Review by Choice Review
Historians of science often gripe about the lack of a solid introductory textbook for the field. This collection, edited by Morus (Aberystwyth Univ., Wales), who previously coauthored the survey text Making Modern Science (CH, Nov'05, 43-1525), goes a long way toward filling that lacuna. Compared with his earlier coauthored work, the present volume covers a wider temporal and geographic range--from ancient Mesopotamia on, including China and the Islamic world--and draws contributions from 13 established experts, offering more depth and currency than Morus's previous work could provide. The book begins with six chapters that survey historical eras from the ancient world through the Enlightenment. Modern science is treated thematically in chapters 7 through 12, which address subjects such as experiment and theory, exploration and mapping, and science communication, sticking closely to well-explored narratives in the history of the physical and biological sciences. The matter-of-fact prose and effective use of images make the volume ideal for lower-division undergraduates. It also offers useful epitomes of major topics in the history of science for more advanced students, as well as for teachers or researchers seeking a clear overview. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. --Joseph D. Martin, University of Cambridge
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Morus (Shocking Bodies), professor of history at Aberystwyth University, gathers a fabulous series of essays from more than a dozen science historians that show science interacting with and being influenced by culture and society. It's a complex, two-part study that leads off with a global history of science followed by a history of how science is done. The first half proceeds chronologically from ancient Greece to the European Enlightenment, emphasizing how scientific endeavor parallels the needs of local culture. Aspects of astronomy and mathematics, for example, were studied to find the date of Easter and the direction of Mecca. The thematically oriented second half examines how science was affected by changes in public sentiment, as seen in both the development of Darwinism and biological science and in the horrors of eugenics. More conceptually, the roots of 21st-century debates in physics reveal ongoing disputes over the nature of theory and experimental proof within science. Meanwhile, the creation of the atom bomb, which advanced scientific study yet fostered a deep suspicion of it, exposes rifts between scientists and the wider public. The collection closes with a look at how that very public has been introduced to science. Morus and company succeed in showing science as a product of human culture, not a phenomenon apart from it. Illus. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
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