History of Science Reading Group
Books We Have Read
EDMOND HALLEY: CHARTING THE HEAVENS AND THE SEAS by Alan H. Cook.
THE MAP THAT CHANGED THE WORLD by Simon Winchester.ECOLOGICAL IMPERIALISM. THE BIOLOGICAL EXPANSION OF EUROPE, 900-1900 by AW Crosby
THE JEWEL HOUSE: ELIZABETHAN LONDON AND THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION
by Debroah Harkness
THE MEASURE OF ALL THINGS: THE SEVEN-YEAR ODYSSEY AND HIDDEN ERROR THAT TRANSFORMED THE WORLD by Ken Alder
MONTURIOL'S DREAM by Matthew Stewart
THE DEVIL'S DOCTOR : PARACELSUS AND THE WORLD OF RENAISSANCE MAGIC AND SCIENCE
by Philip Ball
THE FORGOTTEN GENIUS: BIOGRAPHY OF ROBERT HOOKE 1635-1703 by Stephen Inwood
SPACE AND THE AMERICAN IMAGINATION by Howard E. McCurdy
WONDERS AND THE ORDER OF NATURE 1150-1750 by Lorraine Daston
FERMATS ENIGMA : THE EPIC QUEST TO SOLVE THE WORLDS GREATEST MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM by Simon Singh
THE SOUL MADE FLESH, THE DISCOVERY OF THE BRAIN--AND HOW IT CHANGED THE WORLD by Carl Zimmer
THE ELECTRIC LIFE OF MICHAEL FARADAY by Alan W. Hirshfeld
THE SILENT LANDSCAPE: THE SCIENTIFIC VOYAGE OF HMS CHALLENGER by R. M. Corfield
EARTH: AN INTIMATE HISTORY by Richard Fortey
THE LUNAR MEN : FIVE FRIENDS WHOSE CURIOSITY CHANGED THE WORLD by Jenny Uglow
ASA GRAY: AMERICAN BOTANIST, FRIEND OF DARWIN by AH Dupree
THE PLANT HUNTERS: BEING A HISTORY OF THE HORTICULTURAL PIONEERS, THEIR QUESTS AND THEIR DISCOVERIES FROM THE RENAISSANCE TO THE TWENTIETH CENTURY by AM Coats
DEGREES KELVIN (about William Thomson, Lord Kelvin) by David Lindley
BOYLE: BETWEEN GOD AND SCIENCE by Michael Cyril and William Hunter
A WORLD ON FIRE: A HERETIC, AN ARISTOCRAT, AND THE RACE TO DISCOVER OXYGEN by Joe Jackson
THE GOLDEN RATIO : THE STORY OF PHI, THE WORLD'S MOST ASTONISHING NUMBER by Mario Livio
BONE WARS: THE EXCAVATION OF ANDREW CARNEGIE'S DINOSAUR by Tom Rea
VENUS IN TRANSIT by Eli Maor
THE GERMAN GENIUS: EUROPE'S THIRD RENAISSANCE, THE SECOND SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION, AND THE TWENTIETH CENTURY by Erich Fromm and Peter Watson (chapters on Science)
THE WHALE: IN SEARCH OF THE GIANTS OF THE SEA by Philip Hoare
FAUST IN COPENHAGEN: A STRUGGLE FOR THE SOUL OF PHYSICS by Gino Segrč
RAIL, STEAM, AND SPEED: THE "ROCKET" AND THE BIRTH OF STEAM LOCOMOTION by Chris McGowan
THE DAWN OF ZOOLOGY by Willy Ley
AN ACRE OF GLASS: A HISTORY AND FORECAST OF THE TELESCOPE by Jack B. Zirker
TIME, LOVE, MEMORY: A GREAT BIOLOGIST AND HIS QUEST FOR THE ORIGINS OF BEHAVIOR by Jonathan Weiner
DARWIN'S ORIGIN OF SPECIES: BOOKS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD by Janet Browne
THE NAMING OF NAMES: THE SEARCH FOR ORDER IN THE WORLD OF PLANTS by Anna Pavord
EDMOND HALLEY: CHARTING THE HEAVENS AND THE SEAS by Alan H. Cook.
THE MAP THAT CHANGED THE WORLD by Simon Winchester.ECOLOGICAL IMPERIALISM. THE BIOLOGICAL EXPANSION OF EUROPE, 900-1900 by AW Crosby
THE JEWEL HOUSE: ELIZABETHAN LONDON AND THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION
by Debroah Harkness
THE MEASURE OF ALL THINGS: THE SEVEN-YEAR ODYSSEY AND HIDDEN ERROR THAT TRANSFORMED THE WORLD by Ken Alder
MONTURIOL'S DREAM by Matthew Stewart
THE DEVIL'S DOCTOR : PARACELSUS AND THE WORLD OF RENAISSANCE MAGIC AND SCIENCE
by Philip Ball
THE FORGOTTEN GENIUS: BIOGRAPHY OF ROBERT HOOKE 1635-1703 by Stephen Inwood
SPACE AND THE AMERICAN IMAGINATION by Howard E. McCurdy
WONDERS AND THE ORDER OF NATURE 1150-1750 by Lorraine Daston
FERMATS ENIGMA : THE EPIC QUEST TO SOLVE THE WORLDS GREATEST MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM by Simon Singh
THE SOUL MADE FLESH, THE DISCOVERY OF THE BRAIN--AND HOW IT CHANGED THE WORLD by Carl Zimmer
THE ELECTRIC LIFE OF MICHAEL FARADAY by Alan W. Hirshfeld
THE SILENT LANDSCAPE: THE SCIENTIFIC VOYAGE OF HMS CHALLENGER by R. M. Corfield
EARTH: AN INTIMATE HISTORY by Richard Fortey
THE LUNAR MEN : FIVE FRIENDS WHOSE CURIOSITY CHANGED THE WORLD by Jenny Uglow
ASA GRAY: AMERICAN BOTANIST, FRIEND OF DARWIN by AH Dupree
THE PLANT HUNTERS: BEING A HISTORY OF THE HORTICULTURAL PIONEERS, THEIR QUESTS AND THEIR DISCOVERIES FROM THE RENAISSANCE TO THE TWENTIETH CENTURY by AM Coats
DEGREES KELVIN (about William Thomson, Lord Kelvin) by David Lindley
BOYLE: BETWEEN GOD AND SCIENCE by Michael Cyril and William Hunter
A WORLD ON FIRE: A HERETIC, AN ARISTOCRAT, AND THE RACE TO DISCOVER OXYGEN by Joe Jackson
THE GOLDEN RATIO : THE STORY OF PHI, THE WORLD'S MOST ASTONISHING NUMBER by Mario Livio
BONE WARS: THE EXCAVATION OF ANDREW CARNEGIE'S DINOSAUR by Tom Rea
VENUS IN TRANSIT by Eli Maor
THE GERMAN GENIUS: EUROPE'S THIRD RENAISSANCE, THE SECOND SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION, AND THE TWENTIETH CENTURY by Erich Fromm and Peter Watson (chapters on Science)
THE WHALE: IN SEARCH OF THE GIANTS OF THE SEA by Philip Hoare
FAUST IN COPENHAGEN: A STRUGGLE FOR THE SOUL OF PHYSICS by Gino Segrč
RAIL, STEAM, AND SPEED: THE "ROCKET" AND THE BIRTH OF STEAM LOCOMOTION by Chris McGowan
THE DAWN OF ZOOLOGY by Willy Ley
AN ACRE OF GLASS: A HISTORY AND FORECAST OF THE TELESCOPE by Jack B. Zirker
TIME, LOVE, MEMORY: A GREAT BIOLOGIST AND HIS QUEST FOR THE ORIGINS OF BEHAVIOR by Jonathan Weiner
DARWIN'S ORIGIN OF SPECIES: BOOKS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD by Janet Browne
THE NAMING OF NAMES: THE SEARCH FOR ORDER IN THE WORLD OF PLANTS by Anna Pavord
The History of Science Reading group began in March 2010. The focus is to read history of science works that are informative, well-written, and neither too basic nor overly scholarly. We welcome suggestions, and those can be emailed to Motte & Bailey at motte [at] mottebooks [dot] com
Books We Are Considering
THE SPECKLED MONSTER: A HISTORICAL TALE OF BATTLING SMALLPOX by Jennifer Lee Carrell
THE FIRE OF HIS GENIUS : ROBERT FULTON AND THE AMERICAN DREAM
by Kirkpatrick Sale
THE POISONER'S HANDBOOK: MURDER AND THE BIRTH OF FORENSIC MEDICINE IN JAZZ AGE NEW YORK by Deborah Blum
INGENIOUS PURSUITS : BUILDING THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION
by Lisa Jardine
LATITUDE & THE MAGNETIC EARTH, THE TRUE STORY OF QUEEN ELIZABETH'S MOST DISTINGUISHED MAN OF SCIENCE (Williamm Gilbert) by Stephen Pumfrey
DISTILLING KNOWLEDGE; ALCHEMY, CHEMISTRY AND THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION by Bruce Moran
TERRORS OF THE TABLE: THE CURIOUS HISTORY OF NUTRITION by W. B. Gratzer
THE MAKING OF MR. GRAY'S ANATOMY by Ruth Richardson
EMPIRE OF THE STARS: OBSESSION, FRIENDSHIP, AND BETRAYAL IN THE QUEST FOR BLACK HOLES by Arthur I. Miller
SEEING AND BELIEVING: HOW THE TELESCOPE OPENED OUR EYES AND MINDS TO THE HEAVENS by Richard Panek
INCOMPLETENESS : THE PROOF AND PARADOX OF KURT GÖDEL by Rebecca Goldstein
The POINCARE CONJECTURE : IN SEARCH OF THE SHAPE OF THE UNIVERSE by Donal O'Shea
EULER'S GEM : THE POLYHEDRON FORMULA AND THE BIRTH OF TOPOLOGY by David S. Ricahrdson
e : THE STORY OF A NUMBER by Eli Moor
THE HISTORY OF %u220F (PI) by Peter Beckmann
WHAT MAD PURSUIT: A PERSONAL VIEW OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY by Francis Crick
THE CODE BOOK by Simon Singh
FLU : THE STORY OF THE GREAT INFLUENZA PANDEMIC OF 1918 AND THE SEARCH FOR THE VIRUS THAT CAUSED IT by Gina Kolata
SEEING FURTHER: THE STORY OF SCIENCE, DISCOVERY, AND THE GENIUS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY by Bill Bryson
DARWIN'S ARMADA: FOUR VOYAGES AND THE BATTLE FOR THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION by Iain McCalman
THE TRAGIC SENSE OF LIFE: ERNST HAECKEL AND THE STRUGGLE OVER EVOLUTIONARY THOUGHT by RJ Richards
UNDER A WILD SKY. JOHN JAMES AUDUBON AND THE MAKING OF THE BIRDS OF AMERICA by W. Souder
AGE OF WONDER by Richard Holmes
HYDROGEN, THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENT by John S. Rigden
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN'S SCIENCE by I. Berard Cohen
ZERO by Charles Seife
STRANGEST MAN, THE HIDDEN LIFE OF PAUL DIRAC, MYSTIC OF THE ATOM by Fraham Formelo
NAPOLEON'S BUTTONS by Le Couteur
JOHN DEE by William Sherman
SCIENCE AND COLONIAL EXPANSION: THE ROLE OF THE BRITISH ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS by LH Brockway
INTO THE JUNGLE: GREAT ADVENTURES IN SEARCH FOR EVOLUTION by SB Carroll et. al.
LEONHARD RAUWOLF: SIXTEENTH-CENTURY PHYSICIAN, BOTANIST, AND TRAVELER by Dannenfeldt
MR. JEFFERSON AND THE GIANT MOOSE: NATURAL HISTORY IN EARLY AMERICA by LA Dugatkin
WONDERFUL LIFE: THE BURGESS SHALE AND THE NATURE OF HISTORY by Sj Gould
A SPECIES OF ETERNITY: THE WILDERNESS ADVENTURES AND DISCOVERIES OF AMERICA'S EARLY NATURALISTS by Kastner
JOSEPH BANKS: A LIFE by P. O'Brian
RETURN OF THE CRAZY BIRD: THE SAD, STRANGE TALE OF THE DODO by C. Pinto-Correa
DOUBLE HELIX by James Watson
LOST WORLD OF JAMES SMITHSON by Heather Ewing
CORAL by Steve Jones
MICROCOSM: E COLI AND THE NEW SCIENCE OF LIFE by Carl Zimmer
IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORM: FINDING THE SECRETS OF LIFE IN A TINY HERMAPHRODITE by Andrew Brown
CHASING THE MOLECULE by Jim Buckingham
COUNT RUMFORD by G. I. Brown
IMPERIAL NATURE by Jim Endersby
THE TELESCOPE. A SHORT HISTORY by Richard Dunn
MATHEMATICS IN ANCIENT IRAQ: A SOCIAL HISTORY by Eleanor Robson
SEX, BOTANY, AND EMPIRE: THE STORY OF CARL LINNAEUS AND JOSEPH BANKS by Patricia Fara
LINNAEUS: THE COMPLEAT NATURALIST by Wilfrid Blunt
THE PHILOSOPHICAL BREAKFAST CLUB: FOUR REMARKABLE FRIENDS WHO TRANSFORMED SCIENCE AND CHANGED THE WORLD by Laura J. Snyder
THE VICTORIAN INTERNET: THE REMARKABLE STORY OF THE TELEGRAPH AND THE NINETEENTH CENTURY'S ON-LINE PIONEERS by Tom Standage
EINSTEIN: HIS LIFE AND UNIVERSE by Walter Isaacson
EMPIRES OF LIGHT: EDISON, TESLA, WESTINGHOUSE, AND THE RACE TO ELECTRIFY THE WORLD by Jill Jonnes
THE SPECKLED MONSTER: A HISTORICAL TALE OF BATTLING SMALLPOX by Jennifer Lee Carrell
THE FIRE OF HIS GENIUS : ROBERT FULTON AND THE AMERICAN DREAM
by Kirkpatrick Sale
THE POISONER'S HANDBOOK: MURDER AND THE BIRTH OF FORENSIC MEDICINE IN JAZZ AGE NEW YORK by Deborah Blum
INGENIOUS PURSUITS : BUILDING THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION
by Lisa Jardine
LATITUDE & THE MAGNETIC EARTH, THE TRUE STORY OF QUEEN ELIZABETH'S MOST DISTINGUISHED MAN OF SCIENCE (Williamm Gilbert) by Stephen Pumfrey
DISTILLING KNOWLEDGE; ALCHEMY, CHEMISTRY AND THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION by Bruce Moran
TERRORS OF THE TABLE: THE CURIOUS HISTORY OF NUTRITION by W. B. Gratzer
THE MAKING OF MR. GRAY'S ANATOMY by Ruth Richardson
EMPIRE OF THE STARS: OBSESSION, FRIENDSHIP, AND BETRAYAL IN THE QUEST FOR BLACK HOLES by Arthur I. Miller
SEEING AND BELIEVING: HOW THE TELESCOPE OPENED OUR EYES AND MINDS TO THE HEAVENS by Richard Panek
INCOMPLETENESS : THE PROOF AND PARADOX OF KURT GÖDEL by Rebecca Goldstein
The POINCARE CONJECTURE : IN SEARCH OF THE SHAPE OF THE UNIVERSE by Donal O'Shea
EULER'S GEM : THE POLYHEDRON FORMULA AND THE BIRTH OF TOPOLOGY by David S. Ricahrdson
e : THE STORY OF A NUMBER by Eli Moor
THE HISTORY OF %u220F (PI) by Peter Beckmann
WHAT MAD PURSUIT: A PERSONAL VIEW OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY by Francis Crick
THE CODE BOOK by Simon Singh
FLU : THE STORY OF THE GREAT INFLUENZA PANDEMIC OF 1918 AND THE SEARCH FOR THE VIRUS THAT CAUSED IT by Gina Kolata
SEEING FURTHER: THE STORY OF SCIENCE, DISCOVERY, AND THE GENIUS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY by Bill Bryson
DARWIN'S ARMADA: FOUR VOYAGES AND THE BATTLE FOR THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION by Iain McCalman
THE TRAGIC SENSE OF LIFE: ERNST HAECKEL AND THE STRUGGLE OVER EVOLUTIONARY THOUGHT by RJ Richards
UNDER A WILD SKY. JOHN JAMES AUDUBON AND THE MAKING OF THE BIRDS OF AMERICA by W. Souder
AGE OF WONDER by Richard Holmes
HYDROGEN, THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENT by John S. Rigden
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN'S SCIENCE by I. Berard Cohen
ZERO by Charles Seife
STRANGEST MAN, THE HIDDEN LIFE OF PAUL DIRAC, MYSTIC OF THE ATOM by Fraham Formelo
NAPOLEON'S BUTTONS by Le Couteur
JOHN DEE by William Sherman
SCIENCE AND COLONIAL EXPANSION: THE ROLE OF THE BRITISH ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS by LH Brockway
INTO THE JUNGLE: GREAT ADVENTURES IN SEARCH FOR EVOLUTION by SB Carroll et. al.
LEONHARD RAUWOLF: SIXTEENTH-CENTURY PHYSICIAN, BOTANIST, AND TRAVELER by Dannenfeldt
MR. JEFFERSON AND THE GIANT MOOSE: NATURAL HISTORY IN EARLY AMERICA by LA Dugatkin
WONDERFUL LIFE: THE BURGESS SHALE AND THE NATURE OF HISTORY by Sj Gould
A SPECIES OF ETERNITY: THE WILDERNESS ADVENTURES AND DISCOVERIES OF AMERICA'S EARLY NATURALISTS by Kastner
JOSEPH BANKS: A LIFE by P. O'Brian
RETURN OF THE CRAZY BIRD: THE SAD, STRANGE TALE OF THE DODO by C. Pinto-Correa
DOUBLE HELIX by James Watson
LOST WORLD OF JAMES SMITHSON by Heather Ewing
CORAL by Steve Jones
MICROCOSM: E COLI AND THE NEW SCIENCE OF LIFE by Carl Zimmer
IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORM: FINDING THE SECRETS OF LIFE IN A TINY HERMAPHRODITE by Andrew Brown
CHASING THE MOLECULE by Jim Buckingham
COUNT RUMFORD by G. I. Brown
IMPERIAL NATURE by Jim Endersby
THE TELESCOPE. A SHORT HISTORY by Richard Dunn
MATHEMATICS IN ANCIENT IRAQ: A SOCIAL HISTORY by Eleanor Robson
SEX, BOTANY, AND EMPIRE: THE STORY OF CARL LINNAEUS AND JOSEPH BANKS by Patricia Fara
LINNAEUS: THE COMPLEAT NATURALIST by Wilfrid Blunt
THE PHILOSOPHICAL BREAKFAST CLUB: FOUR REMARKABLE FRIENDS WHO TRANSFORMED SCIENCE AND CHANGED THE WORLD by Laura J. Snyder
THE VICTORIAN INTERNET: THE REMARKABLE STORY OF THE TELEGRAPH AND THE NINETEENTH CENTURY'S ON-LINE PIONEERS by Tom Standage
EINSTEIN: HIS LIFE AND UNIVERSE by Walter Isaacson
EMPIRES OF LIGHT: EDISON, TESLA, WESTINGHOUSE, AND THE RACE TO ELECTRIFY THE WORLD by Jill Jonnes
