One’s expectation would be that this book would be a horrible, horrible read— rather like Asimov’s Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. After all, like the Biographical Encyclopedia, it’s a massive volume recounting the entire history of (Western) science, and is organized more in the fashion of a reference book than an actual narrative history. That is, the story is divided into chronological periods, and the entire history of science for each period is recounted before we move on to the next. One would expect this to create a choppy narrative with little flow and hard to follow.

And yet, like it’s companion volume, Asimov’s Chronology of the World, it’s a remarkably fluid read and far more interesting than one would expect even from the Good Doctor. In fact, I'd rate this up with books like Asimov’s New Guide to Science as a definitive exploration of the scientific tradition which has such an impact on our lives. The chronological gaps do not seem as intrusive as they do in the Biographical Encyclopedia (where, in addition, the story jumps back and forth in time as well as back and forth between sciences). Indeed, the chronological framework does one good by locking one into an understanding of the gradual unfolding of knowledge—one is more aware than usual of the simultaneous, relative advances of the various sciences— what the world of science is like in its entirety at any given moment in time.

The result is a double-pronged threat, a volume which is both useful as a reference volume and simultaneously a most insightful look at the development of science.