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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?

#61

Post by mjac »

The Faber Book of Science by John Carey

I’m a professional HN lurker but I can’t not contribute this one. The book all scientists should have read and would love, but haven’t heard about…

“The editor of the internationally acclaimed Eyewitness to History now charts the development of modern science. In this first anthology of its kind, Carey chooses accounts by scientists themselves--astronomers and physicists, biologists, chemists, psychologists--that are both arrestingly written and clear. Contributors include Carl Sagan, Charles Darwin, Stephen Jay Gould, Oliver Sacks, Lewis Thomas, Rachel Carson, Sigmund Freud, Henry David Thoreau, Mark Twain, and scores of others.”

Hope you enjoy!

Re: Ask HN: Any recommendation for a good History of Science book?

#63

Post by culi »

If you want to be really challenged, I'd highly recommend checking out The Tyranny of Science by Paul K. Feyerabend.[0] Whether you agree with the points made or not, you'll definitely learn a lot and realize a lot even from arguing against his points.

[0] https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+Tyranny+of+Science-p-9780745...

Re: Ask HN: Any recommendation for a good History of Science book?

#64

Post by arisbe__ »

The Ascent of Man by Jacob Bronowski

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

Galileo’s Pendulum: From the Rhythm of Time to the Making of Matter by Roger G Newton

From Clockwork to Crapshoot: A History of Physics by Roger G Newton

Connections by James Burke

The Day The Universe Changed by James Burke

re Math: Everything and More A Compact History of Infinity by David Foster Wallace

Re: Ask HN: Any recommendation for a good History of Science book?

#65

Post by adhesive_wombat »

Jxl180 wrote: post #59
jleyank wrote: post #3

You 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.

It's just unfortunately very out of date. He says something like, "finding the Higgs-Boson Wil be a task for a different century" or something to that effect.

The actual quote is "whether it actually exists is a matter for 21st century physics," so he was completely correct. It was, indeed, a matter for 21st century physics: the Higgs boson was proven to exist in 2012: about 9 years after the book was published.

Re: Ask HN: Any recommendation for a good History of Science book?

#66

Post by dev-3892 »

wolverine876 wrote: post #56
dev-3892 wrote: post #53

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn

A seminal, perspective-shifting book, but not a general history of science. Also, one historian of science that I spoke to said it was a bit outdated now (as of ~10 years ago).

I'd be very interested in hearing about a more recent synthesis on the topic, if you know of one! A lot of the other suggestions in this thread seem to be more about science popularization than directly about philosophy of science.

Re: Ask HN: Any recommendation for a good History of Science book?

#68

Post by Jxl180 »

adhesive_wombat wrote: post #65
Jxl180 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just unfortunately very out of date. He says something like, "finding the Higgs-Boson Wil be a task for a different century" or something to that effect.

The actual quote is "whether it actually exists is a matter for 21st century physics," so he was completely correct. It was, indeed, a matter for 21st century physics: the Higgs boson was proven to exist in 2012: about 9 years after the book was published.

To be fair, I didn’t say he was wrong, I said it’s out of date.
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