Science: A History: 1534-2001
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Product Description
Product Description
In this book, John Gribbin tells the story of the people who made science and the turbulent times they lived in. As well as famous figures such as Copernicus, Darwin and Einstein, there are also the obscure, the eccentric, even the mad. This diversecast includes, among others, Andreas Vesalius, landmark 16th-century anatomist and secret grave-robber; the flamboyant Galileo, accused of heresy for his ideas; the obsessive, competitive Newton, who wrote his rivals out of the history books; GregorMendel, the Moravian monk who founded modern genetics; and Louis Agassiz, so determined to prove the existence of ice ages that he marched his colleagues up a mountain to show them the evidence.
About the Author
John Gribbin is one of today's greatest writers of popular science and the author of bestselling books, including In Search of Schrödinger's Cat, Stardust and Deep Simplicity. He is famous to his many fans for making complex ideas simple, and says that his aim in his writing - much of it done with his wife, Mary Gribbin - is to share with his readers his sense of wonder at the strangeness of the universe. John Gribbin trained as an astrophysicist at Cambridge University and is currently Visiting Fellow in Astronomy at the University of Sussex.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
The Renaissance was the time when Western Europeans lost their awe of the Ancients and realized that they had as much to contribute to civilization and society as the Greeks and Romans had contributed. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The Renaissance was the time when Western Europeans lost their awe of the Ancients and realized that they had as much to contribute to civilization and society as the Greeks and Romans had contributed. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
What a book!
For anyone with an interest in how we humans have found ourselves in our current state of scientific understanding this is a very good read. Taken in small chunks this book will last you weeks, with every chunk being full of insight and fascinating information, all set in context. So for example, while we all have been taught that Gregor Mendel was the prime discoverer of the principles of heredity and therefore genetics, this book tells you about others who had related views and observations and shows how "scientific progress takes place step by step". This book will convince you of the author's proposition that scientific discovery is not so much a series of revelations by individual scientific geniuses, but rather as a combination of events, a wave of small discoveries and insights, a tidal flow leading to where we are today. Only one exception is made - that of Isaac Newton who is a clear winner in the single greatest individual stakes.
I am now looking forward to my second reading, so will not be offering my copy second hand through Amazon!
For anyone with an interest in how we humans have found ourselves in our current state of scientific understanding this is a very good read. Taken in small chunks this book will last you weeks, with every chunk being full of insight and fascinating information, all set in context. So for example, while we all have been taught that Gregor Mendel was the prime discoverer of the principles of heredity and therefore genetics, this book tells you about others who had related views and observations and shows how "scientific progress takes place step by step". This book will convince you of the author's proposition that scientific discovery is not so much a series of revelations by individual scientific geniuses, but rather as a combination of events, a wave of small discoveries and insights, a tidal flow leading to where we are today. Only one exception is made - that of Isaac Newton who is a clear winner in the single greatest individual stakes.
I am now looking forward to my second reading, so will not be offering my copy second hand through Amazon!
27 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having read Gribbin's Science and Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything in the last few months its interesting to contrast the two, which are approximately the same length.
Gribbin firstly is a professional scientist and Bryson a popularist. Unsurprisingly then Gribbin's book has the more authoritative air about it. However Bryson's is undoubtedly more entertaining and is packed with fascinating facts, continuing to illustrate how amazing the world we live in is. Gribbin frequently doesn't explain things as well, he assumes - sometimes I presume without realising it - that the reader knows certain facts. Bryson explains everything from first principles as that's the way he has had to learn it to write the book. Gribbin instead effectively has written a lot of mini-biographies of the scientists he's selected, and perhaps not put as much into what they did as Bryson.
One criticism of this book is that it is very biased towards the physical sciences, especially physics. Other than Darwinism and a bit about DNA and genetics, there is very little outside Gribbin's own subject. Bryson's book seems to have a much broader scope.
In summary if I was studying for a History of Science degree I would plump for Gribbin's book. If I wanted a good read for a desert island I'd go from Bryson's.
Gribbin firstly is a professional scientist and Bryson a popularist. Unsurprisingly then Gribbin's book has the more authoritative air about it. However Bryson's is undoubtedly more entertaining and is packed with fascinating facts, continuing to illustrate how amazing the world we live in is. Gribbin frequently doesn't explain things as well, he assumes - sometimes I presume without realising it - that the reader knows certain facts. Bryson explains everything from first principles as that's the way he has had to learn it to write the book. Gribbin instead effectively has written a lot of mini-biographies of the scientists he's selected, and perhaps not put as much into what they did as Bryson.
One criticism of this book is that it is very biased towards the physical sciences, especially physics. Other than Darwinism and a bit about DNA and genetics, there is very little outside Gribbin's own subject. Bryson's book seems to have a much broader scope.
In summary if I was studying for a History of Science degree I would plump for Gribbin's book. If I wanted a good read for a desert island I'd go from Bryson's.
27 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Science books are not meant to be this interesting. I found it hard to put down, and read it in a little over a week.
By tackling science chronologically, the author presents scientific discoveries like a 'whodunnit' - making the subject intrinsically interesting. Compare this with the way science is taught in schools - to use the 'whodunnit' analogy, pupils are taught that 'x' murdered victim #1, 'y' murdered victim #2 etc. The latter approach strips the subject of a major part of its interest.
There are some great little revelations, such as how the ultra-tedious Principle of Conservation of Energy was (so to speak) 'discovered' (it involves arteries, veins & leeches), and the significance of the structure of the atom (e.g. the chair you are sitting on is mostly made of nothing - reflecting the massive gap between the electrons & nucleus. I never thought of it like that. Wow!)
The author even makes quantum mechanics simple to understand. Wow! (There I go again).
This is only the second ever Amazon review I have written. Why did I bother? Because the book enthuses me.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Solid but disappointing
I have read books by John Gribben before and generally liked them, but I found this one rather disappointing. Read more
Published 27 days ago by PeterD
Excellent book but may be too focused on the British contribution
I am still reading this and have just reached the middle of the 18th century. So far its been a great and very informative book, it gave me almost exactly what I wanted in terms of... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Jonathan Lowenstein
One of the best books I have ever read
Ok, so high praise indeed. The reason why I rate the book so highly is that:
- it takes very complex subjects and makes them super clear
- each chapter left me in... Read more
- it takes very complex subjects and makes them super clear
- each chapter left me in... Read more
Published 6 months ago by bryantookey
A Good Read
A good read. The author has managed to comprehensively cover all the significant achievements in Science. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Karthik Rajasekar
A Superb Account of Western Science since the Renaissance
As an unashamed fan of John Gribbin, I confess to feeling a little apprehensive before starting his six-hundred page opus on the history of science. Read more
Published 18 months ago by John Dexter
A very enjoyable and inspiring book.
I really like the book. In fact, I like it so much that I am writing a review without reading the book through. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Kromm
Four good reasons to read this book
The fact base is huge and complete;
The scientific explanations are exhaustive and understandable at the same time;
The personal details of the scientists are... Read more
The scientific explanations are exhaustive and understandable at the same time;
The personal details of the scientists are... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Piero Sierra
More biography than science
I'll probably get slated for this; going against the grain and all that, but I have to say I didn't really enjoy this book as much as I had hoped. Read more
Published on 29 Jan 2010 by TheFrog
detailed & concise
This isn't just a general overview of the history of Science, but is very comprehensive. Although a basic knowledge of some chem, bio & physics is helpful, it isn't essential. Read more
Published on 31 Oct 2009 by Mr. Kashif Ahmed
McLogs
I am still in the process of reading this so my star rating is provisional. However I wish to point out the "howler" on p66, which refers to the "inventor" of logarithms as John... Read more
Published on 30 Aug 2006 by alkyceltzer
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