reviews The Timetables of Science: A Chronology of the Most Important People and Events in the History of Science Alexander hellemans ana Bryan Bunch A To ~cnstoneBOOK, Slmon & ScnJster New Vork 1991 vl* 660 pp 21 5 A 27 8 cm $1 9 95.5 2 00 postage ano hand1 ng (PEJ Those already familiar with Touchstone Books' "Timetables" series (Urdang, L. The Timetables ofAmerican History; 1980 and Grun, B. The Timetab1esofHistory:AHorizontal LinkageofPeople andEvents; 1982) will welcome this latest addition to this popular series of oversize, inexpensive, one-volume reference paperbacks designed to provide the general public as well a s scholars with instant, handy access to progress in particular subjects on a year-by-year basis. The volume is a vast panorama of significant, chrondogicnlly nrrmgcd d~scoveries,inventions, and events in science and technolog). wcurnngfrom 2,400,000 llC {Hornmds in Africa manufacture stunt? tods, to 1\11 1988. .More than 10,000 scientific developments and accomplishments are concisely listed in an easy-to-read format--tabla with vertical time periods and horizontal scientific fields-to show the reader in a strikingly visual manner what happened, whomade it happen, and what else happened at the same time, i.e., the scientific, political, intellectual, cultural, and religious milieu of the time. The authors maintain that "the grawth of science is much like a stream", and their subject-by-subjecttimetables graphically depict the dominance of particular fields at given times, eg., physics in the early 20th century, when it becomes the main part of the stream. The tables also show where new streams merge into the main body of science. The book is divided into 10 chronologicalperiods: starting with "Science before there were scientists: 2,400,000-599 BC", and ending with 'The Coming Era: 1989-2000". The accelerating pace of scientific progress is reflected in the increasing number of entries for more recent times; with only a few exceptions entries are provided yearly from 1453. The book makes us realize how recent are many of the scientific and technological developments that seem to have always been with us. Because the authors "want to explain the context in which science takes place as it changes from period to period", they provide 10 "overviews", ranging in length from 2 U2 to almost 8 pages, for each of the 10 periods, and because they think that *short individual entries [in the tables] cannot dojustice to themost important ormost interesting developments in science", they have included 104 significant topics that are exolained hrieflv in boxes within the overviews or within the tmetnhlrs In addirinn to hem(( n us&l r e l c m c e book, this faxmating chronolu~yis eminently ruitcd fi,r browsing and is d~lficulttu put down mcc you have dipped into its mgroising ~
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Inclusion of references, a bibliography, or supplementary readings would have added to the volume's utility but would also have added to its length and price. I recommend this varied, authorita-
tive, and scholarly yet entertaining chronology to science instructors and students as well as to anyone interested in the history of science in general and of individual sciences in particular.
George B. Kauffman California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA 93740
Headline News, Science Views Dau!d Jarmul. Ed Nanonal Academy Press 2101 Consvt~lon Ave , N W. Wasnmgton. DC. 1991 x v + 238 pp 15 0 A 22 7 cm I I-stratons $24 55 HE $14 95 PB 101-s S3 00 each lor shipping and handling)((luantitydiscounk: 5-24 copies, 15%; 24-499 copies, 25%).
As Frank Press, President of the National Academy of Sciences, points out in his foreword to this attractive hook that was released an April 22,1991, the first day of National Science and Technology Week, "Opinion surveys and tests of U.S. students' knowledge show that public understanding of science and technology is weak. In the world of the 1990's and beyond, knowledge about science and technolagyis not afrill but anecessity."To combat this science illiteracy and toimprove public understanding of the scientific and technical aspects of important national issues the National Academy O p E d Service was initiated in 1983 under the directorship of longtimejournalist David J a m u l and under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council. The Service has become a respected and widely used source of commentary on scientific and technical topics far the nation's newspapers, providingmuchneeded analysis of issues oftenlimited to the news pages. It sends subscribing newspapers free weekly artides by-lined by prominent members of the scientific, technical, and health-care communities. The hook under review here, specifically designed to bridge the gap hetween scientific experts and the public, is a collection of 15 of these short (2-3 pages), easy-to-read science ap-ed articles that have appeared between May 12, 1985, and October 28, 1990, in more than 250 American newspapers including The Atlanta Constitution, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The Cleueland PlainDealer, TheDetmitNews, TheHouston Chronicle, TheMiami Herald, Newsday, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The San Francisco Chmnicle, and The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Amongthe authors are prominent researchers, academic,industrial, and governmental, including two Nobel laureates (Lean M. Ledeman, "Physics for Poets, Science for Society", and Herbert A. Simon, "The Challenge to Human Uniqueness"); engineers; physicians; science writers; university presidents; attorneys; consultants; presidents and members of the National Academy of
(Continued on page A31 Volume 68 Number 12 December 199;
