The authors of the New York Public Library Book of Answers series present a timeline of scientific progress--and equally intriguing detours--from the Stone Age to the Information Age. Within each year, entries are organized alphabetically by 13 disciplines: from archaeology and astronomy to the social sciences and technology. Sidebars yield further context (on items ranging from the disputed first production of wine to chaos theory); the birth and death dates of many of the scientific contributors featured are appended. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR