The philosophical breakfast club : four remarkable friends who transformed… (edition 2011)

I only gave this book 3.5 stars because it took me a long time to finish and because it is probably of interest to only a limited audience. That said, however, I found it very enjoyable. It is a book about four college friends—Charles Babbage, John Herschel, William Whewell, and Richard Jones. They decided, in the way that college students often do, to change the world. Their world was the world of science, though in the 1800s, the scientific world was very different than today. They started by changing the notational system of calculus from the obscure English system of Newton to the French system we use today. You can imagine how hard it was to make that change at the university where Newton had been a professor! They went on to define how science would be conducted throughout England and the whole world. They influenced the next generation of scientists like Charles Darwin and their influence really extends to science today.

I had only heard of Charles Babbage before reading this book because of his work on computers before there really were computers. He turned out to be the least interesting of the four and the biggest jerk. While Babbage arguably invented the computer, the others made major contributions to fields as varied as astronomy, geology, economics, and mathematics. They also did things as different as serving in government, coining the word “scientist”, heading a major university (Cambridge), translating Greek poetry, and pastoring a church. They were indeed a group of college friends who changed the world. ( )

This book is just brilliant! Not only is it exceptionally well-written, but it is also a wonderful historical narrative on the history of "scientist" and the field surrounding it. It's amazing how much a person or a small group of people can change the course of history. I highly recommend this book. ( )

Summary
The Philosophical Breakfast Club is a very good history of science book. It is a story about 4 men, William Whewell, John Hershel, Richard Jones, and Charles Babbage, who strived to take science from a field that was merely poked about in to a real professional endeavour. This book outlines their efforts and the culture of the world they lived in, as well as the the scientific accomplishments of the day.

Critical Assessment
While this is a history book, and it's topic is science, it is not dull or boring. If you're making coffee while reading this book, it is because you want to keep reading long after the sun has set and risen again. Yes, it took me a long time to read this book, but it was because I wanted to read every single word.

All in all, this has a very good account of Whewell, Hershel, and Babbage. Jones seems to be rather unimportant to the general scheme of thing since he is only focused on in a noticeably smaller quantity. This is also a great resource for learning about the culture of the Victorian Era that surrounds and influences the birth of science as a field.

Final thoughts
While reading this book, I was struck by the fact that science has changed a lot over the life of humans in general. Near the end of the book the author notes that none of the members of the Philosophical Breakfast Club wanted there to be a separation of science and humanities that is present today. This shows that while these great men in the past have made great strides to increase the knowledge and presence of science and scientific thinking in the world, but there is still much to be done. ( )

I really enjoyed this volume, which serves as a sort of mosaic of science in England in the first two-thirds of the 19th century.

Snyder makes four men -- William Whewell, Charles Babbage, John Herschel, and Richard Jones -- the center of her narrative, but does not trace their lives chronologically. Instead, after some brief biographical sketches that bring the reader to the point where the four men were together at Cambridge, she breaks her narrative up by their fields on interest, addressing in turn chemistry, computers, economics, astronomy, the tides, surveying, photography, cryptography, and evolution. She also addresses the development of the scientific method, the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Great Britain's 1851 Great Exhibition, and the conflict (or lack thereof) between the scientists' religious beliefs and scientific discoveries. In keeping with their own view of how science works, ever time she turned to a new field she placed the Club's efforts in context, providing historical background on the field and some anecdotes about the scientists who previously influenced the Breakfast Club and those who were influenced by the Breakfast Club in turn.

That strategy is why I call the book a mosaic -- though Snyder keeps the lives and works of Whewell, Babbage, Herschel, and Jones central, the four men are merely entry points to the larger body of scientific exploration and codification in the 19th century England. Snyder does this admirably, capturing the excitement of the time period, when it seemed that all the secrets of the natural world were on the brink of being unlocked.

I do have some quibbles. The book is rather myopic, conflating the sciences of England with all science worldwide. The final chapter is quite heavy-handed, with Snyder suddenly devolving into a rant against the separation between science and the humanities (a separation she simply assumes that her readers will agree exists). But overall this book was a great deal of fun: accessible, informative, and vibrant in its depictions of the mood of the age and the characters of the men who drove it. ( )

a very good book about the history and philosophy of science. a group of men, now mainly forgotten took science to a modern profession. I liked this book a lot ( )