William F. Bynum’s addition to the Yale University Press line of “little history books” is about science: the roots of our modern understanding and the steps intellectuals took to explore key aspects of our natural world. Professor emeritus of the history of medicine at University College London in England, Bynum is well positioned to explore this field with an established research background.
Whether you’re an entrenched aficionado who loves to know the whys and wherefores of what makes our world tick, or you’re interested in learning a few things about how chemistry emerged from the field of alchemy or how the lights turn on when you flip a switch, A Little History of Science is engaging for a variety of readers.
While reading A Little History of Science, I was reminded of Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything, a wonderful dive into the science and workings of the universe itself and a great lesson in all the bits and pieces we should’ve been fascinated by in school, if we were even taught such things. Bryson writes with a very appealing sense of humor, and Bynum, too, offers a sincere, genial take on the history of science that is easy to read and very approachable.
Compared to Bryson’s complex history of the cosmos, Bynum’s work is a more relaxed dip into the history of science, offering brief forays into stories that average about five pages and are written in a style that appeals to a range of readers. The occasional science vocabulary is often explained neatly in parentheses or within the text for early readers. This is artfully done so the reader doesn’t notice, or can gloss over if already familiar with the term. I found this preferable to a glossary, and the practice added to my certainty that this book would be well received by inquisitive young readers.
I love that Bynum’s A Little History of Science is accessible to such a range of readers, and it’s also the kind of work that you can open up to any section and learn something new or refamiliarize yourself with an old story. Naturally, the book is organized chronologically, and Bynum refers to the field’s predecessors, but it’s easy to jump in and read a few chapters without committing to a cover-to-cover read. This is a great resource for lovers of trivia who want to remember the names of the famous or not-so-famous scientific figures who changed our understanding of the natural world.
Bynum starts in China and East Asia, but A Little History of Science mainly focuses on European developments in science, as our history books tell us this hotbed is where most of the action happened—at least in relatively modern history. Bynum covers a broad scope of history, from the early BC era through the Dark Ages and the Renaissance, finally summing up some of the chemical warfare and munitions developments that ended World War II. Bynum’s work is valuable for reminding us of the wonderful stories that shape our understanding of modern science.
Every chapter is headed by a lovely woodcut-style black-and-white illustration that playfully introduces the central concepts to come. Many chapters cover main characters who moved a field forward; for example, “Forces, fields and magnetism” includes information about both known and unheralded scientists who worked with electric currents and electromagnetism. Bynum often focuses on the connections between scientists, those who built on the work of others who came before them or solved mysteries that their predecessors couldn’t quite work through.
Other chapters focus specifically on individual heroes, like a chapter on Newton called “What Goes Up”. Newton was incredibly productive and well known, but he was apparently a very dislikable fellow. Another great aspect of Bynum’s focus is giving a little context about the origins and background of the scientists whose work forms the foundation of these stories, for example, their level of access to education. Although many philosophers we’d now consider scientists were raised in wealthy families and therefore had access to education, many others relied on their own resourcefulness to explore the natural world.
Bynum also focuses on factors like politics and religion that impacted scientists’ work. It spotlights the work of Hippocrates, Aristotle, Galen, Galileo, Bacon, Descartes, Einstein, and many more.
Taken as a whole, A Little History of Science is a lot to digest, but this is a wonderful book to keep on the shelf and revisit over time.