One of my Christmas presents from Santa was Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything and after speeding through it I can tell that's the first page-turner I've ever read that's all about Science. I haven't read any other Bill Bryson books (and I'm now inclined to) but in this case he's done a great job of distilling lots of scientific theory into very clear descriptions, with some of the human story (mostly quarrelling and peculiar scientists) around their discovery.
One thing that has stood out to me from reading the book is how, unlike typical scientific writing, he doesn't present every recent theory as The Answer. In fact, you come away realising how Science is only as good as the latest thinking on the available facts... and some of the facts are very limited (eg, about the nature of the universe, or atomic physics) and hence the theories are quite likely to be replaced in the future with better ones! Although you might be given to believe that Science allows us to predict the weather, when volcanoes will erupt, meteors will hit the earth, and so on, it turns out we're really not good at those things at all (well, I'm sure you knew that about weather forecasts!). It seems to me that in the future we'll be looked back upon much like we do the Victorians - that we really thought a little more of our understanding of the world than we should!
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2 comments:
I did a course in the philosophy of science that covered similar ground but in a much more formal and academic way. I learnt more and much preferred the Bryson book!
Another book you may enjoy but is not as good is "Notes from a Big Country", which is a humourous take on the US.
I've read notes from a small island the one about Britain. Some witty parts but overall a bit disappointing. I think he's written one on australia too - obviously cashing in on a theme there. I have mother tongue but i haven't read it - supposed to be good.
Welcome to blogger btw G!
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