The Age of Wonder

by Richard Holmes
Category: "Nature/Science"
Pages:469
Year of Publication:2008
Date Added:05/13/2014
Date Read:09/08/2014
Notes:A history of science and exploration during the late 1700s and early 1800s, from Joseph Banks and his adventures in Tahiti, to Charles Darwin, with extensive sections on William and Caroline Herschel and their astronomical discoveries and Humphrey Davy and his works in chemistry. Other chapters covered Mungo Park and his explorations in Africa, the search for the soul (or source of life), and the first flights in hot air balloons (a chapter that seemed to sneak in from another book). Throughout, Holmes discussed how the Romantic poets — Byron, Shelley, Coleridge, etc. viewed the advances in knowledge.
My Rating: 6

Reviews for The Age of Wonder

Review - Age of Wonder, The

There was some interesting stuff here — the chapters on Banks and the Herschels in particular. Naturally, the author ended with a section claiming that the discoveries of science disproved the Bible. In fact, they really either demonstrated the complexity of nature that proves a divine Creator or they simply disproved the organized church's false view of the world.

Reviewed by Roger on 2014-09-08 17:46:27

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