Circles: Fifty Round Trips Through History Technology Science Culture

by James Burke

Book Overview

From the bestselling author of The Knowledge Web come fifty mesmerizing journeys into the history of technology, each following a chain of consequential events that ends precisely where it began.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 074320008X
• ISBN13: 9780743200080
• Release Date: December 2000
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Another Classic

Does anyone write about technological history better than James Burke? In this volume, Burke literally takes the reader in circles as he connects ideas, inventions, and innovations that have changed our world. Whether by purpose or serendipity, some of the critical inventions and discoveries came about in highly entertaining ways. With its brief chapters, this is one of those books that it you can easily pick up and set down, and pick up again days later.

Circuluar reasoning

I teach a course in the History of Technology at my local community college, and use James Burke's book `Circles' as an interesting and engaging means of showing the connections different ideas of technology have to each other, and to history, often in most unexpected ways. This book has fifty short circular stories, trips through science and technology, each of which introduces connections that are fascinating, sometimes bewildering. How do wigs and fruit preservation technologies relate to each other. Why would one ever think that bologna and Gothic revival architecture are related? How is it that the Star-Spangled Banner is related to a calendar revision so complex that even Burke claims not to understand it? Burke presents his tales in short order - they can each be devoured as a bite-sized morsel in one sitting, and yet, to do so and move on quickly is to miss the depths of what is there - as these circular connections show, there is always more than meets the eye. My students upon reading are often intrigued enough to go on the internet or visit the library to investigate further. Burke introduces history almost on the sly - readers often think they are reading a story, not history. Well, they are reading stories, cleverly developed, with a good deal of wit and subtlety. One doesn't necessarily need to know all the dates and places, but the span of the connections helps to prove that long before the era and phenomenon of globalisation, we were already interconnected and learning from each other. The essays here originally appeared as columns in the journal Scientific American - hence, each chapter is the length of a magazine article for good reason, and the near-uniformity of the length of each is no accident. These are written for people with an interest in science and technology without being experts in science or technology, but they aren't written in a dumbed-down version either. Regardless of whether or not you can program your VCR or you can program the Shuttle to rendevous with the Hubble Telescope, this book is for you.

Splendid introduction to Burke; or just good historical fun

Here he is, the host of the Learning Channel's "Connections 3" taking us on these delightful, circular walks through topiary mazes of history, science, culture, and literature that always, surprisingly, come back to where he started. He will start with a walk at the Smithsonian, musing on evolution, or reading Keats's "Ode To A Nightingale" and trace the personal relationships, family ties, and partnerships (which are often astonishing) throughout an era - through revolution and serendipity - back to the Smithsonian, or to Keats. That alone is admirable and fun, but it also conveys a sense of complexity, of how elements we separate into "subjects" (e.g. "history," "politics," "culture," "entertainment," and so on) intertwine and influence each other. It's a holistic way to view history, creating wide sketches of the context of the periods he visits, but Burke never belabors the point. His chapters are short, dense with fact but always wry. This is a very good introduction to Burke's books, and great fun in its own right.

The Delights of Reading James Burke

James Burke strikes again. The author of such compelling books as Connections, The Day the Universe Changed, the Pinball Effect and the Knowledge Web has come up with yet another catchy title to describe his latest effort. And on no level does he disappoint here, using the metaphor of a circle to begin his journey, describe the improvements and sidebars during the trip, and take us back to almost right where we began.Tne book is also full of the sort of hooks and traps we have grown to enjoy in his writing over the years. Consider this passage at the beginning of one chapter: "Thanks to mass production and distribution, I can go back to the shop and get a free replacement copy for a cup that I found a flaw in last week. It weas one of those willow-pattern things. Genuine Wedgwood. An ironic term, really, because Wedgwood's original stuff was fake." Just when you think you can get out, he pulls you back in again. And don't think you can skim your way through. The facts in this book are so well interwoven that to skim a sentence may mean losing your place in the chapter. An excellent book for that rainy day or suuny day in the park, or on the train, or anywhere, for that matter.

Just Like Sammy Sosa, Burke Just Keeps Hitting Homeruns!

Will someone please tell Mr. Burke it is ok to right a subpar book every now and then? As with his previous works (Connections, The Day the Universe Changed, etc) Mr. Burke just keeps belting out home runs like Sammy Sosa does in Wrigley Field, and were talking out of the park here. What I especially liked was the Preface where Mr. Burke takes time to briefly tell us of his passion and how he looks at every story. In his typical but never tiring British style Mr. Burke continues to tell us of how seemingly meaningless events or the cousin of someones uncle who knew someone totally and radically changed history, either through invention or thought. Previous fans of his work will consider this a "must read" item, those looking for something to satisfy a few nights of reading will find this indespensible. Highly recommended!