author
Maynard Shipley
1872–1934
A lively freethinker and science writer, he worked to make big ideas in evolution, physics, and modern science understandable to ordinary readers. His books and public work also pushed back against anti-evolution campaigns in the early 20th century.
6 Audiobooks
Principles of electricity
by Maynard Shipley
X-ray, violet ray, and other rays : With their use in modern medicine
by Maynard Shipley
The wonders of radium
by Maynard Shipley
The intelligence of invertebrate animals
by Maynard Shipley
Hypnotism made plain
by Maynard Shipley
The origin and development of the atomic theory
by Maynard Shipley
About the author
Born in Baltimore on December 1, 1872, he became an American freethinker, lecturer, and popular science writer who was especially committed to public education. He studied at Stanford University and supported himself in part by teaching music, a practical streak that fits the plainspoken style of his later writing.
Shipley wrote widely on science for general audiences, including books on atomic theory, electricity, and evolution. He is especially remembered for The War on Modern Science (1927), a forceful defense of scientific thinking during the period of fundamentalist attacks on evolution, and for his role in founding and leading the Science League of America.
He died on June 18, 1934, in San Rafael, California. Today he stands out as a bridge between scientific ideas and everyday readers, bringing complicated subjects into reach while arguing that science and free inquiry mattered in public life.