The Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science edited by John L. Heilbron, Oxford University Press, $110, ISBN 0195112296 Reviewed by Jeff Hecht
IN The Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science, J. L. Heilbron has assembled a book of historical essays rather than an encyclopaedia or history of science. The essays focus largely on ideas and personalities, covering a broad range of topics from diverse viewpoints. One essay covers the use of cathedrals as experimental laboratories at a time when they were the largest structures available for scientists trying to measure the pull of gravity. Others give overviews of science fiction and nuclear diplomacy. You won鈥檛 learn much new about familiar subjects, but you will be surprised how many unfamiliar subjects lurk within these pages.
Several essays compare two scientists with parallel careers. The juxtaposition of Andrei Sakharov with Edward Teller is a natural one: the two men were the driving forces behind the Soviet and American hydrogen bombs. Comparing physicists Patrick Blackett and Ernest Lawrence is less obvious, but illuminating. Yet the editors miss an opportunity by not comparing the careers of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, who independently developed the theory of evolution.
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Some titbits are fascinating. There鈥檚 the essay on lightning conductors, which points out that 鈥渢he first and last natural philosopher鈥� to demonstrate Benjamin Franklin鈥檚 idea of flying a kite in a storm to attract lightning was electrocuted by his success. Yet the essay approach leaves inevitable holes in coverage. Neither 鈥渄inosaur鈥� nor 鈥渂ird鈥� appears in the index or in the entry on evolution, although dinosaurs are listed among the victims of extinction. A good idea, but not a must-have.