Science: A Four Thousand Year History Book

Described by author Patricia Fara as 'the book that leaves an awful lot out.'Science: A Four Thousand Year History is a marvellous account of the anthropology of science from the Babylonians until present and gives an extraordinary insight into questions such as, why we have sixty minutes on a clock. Did you know that every scientific fact can be traced back to the Babylonians? Fara omits the technical science but discusses how science straddles the balance between developing theories and persuading others. This historical development of science includes a commentary on germ theory for example, debates the uneasy relationship between science and medicine, and explains how medicine was not driven by an evidence base until the twentieth century. Science: A Four Thousand Year History, includes lots of characters not often found in British historical writing, such as, non-europeans, women, alchemists and astronomers featuring alongside Darwin, Fleming and Da Vinci. Not afraid to be critical of misogyny and the marginalisation of women, Fara gives a fair account in such a short volume (400 words for 4000 years is quite awesome editing) of the development of science and its impact on the course of history. Read More