A little bit of everything: The Short Story of Science

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Laurence King Publishing, based in London, is “one of the world’s leading publishers of books and gifts on the creative arts.” They have a series called “The Short Story of X”; so far it includes the Short Story of Art, of Modern Art, of Photography, Film, Architecture, Women Artists, and the Novel. The latest title is The Short Story of Science, which will be available in March.

A thing of beauty

First off, the book is beautiful, as befits its imprint. Each glossy page has a photo of scientists at work, or their apparatus, or a depiction of their discoveries; for everything before the 20th century there is a photo of an artwork, so a drawing, painting, or sculpture of the scientists being described. It has the overall feel of those DK Eyewitness travel guides, except instead of using it to plan your next trip you can use it to get a tour of “the breakthroughs that underpin our current understanding of the Universe.”

Like the other volumes, this one is organized into four sections. The art books are divided into Movements, Works, Themes, and Techniques. There are corresponding sections in this one. Histories starts with ancient astronomers circa 30,000 BCE and runs through String Theory. Experiments is pretty obvious. Theories are there as “we can only unlock hidden truths once we have imagined them.” Finally, there’s Methods and Equipment, since the materials available define and constrain the technologies we can make. 

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