To Explain the World

“Refreshing and well-written . . . tells a rich, meaningful tale about the emergence of science.”—New York Times Book Review “A masterful journey through humankind’s scientific coming-of-age . . . a delightful celebration of our passionate drive for understanding.”—Brian Greene In this rich, irreverent, and compelling history, Nobel Prize–winning physicist Steven Weinberg takes us across centuries, from ancient Miletus to medieval Baghdad and Oxford, from Plato’s Academy and the Museum of Alexandria to the cathedral school of Chartres and the Royal Society of London. He shows that the scientists of ancient and medieval times not only did not understand what we now know about the world but also did not understand what there is to understand, nor how to understand it. Yet over the centuries, through the struggle to solve such mysteries as the curious backward movement of the planets or the rise and fall of the tides, the modern discipline of science eventually emerged. Along the way, Weinberg examines historic clashes and collaborations between science and the competing spheres of religion, technology, poetry, mathematics, and philosophy. To Explain the World is an illuminating exploration of how we have come to consider and analyze the world around us. “A thoughtful history.”—The New Yorker