Comments on: Favorite History of Science Books

Question: Favorite History of Science Books

lorenzism — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 09:25:39 -0800

What are the best history of science books for the intelligent layperson? Some examples along these lines include Richard Rhodes' "The Making of the Atomic Bomb", David Bodanis' "E=mc2" and Dava Sobel's "Longitude"; books which mix equally well the explanation of scientific concepts with historical/biographical storytelling, and are not intended for practitioners of the field. In addition to general suggestions, specific recommendations about the history of probability & statistics and the history of science in the ancient/medieval world would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

By: kookoobirdz

kookoobirdz — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 09:39:28 -0800

Oh man, this sounds exactly like Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything". Loved this book. It brings the historical figures surrounding the key moments in scientific history to life. Very entertaining and educational. It's a broad survey, broader-sounding than the ones you cite.

It explains the contentious history of aluminum vs. aluminium. That alone is worth the purchase price!

By: vytae

vytae — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 09:39:48 -0800

Pretty obvious, but have you read Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything?

By: vytae

vytae — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 09:40:14 -0800

doh!

By: Trinkers

Trinkers — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 09:41:48 -0800

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson seems to fit what you're looking for. I enjoyed reading it and learned a bit from it too. It did a good job of providing a human side to the scientific discoveries of the past, and explained the science well for laypersons.

By: Trinkers

Trinkers — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 09:42:18 -0800

Oh, the joys of preview....when I remember to use it.

By: rpn

rpn — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 09:46:34 -0800

The Code Book by Simon Singh about the history of cryptography is quite good. (But for interested people is probably better to read the much more comprehensive The Codebreakers: The Comprehensive History of Secret Communication from Ancient Times to the Internet)

By: thatwhichfalls

thatwhichfalls — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 10:00:17 -0800

Science: A History by John Gribbin.

By: Quietgal

Quietgal — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 10:07:15 -0800

More obviousness: Connections by David Burke. Oldie but goodie.

By: puffin

puffin — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 10:08:58 -0800

Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions might be a little more philosophical than you are looking for, but I highly recommend it.

By: jquinby

jquinby — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 10:14:59 -0800

I think you're looking for Daniel Boorstin's The Creators and The Discoverers, which tell the story of the major achievements in science and arts via biographies of the people who made it happen, starting in antiquity and moving to the modern era. I love these and revisit them every few years.

I'll also second Singh's book on cryptography, and raise you one more by him: Fermat's Enigma. I found it thoroughly engaging, as did my wife who is much more of a math type.

By: futility closet

futility closet — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 10:17:14 -0800

Kuhn is philosophy of science; it's not a historical survey.

By: pombe

pombe — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 10:34:12 -0800

The Eighth Day of Creation is a very good book about the origins of molecular biology in the 60s/70s - it covers both the history and the science, like the Making of the Atomic Bomb.

By: Leon

Leon — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 10:35:04 -0800

The Lunar Men (own it, haven't read it) and Chaos (have owned it for years, still re-read it every couple of years, is out of date now), The Neandertal Enigma (the science is out of date).

For this kind of "what else would I like" query, I suggest LibraryThing's recommendation engine. I just wish they'd learn a bit about application design. And security. Check out the recommendations for your books:

The Making of the Atomic Bomb

E=mc^2

Longitude (Galileo's Daughter? The Map That Changed the World? Nathaniel's Nutmeg?)

By: janell

janell — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 10:51:02 -0800

I liked The Substance of Civilization for a survey of the usage and development of materials, and The book nobody read : chasing the revolutions of Nicolaus Copernicus. The latter has a lot of modern book-chasing, but in-between it develops a story about the original owners (and readers) of the De Revolutionibus.

By: Schismatic

Schismatic — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 10:52:46 -0800

You would be interested in Soul Made Flesh by Carl Zimmer, about the historical development of scientific understanding of the brain. Fascinating book, and full of scientists who you probably have heard of, but not in the context of the research mentioned here.

By: camcgee

camcgee — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 11:00:36 -0800

The Origins of Modern Science by Herbert Butterfield.

By: camcgee

camcgee — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 11:02:12 -0800

Also, The Sleepwalkers by Arthur Koestler

By: transona5

transona5 — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 11:18:19 -0800

James Gleick's "Chaos", assigned as supplemental reading in a high school summer program I was in, is a great mix of biography and science concentrating on chaos theory. John Barrow's "Pi in the Sky" does the same for the philosophy of mathematics. Both of these books helped to spark my interest in academic science.

By: selfmedicating

selfmedicating — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 11:18:37 -0800

Coming of Age in the Milky Way is absolutely fantastic. It reads like a novel. Amazon link here.

By: InnocentBystander

InnocentBystander — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 12:18:34 -0800

The God Particle, Leon Lederman. It's awesome. You'll love it.

By: Toekneesan

Toekneesan — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 12:21:34 -0800

Boorstin's books mentioned above would probably fit the bill. I think an argument could be made though that there was no such thing as science during the European middle ages. Maybe magic, some medicine, but not science as we might recognize it. I can recommend a couple of books on those topics in lieu of medieval science history.

In the Wake of the Plague by Norman Canter is a pretty fascinating picture of how Europe tried to figure what was happening and why, when struck with the Black Death.

And both of Kiekhefer's major books on medieval magic, Magic in the Middle Ages and Forbidden Rites, are pretty good reads.

By: martinX's bellbottoms

martinX's bellbottoms — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 12:38:53 -0800

I haven't read it but my chemistry professor recommends a play called Copenhagen.

By: swordfishtrombones

swordfishtrombones — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 13:17:23 -0800

Seconding the Singh recommendations (Fermat, The Code Book). You may also want to check out work by Amir D. Aczel: I've read (and enjoyed) "Pendulum" and "Mystery of the Aleph". On a more biographical note: Hoffman's "The man who loved only numbers", about Erdös. Finally, you can't go wrong with any book by Ian Stewart.

By: plinth

plinth — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 13:42:10 -0800

Second on Connections, but you might find it easier to find under James Burke. I also enjoyed The Pinball Effect, which is thematically similar to Connections.

James Burke is one of those rare people to come into science. From his television programs, he appears to be a total science geek, when in fact he's really a Latin Scholar - but I've said all this before it seems.

By: Holly

Holly — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 13:52:14 -0800

The Faber Book of Science, edited by John Carey, is not a history, but an anthology - a collection of beautiful, and beautifully lucid, scientific essays often written by the scientists themselves.

By: OlderThanTOS

OlderThanTOS — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 14:33:49 -0800

I suggest Jacob Bronkowski's The Ascent of Man for a truly sweeping look at the history of science. I think it was also made into a television series.

For a look at physics in particular, you can't go wrong with the collection On the Shoulders of Giants, edited by Stephen Hawking.

And I heartily agree with Bryson's Short History. A fantastic, amusing and highly readable book! My S.O., a one-time art history major, claims this as a favorte book.

By: chorltonmeateater

chorltonmeateater — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 16:22:27 -0800

It's perhaps a bit more academic than you were looking for, but Making Modern Science by Peter J. Bowler and Iwan Rhys Morus is a very good, modern overview of key aspects of the history of science. It's lower on narrative and stories than the more popular stuff, but better on analysis.

By: needled

needled — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 17:47:34 -0800

Carl Boyer's A History of Mathematics is often used as a textbook in history of math classes. It's very readable.

For probability, there is Ian Hacking's The Emergence of Probability: A Philosophical Study of Early Ideas About Probability, Induction and Statistical Inference.

The Thomas Kuhn volume I would recommend is The Copernican Revolution: Planetary Astronomy in the Development of Western Thought.

By: Toekneesan

Toekneesan — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 18:06:16 -0800

Another book comes to mind. A World Lit Only by Fire by William Manchester.

By: procrastination

procrastination — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 18:55:11 -0800

N-thing "A Short History of Nearly Everything". I would also recommend "The Coming Plague" which is a slightly scary and completely fascinating story of emerging diseases and the people who study and try to prevent them. The Codebreakers (mentioned above) is also really good.

By: Jorus

Jorus — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 19:28:20 -0800

I recommend Mayr's The Growth of Biological Thought. Aside from the masterful presentation of the history of biology, I enjoyed the discussion of the heuristic value of qualitative vs. quantitative observations, and the explanation of why biology must be studied differently than other sciences (eg chemistry). Through this book, I understood what Dobzhansky meant by, "Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution."

By: ChromeDome

ChromeDome — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 20:19:31 -0800

Maybe not quite what you're looking for, but maybe worth a look: A Random Walk in Science by Weber and Mendoza.

By: janell

janell — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 20:27:05 -0800

Phillip Ball writes lovely explanatory narratives about science. Since my earlier comment, I saw his Bright Earth: Art and the Invention of Color on the shelf.

By: escabeche

escabeche — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:21:05 -0800

I read the heck out of The Second Creation when I was a kid -- tells the story of the creation of the standard model in particle physics.

Re probability and statistics, I will second Hacking's _The Emergence of Probability_ and add his _The Taming of Chance_.

By: Leon

Leon — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 21:56:22 -0800

Just thought of something that isn't exactly science, but I think is just what you're looking for: The Gutenberg Revolution: The story of a genius and an invention that changed the world. The spread of scientific knowledge wouldn't have been possible without the printing press and its knock-on effects.

By: Dillonlikescookies

Dillonlikescookies — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 04:13:15 -0800

i love these sorts of books. i've read many that have been listed so far, but unquestioningly my favourite is "A Terrible Beauty" while not strictly about *science* it's a "conceptual history of the 20th centaury" and in my mind should be required reading for anyone interested in history. Predictably, it's a massive book, but I found it impossible to put down. The amount of knowledge I got from that book over such a huge range of subjects was incomparable.
-
Other than that, I suggest:
Adam's Curse by Bryan Sykes (learnt a lot about genetics through this one)
Collapse by Jared Diamond in fact any of his books are well worth the time, his knowledge of a vast variety of subjects is truly amazing. I also highly recmmend "Guns, germs and steel"
oh and of course Fermat's last theorem by Simon Singh

again, of course, If you really are into this stuff as much as I am, pick up terrible beauty from the library. amazing read.

good luck and happy reading!

By: rmless

rmless — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 14:09:56 -0800

If you are into geology, I recommend The Floating Egg by Roger Osborne.