- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: Oneworld Publications; First Edition edition (1 Oct 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1851684948
- ISBN-13: 978-1851684946
- Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.8 x 2.8 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 490,980 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
'Meticulously researched, superbly written, richly illustrated and imbued with an enthusiasm for its subject that does not flag even when analysing some of Young's most abstruse studies. This book should be cherished by all who value originality, breadth of knowledge and intellectual passion.' --The New Scientist
'Thomas Young has long awaited a first-class biography, and Andrew Robinson has provided one. It is the best biography I have read for many years.' --Sir Patrick Moore, Astronomer and Presenter of The Sky at Night.
'Robinson's success in condensing his almost limitless scholarship for a general reader is commendable.' --FT Magazine
'Thomas Young has long awaited a first-class biography, and Andrew Robinson has provided one. It is the best biography I have read for many years.' --Sir Patrick Moore, Astronomer and Presenter of The Sky at Night.
'Robinson's success in condensing his almost limitless scholarship for a general reader is commendable.' --FT Magazine
Review
"The best biography I have read for many years" - Patrick Moore
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First Sentence
Two or three years before his death, Thomas Young wrote a substantial autobiographical sketch in the third person, intended to be of use to someone writing an entry on "Young, Thomas" in a future edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Two or three years before his death, Thomas Young wrote a substantial autobiographical sketch in the third person, intended to be of use to someone writing an entry on "Young, Thomas" in a future edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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11 reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
A Little Dry, But Worth the Science
20 Oct 2006
Format:Hardcover
There isn't a great deal of personal, emotional information about Thomas Young, the title polymath here. But then his life was mostly in his work. And there is a lot to be learned following Thomas' investigations of a variety of scientific and scholarly subjects.
His range truly was amazing. How did people accomplish so much in previous centuries? Well, I suppose without TV to suck away time... But Thomas was exceptional even for his overachieving, turn-of-the-18th-century age. And this biography allows a reader to follow in the path of his curiosity - about how the eye works, about the nature of light, about Egyptian writing.
The biographer's descriptions of Thomas' researches into the physiology of the human eye can get pretty gruesome. These pages are not for the squeamish. Thomas often used himself as subject, probing his own eye socket to get to the bottom of things.
The section on his investigations into light is really enlightening and presents some of the clearest descriptions I've read of the split-screen diffraction experiment. This experiment was key in leading Thomas to his pioneering proposition that light is wave-like in nature.
And then the section on his work translating the Rosetta Stone was news to me! I had always assumed that ancient Egyptian hieroglyph writing was a form of picture writing like Chinese, with each symbol representing a whole word. But Thomas' break-through lay in the realization that the Egyptian symbols were actually largely like our modern English alphabet - that each symbol represented a sound, a phoneme. And so he gave us the key to reading the inscriptions on the ancient Egyptian tombs and obelisks.
The writing here is generally clear and will keep you turning page by page, tracking Thomas' investigations as he unlocks one mystery after another.
His range truly was amazing. How did people accomplish so much in previous centuries? Well, I suppose without TV to suck away time... But Thomas was exceptional even for his overachieving, turn-of-the-18th-century age. And this biography allows a reader to follow in the path of his curiosity - about how the eye works, about the nature of light, about Egyptian writing.
The biographer's descriptions of Thomas' researches into the physiology of the human eye can get pretty gruesome. These pages are not for the squeamish. Thomas often used himself as subject, probing his own eye socket to get to the bottom of things.
The section on his investigations into light is really enlightening and presents some of the clearest descriptions I've read of the split-screen diffraction experiment. This experiment was key in leading Thomas to his pioneering proposition that light is wave-like in nature.
And then the section on his work translating the Rosetta Stone was news to me! I had always assumed that ancient Egyptian hieroglyph writing was a form of picture writing like Chinese, with each symbol representing a whole word. But Thomas' break-through lay in the realization that the Egyptian symbols were actually largely like our modern English alphabet - that each symbol represented a sound, a phoneme. And so he gave us the key to reading the inscriptions on the ancient Egyptian tombs and obelisks.
The writing here is generally clear and will keep you turning page by page, tracking Thomas' investigations as he unlocks one mystery after another.
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Excellent Snapshot of Thomas Young's Life and Work
26 April 2006
Format:Hardcover
Although, as specified by the author, this is not meant to be a full biography of Thomas Young, this book certainly does give the reader an excellent perspective of the man, his many activities and his times. Any meaningful sketch of Thomas Young would need to include, amongst many other topics, some discourse on his work in physics, particularly the wave properties of light. This book certainly includes such discussions. The author has the ability to present physical principles with the utmost clarity - something that is, most unfortunately, lacking in many a scientific paper. I was not aware that Thomas Young was involved in so many fields, including Egyptology. In particular, I have always been under the erroneous impression that the deciphering of the Rosetta Stone was solely the work of Champollion; this book sets the record straight on that matter. The book is well-written and should be accessible to everyone. It would make a valuable addition to any library, particularly one leaning towards topics pertaining to the history of science.
19 of 23 people found the following review helpful
you might not like this book
9 Jun 2006
Format:Hardcover
If you're already intrigued by the concept of polymathy (a man who studies and works in many different subjects), were a triple major with two minors in college, or have a general interest in Thomas Young, you'll come away from this satisfied. Young's a fascinating guy, and given the task of understanding a man who worked in such varied areas, Robinson does a decent job writing his biography, or perhaps more properly, measuring and framing Young's contributions in the various subjects listed on the cover. The problem is that I don't think this book would cross over to a general audience that doesn't fit one of the above criteria. But then again, I could be wrong.
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