Ideally, I'm looking at something similar to Russell's History of Philosophy but for science. I am studying the history of philosophy right now, and I'd like to complement the curriculum with some reading on the history of science.
Ask HN: Any recommendation for a good History of Science book?
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Re: Ask HN: Any recommendation for a good History of Science book?
#2“The Sleepwalkers” by Arthur Koestler
Re: Ask HN: Any recommendation for a good History of Science book?
#3You have to like his writing style but bill Bryson’s short history of everything. James burke’s day the universe changed is thought provoking and bronowski’s ascent of man is also good.
Timothy Ferris (not that one) and John gribbin have also trod this area.
Re: Ask HN: Any recommendation for a good History of Science book?
#4“The making of the atomic bomb” by Richard Rhodes is a fantastic history of nuclear physics.
Re: Ask HN: Any recommendation for a good History of Science book?
#5I've read a couple dozen. Best by far is David Wootton's The Invention of Science. Wootton has the language skills to work through the primary materials, and shows how in 100 years we went from educated people believing in werewolves and possession to having a modern, materialist understanding of reality.
Re: Ask HN: Any recommendation for a good History of Science book?
#6The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn
Re: Ask HN: Any recommendation for a good History of Science book?
#7“The making of the atomic bomb” by Richard Rhodes is a fantastic history of nuclear physics.
The sequel “Dark Sun” is also quite good. Continues the story into the making of the hyrogen bomb, the Teller-Ulam design, and the USSR’s efforts. Much shorter too :)
Re: Ask HN: Any recommendation for a good History of Science book?
#8I’ll second “Making of the Atomic Bomb” as an excellent history of modern physics tied to a great narrative.
For Biology I really enjoyed “A Brief History of Creation”, high level overview of all of the advances to understand what we are made of.
“Eight Day of Creation” is supposed to be incredible but it’s the size of the text book so I keep reaching past it on my desk
Re: Ask HN: Any recommendation for a good History of Science book?
#9The day we found the universe
Marcia bartusiak
Interesting (great!) read on the history of (fairly recent) astronomy. Ties in with physics
Re: Ask HN: Any recommendation for a good History of Science book?
#10The Scientific Method: An Evolution of Thinking from Darwin to Dewey is excellent -> https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/0674976193/