not a simple progression from lower to higher, but a sequence of responses to the world, conditioned by historical circumstances."--BOOK JACKET.