A Brief History of Science: As Seen Through the Development of Scientific Instruments

by Thomas Crump

From the gnomons and sundials of ancient times to the 26-kilometer underground particle accelerator of the twenty-first century, this fascinating and enlightening volume by mathematician and anthropologist Thomas Crump shows how science has continually redefined the world's horizons, extended the frontiers of knowledge, and advanced human civilization. With sixteen pages of photographs, and vivid vignettes of scientists and their inventions, Crump guides readers through early attempts to measure time and space—from astronomical charts and calendars to Arabic numerals and algebraic notation—before he examines the birth of an essentially modern technology in the 1600s. With Galileo's telescopic exploration of the skies at the beginning of the seventeenth century and Newton's experiments with the prism and light at its end, the optical instruments fundamental to all scientific research had been invented. Crump then proceeds to electromagnets, cathode tubes, thermometers, vacuum pumps, X rays, accelerators, semiconductors, microprocessors, and instruments currently being designed to operate in subzero temperatures. Here, then, in an accessible, succinctly narrated volume, is the enduring human quest for knowledge through technology. Here, too, is the proof that what is knowable is, and has always been, far more compelling than what is known. "[Crump] provides lively summaries of the progress in different fields, and succeeds in breathing new life into familiar stories."—The Economist "Fascinating reading."—Publishers Weekly

Genres: Science, History, Nonfiction, History Of Science, Reference

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 28, 2001

About the author

Thomas Crump, born into a family of authors, published his first book in 1963. In the course of more than 40 years spent mainly as an academic, Thomas Crump has published many books. Since retirement in 1994 he has extended his range to write new books about history, science and medicine.

Reviews

[zed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fine "A Brief history". Science was not a particularly good subject for me at school and many years later is still something that dazzles me with it's complexity. This is probably gone as close to making me understand some of that science and meet some of the fascinating characters along the way.

[Robert Kaufman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Takes us from earliest scientific footsteps to modern times. Fun exploration.

[Florin Pitea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting reading, excellent writing, a touch of British humour here and there. Recommended.

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Here are the reasons why I rated this one 2/10:
- the decision to go by theme rather than by chronological order. Scientific developments don't happen in isolation. By going through time, it would have shown the progress of science without a constant parenthesis of "covering this in Ch7" or "as mentioned in Ch3".
- too much description of the Manhatten project and the development of the atom bomb. I understand the importance of these events but felt this part of the book got away from itself. It also was fairly repetitive.
- biology is a science, geology is a science. I felt there were streams of science that were completely overlooked. Astronomy, physics, chemistry were at the forefront of the book.
- if this book was meant for someone who understood all stream of science well then the equations and detailed formulas would make sense. I hoped to learn more about the history of the scientists, how they made their discoveries and the significance of these discoveries. While this happened sometimes, it was often hidden between paragraphs of equations, formulas or detailed explanations that were unnecessary.
- not having a conclusion to tie the book together. The book literally ends. It feels like the publisher asked the author to write a certain number of pages and he did. Once at that page he just abruptly stopped.

What I liked about the book:
- I did learn some fairly interesting biographical information about scientists
- it gave me an opportunity to read about different streams of science that I haven't studied before.

[Allysa]

So far really good! I want to become a Medicinal Chemist, so this is a good jump start! I usually read Fictional, Mystery, or Sci-Fi. Don't even think about reading this if you don't like science.

[Bernie4444 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a useful introduction to the history of science

Everyone has to start somewhere and this is a good start with lots of pictures and short paragraphs in different fields. You get to learn about the major players in history.

There is a nice description of the periodic table of elements in 18 columns.

The is a glossary and index but no bibliography.

[Ivan Savić · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a good introduction to scientific progress. There are biographies of famous scientist and descriptions of their experiments and apparatus used.

[Kenneth Poissonnier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative over early science up to last century.

[Chris Dudding · Rating 5 out of 5]

Accessible, entertaining, broad-ranging yet comprehensive one-volume overview of the history of scientific progress from ancient times to its flowering over the past several centuries. The emphasis of the book is on physics and the "hard" sciences leading to our understanding of the underlying workings of the universe -- think Newton, Joule, and Bohr, and not so much Darwin, Watson, and Salk. From the discoveries of the various elements to the counterintuitive interactions of subatomic particles, the lay reader is able to appreciate the unfolding of our communal understanding through the author's descriptions of the various experiments and the scientific tools used to test hypotheses and refine theories. If anything, for me, it helped me to appreciate just how solidly grounded in empirical research are the seemingly esoteric theories about quarks, gluons, and other elementary particles.

Not exactly light reading, but I enjoyed it.

[Matt Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable, informative meander through the history of modern science. A bit fragmented and rather opinionated, but neither quality detracts from it. Pulls a thread through the development of schools of thought, sciences, maths and our understanding of the world around us by explaining the progression of the tools of scientists and experimenters - a very enlightening perspective.

[Simon Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very comprehensive and deeper than any general science book I'd read before. Not very well edited - too many typos and repetition between chapters to recommend as a serious work of literature but it did the job and I learned a lot.

[· · Rating 3 out of 5]

(15 May, 2018)

While I often complain about the writing in this series I have to admit that this one was particularly well done. I actually understand what a Bose-Einstein condensate is now, go figure!

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sections of the book can be difficult to read. I liked that it covered science history from ancient Rome and Greece until now.

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crump can be a little dry-unless he is writing about astronomy. In that, he covers a lot of interesting material. Anyone who is curious science in general would enjoy this work.

[Matt Jarvis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this a lot for the broad overview of science and a look at the instruments and devices that have been developed over the years. Quite an enjoyable read. :)

[Mairead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most interesting!