Science Book Club discussion

This is our book discussion for Oct 2018.

This is one of my favorite books of all time. I am extremely impressed that the author - Bill Bryson, who has a journalism background and no science background - gets the science completely right. It speaks to his genuine curiosity and love of knowledge, which is apparent in all of his books. I've read other general survey books on the history of science, including Coming of Age in the Milky Way by Timothy Ferris, but none are as broad, funny, and full of interesting stories and characters as this one.

I first read this at the end of 2016 as I was making a concentrated effort to get back into reading. It was a hefty tome, but one that I enjoyed. I would read a chapter or two and inundate all my friends with what I'd learned. I'd never looked into the advent of science outside of school and was amazed at what -- and who -- I'd never learned about. It gave me a deeper appreciation for how the history books had overlooked women. And it inspired me to learn more about volcanoes in particular.

My favourite story is the one about Sir Isaac Newton. I was especially struck by how he stuck a needle behind his eyeball to see what he would see. The part about how the Museum of Natural History was founded was also new to me. Roots of paleontology, the effort to measure the size/density of the earth, the Mason/Dixon line... these were all such fascinating topics, and ones that until now I didn't even know had such interesting stories behind them.

The story about how Isaas Newton stuck the needle was astonishing ! I am currently reading about Haldane and his experiments with diving pressures. I am amazed at the risks he took ... Mind boggling ....

"In one experiment, Haldane simulated a dangerously hasty ascent to see what would happen. What happened was that the dental fillings in his teeth exploded."

"On another occasion, while poisoning himself with elevated levels of oxygen, Haldane had a fit so severe that he crushed several vertebrae. Collapsed lungs were a routine hazard.

Perforated eardrums were quite common, but, as Haldane reassuringly noted in one of his essays, “the drum generally heals up; and if a hole remains in it, although one is somewhat deaf, one can blow tobacco smoke out of the ear in question, which is a social accomplishment.”

What made me laugh though was this -

"What was extraordinary about this was not that Haldane was willing to subject himself to such risk and discomfort in the pursuit of science, but that he had no trouble talking colleagues and loved ones into climbing into the chamber, too".