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toreadistovoyage
I won my copy of this book from a First Reads giveaway. Thanks for the book!
The Philosophical Breakfast Club: Four Remarkable Friends Who Transformed Science and Changed the World is a very well researched and surprisingly easy to read non-fiction text. The book follows the lives of four "Natural Philosophers" - or, in other words, scientists- William Whewell, John Herschel, Richard Jones, and Charles Babbage. These men, who met at Cambridge as undergraduates, would meet regularly to discuss science and other intellectual topics. Francis Bacon influenced these men with regards to the necessity for reform in the scientific realm. After graduating, the four worked both together and separately to advance and reform the study of science.
The Philosophical Breakfast Club introduces the reader to a variety of scientific topics, advances, players, and problems of the Victorian Age. The reader is left with a feeling of awe; Whewell, Herschel, Jones, and Babbage used their superior intelligence and their passionate dedication to reform what science meant. This has had a lasting impact on scientists (a word which Whewell introduced, by the way) of today.
I would rank this book a 3.5 (I rounded to a 4). Several chapters were highly engaging, holding my interest, and kept me reading. However, there were a few dry areas - specifically when the author went on a tangent and started getting too in-depth on a scientific or mathematical concept. This being said, I was still able to understand what the author was discussing, it just did not hold my interest as much.
The Philosophical Breakfast Club: Four Remarkable Friends Who Transformed Science and Changed the World is a very well researched and surprisingly easy to read non-fiction text. The book follows the lives of four "Natural Philosophers" - or, in other words, scientists- William Whewell, John Herschel, Richard Jones, and Charles Babbage. These men, who met at Cambridge as undergraduates, would meet regularly to discuss science and other intellectual topics. Francis Bacon influenced these men with regards to the necessity for reform in the scientific realm. After graduating, the four worked both together and separately to advance and reform the study of science.
The Philosophical Breakfast Club introduces the reader to a variety of scientific topics, advances, players, and problems of the Victorian Age. The reader is left with a feeling of awe; Whewell, Herschel, Jones, and Babbage used their superior intelligence and their passionate dedication to reform what science meant. This has had a lasting impact on scientists (a word which Whewell introduced, by the way) of today.
I would rank this book a 3.5 (I rounded to a 4). Several chapters were highly engaging, holding my interest, and kept me reading. However, there were a few dry areas - specifically when the author went on a tangent and started getting too in-depth on a scientific or mathematical concept. This being said, I was still able to understand what the author was discussing, it just did not hold my interest as much.
This was a fantastic book. It was very well written, followed an intriguing story line, and was insanely motivating. This book makes me want to be able to run longer and more often, as well as become a more minimalist runner. Christopher McDougall did a wonderful job blending his personal running journey with research. This book is going on my favorites shelf and will be reread many times. I cannot recommend this book enough - and not just to runners, this will keep non-runners interested as well.
