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"The discovery of oxygen in the late 1700s changed human thought and history as radically as Copernicus's astronomy, Newton's apple, Darwin's chimps, and Einstein's formulas. Its isolation changed the status of humans on earth in ways never before imagined, giving us enormous control over our environment, and a destructive capability that was previously the gods' alone. Yet its discovery began quietly, with the survival of a mouse under a laboratory bell jar." "Joe Jackson's marvelous re-creation of these events takes us back to an age when revolt and revelation were in the air - the final decades of the 1700s and the waning days of the Enlightenment. Where it had recently seemed that reason and science had the power to build a better world, political crises and seismic intellectual shifts were overwhelming the age of reason. Set against the conflagrations of the American Revolution, the storming of the Bastille, and the Reign of Terror, A World on Fire deftly weaves together biography and history, scientific passion and political will, in presenting the story of two brilliant men and their truly revolutionary breakthrough."--BOOK JACKET.… (more)
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This book is not deep with science, though there are a few very basic formulas and descriptions of methodology. The narrative instead focuses largely on the setting and context of the discoveries made by the two men. Revolution in France and America, as well as the madness of King George in Britain and the fall of the monarchy in France led to a unique atmosphere in which this scientific story progressed.
As a history of scientists, this book is an easy read and one that is both enlightening and enjoyable. My primary complaint, and the reason for a 3/5 star review, is the author's insistence in placing his own speculation into the story. Many instances of 'One might imagine...' or 'It isn't hard to believe...' or 'Perhaps he saw...'. This is a major turn off for me in book on history. This doesn't greatly detract from the value of the book and its story, but it does make the reader wonder which facts are documented and which the author has chosen to include despite flimsy or non-existent evidence.