The Age of Science: What Scientists Learned in the Twentieth Century [Hardcover]

Gerard Piel (Author), Peter Bradford (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 16, 2001 | Series: Cornelia & Michael Bessie Series

When historians of the future come to examine western civilization in the twentieth century, one area of intellectual accomplishment will stand out above all others: more than any other era before it, the twentieth century was an age of science. Not only were the practical details of daily life radically transformed by the application of scientific discoveries, but our very sense of who we are, how our minds work, how our world came to be, how it works and our proper role in it, our ultimate origins, and our ultimate fate were all influenced by scientific thinking as never before in human history.In The Age of Science, the former editor and publisher of Scientific American gives us a sweeping overview of the scientific achievements of the twentieth century, with chapters on the fundamental forces of nature, the subatomic world, cosmology, the cell and molecular biology, earth history and the evolution of life, and human evolution. Beautifully written and illustrated, this is a book for the connoisseur: an elegant, informative, magisterial summation of one of the twentieth century's greatest cultural achievements.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Was it worth it? The 20th century saw unprecedented investment in scientific research and education, and Gerard Piel was on the beat for decades. The Age of Science is his summary of our learning up to Y2K, and few writers are better suited to the task. After all, this is the man who practically invented modern science journalism and revived Scientific American in the 1940s. The book covers physics, biology, earth science, and anthropology, with a strong emphasis on the physical sciences. There are some curious omissions--little is said about the electronics revolution and less about the computer revolution it spawned--but regarding fundamentals, The Age of Science is hard to beat. Some readers may feel a bit out of depth during the more arcane discussions, but a competent scientific dictionary should help immensely. The semi-calligraphic illustrations hit the mark more often than not, yielding a new milestone of scientific literacy. --Rob Lightner

From Publishers Weekly

Because scientists have amassed an enormous amount of new knowledge over the past century, attempts to summarize it all in a single volume are unlikely to succeed. From his unique former position as publisher of Scientific American for 38 years, Piel seems as equipped as anyone to achieve such an undertaking. Unfortunately, even his effort falls short. Piel organizes his material into seven sections: the fundamental forces of nature, quantum mechanics, cosmology, molecular biology, geology, the evolution of life and human evolution. Each chapter appears to have been written for a different audience; the ones focusing on physics require fairly sophisticated understanding ("In the cloud chamber, lithium yielded a two-prong track at the point of collision, signifying its break-up into two alpha particles"). Those on biology and geology are much more accessible to lay readers ("evidence is strong that Mendel designed his experiments to test his hunch that a trait is carried thus intact from one generation to the next"). No field of study, however, is handled in a completely satisfying manner, whoever the intended audience. Piel simply does not supply more than a cursory overview of any topic. Many subjects deserving of attention, given the book's title, are omitted; there is virtually no discussion of any medical topic, of the creation and dissemination of computing technology or of environmental advances, to name just a few. Although the book is generous with illustrations (mostly maps and diagrams), their cartoonish style renders them more distracting than enlightening.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 16 and up
  
• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; 1 edition (October 16, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465057551
• ISBN-13: 978-0465057559
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,416,845 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sporadically Brilliant Exposition of Last Century's Science, November 25, 2001

By 

vincox (los angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Age of Science: What Scientists Learned in the Twentieth Century (Hardcover)

Written from the vantage point of a journalist of science, this book tells the panoramic story of human progress (and no, that's not an oxymoron) toward understanding what constitutes the universe and how it works. Piel's role as publisher of Scientific American seems to have given him access to a multitude of excellent anecdotes and incisive explanatory metaphors that I hadn't previously encountered. There are 70 to 100 paragraphs that explain breakthroughs in scientific understanding in ways that were, for me, breakthroughs.
The book suffered fom illustrations that were insufficiently legible, and which demanded more explanation. Also, Piel needs a stronger editor who can weed out the sometimes clumsy phrasings and pontifications.
All in all, though, this is a terrific contribution. I put it on a par with the popular works of John Gribbin, James Treffil, Jared Diamond and David Quammen.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars reply to nagashima, June 26, 2002

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S.M. Bessie (Lyme, Ct. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Age of Science: What Scientists Learned in the Twentieth Century (Hardcover)

We have taken notice of the points scored by George Nagashima in his reader-review of The Age of Science by Gerard Piel, a Cornelia and Michael Bessie Book, published by Basic Books. Mr. Nagashima's helpul perceptions will be reflected in the next printing of the book.
Thus, his finding of a "mistake...of 50 MILLION percent" may and will be set aright by restatement of a metaphorical explanation of the familiar equation E=mc^2; thus: "...one may attempt to picture 9x10^8 tons accelerated..." instead of "one may attempt to picture the acceleration of 9x10^8 tons."
To the general reader, The Age of Science has had recommenation by every scientist who has had the pleasure of reading it. Philip Morrison, the MIT astrophysicist, has this to say: "Gerard Piel describes science and scientists as he - no scientist but a clear and happy writer and attentive expositor - judges the work. Chapter by chapter, he summarizes...space and time in four dimensions, particles, quantum theory, the living cell, geology and the rise and evolution of our own sapient species. This work is both personal enough to engage anyone and precise enough to carry the work of science at a worthy level."
In the international weekly Nature, the sociologist Zaheer Baber of the University of Saskatchewan, writes: "The fact that Piel consistently connects the growth of scientific knowledge to the social and political milieu of its genesis, while simultaneously alluding to the changes in the social context induced by these discoveries makes The Age of Science...the most intelligent, lucid and sociologically sensitive discussion of the broad trajectory of scientific knowledge yet available."
As the publisher who urged the author to undertake this book, I am gratified and proud of its reception by the scientific community and thus able to commend it to the wide audience to which it is addressed.

4.0 out of 5 stars The Age of Sicnce, February 26, 2010

By 

Eric Bloch (metropolitan NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Age of Science: What Scientists Learned in the Twentieth Century (Hardcover)

Gerard Piel's "The Age of Science" is an excellent historical overview of some of the major advances in the biological and physical sciences during the 20th century with their roots in the 19th century and earlier. The book does not claim to cover all areas and it doesn't. On the other hand, the section on earth history and the evolution of life, and tools and human evolution yield interesting and valuable perspectives. The major weakness is the book's diagrams which are sometimes hard to read, othertimes difficult to interpret.