Asimov's Chronology of Science & Discovery: Updated and Illustrated (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Isaac Asimov's innovative exploration of the relationship between science and society over the past 4 million years.

About the Author

To list Isaac Asimov's honors, as to list his books, would be excessive. Let it simply be noted that Isaac Asimov was the most famous, most honored, most widely read, and most beloved science fiction author of all time. In his five decades as an author, he wrote more than four hundred books, won every award his readers and colleagues could contrive to give him, and provided pleasure and insight to millions. He died in 1992, still at work.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 791 pages
• Publisher: Harper Collins; Revised edition (October 7, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062701134
• ISBN-13: 978-0062701138
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.4 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #180,990 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book of the history of science by Asimov, June 14, 1998

By	Jose [e-mail] (East Chicago, Indiana (SOUTHSIDE)WHAT!) - See all my reviews

I was a complete Asimovphile and I had read his books on science(my favorite subject)and science fiction that I could come across. The book Asimov's Chronology of Science & Discovery is probably the best book of science he's ever written. This book takes the reader on the journey in history from our human ancestors up to modern times. It has all the dates,events,and the people involed in scientific discoveries and technology. Not only does it include abstract discoveries but neat facts such as when the slide rule was invented, how negative numbers where conceived, who invented LSD, and how computers came from bulky to small. To me, Asimov knew every event with the year and the person involved. Aside of what happened in the past,he kept up with the present as well.I like his work since I know that he made complex topics understandable for the general reader. Because of him, I became a genius of science! I read every single book written by him before I started to go into other works by different authors. Aside from that, He updated his work also. To sum it all up, Asimov's Chronology of Science & Discovery is the crowning achievment of science,discovery,history, and the author who can present to the general reader.

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Asimov knew his science, April 27, 2000

By	David N. Reiss (Haymarket, VA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Isaac Asimov was one of the great popularizers for science. This Chronology of the history of science just understates that we lost one of the great writers of any era when he passed away in 1992.

This book is great. It outlines all the major and most of the minor scientific discoveries. The scientific advances that worked to give us the current world we live in. With things like nuclear weapons, global warming, etc. It is super important that politicians policy makers understand science. It is sad that most of them don't think they need to know about it.

This book helps people to understand the important role that science plays in our world.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Amazing...find one while you still can, December 27, 2008

By	A. Rowley (Louisville, KY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Asimov was a amazing treasure trove of knowledge in his own right, and was equally skilled in writing both Scientific non-Fiction and fiction. This book is no exception, and it is a shame that it has become difficult to find this amazing piece of work.

Asimov's Chronology of Science and Discovery is a fascinating compendium of ALL human discovery since the beginning of human society. While this may sound like a standard reference book, it is far more than that. Asimov organizes the entire book by year with a very comprehensive index. He managed to bring humor and candor, brevity and comprehensiveness, to the history of all human ingenuity in a way that causes the reader to suddenly discover that he/she has been reading for far longer than they had initially planned.

Asimov keeps the writing accessible, and had a remarkable ability to distill even the most complex of ideas and concepts into everyday language....AND still keep it interesting to read. You can open this book to any page and just start reading.

Interlaced with the wonderful descriptions of each of the small steps in human creativity and knowledge, are wonderful footnotes and minor tangents that paint a vivid picture of the world at any given point in history. You end up visualizing each of these discoveries in the context of the world at that point in history, which adds both weight and meaning to their piece of the greater puzzle of science and discovery.

In the end this book is neither a reference book nor a history book. In truth it is a little of both, but compiled and written by a remarkable author who understood how to keep a readers interest and draw parallels to everyday experience.

This is a much read for any true fans of history or science.