Nothing Less Than The History Of How Rational Thinkers Advanced The Human Race

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	• The Day the Universe Changed: How Galileo's Telescope Changed The Truth and Other Events in History That ... James Burke Back Bay Books, 1995 - 352 pages average customer review:based on 25 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Title of book: "Changed the truth"???

Just a comment about the title of this book...."changed the truth?"....Well, truth never, never, never "changes"....beliefs do, though. Galileo's telescope did not change the truth, but changed beliefs....big difference. The truth of a round earth was always true, whether people believed it or not. Galileo's telescope changed beliefs and understandings about the absolute truth of a round Earth.

Say, consider the resurrection of Jesus Christ.....we may believe it or we may not, but the truth remains the same, that it actually did happen....the truth is the truth, regardless of what we believe....as for me, I choose to believe in solid truths, like a round Earth and the resurrection of Jesus, the latter making an eternal difference.

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One Of The Better

Burke has a way of making history, science, and
the human condition fun while telling you something
that makes you think about it.

The Day The Universe Changed shows, as Burke has
become known for, connections between many aspects
of human life, the universe, and those odd, sometimes
silly bits of everyday life.

James Burke is one of the better popularizers of science,
his prolific works (all the while being the consumate "geek"
in big glasses and almost balding) make for, not just fun,
but learning. Great stuff, and even better for kids who
will appreciate his quickness and ability to get to the point.

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A great Book on the history of Technology

After you read this book, you will look at the world in a whole new way.It outlines on how random the pace of discovery of new ideas and technology really is. If you want to be really challenged intellecually, then go no further. Mr. Burke has done an outstanding job. I just wish that I could afford the DVD that is based on this book.

The evolution of change.

This review is based on the first American edition, which was published as a companion to the PBS program, "The Day the Universe Changed". I am assuming that the book is identical with the original British edition.

This is another in the series of excellent popular science and technology books by James Burke. The title is a little misleading, though, in that it does not deal with a specific day, rather with the overturning of paradigms (although the term paradigm is never used in the text). The book is lavishly illustrated, in the mold of the books that are companions to PBS series. (In this regard, I do not know if the original edition is also as lavishly illustrated.)

Each chapter begins with a view of the world before "The Day the Universe Changed", for instance, a world in which the sun revolves around the earth and the sun, moon, planets and stars each reside on Celestial Spheres. The book then shows how this view was changed by the observations of Copernicus, Tycho Brahe and Kepler, then how Galileo and then Newton synthesized this data into a new view of the heavens. The same sort of approach is given to chemistry, medicine, geology, biology and other fields. The main theme of the book is that the view of the universe is not static. While Newton's view of light prevailed for over 200 years, it was eventually changed by Einstein. The book shows how the retrieval of the philosophy of the Greeks from the Arabs started these changes. It shows how many factors interact, for instance and how the development of perspective drawing and printing affected the development of science.

The last chapter of the book is the most thought provoking. It proposes that there is no objective truth, but that what we see as truth is actually a construct of the current structure of thought and that "truth is relative" to this structure. The "truth" of an earth-centered universe was framed by the prevailing structure of reality. When this structure was changed by the development of experimental data and scientific thought, the view of the universe changed, but Burke maintains there is no basis to believe that the "scientific" view is any more valid. "The truth is relative." Fortunately, one can skip this chapter and view this book as a history of the evolution of the ideas of physics, chemistry, geology and biology, which it is.

In view of the current controversy over intelligent design, the chapter on the changes in the geological interpretation of the earth and how it spawned the theory of evolution is particularly enlightening. It draws into clearer perspective why the theory of evolution and the geological view of an earth that is billions of years old is such a threat to the paradigm believed by fundamental Christians.

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Nothing Less Than The History Of How Rational Thinkers Advanced The Human Race

James Burke's book traces history backward and conceives of progress as a series of brillant achievements that create in their influence outstretching ripples that set off the strides humans have made throughout time. The witty Burke explores these watershed moments that took humanity forward, each setting others in motion, crafting a ladder upon which, rung leading to rung, our species has reached the places where it is today. Several key thinkers are focused upon and certain events, some overlooked by popular history, are highlighted. This book makes for an enlightening and mentally-provocative study of the achievements of the human past.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

When people knew the earth was flat and it was the center of the universe, all life revolved around that truth. Galileo's telescope changed the truth. And with that one change, all architecture, music, literature, science, politics -- everything changed, mirroring the new view of truth. This tape is James Burke's examination of the moments in history when a change in knowledge radically altered man's understanding of himself and the world around him.

Few people are able to look at human history and see it not as a jumble of half-remembered names and dates, but as an intricate mosaic of neatly interlocking pieces. Fewer still can describe the patterns and explain the parts of the puzzle so that it not only makes sense, but so that it also fascinates and intrigues, excited and entertains. James Burke tells history like it's the plot of the most interesting mystery ever written.

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