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Brian Clegg

Scientifica Historica: How the world's great science books chart the history of knowledge (Liber Historica) Hardcover – Illustrated, 1 Oct. 2019

by Brian Clegg (Author)

42 ratings

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Scientifica Historica is an illustrated, accessible review of those books that marked the development of science from ancient civilizations to the new millennium.

The book is divided into five eras and explores the leading scientific pioneers, discoveries and books within them:

Ancient World – looks at the beginnings of language, plus the first ever scientific documents produced and translated
Renaissance in Print – explores the effects of the invention of the printing press and the exploration of the seas and skies
Modern Classical – surveys the nineteenth century and the development of science as a profession
Post-Classical – dissects the twentieth century and the introduction of relativity, quantum theory and genetics
The Next Generation – reviews the period from 1980 to the modern day, showing how science has become accessible to the general public

Plus an introduction to the history and development of writing and books in general, and a list of the 150 greatest science books published.
From carvings and scrolls to glossy bound tomes, this book beautifully illustrates the evolution of scientific communication to the world. By recounting the history of science via its key works – those books written by the keenest minds our world has known – this book reflects the physical results of brilliant thought manifested in titles that literally changed the course of knowledge.

ISBN-10

1782408789
ISBN-13

978-1782408789
Edition

Illustrated
Publisher

Ivy Press
Publication date

1 Oct. 2019
Language

English
Dimensions

20.83 x 3.56 x 24.38 cm
Print length

272 pages
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Product details

Publisher : Ivy Press; Illustrated edition (1 Oct. 2019)
Language : English
Hardcover : 272 pages
ISBN-10 : 1782408789
ISBN-13 : 978-1782408789
Dimensions : 20.83 x 3.56 x 24.38 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 398,602 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 224 in Antique & Collectable Books
- 469 in Books & Reading (Books)
- 1,207 in History of Science (Books)

Customer reviews:
42 ratings

Product description

Review

"This book is simply visually brilliant." ― RightReading.com Published On: 2019-11-04

About the Author

Brian Clegg read Natural Sciences, focusing on experimental physics, at Cambridge University. After developing hi-tech solutions for British Airways, he formed a creative consultancy advising clients ranging from the BBC to the Met Office. He has written for numerous publications including Nature, the Times, the Wall Street Journal, and has lectured at Oxford and Cambridge universities and the Royal Institution. He is editor of the book review site www.popularscience.co.uk, and his publications include A Brief History of Infinity and How to Build a Time Machine.

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KIKI

Beautiful book with amazing pictures

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 January 2020

Verified Purchase

Beautiful and interesting book. Amazing pictures. A must-have for anyone liking science books

Helpful

Lavishly illustrated review of scientific books through history

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 December 2019

My thanks to Quarto Publishing Group/Ivy Press for granting my wish for a temporary digital edition via NetGalley of ‘Scientifica Historica’ by Brian Clegg in exchange for an honest review. It was published on 1st October in hardback and ebook editions.

It is subtitled: ‘How the world's great science books chart the history of knowledge’ and is a lavishly “illustrated, essay-based review of those books that marked the development of science from ancient civilizations to the new millennium.”

It is divided into five eras that begins in the ancient world with the invention of writing through to the 21st Century. It charts how scientific knowledge has evolved from being restricted to a small group of priests and scholars to becoming as it is today readily available to the general public. It also includes a list of the 150 great science books by author that are discussed in the text.

The text was quite tiny on the pdf edition provided for review though I would expect that it would be much easier to read the hardback. I also checked the sample of the Kindle edition and it was easy to read.

Overall a fascinating book to dip into that is bound to stimulate further interest in the history of science. It would make a beautiful coffee table book and gift.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Sid Nuncius

A beautiful introduction

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 October 2019

I like Scientifica Historica very much. I studied History and Philosophy of science as an undergraduate many years ago and have maintained an interest in it, so this is an area I’m familiar with in an amateur sort of way – and am pleased (and slightly smug) at the number of books discussed by Brian Clegg that I have actually read.

The first thing to say is that the book is beautiful. The illustrations are lavish and inspiring much of the time – especially for me, seeing original scripts from millennia ago and handwritten notes by some deeply revered scientists but also pages and covers from great books. This makes it more of an introduction and a coffee table book than an in-depth work on the historiography of science, but that’s just fine because it fits that role very well. All the great works of pre- and 20th-Century science you’d expect are here, from Aristotle and Hippocrates through the great Arab works of the 9th to the 12th centuries, then Bacon, Copernicus, Kepler, Newton, Galileo, Harvey, Malthus, Dalton, Faraday, Darwin, Einstein… plus a lot more, all of which is a delight to see. Each is discussed readably and with enough depth to inform the casual reader and to encourage those interested to seek out more.

Things become quite interesting with 20th-Century selections as science broadens out and I think it’s here that people may find some editorial choices controversial, especially in the final section on popular science books. Clegg doesn’t give us any Freud or Jung, for example, but does include Oliver Sacks and two (two!) of Desmond Morris’s books. To me Sacks is unarguable, as are many others he chooses, but two Desmond Morris books but nothing whatsoever by Peter Medawar or Stephen Jay Gould? My judgement would have been different – but then, that’s always going to be the case in such a selection.

So, as an enticing introduction to some of the great (and in my view some not so great!) books of science, this works very well and I can recommend it.

2 people found this helpful

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Ramblingsid

A fascinating review of the history of science told through a survey of its most important texts

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 November 2019

Although I have not seen a physical copy of this book, it is clear it is a beautiful object, richly and generously illustrated with images of classic scientific texts, as well as pages from, and covers of, more modern works. I may as well tell you, up front, that I will probably not be able to resist buying my own copy.

This is a book that is based on the simple notion than mankind’s most fundamental achievement has been the invention of writing. While it may very well have had its origins, tens of thousands of years ago, in mundane matters such as keeping a tally of animal herds or recording business transactions, writing became the means by which new ideas could be recorded and shared between people. As the author, Brian Clegg, says, writing enables us to break the barriers of time and space, and has allowed scientists to communicate not only with their fellows around the world but also with those in future generations. This volume is a survey of those communications from the earliest of scientific thinkers to the modern day.

The book has a simple chronological structure divided as it is into five eras each of them highlighting and briefly describing the most important scientific thinkers, the importance of their work and its place in the history of scientific thought:

1. The Ancient World – Laying the Foundations

Covering the period up until 1200 CE, this chapter describes the works of the scientists and mathematicians of the ancient world from Hippocrates, Euclid and Archimedes to Galen, Pliny and Ptolemy. We are also reminded of how important the Arab world was to science by its preservation and translation of these ancient texts that were only rediscovered in Europe, much later, during the Renaissance.

2. Renaissance in Print – The Revolution in Books

This chapter covers the period from 1200 CE to the end of the eighteenth century and, if writing was fundamental to the preservation of early scientific knowledge then the invention of the printing press and moveable type allowed a revolution in disseminating that knowledge much more widely and easily than had been the case when science books, like all books, were hand copied one by one. It was also the period when science transformed our understanding of the universe and mankind’s place in it.

3. Modern Classical – Victorian stability

A survey of nineteenth century scientific discovery this chapter also charts the slow passing of the wealthy amateur natural philosopher and his eventual replacement by the professional scientist. This is the century of Darwin and Faraday, of Babbage and Herschel. It is also the century when science books began to not simply be a means by which scientists communicated their discoveries to their fellow scientists but could also be of interest to the general reader. This is the century of Audubon’s Birds of America and Darwin’s On the Origin of the Species.

4. Post-Classical – The World Turned Upside Down

This chapter examines the scientific advances of the twentieth century and includes revolutionary ideas such as relativity, quantum theory and genetics. Science writing continues to become more accessible to the general reader and we have the new phenomenon of the science book as tie-in to the TV series. The most notable of these being Jacob Bronowski’s The Ascent of Man.

5. The Next Generation – Transforming Understanding

The final chapter looks at science writing from 1980 to the current day and how it has developed in an age that is more sceptical and less trusting of science. The books produced by scientists are increasingly aimed specifically at the general reader and more science books are being written by specialist science writers. The reader is expected to be more critical and to question scientific theory.

The overwhelming majority of works described in this book are European, but the author is at pains to refer to the works that have their origins elsewhere wherever possible most notably the Arab World, India and China. The author also mentions repeatedly how few of the works he describes have been produced by women and, again, he is careful to acknowledge the work of women scientists wherever possible. One of the more heartening features of his review of the period since 1980 is the increase in important scientific books that have been produced by women.

This is a fine book. It covers a wide expanse of scientific knowledge and discovery but still manages to give enough detail to engage the reader, even to pique his or her interest and, maybe, encourage them to go on to discover more. If the purpose of this book is to promote interest in science and a recognition of just how valuable scientific discovery is to us all, then I have to say, it succeeds admirably.

I would like to express my thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group /The Ivy Press for making a free ARC download of this book available to me.

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