The Story of Western Science: From the Writings of Aristotle to the Big Bang Theory

by Susan Wise Bauer

Far too often, public discussion of science is carried out by journalists, voters, and politicians who have received their science secondhand. The Story of Western Science shows us the joy and importance of reading groundbreaking science writing for ourselves and guides us back to the masterpieces that have changed the way we think about our world, our cosmos, and ourselves.

Able to be referenced individually, or read together as the narrative of Western scientific development, the book's twenty-eight succinct chapters lead readers from the first science texts by Hippocrates, Plato, and Aristotle through twentieth-century classics in biology, physics, and cosmology. The Story of Western Science illuminates everything from mankind's earliest inquiries to the butterfly effect, from the birth of the scientific method to the rise of earth science and the flowering of modern biology.

Each chapter recommends one or more classic books and provides entertaining accounts of crucial contributions to science, vivid sketches of the scientist-writers, and clear explanations of the mechanics underlying each concept. The Story of Western Science reveals science to be a dramatic undertaking practiced by some of history's most memorable characters. It reminds us that scientific inquiry is a human pursuit—an essential, often deeply personal, sometimes flawed, frequently brilliant way of understanding the world.

In the tradition of her perennial bestseller The-Well Educated Mind, Susan Wise Bauer delivers an accessible, entertaining, and illuminating springboard into the scientific education you never had.

Genres: Science, History, Nonfiction, Philosophy, History Of Science, Education, Audiobook

316 pages, Hardcover

First published May 11, 2015

About the author

Susan Wise Bauer is an American author, English instructor of writing and American literature at The College of William and Mary, and founder of Well-Trained Mind Press (formerly Peace Hill Press).

Reviews

[Vasil Dakov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Книгата като цяло е добре написана, и акцентира върху най-важните открития, променили разбирането ни за природата и фундаменталните закони, без претенции за изчерпателност. Библиографията е около 30 страници. Отнемам една звезда защото материята можеше да бъде представена в малко по-голям обем. Другите книги на Сюзън Бауер са по над 700 стр., а тук всичко е сбито в едва 200 стр.

[Michael Fishman]

Tired of science books that are too technical? Are you looking for a primer that is engaging, concise, and informative? The Story of Science is engaging, most of the time. It provides brief biographies for all the scientists. It gives a brief summary. But sometimes, I had to go on Wikipedia to further understand certain subjects.

The book begins with Thales, Democritus, Plato, Aristotle, and the other early Greek scientists. It talks about the Pythagoreans. It then delves into later developments. By the time it gets to Newton, it diverges into subject rather than chronology.

This is the story of how the geocentric model was slowly killed. This is the story of how evolution slowly permeated the natural sciences. This is the story of how Einstein turned Newtonian physics on its head, and what has happened since. This is the story of how quantum physics showed us how little we really understand. And each chapter also presents the dissenting theories, and a bit about the polemics in between.

This is a good book for those interested in science, but with no background. Each chapter contains "further reading" for those interested in learning more about the subject. For those who already know science, this book is more a conversation starter.

[Boudewijn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read a large number of books about different scientists and ancient philosophers. Although they were entertaining and insightful, some more than others, I never developed a grand overview of the evolution of scientific ideas, its major players and the way they influenced each other. 

This book really fills that gap. Susan Wise Bauer gives a chronological overview of major scientific books that changed the way we see the world around us.

In 28 consise chapters, Susan Wise Bauer takes the reader on a journey from the earliest scientific texts from Hippocrates, Plato and Aristoteles to the 20th century classics in the domain of geology, quantum physics, relativity, cosmology and biology. Each chapter is concluded with a 'further reading' list for those who want to know more.

[Jane Cathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very concise history of western science . It was easily comprehended . Sometimes when I read science related books, I get very confused with all the concepts and science jargon . Susan Wise Bauer does a splendid job of making you understand in laymen’s terms.

[D.L. Morrese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carl Sagan once said that science is more a way of thinking than it is a body of knowledge. In this book, Susan Wise Bauer guides readers through important writings that epitomize that way of thinking and shows how science developed from its early beginnings in philosophical contemplation to a systematic method that provides a broad understanding of the universe. It is more than a list of primary sources or a guide for further reading. It provides an excellent introduction for students and for non-scientists with curious minds of what science is and how it has been applied to uncover answers to perplexing questions about life, the universe, and everything.

[Kristi Thielen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clearly-written, concise book of short chapters, each given to a specific scientific topic, scientist or era. From ancient Greeks to Copernicus to Einstein; from the laws of physics to continental drift to evolution - it is all discussed here.

At the end of each chapter the author provides you with the titles of texts which fully explore the subject you've just touched on, candidly revealing which are best for general interest readers and which are more challenging.

These recommendations are the author's prime objective: she urges you to not just read her book as the final word on anything; rather you should read it to prepare yourself to then read far more, elsewhere.

[Austin Benny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative, eloquent, and insightful. The Story of Science reads like a trip on a "rollercoaster" of science which includes crest's of philosophy: whether it be the scientists' professional motivations or desire to satisfy their curiosity, Susan W. Bauer kept it readable and entertaining till the end. Yet, I would be remiss if did not convey the lack of major astrophysical works not mentioned in the book; nevertheless, the book did make up for that in other areas; hence, the 4 star rating.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed. Very accessible. Only complaint is that it ends rather abruptly. I would have really like a chapter summing up the progression and speculating about the future, or at least acknowledging patterns or contemplating the nature of science as a human endeavor.

[Degenerate Chemist]

I cannot properly rate this one because I didn't properly read it. This book is essentially a summary of scientific writing. It is beautifully researched and tries to encompass the most important scientific literature from ancient times to 2015 when the book was published.

I was not all that interested in reading a summary and far more interested in the book list that this book provided. Some of the books I have already read, some I have heard of and never read, and some I didn't know existed until today.

All in all this was worth my time just not in the way I expected.

[Kerem Cankocak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Birçok başka yazar tarafından çok sayıda bilim tarihleri yazılmıştır. Kuşkusuz bu tarihler değerlidir, ama bir şekilde, bizatihi bilimin doğası ayrıntıların arasında kaybolmuş gibidir. Profesyonel bilim eğitimi almamış olan okurlara bilimin ne yaptığı ya da ne anlama geldiği konusunda açık bir görüş sunmazlar. Oysa Platon’dan Kopernik’e, Francis Bacon’dan Isaac Newton’a, Comte de Buffon’dan Charles Darwin’e, Albert Einstein’dan günümüz bilim insanlarına kadar bilim tarihinin kilit figürlerini ve eserlerinin öyküsünü anlatan Bauer’in kitabı farklı bir tarihi gözler önüne seriyor. Batı Biliminin Tarihi, büyük bilim yazımı ile bilimsel araştırmanın güzergâhını en doğrudan etkileyen ve değiştiren eserlerin gelişimini izliyor. Bilimin çok insani bir çaba olduğunu göstererek, gerçeğe giden yanılmaz bir rehber değil, dünyayı anlamanın çok kişisel, bazen hatalı, genellikle yanıltıcı, sık sık da parlak bir yolu olduğunu vurguluyor.
‘’Susan Bauer, tarihin en önemli bilimsel figürlerinin sesini kitaba taşıyor. En önemli eserlerini kendi bağlamı içinde ve bilimin tarihsel gelişiminde oynadığı role göre değerlendiriyor.’’ -Alan Hershfeld - Wall Street Journal

‘’Açık, anlaşılır ve kapsamlı bir şekilde tarihi biçimlendiren erkek ve kadınların öyküsü.’’ -­Kirkus Reviews

“Bir başucu kitabı.” -Booklist

[Andrea Hickman Walker · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't think this work is well-suited to be an audiobook.

[Christine Norvell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A most approachable style in tracing the story instead of history and facts alone.

[Faith Larson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book. Not much else to say!

[Samantha MacLeod · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story of Western Science is not a single story, per se, but a series of short histories of major shifts in awareness surrounding scientific breakthroughs. Each history details how that breakthrough arose out of the current understanding of the day, and demonstrates the development of the idea. While I’ve read many similar scientific histories, the thing that sets this particular history apart is the reading list at the end of each chapter: the author details, for example, which versions of The Sand Reckoner are most accessible to a modern reader and contrasts them against other publications. She does the same with Darwin’s On The Origin of Species.

I also very much appreciated how often the author provided exactly where to find the first scientific article on a given topic, and then traced which later scientists (and which works) contributed to the popularization of the idea.

If you are looking to read a book on the history of western science that leads to a bigger booklist, read this one.

I do very much recommend this book, and wish more scientific histories were written in this way.

[John Wise · Rating 3 out of 5]

The good: extremely well-researched. I love how Wise Bauer brings the reader into contact with primary source documents like Newton's Principia and Steven Weinber's The First Three Minutes.

The bad: "The Story of Western Science" is a title misleading and not fitting for this book because it is not a narrative at all. It is more like a series of expository and explanatory essays, each essay focusing on a major scientific work. The relationship between each essay is incoherent, forming no narrative, so it is inappropriate to call this work a story.

One of the key moments of the work is at the end of Chapter 27. When the scientist Steven Weinberg, author of The First Three Minutes, starts to feel despair trying to explain the very beginning of the universe and being unable to do so, he says man should find solace, comfort, and purpose in scientific research research anyway. He has moved from science to moral philosophy. The author comments, "Weinberg has moved deftly from physical questions, to the purpose of life: which is to glorify sicence, and to pursue it forever. The Baconian project has turned in on itself and swallowed its own tail; what began as the study of what could be verfied by experiment has become a way to locate truths that can never be touched."

Recommended: if you want helpful commentary on major scientific works.
Not recommended: if you want a coherent narrative about Western science.

[Lefki Sarantinou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Μπορεί άραγε ένας έρωτας να διαρκέσει μία ολόκληρη ζωή και να μας ακολουθεί ως τον θάνατο; Γιατί καταλήγουμε τελικά να παντρευόμαστε και να φτιάχνουμε τη ζωή μας με κάποιον που δεν είναι ο έρωτας της ζωής μας, εφόσον έχουμε την επιλογή να μην το πράξουμε; Για ποιους ακριβώς λόγους οδηγείται εν τέλει κάποιος στην αυτοκτονία; Γιατί οι παρέες της νιότης και των φοιτητικών μας χρόνων είναι καταδικασμένες να διαλυθούν; Τι ακριβώς καθορίζει την περιπλοκότητα των ανθρώπινων σχέσεων; Μπορούμε να απωθήσουμε στο βάθος του μυαλού μας όσα ζήσαμε και να τα ξεχάσουμε εντελώς; Πώς γεννιέται ένας μεγάλος έρωτας; Και, τέλος, συνδέεται με κάποιον τρόπο η φιλοσοφία με την επιστήμη;

H συνέχεια της κριτικής στο Διάστιχο

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent survey of the history of science, focusing on the major conflicts in physics, cosmology, and biology. No depth on the subject matter itself, other than to give the basics to understand what the conflict was about. Moves quickly enough to give an impression of the grand sweep of science through the millenia, even as the definition of what science itself is changed.

Susan Wise Bauer is excellent as always.

[Choonghwan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everything has its history. So does the science.

Rather than one discovery after another, it is the process of perpetual debates. It advances only when we admit our own ignorance and are willing to walk away from previous dogmas.

It is the methods, not the achievements, of science that makes it stand out.

[Valerie]

This was not the best overview of science history I have ever read, but it was filled with fantastic notes about the primary source material, which will come in handy in a lifetime when I have enough free time to tread the Principia Mathematica and similar works.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trying to up my science game a bit. I understood this! WooHoo!

[Fred Cheyunski · Rating 4 out of 5]

General Origins and Use of Method - Looking for a decent read about the origins of the scientific method and its application, particularly the ways it is similar and different from Logic (see my review of Priest’s "Logic: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)"), I happened upon Bauer’s book. Since science really came of age during and proceeded from the 1600’s but had its antecedents in ancient Greece, this offering seemed to be one that would be along the lines I was seeking.

From beginning of her Preface, Bauer asserts that her “Story” is not a history of science, but rather a guide to significant science writing. She claims each part presents a chronological series of “great books” in science related to important discoveries and/or how we think about science.

After this rationale, the author proceeds along her path through Five Parts. Part I – Beginnings, concerns the observances, questions and ideas out of which science originated. Part II – Birth of the Method, presents the how and why the scientific approach arose. The other parts, Part III – Reading the Earth, Part IV – Reading Life and Part V – Reading the Cosmos, deal with the way the scientific method came to be applied in the respective areas of what have become geology, biology, physics and astronomy (see my review of Brockman's "Know This: Today's Most Interesting and Important Scientific Ideas, Discoveries, and Developments" for an update).

Among the more well know or recognizable writings addressed or referred to range from Aristotle’s “Physics” (330 BCE) and Lucretius’ “On the Nature of Things” (60 BCE) to Francis Bacon’s “Novum Organum” (1620) to Hutton’s “Theory of the Earth” (1785), Darwin’s “Origin of Species” (1858), Plank’s “Origin and Development of Quantum Theory” and Weinberg’s “First Three Minutes A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe (1977).

My favorite aspects are the introductions of Parts I and II and the lesser know writings that point to differences in the thinking of the ancients and the more ‘modern’ thinking that arose. For instance, Bauer writes (on pgs. 3-4) “[The Greeks] lived in a world of solids and gods . . . solids surrounded . . . But what composed them . . . The divine suffused and guided the natural order.” She continues later (on pg. 17) “. . . only Aristotle’s point of view makes empirical inquiry----the observation and understanding of the physical world----a true path to real knowledge, valuable knowledge [possible]. Platonic thought, always casting the physical world as inferior to the Ideal, inevitably devalued scientific study . . .” Transposing Bauer a bit in a later passage (from pg. 32) “While Plato taught of Ideal forms . . . Aristotle investigated change . . . Archimedes calculated. . . the atomists continued to insist that physical reality is made up than nothing more than indivisible particles . . .”(see my review of Rovelli's "Reality Is Not What It Seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity"). Also, of interest are Bauer’s remarks on the liberal arts of the trivium and quadrivium (on pg. 42).

Although helpful and compelling in many respects the book did not help as much as I had hoped in ascertaining the way the scientific method branched off from logic. Bauer does relate (on pg. 58) how with his notions of “Hypothesis, experiment, conclusion: Bacon had . . . traced the outlines of the scientific method.” She goes on (on pg. 87) that Bacon had laid the foundation for the modern scientific method, but Boyles’ use of instrumentation and helps truly brought the experimental phase of modern science into being.” The author later cites Hooke’s “Micrographia” (on pg. 92) to highlight his view that “It was not enough to merely to extend the senses by way of instruments; reason must follow the path laid out by these observations, interpret them, then check again.” While less explicit, it seems that the difference with logic seems to be science’s emphasis on the experimental and the laboratory that continued to unfold (see also my review of McNeely and Wolverton's "Reinventing Knowledge: From Alexandria to the Internet").

Despite my interest in further background on method, the book has much to recommend it for most seeking a decent introduction to the general origins and use of the science along with some significant writings related to its progression.

[Cami · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading this one and wanted to keep going back to it. The approach to explaining science through an over-arching story instead of only significant events and people is so very helpful! I really enjoyed the explanations, the progress from one theory to the next, and the suggested readings after each chapter. I still won't remember all those names or their works, but I definitely feel smarter for having studied these things, and I learned some great tidbits along the way. For example, it was fascinating to read about how and why it was proposed and accepted for so long that the earth was the center of the universe. And then I read the works of Ptolemy as suggested and plainly saw him write out his reasoning on the matter and why he saw other explanations as clearly wrong. It was also interesting to see how science went from observations alone to experiments with tools and instruments and "elaboratories" to help elaborate on philosophical ideas and how that made such a big difference in finding truth. To me, the book slowed down in interest in the latter sections, but that is mostly because I am fairly familiar with those parts of science and didn't find it as enlightening as the beginning half where I was filling in some holes in my education/memory. I tried reading the author's Story of the World series but quickly put it down, finding it so dreadfully boring, but maybe I'll give it another chance now that I have a better taste for her writing.

[Chandler Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great and accessible work on the history of science! Bauer knows how to write about key scientific developments in a way that flows, and in a tone that retains wit and entertainment. The book is divided into five parts: the origination of scientific literature, the birth of the scientific method, the development of geological science, the development of biology, and modern discoveries in astronomy and astrophysics. Personally, I found the strongest section of the book to be Bauer’s treatment on geology. Concerning her discussion on cosmology, I still find it so hard to wrap my head around quantum theory and “quantum jumps.” Immensely helpful in this book is that every chapter ends with Bauer’s recommendation on the best editions of the primary resources discussed in that chapter. She also lets the reader know what parts of the primary text are most significant to the scientific discussion. You can tell that Bauer has done her research. Throughout the book, she also handles the faith/science relationship or the implications of scientific advancements on theological knowledge. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in scientific studies, the faith-science relationship, or great books on history.

[Amy’s-musings · Rating 4 out of 5]

In his book “Six Easy Pieces,” Richard Feynman wrote, “The principle of science, the definition, almost, is the following: the test of all knowledge is experiment. Experiment is the sole judge of scientific "truth". But what is the source of knowledge? Where do the laws that are to be tested come from? Experiment, itself, helps to produce these laws, in the sense that it gives us hints.
But also needed is imagination to create from these hints the great generalizations—to guess at the wonderful, simple, but very strange patterns beneath them all, and then to experiment to check again whether we have made the right guess.”

I love that idea and this book by Susan Wise Bauer gives a beautiful demonstration of that principle by giving a general overview of science and the people and ideas that moved science forward. It was fun to learn about some areas of science that I am not as familiar with and a good refresher of areas I have studied more but don’t often refer to. It is good to remember that “we do not yet know all the basic laws: there is an expanding frontier of ignorance.” (Feynman again)

[Scott Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

The preface to this work begins with the exclamation, “This is not a history of science.” This is somewhat misleading because the author then proceeds to provide a readable summary of five stages of scientific history: (1) The Beginnings (Plato to Copernicus), (2) The Birth of the Method (Bacon to Newton), (3) Reading the Earth (Geology - Hutton, Lyell, Wegener, Alvarez), (4) Reading Life (Lamarck, Darwin, Mendel, Huxley, Watson, Gould), and (5) Reading the Cosmos (Einstein, Planck, Schrödinger, Hubble, Gleick). What is unique to this work is that it focuses on the “great books” of science produced by the authors in each section. Relevant excerpts of each work are provided on the Story of Science website. The major thrust of the work is “pure materialism” – that science has progressed from theological concepts to scientific understanding solely by means of Francis Bacon’s scientific method, which has “overthrown ancient authority with true reason.” The advent of modern technology (telescopes, microscopes, etc.) have furthered our ability to understand the macro and micro worlds which we inhabit. Overall, this was an informative and thought-provoking work. However, Steven Weinberg’s logical progression from physical question to the purpose of life remains. Weinberg felt our purpose “is to glorify science, and to pursue it forever.” Those who know the Westminster Shorter Catechism have a different perspective.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Story of Science or The Story of Western Science -- editions have varying titles -- is a collection of science's "big ideas," from the ancient Greeks and Egyptians speculating on medicine and the heavens to modern theories of relativity and chaos. An idea or discovery is explained in each chapter, along with some history and its reception by the scientific community, followed by recommendations for further reading, including links to relevant pieces of the original writings viewable the author's website.

Although we think of them as fairly disparate areas of study today, it's quite interesting to consider how entwined science is with philosophy, to the extent that science actually has its origins in philosophy. Overall, I found this book to be somewhat of a let-down. Factually, it was adequate, but the information was rolled out in a surprisingly dry manner. My eyes began to glaze over when topics surrounding quantum physics were introduced, but to be fair that might have happened anyway.

[Marcas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good, broad-scale look at western Science over the last few thousand years. Bauer focuses on the key figures and a certain theme develops as we glance over this story. One scientist or number of scientists will come along and, with a new discovery, overturn radically what preceded their theory. With general relativity, quantum mechanics and chaos theory diverging quite radically from Newtonian physics or the ancient Aristotelian model.

These are really 'sciences' as much as one describable entity, such is their incredible variety, but Bauer doesn't deal with this problem. I think this was a mistake, all things considered; for more on this, see David Cayley's series on Science.

The subject, taken as one thing however, is interesting and moreso in Bauer's capable hands than others. The value of encyclopaedic volumes like this shouldn't be understated and she helpfully encourages further research in a number of sub-categories.

Throughout The Story... the men and women mentioned, as well as their work, are well placed biographically with winsome antidotes to further engage the reader. It was fun to hear about the crew of the HMS Beagle being drunk, for one silly example.

All in all, this was enjoyably worthwhile and has got me thinking more philosophically about (western) Science/s, as I return to how we know... when we see how even a minor discovery- often unintended or peripheral- can radically alter the perception of the field of phenomena so extravagantly. This points to further reading on a Philosophy or Theology of Science, at least implicitly and that's probably consonant with the author's intention for the book.

Next up will be Guy Consolmagno, Michael Polanyi, Thomas Torrance and David Ehrenfeld.

[Jared · Rating 5 out of 5]

We teach science in an ahistorical way, but this book gives you the history. There are two main things this book does for the reader. First, it summarizes the historical development of science in Western culture from the earliest beginnings to modern day. It is broken up into five sections (1) the early scientists/philosophers, (2) the development of the scientific method, (3) progress in geology, (4) progress in biology, and (5) progress in physics/astronomy. Second, the author provides excellent recommendations for major, foundational readings written that chronicle the history summarized. These references can aid the reader to go to the direct source and discover for themselves. The notes and bibliography throughout the book are extensive. An excellent reference book and a great casual read. The text is accessible to the general public, but even a scientist like myself found it engaging and enjoyable.

[Julie Abels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating look at how scientific ideas develop over time! I listened to this straight through, but hope to go back and read many of the books she talks about. Although, I’m sure I would benefit from listening to the whole thing again!

A few key ideas I’m taking with me:
-Historically, Scientists usually started by trying to develop a model that predicted behavior and didn’t seem to care if the model actually represented reality (typically something they couldn’t see until many years later anyway). (“Saving the Phenomena” or “Saving the Appearance”)
-The ideas that made the biggest impact and gained the most traction the fastest, were the one best expressed without jargon; a skilled rhetorician spread the idea to a wide audience so the idea ended up incorporated into other scientific disciplines.
-The scientific method (introduced by Francis Bacon) shifted Epistemology (the study of the source of knowledge) from reasoning to observation.

[Bernie4444 · Rating 5 out of 5]

A synopsis of the books by the people that lead to the scientific method.

Susan Wise Bauer is not new to the world of writing about the people behind science; in this book, she focuses on particular books leading up to and encompassing the scientific method.

People need to know about real science to be literate in today’s world. The problem is that scientists write scientifically in their language to other scientists about how they think things work or should work. Unfortunately, that leaves the layman out of the loop.

Susan Bauer writes about the people that try to write to laymen about physics from history through today (2015).

The reading is easygoing and fun. After the introduction in this book, you can go back and read the real thing with a better understanding of what you are about to read.