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 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.
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.
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.
A thoughtful history.
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.
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.
A thoughtful history.
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.
A bravura performance. Writing with grace and verve, Weinberg explains complex conceptual nuances with admirable clarity.
Entertaining. . . . The book should make any history of science buff’s reading list. . . . Weinberg gets it right.
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
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."
The New York Times Book Review - Sam Kean
02/02/2015
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.
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.
Refreshing and well-written. . . . To Explain the World tells a rich, meaningful tale about the emergence of science.
The New York Times Book Review
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.
Weinberg advances keen insights. . . into the intellectual structure of science. . . . A compelling reminder of how science works — and why it matters.
Booklist (starred review)
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.
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
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
2014-12-29
