A Century of Science, and Other Essays

"A Century of Science, and Other Essays" by John Fiske is a compilation of essays from the late 1800s that considers the important scientific revelations and thoughts that molded how we think today, especially dealing with evolution and how different sciences have gotten better over the last 100 years. Fiske wants to show how science has quickly moved forward using organized ways of asking questions. The book starts by talking about when oxygen was first found by Dr. Priestley, then looks at how scientific knowledge changed a lot, going from old ideas like alchemy to new chemistry ideas we still use. Fiske writes how new science, like chemistry and geology, has made big changes in what people know and understand. He also highlights the fact that all the different sciences are linked together and hinted at later conversations that took place throughout his collection of essays about evolution and how societies evolve.