A Little History of Science by William Bynum is hard book to review. But that is mostly because it is exactly what the title promises.

Science is a very big area. It would be impossible to cover it all in a very large set of books and certainly very hard to summarize in a large book but William Bynum attempts it in small book (about 270 pages). And succeeds!

I found myself fascinated by some parts and merely interested in others. But I think this is to be expected as the subject matter varies so greatly.

So I guess the reader is doomed to find parts that are of great interest which a reader would wish were covered in more detail. But that is the nature of short histories. This work gives us an overview of many areas of science. And if the reader is interested in any or several, he or she can explore those in more detail in other books.

I liked the book but am a bit unsure about a target audience. I am a retired scientist (human genetics) so I was already familiar with large parts of what was covered but this book did fill in some significant gaps. So I would say it is suitable for the adult reader who wants a quick view of areas of science they are not familiar with. This would range from someone with science knowledge (since there are not many who know it all) to someone who knows nothing of science but is curious. I think it would also be suitable for a teen interested in a quick overview of science.