IN 1935, a 26-year-old Viennese art historian called Ernst Gombrich distilled his doctoral work into a history of the world for younger readers. In the years since, it has sold over half a million copies in 30 languages, including English, as A Little History of the World.
It is a tough act to follow for A Little History of Science by medical historian William Bynum, who aims his book at teens and adults interested in science. Beginning with the Babylonians and ending with the World Wide Web, Bynum manages to squeeze in nearly every essential scientific idea and…
