coming of age in the milky way by timothy ferris

Ferris is a prolific nonfiction writer and documentary creator. The book won the 1988 American Institutes of Physics Science Writing Award, and it received a 1989 Pulitzer Prize nomination. It's preferable to an inaccurate portrayal.Coming of Age in the Milky Way (1988) by Timothy Ferris is a detailed history of scientific and astronomical knowledge that analyses the great minds behind the discoveries. If an author does not know enough about the life and personality of the scientists, then the author should just leave them out. However, they should strive to be as accurate as possible, not just in relating the science itself, but in portraying the scientists' personalities.

So, my critique is not coming from an ideology that believes books should be both brief and extremely accurate. Anytime writers choose brevity over jargon-laden prose, a book always trades a bit of accuracy for relatability. Writing books that are short, easy to understand, and not overly complicated are essential in helping scientific information disseminate into the public at large. His depiction of Darwin was equally naive.

When describing Newton's reputation as a 'monster', Ferris seems to misunderstand why people called him that. This would describe Darwin but not Newton. For example, according to Ferris, Newton was humble, didn't care about fame, and instead cared only about the work. If Ferris is going to portray various scientists in a manner that is far different from how just about every other author, whose life work has been to study the biographies of their chosen scientist, has portrayed these scientists, then he is going to need to provide some proof for his alternate version of their personalities. It is more that his representations of the scientists seem to be under researched. It's not that Ferris kept the descriptions of Newton and Darwin brief. However, historians must have a hard time reading this book. Considering all the positive aspects of this book, I can see why it received the accolades it did.

Adding to that, Ferris keeps each subject brief so that it packs as much information as possible, while remaining fairly uncomplicated. Not too many books provide a summary of biology and physics in tandem. The layout of the book is really great as well. There are some aspects of his stories that are lesser known, which makes them quite enjoyable. Brief survey of discovery from Columbus to nowįerris provides his reader with an extremely abbreviated version of discovery from Columbus through now.

Coming of age in the milky way by timothy ferris