10/19/2015
This substantive narrative of human progress is engaging and well constructed for the general science or history reader. Wooton (Galileo: Watcher of the Skies), professor of history at the University of York, makes a powerful, though currently unpopular, case against a Wittgensteinian historical relativism that sees science as entirely a social construct, changing gradually and continuously since antiquity. Wooton argues instead for viewing the period between 1572 and 1704 as a scientific revolution in a true sense, during which multiple strands of thought, technology, and culture came together in unexpected ways to transform human understanding of the physical world—the “triumph of Newtonianism,” which still informs modern research and dialogue. Analysis of primary texts from key philosophers as well as chronological details of their development and use of instrumentation sit beside broader-reaching approaches that explore linguistic change over time, how perspective-drawing techniques influenced astronomy, the ways the printing press helped form critical communities, and social analyses of the “mathematization of nature” and the decline of the appeal to authority, among other topics. Wooton’s arguments stand effectively on their own, making the final chapters directed at his historian colleagues feel like bloated academic infighting. Illus. (Dec.)
The Invention of Science: A New History of the Scientific Revolution
Narrated by James Langton
David WoottonUnabridged — 22 hours, 5 minutes
The Invention of Science: A New History of the Scientific Revolution
Narrated by James Langton
David WoottonUnabridged — 22 hours, 5 minutes
Overview
A groundbreaking examination of the greatest event in history, the Scientific Revolution, and how it came to change the way we understand ourselves and our world
We live in a world transformed by scientific discovery. Yet today, science and its practitioners have come under political attack. In this fascinating history spanning continents and centuries, historian David Wootton offers a lively defense of science, revealing why the Scientific Revolution was truly the greatest event in our history.
The Invention of Science goes back five hundred years in time to chronicle this crucial transformation, exploring the factors that led to its birth and the people who made it happen. Wootton argues that the Scientific Revolution was actually five separate yet concurrent events that developed independently, but came to intersect and create a new world view. Here are the brilliant iconoclasts-Galileo, Copernicus, Brahe, Newton, and many more curious minds from across Europe-whose studies of the natural world challenged centuries of religious orthodoxy and ingrained superstition.
From gunpowder technology, the discovery of the new world, movable type printing, perspective painting, and the telescope to the practice of conducting experiments, the laws of nature, and the concept of the fact, Wootton shows how these discoveries codified into a social construct and a system of knowledge ideas of truth, knowledge, progress. Ultimately, he makes clear the link between scientific discovery and the rise of industrialization-and the birth of the modern world we know.
Editorial Reviews
Wootton is a dazzling explicator of difficult ideas whose relish for his material is evident.” — Matthew Price, the Boston Globe
“Wootton tells his tales well and portrays characters vividly. He writes with wit, and his book is full of surprises.” — Robert P. Crease, The Wall Street Journal
“Masterly. . . . A fantastic revisionist history, an intellectual feat and a marvelous attack on those academics who believe that “retrospective history” — written with the outcome in mind — is wrong. It’s utterly refreshing to read a grand, whooping narrative that is also exhaustively researched. It will, I am certain, become a landmark in the discipline of the history of science." — Financial Times' Best Books of 2015
“New, encyclopedic history.” — Adam Gopnik, the New Yorker
“Full of insights…even jaded scholars will find it fresh and compelling.” — The Economist
"Perceptive, thought-provoking, deeply erudite and beautifully written.” — Nature
“Vibrant and impressive…The Invention of Science is a marvel of expositional clarity” — Steve Donoghue, The Christian Science Monitor
“Not only a history of science but a revisionist historiography of science” — Steven Poole, The New Statesman
“A big bang moment” — Lorraine Daston, The Guardian
“Extremely well researched and documented…This is bound to become a basic reference in the future.” — Adhemar Bultheel, the European Mathematical Society
“A bracing rediscovery of the marvel that is science” — Booklist, starred review
“David Wootton’s The Invention of Science is outstanding. It details how, when and why the philosophical, intellectual and practical frameworks of modern science arose, and it sees off relativism in the process. While dealing wonderfully in broad sweeps, it offers a wealth of entertaining details.” — Richard Joyner, Times Higher Education
“Fascinating and original … Wootton is a marvellous writer with an enviously encyclopaedic knowledge, and he has exciting things to say … a stimulating, well-informed and imaginative account.” — Patricia Fara, Literary Review
“A superbly lucid examination of a dramatic revolution in human thought that deserves a place on the shelf with Thomas Kuhn and David Deutsch.” — Kirkus Starred Review
New, encyclopedic history.
Vibrant and impressive…The Invention of Science is a marvel of expositional clarity
Full of insights…even jaded scholars will find it fresh and compelling.
Wootton is a dazzling explicator of difficult ideas whose relish for his material is evident.
"Perceptive, thought-provoking, deeply erudite and beautifully written.
Not only a history of science but a revisionist historiography of science
Wootton tells his tales well and portrays characters vividly. He writes with wit, and his book is full of surprises.
Masterly. . . . A fantastic revisionist history, an intellectual feat and a marvelous attack on those academics who believe that “retrospective history” — written with the outcome in mind — is wrong. It’s utterly refreshing to read a grand, whooping narrative that is also exhaustively researched. It will, I am certain, become a landmark in the discipline of the history of science."
Extremely well researched and documented…This is bound to become a basic reference in the future.
A big bang moment
A bracing rediscovery of the marvel that is science
David Wootton’s The Invention of Science is outstanding. It details how, when and why the philosophical, intellectual and practical frameworks of modern science arose, and it sees off relativism in the process. While dealing wonderfully in broad sweeps, it offers a wealth of entertaining details.
Fascinating and original … Wootton is a marvellous writer with an enviously encyclopaedic knowledge, and he has exciting things to say … a stimulating, well-informed and imaginative account.
"Perceptive, thought-provoking, deeply erudite and beautifully written.
11/15/2015
This highly linguistic take on the scientific revolution is not for the easily daunted. Wootton (history of science, Univ. of York; Galileo) paints an intriguing picture of how language and science evolved together from 1572 to 1704. He points out that the concept of "discovery" was largely unknown before Christopher Columbus's journey to America, and that specialized terms such as scientist, fact, or experiment didn't take hold until the 16th century. The book begins chronologically, but readers without a firm grounding in early modern science may get lost. Another flaw is the almost complete lack of women in the narrative. Although the major players in the scientific revolution were male, Wootton mentions quite a number of obscure male contributors, so it would have been nice to include at least a few women. Most critically, this work doesn't address modern debates about science in day-to-day life (the reliability of scientific proof of global warming, evolution, etc.) and is focused instead on debunking the relativist perspective of the history of science. VERDICT Although academics, who will catch the foreshadowing, will have no trouble following Wootton's argument, casual readers are likely to quit before they reach the payoff.—Cate Hirschbiel, Iwasaki Lib., Emerson Coll., Boston
Wootton’s dense but often fascinating account of the beginnings of science is given a likable and generally helpful narration by James Langton. His pleasant British accent; light, informal tone; and lively pace keep the audiobook from bogging down. His intonation and emphases help interpret the sense, though at times his pace is a bit too quick for the complex arguments and his somewhat shaky pronunciation of foreign languages can make quotations hard to follow. His great strength is his ability to translate Wootton’s evident joy in his subject into an engaging, even friendly and upbeat, tone that still respects the seriousness of the material. This is a daunting book in audio, but Langton’s reading helps it succeed. W.M. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
★ 2015-10-04
Not exactly a history of science but of our idea of science: a shrewd, thoughtful analysis of how our view of finding truth held steady throughout history and then, over a century, changed and produced the dazzling progress we often take for granted.Until the 16th century, most people believed that everything worth knowing was already known and that all questions could be answered with deep thought. Aristotle, the ultimate authority in the West, taught that one found truth through logical deductions from incontestable premises. Thus, since the heavens are unchanging and the only permanently unchanging movement is circular, all heavenly movements are circular. According to that worldview, observations are irrelevant. Columbus shattered this concept in 1492; no deduction could have predicted a new continent. Within decades, men—e.g., Copernicus in astronomy and Vesalius in anatomy—were examining phenomena with a new curiosity, claiming their findings were true even if they contradicted the official views of those in power. Many boasted of their achievements. Wootton (History/Univ. of York; Galileo: Watcher of the Skies, 2010, etc.) describes this as "a quite new type of intellectual culture: innovative, combative, competitive, but at the same time obsessed with accuracy." The author maintains that modern science took form between 1572, when Tycho Brahe saw a nova, or new star, and 1704, when Isaac Newton published Opticks, which demonstrated that white light consists of all colors of the rainbow and that color inheres in light rather than in objects. Except for denouncing modern philosophers who teach that truth is culturally determined, so all explanations of reality are equally valid, Wootton's account, as massive and sweeping as it is, stops with Newton. A superbly lucid examination of a dramatic revolution in human thought that deserves a place on the shelf with Thomas Kuhn and David Deutsch.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940169577099 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Blackstone Audio, Inc. |
| Publication date: | 04/26/2016 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
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