Scientifica Historica

How the World’s Great Science Books Chart the History of Knowledge

Brian Clegg Ivy Press 2019 Hb, 272pp, £25, illus, ind, ISBN 9781782408789

Despite the rise of videos and other media, the written word remains the fount of scientific knowledge. In this beautiful book, Clegg eloquently charts scientific writing’s development from clay tablets to e-books. But Scientifica Historica also shows that when communicating science, a picture is worth at least 1,000 words. Indeed, this review took longer to write than usual: the pictures kept distracting me!

Scientifica Historica is more than eye candy. Clegg traces science’s evolution beginning with Mesopotamian clay tablets from about 1800 BC, which recorded astronomical observations and other data that helped form the foundations of calendars and astrology. Over the centuries, however, many natural philosophers and scientists kept their findings and theories to the select few: they often communicated in Latin, which few of the general public understood.

Indeed, Clegg comments, until the 1960s many scientists frowned on books that were “too popularist”. Some researchers felt that writing for the public was “an unworthy role for a true scientist”. But some made science accessible. The Botanic Garden by Erasmus Darwin – Charles’s grandfather – includes a couple of poems “to make scientific ideas more approachable to the audience”.

Any book of this type is subjective. Broadly, however, my list of great science books agrees with Clegg’s far more often than not. In any case, I’d hate a book such as this to be identical to my preferences. Clegg’s perspective – similar enough to mine to be reassuring, different enough to be challenging – was one of the book’s delights. As a guide to the development and current state of popular science writing, Scientifica Historica is insightful, delightful and visually stunning. Mark Greener

★★★★★