An Amazon Best Book of December 2015: Here’s a big, fat history of science (spanning from 1572 to 1704) with a very clear thesis: that science, and thus the world, entered the modern age during this precise span. Wooton, the Anniversary Professor of History at the University of York, explores primary texts and detailed history to build his argument that Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe’s discovery of a new star in 1572 started a scientific revolution, and that Isaac Newton’s 1704 publication of Opticks sealed it. What happened in between was a series of discoveries—of gunpowder, movable type, the New World, etc.—that altered our perception of what is and, through the Newtonian Revolution, opened our minds to what might be. The sheer size of the book allows readers to jump around between essays, but taken as a whole The Invention of Science builds a powerful, thoroughly fascinating argument ripe for debate. --Chris Schluep

“Wootton is a dazzling explicator of difficult ideas whose relish for his material is evident.” — Matthew Price, the Boston Globe

“Wootton tells his tales well and portrays characters vividly. He writes with wit, and his book is full of surprises.” — Robert P. Crease, The Wall Street Journal

“Masterly. . . .  A fantastic revisionist history, an intellectual feat and a marvelous attack on those academics who believe that “retrospective history” — written with the outcome in mind — is wrong. It’s utterly refreshing to read a grand, whooping narrative that is also exhaustively researched. It will, I am certain, become a landmark in the discipline of the history of science." — Financial Times' Best Books of 2015

“New, encyclopedic history.” — Adam Gopnik, the New Yorker

“Full of insights…even jaded scholars will find it fresh and compelling.” — The Economist

"Perceptive, thought-provoking, deeply erudite and beautifully written.” — Nature

“Vibrant and impressive…The Invention of Science is a marvel of expositional clarity” — Steve Donoghue, The Christian Science Monitor

“Not only a history of science but a revisionist historiography of science” — Steven Poole, The New Statesman

“A big bang moment” — Lorraine Daston, The Guardian

“Extremely well researched and documented…This is bound to become a basic reference in the future.” — Adhemar Bultheel, the European Mathematical Society

“A bracing rediscovery of the marvel that is science” — Booklist, starred review

“David Wootton’s The Invention of Science is outstanding. It details how, when and why the philosophical, intellectual and practical frameworks of modern science arose, and it sees off relativism in the process. While dealing wonderfully in broad sweeps, it offers a wealth of entertaining details.” — Richard Joyner, Times Higher Education

“Fascinating and original … Wootton is a marvellous writer with an enviously encyclopaedic knowledge, and he has exciting things to say … a stimulating, well-informed and imaginative account.” — Patricia Fara, Literary Review

“A superbly lucid examination of a dramatic revolution in human thought that deserves a place on the shelf with Thomas Kuhn and David Deutsch.” — Kirkus Starred Review