Amir D. Aczel

Amir D. Aczel

Amir D. Aczel (Amir Dan Aczel) was born on November 6th, 1950. Amir passed away November 26th, 2015 at 65 years old. Amir D. Aczel was born in Haifa, Israel. Aczel attended the University of California, Berkeley where he received a BA in mathematics and Master of Science degrees and the University of Oregon where he received a PhD in statistics.

Amir D. Aczel was an Israeli-born American lecturer in mathematics and the history of mathematics and science, and he wrote books on science and mathematics.

Amir’s father was the captain of a passenger ship that primarily sailed in the Mediterranean Sea. When Aczel was just 10, his father taught him how to navigate and steer the ship. This experience inspired Aczel’s book The Riddle of the Compass.

In 2003, he became a research fellow at the Boston University Center for Philosophy and History of Science. In the fall of 2011, he was teaching math courses at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

He was a 2004 Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, received a Sloan Foundation grant to research his book Finding Zero, and was a visiting scholar in the History of Science at Harvard University.

Amir also appeared on Nightline, CNN, The History Channel, and CNBC.

The Riddle of the Compass: The Invention that Changed the World showcases Amir at his most insightful and entertaining. The story of the compass is shrouded in myth and mystery, but most will agree it starts around the time of Christ’s birth in ancient China.

This mysterious lodestone, whose powers affected metal, was known to the Chinese emperor. This piece of metal was suspended in water and would always point to the north. It was an unexplainable occurrence that led to the stone being used in feng shui, the Chinese art of finding the right location.

However, it was the Italians, over a thousand years later, who discovered the lodestone’s ultimate destiny and unleashed its formidable powers. The compass was born in the 12th century in Amalfi, crowning the Italians as the new rulers of the sea and heralding the onset of the modern world.

The Jesuit and the Skull: Teilhard de Chardin, Evolution, and the Search for Peking Man is an extraordinary tale about evolution, discovery, faith, and science.

In 1929, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a French Jesuit priest, was part of a group of scientists that discovered a skull that became known as Peking Man. It was a key evolutionary link that left Teilhard torn between his ancient faith and science, ultimately ostracizing him from his beloved Catholic Church.

This struggle is the core of the book, taking readers across cultures and continents in a fascinating exploration of one of the 20th century’s most important discoveries and one of the most provocative pieces of evidence in the roiling debate between evolution and creationism.

Related Authors

Fans of Amir D. Aczel also enjoy these authors:

1. J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings Series.
2. Andy Weir, author of: Project Hail Mary.
3. Bill Bryson, author of the Bill Bryson Travel Books.
4. Frank Herbert, author of the Dune Series.
5. Neal Stephenson, author of: Snow Crash.

Amir D. Aczel: F.A.Q