Seeing Further: The Story of Science and the Royal Society: 350 Years of the Royal Society and Scientific Endeavour [Hardcover]

For someone as unscientific as me I found on the first reading that I was 'blinded by science. It is a beautifully produced book with wonderful illustrations. It is quite staggering to see how various subjects have developed in what is,after all, only a short space of time. I believe it was Newton who claimed to have received his vision by standing on the shoulders of giants. One can scarcely imagine what vision will be granted to those who stand one the shoulders of to-day's giants. It was good to struggle with the more obscure articles although the use of a mental telescope would have been useful. I would encourage others to read this book and even, if like me, they found hard going at times, just to hold the book and enjoy its quality is sufficient to provide the impetus to begin.

The book was written to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the Royal Society founded in 1660 and in the process marking the beginning of modern science. The momentous event was precipitated by a lecture given to a dozen people by a 28-year-old astronomer, Christopher Wren, who would later design St Paul's cathedral. These gentlemen were followers of Sir Francis Bacon, a 17th-century statesman and philosopher who argued that knowledge could be gained by testing ideas through experiments. Inspired by the lecture and Bacon, they determined to meet every week to discuss scientific matters and to witness experiments conducted by different members of the group. Two years later Charles II granted the Society its royal charter. The establishment of the Royal Society marked the invention of processes on which modern science rests, including scientific writing and peer review. During its illustrious history the Royal Society counted among its members such stellar scientists as Charles Darwin, Michael Faraday, James Clerk Maxwell and Lord Ernest Rutherford while Sir Isaac Newton served as its President;the election of Leibniz, a Hanoverian, as Fellow of the Royal Society in 1673 established its cosmopolitan character since its inception.

The book introduced and edited by Bill Bryson, comprise twenty-one essays written by distinguished personalities-men and women-of science but also letters reflecting on science and technology since the foundation of the Royal Society. The essays in their commanding majority are truly excellent.

Early in the book Margaret Wertheim provides a profound insight on the challenge that modern science which we identify with the Royal Society posed to existing worldviews and systems of meaning. This is immediately followed by an equally profound essay by Neal Stephenson relating to one of the sharpest intellectual disputes in the early days of the Royal Society between the two giants Newton and Leibniz. I do not allude here to their well known feud on the fatherhood of Calculus. But on a most profound debate on the nature of physical reality. Newton, of course, was well aware that his model led to a deterministic world posing a problem on free will. Lebniz in his theory of monads, primary entities interacting with all other similar entities anticipates contemporary thinking that matter is a secondary manifestation of the primary physical reality. Richard Dawkins' essay on Darwinian evolution is as always beautifully written and incisive. Georgina Ferry's essay on crystallography is written with sensitivity and among other relates woman recognition in science. One of the heroins, Dorothy Hodgin, was not only elected Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS 1947) but was awarded the 1964 Nobel prize for Chemistry, the first (and so far the only) British woman to win a science Nobel. Ian Stewart convincingly reveals the all permeating nature of Mathematics underpinning science and technology. Stephen H. Schneider, Nobel prize laureate and member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) relates among other how Bayenesian probability aids in tackling risk management in climate change. The concluding essay is appropriately written by Martin Rees, President of the Royal Society who reminds us that for Bacon, science was driven by two imperatives:the search for enlightenment, and the 'relief of man's estate'. But additionally and importantly articulates his own position that contemporary scientists have a special responsibility. They should as 'citizen scientists', be prepared to engage in public debate and discussion. And this is particuarly important because challenges of the twenty-first century are more complex and intractable than those of the twentieth century.

The book is richly illustrated drawing on the arhives of the Royal Socitey. Photographs include pages with the signatures of the founding members of the Royal Society but also of the 2001 and 2002 members some of whom are contributors in the book;photographs of Isaac Newton death mask;and photographs of original editions of monumental publications such as Newton's Principia, Darwin's on the Origin of Species and Einstein's Uber die spezialle und die allgemeine relativitast theorie (On the Special and Ceneral Theory of Relativity).

Though it may not be at the forefront of everyone's thoughts, it is hard to overestimate the influence and impact of both the individual members of the Royal Society and the society as a whole has had on our modern lives. Through the work of the 22 contributing authors, this book attempts to shine a light on some of these areas of influence and impact and, in my opinion, succeeds quite successfully.

Covering the 350 years of the Royal society, with topics ranging from the place of science to influence politics and policy when dealing with matters of uncertainty (parallels with the present global warming debates), through to the amount of science and mathematics that is hidden behind the scenes in almost everything we do today. The scope of the book is understandably large.

Echoing the views of the earlier reviewers, some of the submissions are easy to read and appreciate, with some of the others, for me, requiring a little more persistence. Though, all of them are well worth the effort involved.

With its wide range of subjects, I believe the book offers a great introduction to a fascinating and integral part of the history of our modern day lives. Further to that, by crafting the book from the submissions of a good selection of prominent figures and writers, I have also gained some insight into authors who I had not come across before but shall be reading more of in the future.