To Explain the World: The Discovery of Modern Science

by Steven Weinberg Narrated by Tom Perkins

Overview

In this rich, irreverent, and compelling history, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Weinberg takes us across centuries, from ancient Miletus to medieval Baghdad and Oxford, from Plato's Academy and the Museum of Alexandria to the cathedral school of Chartres and the Royal Society of London. He shows that the scientists of ancient and medieval times not only did not understand what we understand about the world-they did not understand what there is to understand or how to understand it. Yet over the centuries, through the struggle to solve such mysteries as the curious backward movement of the planets and the rise and fall of the tides, the modern discipline of science eventually emerged. Along the way, Weinberg examines historic clashes and collaborations between science and the competing spheres of religion, technology, poetry, mathematics, and philosophy.



An illuminating exploration of the way we consider and analyze the world around us, To Explain the World is a sweeping, ambitious account of how difficult it was to discover the goals and methods of modern science, and the impact that this discovery had on human knowledge and development.

Editorial Reviews

The New York Times Book Review - Sam Kean

Weinberg has set out to write a broad historical overview that can explain how humanity invented science. But he finds that historians disdain nearly everything that excites him. They mistrust overarching narratives and notions of progress. Some dispute the very idea of a scientific revolution. Above all, they argue that we can't cherry-pick winners and losers based on what later scientists believed to be true. They insist on judging people in the context of their own times. Weinberg rejects all that. He's perfectly happy judging the past by today's standards. After all, scientists can't well overlook the fact that some theories work and some don't. And it's this willingness to ignore pieties that makes To Explain the World so refreshing…It tells a rich, meaningful tale about the emergence of science, and evokes a sense of "how difficult was the discovery of modern science, how far from obvious are its practices and standards."

Publishers Weekly

02/02/2015
With his usual scholarly aplomb, Weinberg (The First Three Minutes), a Nobel Prize-winning theoretical physicist, leads readers on a tour of early scientific theory, from the ancient Greeks to the Scientific Revolution of the 17th century. Weinberg begins around 500 B.C. with philosopher Heraclitus, whose infinite "ordered" cosmos made of "ever-living Fire" typifies an early Greek focus on aesthetics rather than observation and verification. Pythagoras brought mathematical rigor and logic to the field, while Aristotle's ideas about motion became scientific bedrock throughout Arab advances of the Middle Ages and held sway until Copernicus, Galileo, and the subsequent Scientific Revolution. Throughout, Weinberg stresses a need for humans to "outgrow" a "holistic" (as in one that considers humanistic concerns) approach to nature, and stop attaching religion and other abstract ideas—justice, love, strife—to our scientific understanding. Science students will particularly appreciate the clarity and detail of Weinberg's "Technical Notes" at the back of the book, which delve more deeply into selected topics. Accessible and smoothly-written, Weinberg offers new insights on what has become familiar territory for pop-science readers. Illus. (Feb.)

From the Publisher

A thoughtful history.” — The New Yorker

“The long march toward the modern scientific method is well-trodden territory for historians of science, but in tackling this familiar topic, Steven Weinberg offers a thoughtful, supplementary viewpoint.” — The Washington Post

“Steven Weinberg, the world’s preeminent physicist, provides a masterful journey through humankind’s scientific coming of age. With its refreshing candor and lyrical prose, To Explain the World is a delightful celebration of our passionate drive for understanding.” — Brian Greene

“This book transmutes the base metal of a mere history of science into pure gold — into a magisterial celebration of a long and heroic struggle, still incomplete, to understand nature. Only a committed scientist of Steven Weinberg’s brilliance, experience and breadth of insight could have accomplished this.” — Ian McEwan

“Refreshing and well-written. . . . To Explain the World tells a rich, meaningful tale about the emergence of science.” — The New York Times Book Review

“Fascinating. . . . A sweeping narrative of the progression of ideas. . . . Weinberg masterfully explains how the emergence of the modern scientific method, the mechanism by which we interrogate the world and devise well-supported explanations we can be confident in, is itself a discovery.” — Lewis Dartnell, The Telegraph

“Weinberg exemplifies a growing tendency in popular science writing to offer the matter of science and not just a superficial reading. It gives the book a bracing intellectuality. . . . This is a great book, a necessary book for our time.” — The Independent

“A refreshing contrast to other tomes on the topic. . . . With To Explain the World, Weinberg reminds us to be humble not only about what we know, but how we know it. It’s a nuance, but an important one.” — The Guardian

“I am amazed by what Steven Weinberg has done in this book. It is a unique and highly civilizing guide, obviously the result of years of wide-ranging scholarship, even with strategic humor.” — Gerald Holton

“Weinberg is a fine writer and communicator about ideas beyond his own field. . . . He has clearly carried out extensive scholarly investigation for the book, and it works as history. But what makes it stand out is his perspective as a top scientist working today.” — Financial Times

“Weinberg has combined his credentials with his knowledge of the history of science to examine a fascinating issue: how attempts to explain the world have changed over time. . . . He writes simply and clearly, and includes many telling insights.” — BBC Focus

“Weinberg writes with clarity and wit. . . . His reasoning can be fascinating — and eye-opening. . . . Weinberg is one of our greatest defeners of scientific thought, and his wit is a welcome salve in this authoritative history.” — The Austin American-Statesman

“An ingenious account. . . . The author has a keen understanding of the precise details of his subject. . . . Readers will come away with a stimulating view of how humans learn from nature.” — Kirkus

“Weinberg advances keen insights. . . into the intellectual structure of science. . . . A compelling reminder of how science works — and why it matters.” — Booklist (starred review)

“With his usual scholarly aplomb, Weinberg leads readers on a tour of early scientific theory, from the ancient Greeks to the Scientific Revolution of the 17th century. . . . Accessible and smoothly written, Weinberg’s book offers new insights on what has become familiar territory for pop-science readers. — Publishers Weekly

“Entertaining. . . . The book should make any history of science buff’s reading list. . . . Weinberg gets it right.” — Forbes

“A bravura performance. Writing with grace and verve, Weinberg explains complex conceptual nuances with admirable clarity.” — Physics Today

“The book is a magnificent contribution to the history and philosophy of science. It tells an exciting story. Why on earth did good science take so long to arrive?. . . . Weinberg writes with great verve and clarity.” — The Times Literary Supplement

The Washington Post

The long march toward the modern scientific method is well-trodden territory for historians of science, but in tackling this familiar topic, Steven Weinberg offers a thoughtful, supplementary viewpoint.

The Guardian

A refreshing contrast to other tomes on the topic. . . . With To Explain the World, Weinberg reminds us to be humble not only about what we know, but how we know it. It’s a nuance, but an important one.

The Independent

Weinberg exemplifies a growing tendency in popular science writing to offer the matter of science and not just a superficial reading. It gives the book a bracing intellectuality. . . . This is a great book, a necessary book for our time.

The New Yorker

A thoughtful history.

Gerald Holton

I am amazed by what Steven Weinberg has done in this book. It is a unique and highly civilizing guide, obviously the result of years of wide-ranging scholarship, even with strategic humor.

Financial Times

Weinberg is a fine writer and communicator about ideas beyond his own field. . . . He has clearly carried out extensive scholarly investigation for the book, and it works as history. But what makes it stand out is his perspective as a top scientist working today.

Lewis Dartnell

Fascinating. . . . A sweeping narrative of the progression of ideas. . . . Weinberg masterfully explains how the emergence of the modern scientific method, the mechanism by which we interrogate the world and devise well-supported explanations we can be confident in, is itself a discovery.

The New York Times Book Review

Refreshing and well-written. . . . To Explain the World tells a rich, meaningful tale about the emergence of science.

Brian Greene

Steven Weinberg, the world’s preeminent physicist, provides a masterful journey through humankind’s scientific coming of age. With its refreshing candor and lyrical prose, To Explain the World is a delightful celebration of our passionate drive for understanding.

Ian McEwan

This book transmutes the base metal of a mere history of science into pure gold — into a magisterial celebration of a long and heroic struggle, still incomplete, to understand nature. Only a committed scientist of Steven Weinberg’s brilliance, experience and breadth of insight could have accomplished this.

The New Yorker

A thoughtful history.

Financial Times

Weinberg is a fine writer and communicator about ideas beyond his own field. . . . He has clearly carried out extensive scholarly investigation for the book, and it works as history. But what makes it stand out is his perspective as a top scientist working today.

Booklist (starred review)

Weinberg advances keen insights. . . into the intellectual structure of science. . . . A compelling reminder of how science works — and why it matters.

Physics Today

A bravura performance. Writing with grace and verve, Weinberg explains complex conceptual nuances with admirable clarity.

BBC Focus

Weinberg has combined his credentials with his knowledge of the history of science to examine a fascinating issue: how attempts to explain the world have changed over time. . . . He writes simply and clearly, and includes many telling insights.

Forbes

Entertaining. . . . The book should make any history of science buff’s reading list. . . . Weinberg gets it right.

The Times Literary Supplement

The book is a magnificent contribution to the history and philosophy of science. It tells an exciting story. Why on earth did good science take so long to arrive?. . . . Weinberg writes with great verve and clarity.

The Austin American-Statesman

Weinberg writes with clarity and wit. . . . His reasoning can be fascinating — and eye-opening. . . . Weinberg is one of our greatest defeners of scientific thought, and his wit is a welcome salve in this authoritative history.

From the Publisher - AUDIO COMMENTARY

"Steven Weinberg, the world's preeminent physicist, provides a masterful journey through humankind's scientific coming of age. With its refreshing candor and lyrical prose, To Explain the World is a delightful celebration of our passionate drive for understanding." —Brian Greene

JULY 2015 - AudioFile

Weinberg traces science's evolution from its ancient beginnings through Newton's discoveries. Narrator Tom Perkins delivers Weinberg's book as a well-presented beginners' lecture, starting in the early passages, where the author writes about scientists' love of theory. As Weinberg mixes science and math with biographies and a discussion of cultural attitudes toward science, Perkins makes sure listeners can follow the main points on an international tour of early scientific inquiry. Still, there are places where it bogs down. The general listener may not be interested in lists of people who translated scientific works or be able to follow an equation while driving. Nonetheless, listeners will learn enough to appreciate the development of science. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2014-12-29
Histories of science celebrate great thinkers of the past. In this ingenious account, theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate Weinberg (Chair in Science/Univ. of Texas; Lectures on Quantum Mechanics, 2012, etc.) celebrates generously but gives equal emphasis to why they often missed the mark.Many people assume that pre-Enlightenment societies were ignorant, but they didn't think so. In ancient China, Greece, Rome and the medieval world, wise men observed, thought deeply, and pronounced on a wide variety of subjects, sometimes correctly, usually not. They not only didn't know what they didn't know; they also didn't know how to learn it. They often mixed metaphysics and reality. The work of Aristotle, the quintessential ancient scientist, was suffused with teleology, the belief that everything has a purpose. Thus, objects fall because their natural place is the center of the universe. Much early science was actually philosophy, but since nothing in the laws of nature "corresponds to ideas of goodness, justice, love, or strife…we cannot rely on philosophy as a reliable guide to scientific understanding." Despite today's scientific orthodoxy, we also should not rely solely on observation and experiments. Copernicus and Kepler argued for a heliocentric solar system based on mathematical simplicity, not accuracy, and prediction of planetary movements was no better than Ptolemy's. Unlike some academics, the author has a keen understanding of the precise details of his subject, and he makes good use of them throughout the book. "Some historians of science make a shibboleth of not referring to present scientific knowledge in studying the science of the past," he writes. "I will instead make a point of using present knowledge to clarify past science." While Weinberg confines most mathematics to a 95-page appendix, readers will strain to comprehend some of the lengthy nuts-and-bolts explanations, but those who persist will come away with a stimulating view of how humans learn from nature.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170440467
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	02/10/2015
Edition description:	Unabridged

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