I first learned about science historian James Burke when I saw his series The Day The Universe Changed on PBS back in the early 90s. I liked the series so much that I bought the companion book, and later bought his Connections book. Burke weaves the history of science like a tapestry, he's a wonderful storyteller. Later, in a documentary I have about Apollo 13, I noticed him in some of the contemporary newscasts shown about that incident.
At school, our librarian is cleaning house. Books that haven't been checked out in forever, she codes them out and puts them on a shelf for anyone to take. Today I saw a book by James Burke on that shelf, Circles: 50 Round Trips Through History, Technology, Science, Culture. I don't know when we got it in our library but it is copyrighted 2000, has never been checked out, and looks like it just came off the press.
I snapped that book up with a quickness, can't wait to read it.
4 comments:
Have you ever heard of Burke's program "After The Warming"? There is a reason PBS has not shown it recently.
I have not.
Loved the Day the Universe Changed!!
This book is kinda like Connections. It's even more like a rock skipping across a pond: this person did this thing that kinda relates to that thing that this other person was working on whose great-grandchild married the great-grandchild of the first person. It's not highbrow by any stretch, but it *is* entertaining in small doses!
Post a Comment