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A review by giantarms
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes
4.0
Alchemy shifts to chemistry. But more importantly, a dude has adventures in Tahiti and two German ex-pats never sleep.
It's a history of the men and women whose unbounded curiosity allowed them to build on the foundation on the past without fear of hacking out the bad bricks. The book blends scientific discovery with artistic reactions and fascinating biographies of everybody involved. I'd heard of Faraday. I'd never heard of Davy. There wouldn't have been one without the other.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is that "Mungo Park" is the best name ever.
Four stars because it does get a little slow occasionally, but that's only in comparison to the amazing tale that is Banks's experiences in Tahiti.
Also of note: This is single best designed book I've ever handled. It's fat, but the pages lay nicely. The boring citations are all at the end, but the meaty side notes are conveniently there at the bottom of the page. There are color plates whose images are actually referenced in the text. There is an index, a bibliography with further reading, and a cast of characters in case you get confused with all the many, many names. It is like the book was designed by a dude who . . . reads books. Hooray!
It's a history of the men and women whose unbounded curiosity allowed them to build on the foundation on the past without fear of hacking out the bad bricks. The book blends scientific discovery with artistic reactions and fascinating biographies of everybody involved. I'd heard of Faraday. I'd never heard of Davy. There wouldn't have been one without the other.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is that "Mungo Park" is the best name ever.
Four stars because it does get a little slow occasionally, but that's only in comparison to the amazing tale that is Banks's experiences in Tahiti.
Also of note: This is single best designed book I've ever handled. It's fat, but the pages lay nicely. The boring citations are all at the end, but the meaty side notes are conveniently there at the bottom of the page. There are color plates whose images are actually referenced in the text. There is an index, a bibliography with further reading, and a cast of characters in case you get confused with all the many, many names. It is like the book was designed by a dude who . . . reads books. Hooray!