Book of the Day: "A Brief History of Science" - a quick excursion into the development of thought from ancient philosophers to modern discoveries

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The British medical historian talks about the microscope, DNA and the solar system in the style of an adventure novel.

Yale University Press has published a series of fascinating books under the title "A Brief History …". Small entertaining volumes cover literature, philosophy, language and more. Eminent specialists are involved to work on each of them. William Bynum, a medical historian, wrote A Brief History of Science for the publishing house.

The scientist has eight popular science books. True, only this one has been translated into Russian so far. And one of the first chapters in it opens with a quote from Aristotle:

All people by nature desire knowledge.

Taking the words of the philosopher as a guide to action, Bainum shares with the world everything that he has learned over the years of work. From the earliest times to the digital age, he explains chapter by chapter where and how science was moving.

Sometimes knowledge was passed from generation to generation without significant changes, and sometimes science made rapid leaps, turning the familiar world upside down. Although in this case, rather, on the contrary, - putting everything in its place. For example, in the 5th century BC, ancient thinkers put forward rather ridiculous theories about evolution:

An elephant's trunk could attach to the body of a fish, a rose petal to a potato, and so on. And so it happened until they all combined as we see now.

Bainum proceeds from the fact that the questions that humanity asks remain unchanged for many centuries: who we are, how we appeared and why we are exactly like that. But the answers to them are transformed under the influence of scientific progress. It was their latest versions that he presented in the "Brief History of Science".

Each chapter is approximately 10 pages long and covers one historical period. The author in a light humorous form tells what our ancestors believed in and what explanations they found incomprehensible to them phenomena - for example, why epilepsy was previously considered a "divine" disease.

The book constantly connects the past with the present, paying attention only to what is important to us now. For example, it is curious to know why the Hippocratic oath bears his name, although the philosopher himself has only an indirect relationship to it.

If you have been reading encyclopedias for children as a child, then Bynum offers an excellent alternative for adults. He left an easy syllable and clear explanations of difficult things, but at the same time added humor and details from the 18+ section for adults. For example, the author tells how syphilis was previously treated and why, after the prescribed procedures, the patient's teeth fell out.