Revolutionary Science: Transformation and Turmoil in the Age of the Guillotine

In this erudite mixture of science and history, Jones (The Serpent’s Promise), professor of genetics at University College London, explains how Paris during the time of the French Revolution served as a center of scientific discovery and advancement. “This book celebrates the scientists of Paris in that era,” Jones writes, noting that “their work laid the foundations of much of today’s physics, astronomy, biology, and chemistry.” But this is less a study of time and place and people than a wide-ranging look at the discoveries of the era and the impact they’ve had on their respective disciplines and the wider world. For example, in one chapter Jones touches upon the modern Tour de France and marathon running before looking back at the research done on human physiology and narcotics some 200 years prior. In that fashion, Jones explores genetics, chaos theory, agriculture, weights and measures, explosives, and more. Jones’s style is engaging and accessible, but it can be hard to follow some connections between topics, especially when he gets mired down in technical matters. Even so, significant evidence supports his conclusion that “it became perhaps the most productive episode in the history of science and led to an era of unprecedented social change.”(Jan.)