What Can Browne Do For You?
Lessons on science writing from a 17th-century know-it-all, Sir Thomas Browne
The review of the book, In Search of Thomas Browne... is really a book about science, nature, faith, toleration, humility, and public debate-the modern world seen through the lens of Browne. (The British title, The Adventures of Sir Thomas Browne in the 21st Century, better captures its interests; presumably Norton, the U.S. publisher, changed it on the theory that too few Americans would have any clue who Browne was.) Aldersey-Williams’ main argument-spread over a number of chatty chapters loosely organized around Browne’s own major interests-is that Browne’s gentle civility in confronting unreason offers a better alternative to the haughtiness of so much modern science writing and myth-busting.
Sounds interesting to pick up, which I would if I didn't have half-a-dozen books waiting in the wings.
The review of the book, In Search of Thomas Browne... is really a book about science, nature, faith, toleration, humility, and public debate-the modern world seen through the lens of Browne. (The British title, The Adventures of Sir Thomas Browne in the 21st Century, better captures its interests; presumably Norton, the U.S. publisher, changed it on the theory that too few Americans would have any clue who Browne was.) Aldersey-Williams’ main argument-spread over a number of chatty chapters loosely organized around Browne’s own major interests-is that Browne’s gentle civility in confronting unreason offers a better alternative to the haughtiness of so much modern science writing and myth-busting.
Sounds interesting to pick up, which I would if I didn't have half-a-dozen books waiting in the wings.