BULLETIN FOR THE HISTORY OF CHEMISTRY
Volume 49, 2024
Orna, Mary Virginia, “Review of The Reinvention of Science: Slaying the Dragons of Dogma and Ignorance,” by Bernard J. T. Jones, Vicent J. Martínez and Virginia L. Trimble, Bull. Hist. Chem., 2024, 49, 174-177.
Abstract/Description: Three well-known astronomers from Groningen, Valencia and Irvine, CA, respectively, have teamed up
to review the history of science from the standpoint of the discipline's most famous misconceptions, and how they were challenged and eventually “slain.” By parsing the title of this work, we start by realizing that all along the way, science had to be reinvented when an erroneous belief was replaced by a better idea. The authors use the metaphor of the proverbial dragons that were thought,
according to some medieval maps, to inhabit the peripheries of the known world and needed to be eliminated, à la Saint George, to make way for a more enlightened interpretation of reality. The dragons themselves are shown to be the progeny of dogma and ignorance. The authors took a roughly chronological approach (and a relevant chronological background accompanies each chapter), from ancient Egyptian and Babylonian times up to the near future, allotting diversions, when necessary, into the different scientific disciplines as they developed. Following a preface, the book is divided into seven parts, each of which contains several chapters for a total of nineteen. The indices, of people and of subjects, are clear, concise and thorough.