What do you think?
Rate this book
The Grand Contraption: The World as Myth, Number, and Chance
The Grand Contraption tells the story of humanity's attempts through 4,000 years of written history to make sense of the world in its cosmic totality, to understand its physical nature, and to know its real and imagined inhabitants. No other book has provided as coherent, compelling, and learned a narrative on this subject of subjects. David Park takes us on an incredible journey that illuminates the multitude of elaborate "contraptions" by which humans in the Western world have imagined the earth they inhabit--and what lies beyond. Intertwining history, religion, philosophy, literature, and the physical sciences, this eminently readable book is, ultimately, about the "grand contraption" we've constructed through the ages in an effort to understand and identify with the universe.
According to Park, people long ago conceived of our world as a great rock slab inhabited by gods, devils, and people and crowned by stars. Thinkers imagined ether to fill the empty space, and in the comforting certainty of celestial movement they discerned numbers, and in numbers, order. Separate sections of the book tell the fascinating stories of measuring and mapping the Earth and Heavens, and later, the scientific exploration of the universe.
The journey reveals many common threads stretching from ancient Mesopotamians and Greeks to peoples of today. For example, humans have tended to imagine Earth and Sky as living creatures. Not true, say science-savvy moderns. But truth isn't always the point. The point, says Park, is that Earth is indeed the fragile bubble we surmise, and we must treat it with the reverence it deserves.
According to Park, people long ago conceived of our world as a great rock slab inhabited by gods, devils, and people and crowned by stars. Thinkers imagined ether to fill the empty space, and in the comforting certainty of celestial movement they discerned numbers, and in numbers, order. Separate sections of the book tell the fascinating stories of measuring and mapping the Earth and Heavens, and later, the scientific exploration of the universe.
The journey reveals many common threads stretching from ancient Mesopotamians and Greeks to peoples of today. For example, humans have tended to imagine Earth and Sky as living creatures. Not true, say science-savvy moderns. But truth isn't always the point. The point, says Park, is that Earth is indeed the fragile bubble we surmise, and we must treat it with the reverence it deserves.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2005
3 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
About the author
David Allen Park
9 books3 followersDavid Allen Park (often cited as David Park) was Professor of Physics Emeritus at Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts.
He graduated from Harvard in 1941, and earned his Ph.D. from University of Michigan. He also was associated with the Harvard Radio Laboratory and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton before returning to Williams as an assistant professor in 1952.
He graduated from Harvard in 1941, and earned his Ph.D. from University of Michigan. He also was associated with the Harvard Radio Laboratory and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton before returning to Williams as an assistant professor in 1952.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 6, 2010
326 pages.
This history of human reasoning shows evolving understanding of the universe.
The Grand Contraption tells the story of humanity's attempts through 4,000 years of written history to make sense of the world in its cosmic totality, to understand its physical nature, and to know its real and imagined inhabitants. No other book has provided as coherent, compelling, and learned a narrative on this subject of subjects. David Park takes us on an incredible journey that illuminates the multitude of elaborate "contraptions" by which humans in the Western world have imagined the earth they inhabit--and what lies beyond. Intertwining history, religion, philosophy, literature, and the physical sciences, this eminently readable book is, ultimately, about the "grand contraption" we've constructed through the ages in an effort to understand and identify with the universe.
According to Park, people long ago conceived of our world as a great rock slab inhabited by gods, devils, and people and crowned by stars. Thinkers imagined ether to fill the empty space, and in the comforting certainty of celestial movement they discerned numbers, and in numbers, order. Separate sections of the book tell the fascinating stories of measuring and mapping the Earth and Heavens, and later, the scientific exploration of the universe.
The journey reveals many common threads stretching from ancient Mesopotamians and Greeks to peoples of today. For example, humans have tended to imagine Earth and Sky as living creatures. Not true, say science-savvy moderns. But truth isn't always the point. The point, says Park, is that Earth is indeed the fragile bubble we surmise, and we must treat it with the reverence it deserves
This history of human reasoning shows evolving understanding of the universe.
The Grand Contraption tells the story of humanity's attempts through 4,000 years of written history to make sense of the world in its cosmic totality, to understand its physical nature, and to know its real and imagined inhabitants. No other book has provided as coherent, compelling, and learned a narrative on this subject of subjects. David Park takes us on an incredible journey that illuminates the multitude of elaborate "contraptions" by which humans in the Western world have imagined the earth they inhabit--and what lies beyond. Intertwining history, religion, philosophy, literature, and the physical sciences, this eminently readable book is, ultimately, about the "grand contraption" we've constructed through the ages in an effort to understand and identify with the universe.
According to Park, people long ago conceived of our world as a great rock slab inhabited by gods, devils, and people and crowned by stars. Thinkers imagined ether to fill the empty space, and in the comforting certainty of celestial movement they discerned numbers, and in numbers, order. Separate sections of the book tell the fascinating stories of measuring and mapping the Earth and Heavens, and later, the scientific exploration of the universe.
The journey reveals many common threads stretching from ancient Mesopotamians and Greeks to peoples of today. For example, humans have tended to imagine Earth and Sky as living creatures. Not true, say science-savvy moderns. But truth isn't always the point. The point, says Park, is that Earth is indeed the fragile bubble we surmise, and we must treat it with the reverence it deserves
May 29, 2011
David Park, in my opinion, does quite a good job of elucidating the thinking behind pre-modern ideas of the nature and purpose of the world. His several-times-reiterated point that myths were stories, and that smart people didn't think they literally described what the world was made of, is a good one -- most brief accounts of myth don't bother to get deep into metaphorical thinking. He also thinks that it is still possible for smart people to hold mythical and factual ideas of the cosmos simultaneously; it is literalists who are guilty of a confusion of categories. I would agree, except that few people are determined to examine the assumptions behind their own myths.
"In the days of Plato and the ages before him, it was proper to explain the universe with myths like Love and Hate, which were supposed to contain truth even if they did not represent an actual state of affairs. A generation later Aristotle and his students, digging after facts, stored myth on the shelf labeled Uplifting Literary Entertainment and looked for explanations connecting what is seen and verifiable with fundamental principles of nature."
It is unfortunate that Park's account of the history of life on Earth is not very good -- it is apparent that he has not spent much time listening carefully to biologists, and doesn't think it very important to do so. But I don't blame him too much -- there are certainly physicists who do much worse than he did.
All in all, a memorable book.
"In the days of Plato and the ages before him, it was proper to explain the universe with myths like Love and Hate, which were supposed to contain truth even if they did not represent an actual state of affairs. A generation later Aristotle and his students, digging after facts, stored myth on the shelf labeled Uplifting Literary Entertainment and looked for explanations connecting what is seen and verifiable with fundamental principles of nature."
It is unfortunate that Park's account of the history of life on Earth is not very good -- it is apparent that he has not spent much time listening carefully to biologists, and doesn't think it very important to do so. But I don't blame him too much -- there are certainly physicists who do much worse than he did.
All in all, a memorable book.
September 4, 2015
It started out slow, but ended up being hard to put down. I love reading about the history of science. It was a survey of what people know about the universe, from creation myths, to the Greeks who dominated western philosophical thought for 1000+ years, to the exploration of the world, to the huge changes in what we know that have just happened in the past 200 years. Unfortunately the last chapter that discusses what we know now is about 7 years out of date, which makes a big difference these days.
September 1, 2011
David Park, a professor of physics, writes with expertise about humankind's quest to answer the big questions of life: How did we get here? Is there anyone else out there? Science can only take us so far before crossing the unseen boundary into metaphysics and speculation, but it's an interesting trip nonetheless.
March 22, 2015
A quick and comprehensive digest.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews