Ratings4
Average rating3.8
Nice overviews of the works of Einstein, Darwin, Kelvin and they ways errors can sneak into even the most brilliant of people.
The main lesson is to not get too attached to your ideas and insights. Later events and information can make them invalid and you should always be able to give up cherished believes in the face of evidence.
A complete read of historical science. Mario Livio thoroughly describes the personal and scientific lives of Darwin, Kelvin, Pauling, Hoyle and Einstein, among several other Nobel prize winners and scientists altogether. It involves reads on cosmology, chemistry, biology, astrophysics and quantum theory.
The book can be a harsh read at times, but fully documents history with pictures and written correspondence. Mario Livio takes a personal stance in why and how these geniuses failed in their line of work, which becomes a very interesting read.
Above all, the book teaches eager scientists to remain humble and find relevance in their work, as is well pointed out that scientific truths morph over time, despite their correctness to a given state-of-the-art.