The Greatest Show on Earth: Two Books on History of Science

Honestly, my math is poor; lab quotient almost nil; stargazing restricted only to appreciation of nature's wonder. Except for getting good grades at school geology and biology examinations,  there was nothing really scientifically smart in me. Nevertheless, I enjoyed these two books so much that I regretted why I had voluntarily stopped myself at science's door.

They are Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything (Black Swan, 2003) and William Bynum's A Little History of Science (Yale, 2013).

William Bynum (b. 1943) is Emeritus Professor of the History of Medicine of University College London.

Professor Bynum's A Little History of Science is a wonderful book for science neophytes, youth or adult. Divided into forty chapters and scientific subjects including medicine, alchemy, astronomy, anatomy, chemistry, physics, geology, paleontology, biology, molecular study, genetics and computer, this Little History indeed brings readers through the development of science with the help of many key players and Nobel laureates.

The author's language is familiar, structure consistent, and information well-explained and digestible. On the whole, I find this journey more than pleasant.

Especially inspiring are his personal reflections upon (or beliefs in) the essence of science. These humanitarian wisdoms are often found in the paragraphs, like little gems. For example:

* Science has always been strongest in cultures that are open to the new. (p. 38)
* Each generation of scientists benefit from the insights of those who came before. (p. 90)
* Science itself was objective and international, and above religion and politics. (p. 179)
* Though sometimes violated, science's core values are openness and sharing information. (p. 194)
* Science deals with the how, not the why...as T. H. Huxley put it, 'man's place in nature'. (p. 223)
* Modern science is expensive and group efforts; impossible without computers; a big business. (p. 241)

If Professor Bynum's scientific big names sound too intimidating and faraway, Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything can surprise you with the stories of many individuals from humble origins!  Here is a true sense of science being the common property of mainkind. Any curious and diligent mind can contribute.

Driven by his own desire to know the origin of the world, Bryson consulted more than 280 pieces of references and made visits to places and individuals for this project. The end product was this book of five parts and thirty chapters.

While many subjects and big names overlap, Bryson's narrative - written a decade earlier than Professor Bynum's book- still  distinguishes itself the author's attention to individuals, episodes, interviews, and travels. He devotes pages to the geology of Yellowstone National Park and often mentions the 'godlike' Richard Feynman, which are given only one or two lines by Professor Bynum.

Bryson's great revelation sort of resembles the 'uncertainty principle' developed by German physicist Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976). The principle states "there are simply limits to our knowledge of the very small" (Bynum, p. 201), reminding scientists of the boundary of a scientific quest. Bryson, too, often stresses how still very little we know about the universe and its living beings, past or present, in spite of the long history of scientific development he just reviewed. There are many reasons behind, and we still have a long way to go.

Naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-1882) is one of the most important scientists in both books (so are Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein among others). Both describe the development of Darwin's notion of evolution and the sensation it caused in 1860s.

According to Professor Bynum and Bryson, Darwin was deeply religious and trained in divinity in Cambridge. He knew perfectly well about the storm his notion of human evolution against creation by God might cause, so he kept the notion to himself and friends. But for staunch supporters who insisted science above religion, this notion would not gain its day. Neither would later generation of scientists have the opportunity to establish human evolution from Homo Habilis (handy man ) to Homo sapiens (wise man) (source: Evolution of the World). We would have missed the greatest show on earth.

Now I still don't understand Albert Einstein's equation. Nor can I recite the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements or geological periods. What I learn in these two books is the beauty of knowledge moved forward by the collective effort of an international community across time and continent. History is the sum of human actions.

What's lacking here, of course, will be the contribution from non-western societies, on my part especially those by indigenous communities. How do you overcome the challenge that these societies often did not leave notes?  There are still stories to be told.

Science reflects the quest of the day, and the quest must be multifaceted.