Customer Reviews

Galileo's Finger: The Ten Great Ideas of Science

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Galileo's Finger: The Ten Great Ideas of Science written by Peter Atkins is an excellently written book that gets to the heart of science ideas. "Galileo's Finger" takes us on a journey through the sciences on a broader context and embraces the ten central ideas of current science.

There are ten chapters taking us on a challenging but ultimately deeply satisfying journey. Science is the apotheosis of the spirit of the renaissance, an extraordinary monument to the human spirit and the power of comprehension of the puny human brain. This book is highly readable and the author makes the subject matter intelligable to the modest reader, making for an understanding of complex subject matter.

The chapters are as follows:

Evolution: The Emergence of Complexity
DNA: The Rationalization of Biology
Energy: The Universalization of Accountancy
Entropy: The Spring of Change
Atoms: The Reduction of Matter
Symmetry: The Quantification of Beauty
Quanta: The Simplification of Understanding
Cosmology: The Globalization of Reality
Spacetime: The Arena of Action
Arithmetic: The Limits of Reason

There is an epilogue for the future of understanding. The author has written the chapters in a way that you can either read them in order or read them out of order as they are free standing subjects. But, I found that that I could skim read the book and later reread in depth the subjects that piqued my interest.

This is an excellent book to be used as a introduction to scientific concepts and puts the reader into a logical approach to the scientific concepts, as you read on you'll find that you'll arrive at an emergence of understanding. This book is written well and the author uses the English language to describe concepts in a way that opens our minds through our eyes of the ways of deep science.

Galileo's Finger is a solid 5 star introduction to scientific concepts written in a manor to educate the reader. This book deserves a good read and a place on your bookshelf.

P.W.(Peter) Atkins is the author of the excellent textbook "Physical Chemistry", "Molecules", a general overview of nature's chemicals from the Scientific American Library, and the imaginative "Periodic Kingdom". In his latest popularization, "Galileo's Finger", Atkins outlines what he considers are the ten central ideas of science. Without bias, he only chooses two from his own area of expertise. The rest are from the realms of biology, physics and astronomy. Given that only two to three of the chapters are part of a high school curriculum, the book is essential reading for anyone who has not studied science past that point. His writing neither oversimplifies nor bores the reader, reminiscent of the way the late Stephen Jay Gould practised his craft. I love Atkins' definition of chemistry, " It is the bridge between the perceived world of substances and the imagined world of atoms."

Galileo, as he was sentenced to recant what he had seen with his own eyes is reputed to have said under his breath something like, "but I saw what I saw." Trying to see evolution or quanta or the spacetime continuum is more difficult.

Galileo was then sentenced to house arrest for the rest of his life. No more questioning the unbridled power of the church. But the church was not all powerful, in places other than Italy observations continued. And the instruments used for observation became better and better, scientists could see further, and smaller, and with a better understanding of what they were seeing.

Dr. Atkins has selected ten key central ideas of today's science and described them for the general public. But having said that, I must also say that this isn't a For Dummies book. His explanation, for instance, of some of the modern thinking in the physics of symmetry, quanta, cosmology and spacetime reaches the point where you either have to accept it on faith or spend a considersible amount of time with very high level mathematics.

This is a book that presents the modern thinking at a level that most of it is understandable to most of us. Combine that with an elegent writing style, and reading it makes for a great deal of enjoyment.

Some of the press reviews suggest that this is for the general reader. However, even with a degree in Science, I found some the explanations quite hard-going, and I think the general reader might be disappointed or frustrated, hence why I give it 3 rather than 4 stars.

Prof Atkins is well known for his books in Physical Chemistry. However, like all great thinkers, his interests extend well beyond his chosen field of expertise. Immersed in a culture of knowledge-seeking (he is Professor of Chemistry at Oxford University) has no doubt enabled him to rub shoulders with some of the deepest thinkers of the fields that he covers in this book.

The premise of the book is simple enough - condense the cumulative scientific achievements of humankind into ten broad statements. Each statement serves as the basis of a chapter that goes into some details and meaning behind the statements themselves. Being a popular science book, the depth of coverage in the chapters is relatively superficial. However, the main historical developments and ideas are there. Make no mistake - this is not a book to skim through. You should be prepared to reflect deeply and re-read the book as many times as needed for the ideas to sink in. I would also recommend acquiring (at least some of) the books listed in the "Further Reading" section to delve deeper.

If you want a guided tour of the great ideas of science from a learned teacher and philosopher, then get this book. It will surely leave you with a broader overview of the great scientific principles enunciated to date.

The main ideas are: Evolution, DNA, Energy, Entropy, Atoms, Symmetry, Quanta, Cosmology, Spacetime, and Arithmetic

This book claims to be readable by anyone, regardless of scientific background. That isn't true. I read this is a small science class where we got to ask many questions and have each chapter explained by a science PhD. That helped me understand it, but even after a few hours of explaining a chapter I might still not understand it. That said, I still highly recommend reading whatever parts of this book you can comprehend. Atkins presents 10 of the fundamental ideas of/leading up to modern science.

This captivating book deals with the ability of the scientific method to explain the wondrous nature of the universe. The author's elegant style, clear explanations and understated humour ensure an engaging read. Atkins has chosen 10 simple concepts of great import that manifest into a giant tree of application. With its patient explanations, it is an excellent guide for the lay reader to become literate in modern sciene. The major insights of modern science discussed here are evolution, DNA, energy, entropy, atoms, symmetry, quanta, cosmology, spacetime and arithmetic. The book includes black and white photographs and illustrations, a bibliography arranged by chapter and an index. Galileo's Finger is the perfect guide for those who wish to understand science more clearly.

The author has written the best book of its kind I have ever read - and I've read more than a few! The layout is excellent, the production leaves nothing to be desired, and the prose is both illuminating and charming. If you are looking for a book that will both stimulate and enthrall - you won't go wrong with this one.

This is an extremely well-written book on what the author feels are the best ideas ever in the history of science. Not only does Atkins describe the ideas in detail, he also explains the history of these ideas. Often times, his explanations are very clear and easy for non-scientists to understand. I highly recommend this book.

I did not give the book 5 stars for the following reasons:

1) There is a mistake in regard to transcription and translation on p. 71. Atkins' expertise is in chemistry and physics, and that is certainly clear in the first two chapters (which deal with biology). They are not particularly well-written.

2) While, overall, Atkins is good at explaining things in simple terms, there are times when he isn't so great. In particular, Atkins has trouble relating complex ideas such as symmetry and quantization to the average person. I remember thinking to myself, "If I hadn't studied some of this in college, I would have no idea what he's talking about here."

3) Atkins occasionally tries to mix his personal philosophy with science. It is readily apparent that Atkins is an atheist, and he makes mention in the book that our universe is "insignificant." In addition, he refers to people who don't believe in evolution as "Simplicios." While that's fine for him to believe, I don't think either comment is appropriate. These comments make the author seem petty and, in the case of human significance, places him at odds with the vast majority of people. Religion/philosophy asks, "Why?" and science asks, "How?" The tools used to answer these questions are fundamentally different, and Atkins shouldn't draw philosophical conclusions from scientific observations.

Overall, I highly recommend the book. It will certainly open your eyes to just how complex and beautiful our universe is.

As a science graduate and experienced teacher of A level Chemistry and GCSE Science I thought this book would be a nice overview of what is going on (and has gone on) in science. How wrong I was.

This book flips from some nice historical detail and context to some very complex ideas in a wide range of disciplines. The transition is not smooth and I felt in the turn of a page I went from being firmly in my comfort zone to being completely out of my depth.

Atkins can describe things with skill but he has bitten off more than he can chew in trying to cram so much into one book and the bits that he misses out were the links between school level and graduate level science, which unfortunately are likely to be the bits that his readership will be most interested in.

With better editing (or choosing of content level). This could have been a good and informative book. Unfortunately, it was interesting in parts but unreachable in others.