Bryson QQC Four

Quote:

"Hutton's Theory of the Earth is a strong candidate for the least read important book in science (or at least would be if there weren't so many others)."

Question:

Why is it that so few books about science are read? How many science books are considered to be commonly read or a "must read"?

Comment:

I found this quote interesting for multiple reasons. One reason was that while I was reading about Hutton's Theory of the Earth, I was actually very interested in the topic. In complete honesty though, when it showed us an actual passage written by Hutton, I could barely make it through the reading. It was completely filled with scientific jargon and it was just difficult to read through. My question was, even in the scientific world, how many books about science are actually read. I personally think that it is fun to read about different topics and learning more about how the world works is amazing, so I was wondering why it is that so few books on science are read. It's really a shame in my opinion.

Bryson QQC Three

Quote:

"As a student, frustrated by the limitations of conventional mathematics, he (Newton) invented an entirely new form, the calculus, but then told no one about it for twenty-seven years."

Question:

Is this the same calculus that we are learning now, or is this something that only he used?

Comment:

I was curious to know if this is the same calculus that we use today. Thinking of Newton and all of these other great mathematicians as students is something that I find rather funny since I typically only think of them as older, well-established thinkers. So to think of Newton as a student who was bored with school is sort of ironic in some ways. Then to think that he might have created one of our largest and most complex areas of study when it comes to math while he was sitting in a classroom, it's very inspiring.