saras's review
2.0
Eh, just OK. I enjoy history of science and I feel I might understand some basic concepts a little bit better now, but I expected to gain much more insight from the book.
satyridae's review
2.0
It was an interesting overview of what felt like arbitrarily selected experiments. They were all quite imaginative, given the times and the materials available to the experimenters. I couldn't help but notice the complete absence of women in the book, however. Surely Madame Curie's work merited inclusion. Or Lise Meitner's. Or... you get the idea. *grumble*
lubinka's review
3.0
In hindsight, not a book well suited for audio. Apart from that, I was not particularly impressed with the experiments the author chose to present, and at some points I found the writing too technical for the lay audience it seems to be targeted at. The trivia tidbits though were quite interesting.
grinchem's review
informative
3.0
I had a good time reading it, the text is engaging, although each section seems to focus more on the experimenter than the experiment, and the experiments chosen represent a somewhat narrow selection
lordofthemoon's review
4.0
This book takes as its starting point the idea that an experiment can be elegant and simple and devised and carried out by a single individual. He choose his ten favourite and gives each one a short, descriptive chapter. Including Galileo's work with gravity, Harvey's discovery of the heart as a pump, Newton's optical work and more, it's a whistle-stop tour through some of the most interesting science since the Enlightenment.
Clearly written and easy to read, while remaining descriptive, it makes it easy to follow the logic of the experiments themselves. Well worth reading.
Clearly written and easy to read, while remaining descriptive, it makes it easy to follow the logic of the experiments themselves. Well worth reading.
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