The Story of Science in America is a 1967
science book by L. Sprague de Camp and Catherine
Crook de Camp, illustrated by Leonard Everett
Fisher, published by Charles Scribner's Sons.
It has been translated into Spanish, Portuguese,
Burmese and French.
== Summary ==
The book traces the work of inventors and
naturalists in the United States from the
Colonial era through the mid-19th century,
and relates scientific developments in the
century following.
== Contents ==
Part One - Science Comes to America
I - Science in the Colonies
II - Benjamin Franklin's Century
III - American Explorers and Expeditions
IV - The World of Nature
V - Early Inventors and Inventions
VI - The Great Industrial Revolution
Part Two - The Physical Sciences
VII - The Exact Sciences
VIII - The Sky Above
IX - The Earth and its Waters
X - The Revolution in Physics
Part Three - The Biological Sciences
XI - The Sciences of Life
XII - The Most Marvelous Machine
XIII - The Sciences of Man
Part Four - The Applied Sciences
XIV - The Electrical Revolution
XV - The Internal-Combustion Revolution
XVI - The Dangerous Depths of Space
XVII - Scientists of Today and Tomorrow
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
== Reception ==
Critical response to the book was positive.
Jane E. Brody, writing for The New York Times,
called it "a fast-moving, informative and
thoroughly enjoyable chronicle, with amusing
anecdotes, legends and interesting sidelights
that reflect the personalities, lives and
times of the men who shaped our nation scientifically."
She noted that "the authors have kept their
writing free of chauvinism," and that "[m]ost
of the scientific concepts are well enough
explained so that even the newcomer to science
should be able to grasp at least the essence
of them." In the same issue the book was included
among seventy-five recommended titles selected
by the Children's Editor of the newspaper's
Book Review, described as an "[i]nformative,
thoroughly enjoyable chronicle of the development
of science in our country."Publishers' Weekly
stated that "[t]o read the index ... is to
read the names of the men and of their discoveries
in science in America, from the earliest days
... to the space age. To read the book is
to become familiar with the men and their
contributions to science."George Basalia,
writing for Library Journal, called the book
"a first-rate history of American science
and technology for high-school students ... cover[ing]
major American technical discoveries as well
as our contributions to the purely theoretical
aspects of science." He found "much to be
praised ... the book is intelligently conceived,
carefully organized, clearly written, and
handsomely designed. Unfortunately, the illustrations
do not do justice to [the] excellent text."H.
D. Allen in the Montreal Gazette wrote that
the book's story "makes fascinating reading,"
and that "[w]hile the treatment of any one
discipline may at first seem superficial and
chatty, the total impact is most impressive,
for the reader is left with an acquaintance
with the leading figures of the age of science
and some appreciation of how the contribution
of each influenced a way of life." He concluded
"The breadth of scientific knowledge which
this book represents is remarkable, as is
the skill with which it has been set down
and the effortlessness with which it reads."The
Booklist called it "[a] wide-ranging survey
[that] reflects the authors' humanistic interests
as well as their familiarity with several
branches of science and their extensive background
reading."Harry C. Stubbs in The Horn Book
Magazine included it among "half a dozen books
dealing ... with the history of science [that]
I can recommend [both] to nonscientists as
guides toward the Light [and] to scientists
and science teachers as reminders that what
we know was long, slow, and hard in coming."
He noted that it "give[s] us a series of fascinating
biographical and anecdotal items strung loosely
on the thread of developing scientific knowledge."Philip
and Phylis Morrison in Scientific American
felt it "manages to convey a sense of coherence,
even though it deals at staccato length with
so many men, trends and ideas ... The reason
is partly in the expert writing--smooth, unusually
candid, cheerful and sometimes a bit condescending
(as in the two or three pages about Veblen)."
They add that "[n]ot all the dicta of the
authors seem reasonable, but to find any personal
judgment at work is so rare in this kind of
pedagogy that one is pleased by the De Camps
even when one disagrees with them
