In his most powerful book to date,award-winning author TimothyFerris makes a passionate case for scienceas the inspiration behind the rise of liberalismand democracy. Ferris showshow science was integral to the AmericanRevolution but misinterpreted inthe French Revolution; reflects on thehistory of liberalism, stressing its widelyunderestimated and mutually beneficialrelationship with science; and surveysthe forces that have opposed scienceand liberalism—from communism andfascism to postmodernism and Islamicfundamentalism. A sweeping intellectualhistory, is a stunninglyoriginal work that transcends theantiquated concepts of left and right.