The age of wonder
by Holmes, Richard · first published 2008
70% recommend30% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Biographical portraits of Romantic-era scientists from 1769 to 1840 showing how poetry and science intertwined; recommended for readers curious about the period's science and a humane, story-driven history.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"The Age of Wonder' is Richard Holmes' first major work of biography for a decade. It has been inspired by the scientific ferment that swept through Britain at the end of the 18th century, and which Holmes now radically redefines as 'the revolution of Romantic Science."
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I'm pleased to see that one of my favorite books, Richard Holmes' "The Age of Wonder" was there. This is a book that describes how in the 1700s and early 1800s the cultures of science and literature were much more merged than they are today -- you had poets like Wordsworth writing poems…
on “The 50 Best Nonfiction Books of the Past 25 Years” ↗Read 'The Age of Wonder' By Richard Holmes. It will get you outside ;)
on “Ask HN: I love astronomy and I would like to do something about it.” ↗The Age of Wonder: How the romantic generation discovered the beauty and terror of science. by Richard Holmes. Biographies of top hackers from 1769 to 1840.
on “Ask HN: Good books?” ↗The book "Age of Wonder" by Richard Holmes [1] includes a sympathetic overview of Caroline. I do not recall Holmes ever describing her as "spinster" as Hughes does in the sixth word of her outline above. Hughes seems condescending…
on “Caroline Lucretia Herschel – Comet Huntress (1999) [pdf]” ↗"The Age of Wonder" by Richard Holmes which contains several chapters on Joseph Banks has the advantage of being more widely available and covering a wider set of characters from the same period.
on “The Multifarious Mr Banks: The Natural Historian Who Shaped the World” ↗There's a great book called "Age of Wonder: The Romantic Generation and the Discovery of the Beauty and Terror of Science" by Richard Holmes that is about the period between Newton and Darwin in which science and art were mixed -- you had poets…
on “When Engineers Were Humanists” ↗…We read the original 1818 version "annotated for scientists, engineers, and creators of all kinds." [2] If you want to get more of the flavor of the time in which Frankenstein was written, there is The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes. He discusses many of the interesting figures of the period including Joseph Banks and William Herschell (talk about makers, telescopes in his case). [3] There is a book which I can't…
on “The Italian electrical scientist who may have inspired Frankenstein” ↗I would very much suggest both biographical and idea focused sources. For me, the absolute best written is Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes. It covers a large swatch of British Science from Newton to Maxwell. Other good reads are 1. The Invention of Science by Wootton (which is very academic in style), 2. The Wizard…
on “Ask HN: Any recommendation for a good History of Science book?” ↗Richard Holmes wrote a great book called "The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science" which covers Humphry Davy as well as other late 18th-century/early 19th century figures such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge (who was…
on “Sir Humphry Davy’s unpublished poetry found in notebooks” ↗Non-fiction: The Age of Wonder, Richard Holmes. Fiction: The Gods Themselves Asimov. These are the book I always recommend to friends and colleagues. There are runners up based on taste, such as Zero to One,The Making of the Atomic…
on “Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?” ↗…Can you find that love for anything in your life? - Misbehaving (Richard Thaler): A young economist bumbles around for years until it starts to come together into a coherent research direction. - The age of Wonder (Holmes): biographies of romantic scientists, know how different they all are, and also how many different phases of life they each have. I guarantee you you will see yourself in one of them, I just don’t…
on “Ask HN: How to find what I am really good at?” ↗…more precise than the kind of thing that an artist would need, but it gives the impression that lenses may not have been as readily available in the 17th century as you think. (The book was called 'The Age of Wonder' by Richard Holmes, if you're interested)
on “Vermeer's paintings might be 350 year-old color photographs” ↗Full shortlist: * The Age of Wonder: How the romantic generation discovered the beauty and terror of Science by Richard Holmes (Harper Press) * What the Nose Knows: The science of scent in everyday life by Avery Gilbert (Crown Publishers)…
on “2009 Royal Society Prize for Science Books” ↗And now formatted for easier reading ... * The Age of Wonder: How the romantic generation discovered the beauty and terror of Science by Richard Holmes (Harper Press) * What the Nose Knows: The science of scent in everyday life by Avery Gilbert (Crown Publishers)…
on “2009 Royal Society Prize for Science Books” ↗