Scientific Autobiography

Sorry, Max, this just wasn’t that interesting to me. The title is fitting, though, as this is not really a personal history, more the history of some scientific advances and different peoples’ disputing theories. These pieces might sound better at a seminar – indeed, they originally were lectures. The reading might be better in print, too, which made me wonder what Max Planck would have thought of ebooks.

His writing style is clear and concise, and paced as you’d expect from a good scientist. However, I read it but nothing sank in. The science may be of interest to some, and the historical context too – how things have changed since then. The “phantom problems in science” lecture turns more towards psychology vs. physiology, and the third chapter is about science itself: philosophy, theory. The last piece considers science and religion in parallel, not exactly comparing or contrasting, and still seems a relevant discussion today.  So, this is a very dry read, but good to see preserved for history, coming from a great scientific mind.