Product Description

An exploration of scientific advances throughout time. From earliest pre-history, with the dawning understanding of fire and its many uses, up to the astonishing advances of the 21st century, Thomas Crump traces the increasingly sophisticated means employed in our attempts to understand the universe. The result is an account of how our curious nature has continually pushed forward the frontiers of science and, as a consequence, human civilization.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #101323 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Review
'Crump successfully conveys the rich grainy texture of science and discovery, yet in an accessible way... [This] is a serious and fully furnished history of science, from which anyone interested in the development of ideas - or indeed, in history itself - will greatly profit.' - A.C. Grayling, Financial Times; 'He provides lively summaries of the progress in different fields, and succeeds in breathing new life into familiar stories.' - Economist

The Guardian, October 26, 2002
'Provides an enduring sense of the extraordinary ingenuity that defines our relationship with nature.'

The Scotsman, October 19, 2002
'Crump dispenses layman-friendly explanations and absorbing biographical details of major figures with equal ease.'

Customer Reviews

Well written detailed account about a broad subject
Having not really read anything scientific since I was at school, I was intrigued by this book to provide me an opportunity to recap all the things I should have known but didn't.

Science itself is of course a huge subject and Crump is very careful to explain what he is writing about and what he is not (notably chemistry). I had expected the book to focus primarily on 1700-1900 but was surprised to see how much broader Crump has aimed at.. starting with a detailed analysis of the mastery of fire, and finishing with Big Science / quantum science, both huge subjects in themselves.

The book is not geared particularly at academics but it is written with an academic slant, focussing on instrumentation as the benchmark throughout the history of science rather than a more plain narrative. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and would definitely recommend it to anyone wanting to brush up on what they learnt at school and understand the basics of some of the newer science. As a pure reference book I think the book would be lacking though.