Seeing Further: The Story of Science, Discovery and the Royal Society

Edited by Bill Bryson

HarperCollins UK

496 pages, R899

On a damp night in November,

350 years ago, a dozen men gathered in London. After hearing an obscure 28-year-old named Christopher Wren lecture on the wonders of astronomy, his rapt audience was moved to create a society to promote the accumulation of useful—and fascinating—knowledge. At that moment the Royal Society was born, and with it, modern science. With original contributions from Richard Dawkins, Margaret Atwood, Steve Jones, James Gleick and others, this book tells the story of science and the Royal Society, from 1660 to the present.