The invention of science

What Hacker News says

1. pfdietzAug 2025
   If you want more (much more) of the author's thoughts on this and related issues, see his book "The Invention of Science" (2016). Highly recommended.

   https://www.amazon.com/Invention-Science-History-Scientific-...

   thread
2. spenroseJan 2024
   Kudos, and I agree. Same with Capital in the 21st Century, another book I fell in love with. The one sweeping "rethink a field of intellectual endeavor" book I read in the last decade that holds up is Wootton's The Invention of Science.
   thread
3. spenroseJan 2023
   Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions has been surpassed by Wootton's The Invention of Science. Wootton taught himself to read the major languages of 16th and 17th century science, and, unlike Kuhn, worked from the source material.

   * https://www.inventionofscience.com

   * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Structure_of_Scientific_Re...

   thread
4. pfdietzNov 2022
   You should read "The Invention of Science", by David Wootton, which touches on these issues (and many others).

   https://www.amazon.com/Invention-Science-History-Scientific-...

   thread
5. spenroseFeb 2022
   I've read a couple dozen. Best by far is David Wootton's The Invention of Science. Wootton has the language skills to work through the primary materials, and shows how in 100 years we went from educated people believing in werewolves and possession to having a modern, materialist understanding of reality.

   https://www.inventionofscience.com

   thread
6. brgFeb 2022
   I would very much suggest both biographical and idea focused sources.

   For me, the absolute best written is Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes. It covers a large swatch of British Science from Newton to Maxwell.

   Other good reads are

   1. The Invention of Science by Wootton (which is very academic in style),

   2. The Wizard and the Prophet by Mann

   3. Galileo At Work by Drake

   4. Newton by Gleik.

   Show morethread