The Age of Wonder, Part II

The Age of Wonder


By: Richard Holmes
Reviewed by: Felicity T., 16
Rating: Really liked it


Alrighty, here we are with the second (first, really) installment of my progressive review through The Age of Wonder. If you haven't read my preface, you can view it here. I know I am behind on my reading, but cut me a little slack-it's summer, I've been busy lately...

So, I have progressed through the first two "chapters" of the book. (If they can be called chapters. They're really more like... sections. With chapters inside the sections.) Anyways, these were fairly long, about 70-80 pages each, with meaty writing style and no pictures until the end of the second chapter. To be completely honest, I'm really loving this book! It's true, though, I am a little biased because I like history a lot.

The first chapter/section of the book is about a man named Joseph Banks. I am blown away with this man, and you will be, too, if you read about him. Young Joseph grew up in a wealthy home, but he had a passion for science, and in particular, he loved botany, which is the study of plants. I know, it sounds boring and a little ridiculous. But you have to remember that this is in the 1700s, when people didn't know much about nature and hadn't even explored the world that much. Heck, this is before America declared independence, and before Australia was even discovered! So cut him a little slack. Joseph was very motivated and had alot of resources available to his studies, and he pursued botany like few others at his time. He catalogued whole museums and nurseries of newly discovered plants, and grew to be friends with the famous Captain Cook. When Captain Cook was commissioned to explore the South Seas, Joseph Banks pretty much took over the science department of the ship. He hired experienced naturalists (what they called scientists who studied a little bit of everything) and artists to paint their discoveries. From this point, the author really focuses on the ship's time on Tahiti, where they were some of the earliest Europeans to impact the land and people there. Joseph Banks, with all his passion for plants, gradually becomes a man with a passion for people. He falls in love with the radically different culture of the Tahitians, and explores it in a way that changes him forever. Later, after his return, Banks is a changed man who influences the British/European scientific community of that era in a dramatic way, opening doors for later discoveries and adding to the captivation of Romanticism.

The second chapter deals with an incredible man by the name of William Herschel. I thought this chapter was even better than the first one! William Herschel grew up in tough circumstances, a middle child with an illiterate and imposing mother who doted upon her favorite, the oldest son, and with a father who was gone for long breaks as a military man. Despite his rough upbringing, William was a gifted musician who applied himself to music with uncanny diligence. Not only was Herschel a great musician--even as a youngster, he devoted himself to developing his mind by pursuing high-level mathematics, and all kinds of philosophical theory. As I read this, I was blown away by the passion and hard work that this young man poured into his studies! I mean, this guy was my age, a few years older, and he was pushing his mind in ways that no teen would today. What does that say about our culture, huh? It provokes more questions about the future of our society when you read about the k!

inds of things Herschel did. When he grew up and moved away from home, William worked as a concert musician and a music tutor for several different instruments. He studies music theory and even wrote some of his own compositions, like this symphony:



At this point, he developed an interest in astronomy. He built his own state-of-the-art reflector telescopes, which had magnifying power beyond anyone else's telescopes at the time. Herschel had a quick mind and he rapidly developed his own system for identifying heavenly bodies. He discovered hundreds, thousands of new stars and made bold suggestions about the nature of space. Interestingly, he was convinced that there was life on the moon. William Herschell went on to discover the planet Uranus, which was the first new planet discovery in centuries.

At this point, the author makes a huge statement about science, and its relation to literature/art. Herschel's discovery of Uranus wasn't the typical "Eureka!" moment that springs forward in your mind. It was a cautious, months-long system of observation that eventually was accepted as fact. And this is true about science today. In real life, these discoveries are long, grueling, and tough, although they may not be portrayed that way artistically. This contributes to some of my biggest thoughts in the Age of Wonder so far: Where is the wonder of our generation? Why don't people my age get fired up over science the way that guys like Banks and Herschel did? Why does popular culture portray this kind of passion as simply nerdy? Why doesn't it show the intense products of hard work and fearlessness? What am I doing with my life? These guys are long dead, but they've left their mark on the world-so what am I doing? What is my generation doing for the earth? What kind of legacy will we leave?

This is an exceedingly long review, I know, so let me leave you with something to make you want to read this: Holmes, the author, is a masterful writer. He knows what he's talking about. And there's way more than just what I included: he goes into depth regarding these people's personal lives and the way they were in real life. I mean, they've been immortalized as fantastic men of science, but they actually had lives and love interests and family and friends. They were human.


Recommended to: people who love to be inspired, people who like to read biographies, people who enjoy reading about science and history together, people who are into Romantic literature