Seeing Further: The Story of Science, Discovery, and the Genius of the Royal Society

Book was delivered quickly and condition was as described. Interesting read. Brysons editing really helps .

Published in the 350th anniversary year of the Royal Society of London, "Seeing Further: The Story of Science and the Royal Society" is more a book about science than a book about the Royal Society.Of all the qualifications in the world, the letters FRS (fellow of the Royal Society) would certainly be the mostly highly prized ones, much better than PhD (which merely indicates that the individual at one time did enough work to earn a degree). FRS indicates that the individual has accomplished work of high standard over a prolonged period recognised by his or her fellow scientists.This book is worth reading, but one caveat; be aware that the American eBook doesn't come with the illustrations (not in itself a bad thing - the illustrations are pretty to look at, but in the main don't add much to the text), but do include the captions, in the middle of the text, which is a little off-putting. One example, in a discussion of the experiments which could have been performed on the peak of Tenerife, the Kindle version includes: ... And many more: candles, vials of smoky liquor, sheep's bladders filled with air, pieces of iron and copper, and various living things, to be carried thither. Opposite & Previous Page:A record of the founding of the Royal Society and the first meeting, 28 November 1660. A stew of good questions, but to no avail ...Buyer beware! This is the reason I initially gave it 1 star as a warning.The book consists of 21 essays by 21 authors, so it's difficult to give an overall opinion. What I liked, others won't (and vice versa). I personally prefer books to be written by the one author who then has enough space to develop his or her ideas (there's a chapter by Paul Davies who has condensed several of his books, such as "the Eerie Silence" and "the Goldilocks Zone" and one by Richard Holmes writing about ballooning, which was also discussed in his "the Age of Wonder").The chapter I liked most of all was the one by Oliver Morton "Globe and Sphere, Cycles and Flows: How to See the World" which starts with the evocative image from Apollo 17 on December 7, 1972 of the fully illuminated Earth from 29,000 km. It finishes with the Earth as seen by the Mars Exploration Rover 'Spirit'. Without the images, it wouldn't mean much ...

Seeing Further: The Story of Science, Discovery & the Genius of the Royal Society with Bill Bryson as the editor is a marvelous book. I have read thousands of times that the pace of science and innovation causes knowledge to double and replace itself at an alarmingly fast rate. Of course, it's not in the actual doubling of knowledge that a problem exists but in the fact that it is virtually impossible for us to keep track of that very same new knowledge. However, even in a world that is creating so much new knowledge it is reassuring to consider that the Royal Society is celebrating its 350th anniversary this year. That is a marvelous accomplishment and to be honest I can't name many institutions that have been around that long.Bill Bryson is the perfect person to have headed this project. As a general science writer Bryson is aware of how important science and the Royal Society has been to the development of modern society. Then there is the rather eclectic group of contributors that have each offered a discussion on the development of science. Authors include James Gleick, Margaret Atwood, Margaret Wertheim, Neal Stephenson, Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, Simon Schaffer, Richard Holmes, Richard Fortey, Richard Dawkins, Henry Petroski, Georgiana Ferry, Steve Jones, Philip Ball, Paul Davies, Ian Stewart, John D. Barrow, Oliver Morton, Maggie Gee, Stephen H. Schneider, Gregory Benford, and Martin Rees. I'd have to admit that Margaret Atwoods discussion of Jonathan Swift's Academy, and Richard Dawkins' Darwin's Five Bridges: The Way to Natural Selection is for me the highlight of the book. However, each and every chapter is eye opening and worthy of your time.It is a difficult fact to get your head around that when the Royal Society was established in 1660 we knew so little of the causes of the physical phenomenon of our planet. Whether the topic was the causes of the tides or why summer was warmer than winter, mystery tended to shroud almost everything. The Royal Society created the scientific method thus allowing discoveries to be measured and duplicated and encouraged good scientific exploration. "Good" in this case is relative, meaning that it was better than what preceded it. "Good" by today's standard still left much to be desired.Seeing Further is written for the general public and even the most "unscientific" of us will have no problem making sense of what is read.Well written and containing a section devoted to further reading, Seeing Further is a fun and inspiring read.I give it five stars after reading the whole book.Peace to all.

I have enjoyed reading several books by Bryson. This one is a book I had to take in spurts because it was so dense with ideas. Taking on a book covering so much science and math was a huge task and he has organized it well. It was nice seeing some historical perspective as well as literary insights! Plan on giving yourself time to reflect on so much! Well worth it.

Good intro from Bryson - but thereafter almost every essay focusses on the philosophical debate and issues emerging from the steady rise in prominence of scientific thought since the 17th Century.So, far too little science, and too much philosophy. And an alarming array of specialist vocabulary - kept having to look words up (the kind that are never ever used even in the brightest conversations).Disappointing.

An opportunity to read what top minds think about, but a tough read for the layman. I was disappointed, being a big Bryson fan. I felt it would have been much better for Bryson to have written it himself after digesting what the experts contributed, so that we mortals could understand it all. Some contributions were fine but others were almost unreadable. Also I had expected some continuity regarding the development of the RS, but this was a jumble.

For starters, this book has almost nothing to do with Bill Bryson. First deceit. Second deceit - it is almost a treatise on the meaning and essence of what science is and what it is not ... ??? Erm, where was this made clear in the advertising blurb??? If I could understand what the authors are actually saying, I might have been able to give it a decent rating - I'm not at all thick, but I cannot understand or relate to very much of what I'm reading in this totally unedifying tome!!!! Talk about a wade! Its like walking through mental treacle - it is sooooooooooo boring! If you want to lose a friend, or bore someone to death - buy 'em this!! Next time, they should get try to get Brian Cox or Alice Roberts to write for them - at least they are easy to understand and quite comprehensible!!!

Normally I love Bill Bryson. But this book fails. Instead, I am now reading The Ascent of Man by Jacob Bronowsky. A bit heavyweight and so not a light read, but it gives me the science insight I was seeking.

I love Bryson, but this one's beneath him. Be aware that you're buying a string of dry historical reports with none of his own usual flair