A Little History of Science

September 3, 2012
The history of science parallels the history of mankind, and Bynum, professor emeritus in the history of medicine at University College London, captures the high points in this engaging chronology of our search to understand ourselves and the universe in which we live. He begins in the usual place, with early humans learning to write, which aided them with a subsequent development: keeping track of the movement of stars and planets in the night sky. Contributions from China—paper, gunpowder, and the compass—combined with math and medicine from India set the stage for Greek innovation, especially that of Aristotle, whose powerful views dominated science for centuries. Bynum covers alchemists like Paracelsus, the anatomists Vesalius and Harvey, and Islamic scholars like Avicenna before moving on to the notable figures of the Western scientific revolution: experimentalists Galileo, Francis Bacon, and Copernicus with his controversial heliocentric theory. Early fossil hunters Mary Anning and Georges Cuvier receive attention, as do “game changers” Newton, Darwin, anthropologists Mary and Louis Leaky, and Einstein. Bynum’s medical background enriches his discussion of contemporary advances in medicine and genetics; additionally, with no math and minimal jargon, his entertaining history is more than suitable for curious teen and adult readers.

Starred review from October 15, 2012
A brief but panoramic account of science from Hippocrates to Crick. Bynum (History of Medicine Emeritus/University College London; The History of Medicine: A Very Short Introduction, 2008, etc.) begins with ancient priests, who surveyed land and measured distances to learn about the world, and concludes with modern scientists attempting to explain the Big Bang and the human genome. Stressing that "at any moment of history, the science has been a product of that particular moment," the author devotes each essaylike chapter to the achievements of a different significant period. In the ancient world, Aristotle tried to make scientific sense of things, and Galen, doctor to the gladiators, diagnosed disease by feeling his patients' pulses. In the 19th century, British fossil hunters Mary Anning and Gideon Mantell revealed a prehistoric world, and Michael Faraday experimented endlessly with electricity and magnetism. In modern times, scientists have discovered penicillin and other wonder drugs and have counted human genes by using DNA sequencing. In each instance, Bynum offers bright, accessible descriptions of the scientists (the cranky Newton, the contrary Galileo) and the underlying science that earned them a place in this chronology. The author's conversational style makes his readable history all the more engaging and disguises his considerable scholarly authority. One of the book's pleasures is to realize the astonishment with which people greeted many of these moments, including the first dissection of human bodies, the introduction of X-rays and Einstein's thinking about the universe. Nonscientists especially will applaud Bynum's lively narrative, which certainly delivers on his opening line: "Science is special."

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October 1, 2012
Following A Little History of the World, by E. H. Gombrich (2005), which was a translation of a 1935 German original, Yale has replicated that book's approach in titles about language, philosophy, and now, science. In 40 short chapters adorned with whimsical illustrations in woodcut style, Bynum proceeds from counting to cosmology. A professor of medicine, Bynum provides numerous glimpses into the advancement of human health through precis of particular theories and discoveries associated with famous names, starting with Hippocrates and Galen, including such others as Paracelsus and William Harvey, and finishing with Louis Pasteur and modern antibiotic pharaceuticals. Noting biographical details of the scientists mentioned, such as the solitary personality of Isaac Newton, Bynum connects their characters to whatever scientific mystery piqued their curiosity. In the process, he often approaches a topic by extrapolating from a common experience, as from bird-watching to dinosaurs. A super-accessible introduction to science.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)