#history-of-science

#history-of-science

When physicist Ernest Rutherford and chemist Frederick Soddy discovered nuclear transmutation - the natural decay of one radioactive element into another - in 1901, Rutherford's first cry was of alarm, not delight. "For Mike's sake, Soddy," he chastised his co-worker. "Don't call it transmutation, they'll have our heads off as alchemists!"

Selecting a book to read can sometimes be overwhelming: countless books are published every year, and there are countless more published years ago that we haven't gotten around to. If you'd like to incorporate some science books into your TBR (to-be-read) list, Scientific American has been reviewing books for well more than 100 years. Below is a collection of some of our favorite (and sometimes downright snarky) book reviews over the past century.

"It was not uncommon for boxes of 10 books at a time to arrive from the library, and her office could be the model for any illustration of books and articles literally spilling off tables and shelves."

The excavation at Newton's mother's house revealed lost and discarded domestic items, including broken pottery and gaming tokens, providing a glimpse into his fragmented family life.

"In order to succeed, a perpetual motion machine should be free of friction, run in a vacuum chamber and be totally silent since sound equates to energy loss."

"Henry Guerlac was a rock star of the history of science - absolutely hugely important... He's a big part of Cornell's history in the post-war period."