Archimedes to Hawking: Laws of Science and the Great Minds Behind Them Book

I'm about half way through the book at this writing. I am a big fan of the layout of this book. The book in whole is a case-by-case synopsis of arguably the 100 most profound scientific laws from antiquity to date and the people behind them. Each chapter (if you want to call it that) addresses one law. The opening is a two or three sentence introduction to the law. Two or three sentences follow, highlighting random historical facts bearing only a chronological relationship to the law at hand. I like that Pickover uses this to really bring out the personality of the era in which discovery is taking place. The author then presents the law and the circumstance of its discovery over the space of a page or two or several. Completing his treatment of the law, he abruptly begins a micro-biography of the person(s) behind the law. Next is a section of references for further reading. Concluding each chapter is my favorite section, "Interlude: Conversation Starters" that may or may not relate directly to the law at hand but always presents intriguing notions presented briefly, elegantly.

Make no mistake, this is not a serious scientific reference. The history is anecdotal; the science is elementary. But that's what makes it a Good Read! It's a book for fans of science and history. If science were a spectator sport, you could think of this book as your program.

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I have now completed this book. My reading shifted from leisurely enjoying every sentence at the beginning to laboriously reading the details beyond the halfway point to just skimming the final hundred pages. As the science and the author's approach moved from elementary and anecdotal to complex and theoretical, my comprehension and interest waned. Maybe the ideas of thermodynamics and relativity just got in my way, but it seemed to me like a different person wrote the last couple hundred pages. The end seemed a little scattered and unnecessarily complex--downright pedantic--whereas the early going seemed more like a collection of short stories about science. Overall I liked this book a lot...I just felt disappointed at the end.