Napoleon's Scientists and the Unveiling of Egypt
by Nina Burleigh
Harper Collins, 2007
Comments: Napoleon's brief and ill-fated conquest of Egypt is best known as a military campaign, but this account approaches the story from the perspective of its scientific aspirations. Napoleon formed a corps of some of the best scientific minds of the day in France and brought them to Egypt as part of his army. These men were charged with deriving as much scientific knowledge as possible from the ancient cultures they would encounter. Though largely a tale of systemized ransacking, under incredibly difficult conditions there were a few remarkable discoveries, such as the Rosetta Stone, that greatly expanded our human knowledge.
