‘Scientific Revolution’ based on advanced knowledge
Euclid-Einstein-Hawking, etc.
Introduction to 2,500 years of science book history
◇Scientists who write books/Written by Brian Clegg/Translated by Hyoyoung Je/352 pages, 26,000 won, Eulyu Munhwasa
![[책의 향기]There was already a scientist who wrote a book on heliocentrism 2,300 years ago.](https://dimg.donga.com/wps/NEWS/IMAGE/2025/01/11/130836853.4.jpg "[책의 향기]There was already a scientist who wrote a book on heliocentrism 2,300 years ago.")
When it comes to ‘books’, it is easy to dismiss ‘books’ as the domain of humanities, and when it comes to ‘science’, it is easy to dismiss it as the domain of laboratories rather than books. The author’s thoughts are different. “Thanks to books, I don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time I need to. This is because science is accomplished by building new discoveries and theories based on the discoveries and theories of others.” The best result of ‘books’, the accumulation of knowledge, is science.
The Korean subtitle ‘History of Great Science Books’ clearly reveals the nature of this book. Great science books spanning over 2,500 years from ancient Greece to modern times are introduced along with over 280 illustrations.
When it comes to ancient times, it is easy to dismiss it as the ‘infancy of science.’ However, Euclid’s ‘Elements’, written around 290 BC, explained the basic premises of axioms and propositions. The method of building up thoughts by quoting the thoughts of previous people was already found in Archimedes’ ‘The Man Who Counted Grains of Sand’ in the 3rd century BC. He quoted a book by a man named Aristarchus and wrote, ‘The Earth revolves around the Sun.’
Greek science was preserved by being translated into Arabic, and then translated back into European languages, leading to a revival of science. ‘Calculation of Restoration and Contrast’ written by Persian mathematician Al-Khwarizmi in 820 was translated into Latin in the 12th century and became the basis of algorithms and algebra. The ‘Supreme Treatises’ written by India’s Bhaskara in 1114 contained content that could become the foundation of calculus.
As printing became widespread, the number of science books also increased rapidly. ‘On Magnetism’ by Englishman William Gilbert, published in 1600, wrote, “Intellectuals are faced with an ocean of books, and those who are eager to learn are suffering from pain and fatigue.” During this period, books aimed at general readers beyond fellow scholars began to appear. Science books that were written in Latin also began to use the everyday language of their countries.
When we reach the ‘Modern Classics’ chapter, the author becomes busy introducing monumental books based on exploding scientific knowledge. As a science book that opened the 20th century, Einstein’s ‘Theory of Relativity’, published in 1917 and translated into English three years later, cannot be left out. This was also the time when science book reviews began to become active. A reviewer in the British academic journal Nature expressed his bewilderment, saying, “I feel the same way as many readers who asked the question, ‘What is relativity?’”
Hawking’s ‘A Brief History of Time’, published in 1988, set the highest sales record in the history of science books, but the author points out that “in fact, not many people have read it in full.” That record was broken by Bill Bryson’s ‘A History of Almost Everything (2003)’, which is famous not as a scientist but as a travel writer.
The author concludes by predicting that in the future, there will be more books like Hosenfelder’s ‘The Trap of Mathematics (2018)’ that ‘help readers understand the theory more deeply by raising questions.’
“We need to encourage people to show more interest in science. At the same time, efforts are needed to defeat anti-scientific views that are aligned with some political beliefs.”
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![[책의 향기/밑줄 긋기]a world called records](https://dimg.donga.com/a/180/101/95/2/wps/NEWS/IMAGE/2025/01/11/130836889.4.jpg)
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