How We Got to Now

It's a pretty good review of science and technology, but not really that much new to me in it.

As I was wrapping up the last chapter, I noticed that it was based on a PBS series, which goes even further to convince me that this is yet another re-hash of James Burke's “Connections” concept, which I immensely enjoyed in the 1970s.

I'm sure it would be the same kind of experience for today's teenager.

I recently finished “The Wizard and The Prophet” by Charles Mann, this book in some ways reminded me of that in terms of the width and breadth of topics that Johnson is able to cover and draw connections too much like Mann. Johnson does a great job of showing the manifold and far-reaching effects of one technology or discovery. Packed with facts and interesting anecdotes my only complaint was the length; this book could have been 500+ pages longer and it would have held my interest.

Although there are elements of the discussion that I disagreed with, overall this was a useful read. The importance of cross-discipline involvement in invention was demonstrated as key.

Remember James Burke's TV show Connections? This book is a bit like that, but without Burke's charm and enthusiasm. There are some interesting historical tidbits here, but a science-literate reader will already be familiar with most of it.

My favorite bit is how the invention of the printing press made people realize that they were farsighted, which led to improvements in lenses for reading glasses, which resulted in both telescopes and microscopes.