The Cat in the Box: A History of Science in 100 Experiments

by John Gribbin and Mary Gribbin

In The Cat in the Box, prolific science writers John and Mary Gribbin distill the fascinating and oddball history of scientific innovation into a hundred world-changing experiments.

All science is based on curiosity, hypothesis, experimentation, and analysis. This basic formula has been in place for thousands of years, and has led to some of humankind's greatest achievements. From modern feats like cracking the human genome and using gravitational waves to detect a new kind of nova, to harnessing the power of rivers to power mills, it leads back to initial kernels of curiosity and testing.

Renowned science writing duo, John and Mary Gribbin, retell the enlightening, fascinating, and often oddball stories of scientific innovation through the ages in their new book, The Cat in the Box. The tradition of curiosity, experimentation, analysis is rarely a straight road, and you will not believe some of the incredible stories the Gribbins' pull from labs and workshops from around the world.

• ISBN13: 9781631064159
• Publish Date: 7 September 2017
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 28 June 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Race Point Publishing
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 288
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

This book is divided into 100 short chapters, each illustrating and explaining an important scientific discovery and, to a lesser degree, the scientists associated with them. It's very well illustrated with many photographs and diagrams of the experiments (and much of the equipment used). Written in an open informal style, the language is accessible to the average interested reader. The experiments and discoveries are listed in roughly chronological order, starting with Archimedes in 200something B.C. and ending with a short study in cosmology which could (literally) be taken out of today's headlines.

I could definitely see this book being used as support material in a classroom setting for middle grades up to college age, or simply enjoyed as an information filled read. It would be a good resource book for libraries as well.

One of the things that especially appealed to me about this book is that it covers a lot of 'meaty' scientific history and manages to do so without requiring an unreasonable or intimidating amount of math/physics background from the reader. People who swear they don't enjoy mathematics will find plenty to enjoy in this book. Since it covers a broad range of subjects, from genetics to particle physics to biology and cosmology, there's a lot for other disciplines to read and learn about also.

In addition to the 100 experiments, there's an afterword (props for all the Feynman quotes), followed by a really useful index and bibliography/picture credit section. Plenty of scope for further reading.

Critical thinking and reasoning ability are more important now than ever. Every day we're inundated with media bombardment purporting to tell the truth. It's absolutely vital to know what to believe and to be reasonably adept at winnowing out the truth from fiction. Scientific reasoning is a method of training ourselves to be more adept at figuring out what to swallow.

Stats:
Author: John Gribbin, Mary Gribbin
288 pages, Hardback
Released Sept 1, 2017 from Quarto Publishing Group - Race Point

Four stars for content and accessibility. Great fun!


Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.