From tea’s beginnings in the Far East to the coffeehouses of Shakespeare’s day, from the Imperial Russian court to modern tea houses across the United States, tea is a beverage that has been enjoyed throughout the whole world. He drank some of the liquid and found it refreshing, which led to the birth of tea.Īfter Emperor Shennong, the history of tea is one of adventure, ritual, mystery and discovery. As a scientist, Emperor Shennong was intrigued.

One day, while visiting a distant province, his servants began boiling water and leaves from a nearby bush fell into the pot, producing a golden infusion. His is a brain of extraordinary power' (The New York Review of Books).According to legend, tea originated in ancient China more than 5000 years ago.Įmperor Shennong, who was a scientist and patron of the arts, dictated that all drinking water be boiled as a health precaution. Rare and desirable signed.Ī landmark volume in science writing by one of the great minds of our time, Stephen Hawking’s book explores such profound questions as: How did the universe begin-and what made its start possible? Does time always flow forward? Is the universe unending-or are there boundaries? “ can explain the complexities of cosmological physics with an engaging combination of clarity and wit. Near fine in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket with light rubbing. In the front row, a young man in a wheelchair was, very slowly, signing his name in a book that bore on its earliest pages the signature of Isaac Newton… Stephen Hawking was a legend even then.” In his introduction, Sagan goes on to add that Hawking is the “worthy successor” to Newton and Paul Dirac, both former Lucasian Professors of Mathematics. “I realized that I was watching an ancient ceremony: the investiture of new fellows into the Royal Society, one of the most ancient scholarly organizations on the planet. Sagan tells the following story: Sagan was in London for a scientific conference in 1974, and between sessions he wandered into a different room, where a larger meeting was taking place. Boldly signed by Carl Sagan on the title page, who wrote the introduction. Octavo, original half cloth, illustrated by Ron Miller. A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes.įirst American edition of Hawking’s groundbreaking work.

A brief history of time price