She unerringly pinpoints the defining moods of each age, treating the past with respect and the present with discernment. It deserves the widest possible readership." - Steven Shapin, Professor of the History of Science, Harvard, and author of The Scientific Revolution, "Dismantling popular myths, taking a truly global view and dispensing with false idols, Fara's highly readable survey of science's histories is a breath of fresh air. Patricia Fara has succeeded: Science is an elegant and compact creative synthesis of the piecemeal researches of generations of academic historians. This wonderfully literate book tells a story that is far, far more interesting than the tidy fictions of hindsight." - Philip Ball, Consultant Editor of Nature "It's been a very long time since any reputable historian of science had the desire, the knowledge, or the nerve to undertake a book like this- an attempt to survey the development of science from Antiquity to the present, notably including non-European materials.
"Dismantling popular myths, taking a truly global view and dispensing with false idols, Fara's highly readable survey of science's histories is a breath of fresh air. And rather than glorifying scientists as idealized heroes, she tells true stories about real people-men (and some women) who needed to earn their living, who made mistakes, and who trampled down their rivals. Instead of focussing on esoteric experiments and abstract theories, she explains how science belongs to the practical world of war, politics, and business. We see for instance how Muslim leaders encouraged science by building massive libraries, hospitals, and astronomical observatories and we rediscover the significance of medieval Europe-long overlooked-where, surprisingly, religious institutions ensured science's survival, as the learning preserved in monasteries was subsequently developed in new and unique institutions: universities. Sweeping through the centuries from ancient Babylon right up to the latest hi-tech experiments in genetics and particle physics, Fara's book also ranges internationally, challenging notions of European superiority by emphasizing the importance of scientific projects based around the world, including revealing discussions of China and the Islamic Empire alongside the more familiar stories about Copernicus's sun-centered astronomy, Newton's gravity, and Darwin's theory of evolution. In Science, Patricia Fara rewrites science's past to provide new ways of understanding and questioning our modern technological society.
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