- Paperback: 336 pages
- Publisher: John Murray (2 Sep 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1848542003
- ISBN-13: 978-1848542006
- Product Dimensions: 21.3 x 13.5 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 278,552 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
'An illuminating read'
(Financial Times )'This approachable and often funny compendium of tales about scientists and their discoveries is also making an important argument: that science is not the stately, dispassionate progress from evidence to theory that some of its self-appointed defenders think'
(Guardian )'Addictive'
(Independent )Product Description
The history of science is often seen as a story of advancement but nothing could be further from the truth. Science, it is true, has progressed, but rarely in the direction intended and seldom for the reasons given. This has a lot to do with the people responsible.
Meet Thales, credited as 'the father of science', whose only real claim to fame is that he often fell into ditches, discover how Archimedes never said Eureka and hated baths anyway and how the most lucrative ancient Greek invention was not democracy but the slot machine.
Justin Pollard also fills us in on Issac Newton who liked to disguise himself and lurk in London's less salubrious pubs, how eleven people claimed to have invented the steam engine and why the first website was twelve foot across and made of wood.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ever since Justin Pollard mentioned that his newest book was going to be based on science discoveries, I knew it was going to brilliant and I wasn't wrong.
In Pollard-esque style, the book is filled with fascinating tales and stories behind what really happened in the science world and what really happened behind some of our most popular inventions.
Boffinology is filled with hidden gems of factual information that is both interesting and helpful in the understanding of how things work and why we use items the way we do. You do not need to be a fan of science or even care about science to like this book (although if you are, even better!). But if you enjoy trivia or are curious about how modern day items came to be, this is the book for you.
You can read the book front to cover, as I did, or use it as a pick-up-flip-to-a-page and read book. Each page will not disappoint although I guarantee you won't be able to read just one story.
The book is broken into 10 Chapters, each containing 10 Quite Interesting *ahem* stories.
Stop reading this review and click buy. You won't regret it.
In Pollard-esque style, the book is filled with fascinating tales and stories behind what really happened in the science world and what really happened behind some of our most popular inventions.
Boffinology is filled with hidden gems of factual information that is both interesting and helpful in the understanding of how things work and why we use items the way we do. You do not need to be a fan of science or even care about science to like this book (although if you are, even better!). But if you enjoy trivia or are curious about how modern day items came to be, this is the book for you.
You can read the book front to cover, as I did, or use it as a pick-up-flip-to-a-page and read book. Each page will not disappoint although I guarantee you won't be able to read just one story.
The book is broken into 10 Chapters, each containing 10 Quite Interesting *ahem* stories.
Stop reading this review and click buy. You won't regret it.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book follows a very simple format: it just gives a large number of very short anecdotes regarding various aspects of scientific discovery. Most are 1-3 pages long and so are eminently digestible. Structured by a rough theme (which get more tenuous as the book goes on) it makes for quite a good "coffee table" book that be picked up and dipped into at any time. I chose to read it cover to cover, however there is no master narrative that necessitates this approach.
It has to be pointed out that the author is one of the researchers for the tv show, QI, and the style of writing is very much in that vein. In fact, some of the stories in the book I have heard Stephen Fry read almost word-for-word from his crib cards. So if you like QI then this should appeal to you.
As far as science writing goes, it very basic and does not require any expertise in order to be able follow. However, the author has committed one cardinal sin of science writing by not including any references whatsoever. All we have to rely on are his word that he did some unspecified research, but has not named his sources, which does cast a shadow over the reliability of the anecdotes contained therein.
That said, being a scientist myself, some were very familiar to me and almost all that I was familiar with already were accurate. Due to the brevity of the stories, some important details were missed off, and I noticed these particularly in the last section of the book when it came to the stories about Galileo and Mendel, which causes them to be slightly inaccurate.
With that small aside, this was an enjoyable and informative read. You don't have to be into science to enjoy it, and enjoy it you most certainly should.
It has to be pointed out that the author is one of the researchers for the tv show, QI, and the style of writing is very much in that vein. In fact, some of the stories in the book I have heard Stephen Fry read almost word-for-word from his crib cards. So if you like QI then this should appeal to you.
As far as science writing goes, it very basic and does not require any expertise in order to be able follow. However, the author has committed one cardinal sin of science writing by not including any references whatsoever. All we have to rely on are his word that he did some unspecified research, but has not named his sources, which does cast a shadow over the reliability of the anecdotes contained therein.
That said, being a scientist myself, some were very familiar to me and almost all that I was familiar with already were accurate. Due to the brevity of the stories, some important details were missed off, and I noticed these particularly in the last section of the book when it came to the stories about Galileo and Mendel, which causes them to be slightly inaccurate.
With that small aside, this was an enjoyable and informative read. You don't have to be into science to enjoy it, and enjoy it you most certainly should.
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As a fan of the programme QI and all its fascinating facts I hear, but never remember, it's good to have something I can read over and over again until something sinks in!
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