Everything鈥檚 Relative by Tony Rothman, John Wiley, $24.95/拢17.50, ISBN 0471202576 Reviewed by Roy Herbert
THE subtitle of Tony Rothman鈥檚 book is a portent of what鈥檚 to come: 鈥淎nd other fables from science and technology鈥�. In his preface he lists some axioms that are more warnings, such as, 鈥淗e who hath gets鈥� and, 鈥淪omebody else always does it first鈥�. And then you are off into well-researched demolition of favourite stories always quoted in histories of science and its applications. There is no evidence at all that Galileo dropped weights from the leaning tower of Pisa to prove that all objects fall at the same rate. The common story that J. J. Thomson discovered the electron is far from the complicated truth. Samuel Morse did not invent the electric telegraph.
There are so many cherished myths and semi-myths, contemplating all the rewriting that鈥檚 needed of the story of the ascent of science and technology makes the head spin. Rescue comes with the realisation that the myths will prove far stronger than the truth.
Advertisement
Rothman writes in an easy style, sometimes touching the colloquial and occasionally jarring. He also has a satirical bent: you might be puzzled by RASEP, but it is an acronym for Result Amplification through Stimulated Emission of Publicity. An uncomfortable book, but enthralling.