Customer Reviews

Theories for Everything: An Illustrated History of Science

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

 

 

Please disregard the ludicrous ravings of this book's first reviewer, who judges the entire tome on the basis, not of its cover, but of a single sidebar. He inexplicably dismisses the eminently-qualified authors, who have been senior editors of such publications as Discover, Natural History, and Astronomy, and who I can assure you were thoroughly vetted by National Geographic.

"Theories for Everything" is a beautifully illustrated and well-written introduction to the history of science, particularly useful to young people but also to adults who would like a general refresher. Divided into six chapters -- The Heavens, The Human Body, Matter and Energy, Life Itself, Earth and Moon, Mind and Behavior -- it is neither exhaustive nor highly academic, but it is fun and lively, full of timelines and mini-biographies of science luminaries, which should encourage further exploration.

The clear writing, accompanied by intelligent and detailed drawings and illustrations provide young minds with fantastic insight into their world as it had come to exist before they did - something some generations do not really comprehend.

I agree with the reviewer who thinks that this volume is a bit textbooky. But look at what you get. Major themes in this book include outer space, the human body, matter and energy, and much more. Some of the topics featured are how science works, the Babylonian calendar, the four-humor theory of the Ancient Greeks, the Earth and Moon, asteroid impacts, and the human genome.

Time lines are included in order to enable the reader to trace major developments in each of the major fields of science. Featured thinkers and scientists include Aquinas, Bacon, Descartes, Copernicus, Newton, Einstein, Galen, Harvey, Fleming, Pauling, and many more. An extensive bibliography is provided for further study.

This book is an excellent reference source. It is an asset for any science classroom.

It was a decent enough volume, very up to date and a nice breadth of coverage. It's a bit dry and reminds me heavily of college textbooks, but if you're accustomed to the NG style, there's no surprises there.

I thought it did a decent job with the subject matter - generally sweeping over a time line of events under the subject with a brief pause at particularly significant contributors. I thought the title was a bit off - to me the book focused more on the details of the people involved, not the theories themselves. But this is a minor quibble.

I got this book in a cutout bin and was well worth the small amount invested. I don't think I would have purchased it at full price.

I bought this book largely because it is published by National Geographic. Big mistake. Just turn to page 216 and read the article entitled "Quantum Mechanics". It is pure garbage.

The authors say that knowledge of a quantum particle's position and velocity is limited by measurement limitations. While that may be true, it is far more accurate and interesting to say, as Mr. Heisenberg did, that this uncertainty is an immutable property of the universe, without regard to measurement methods.

But what follows in that same article is truly most baffling. The authors describe quantum mechanical "tunneling" in terms of light that pass through bricks and of blind fleas that may or may not be trapped in a mesh. I think they are talking about a very theoretical and unsubstantiated hypothesis of wormhole time machines. The saddest part is that there are many examples of verified strange and interesting quantum characteristics that the authors fail to address.

Other errors also abound. For example, pages 164 and 167 depict and describe the Archimedean screw as "a spiral-shaped pipe" which is utterly false.

Also check the authors' science degrees. None are listed.