The Age of Wonder

How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science

By: Richard Holmes

Narrated by: Gildart Jackson

National Book Critics Circle Award, Nonfiction, 2010

The Age of Wonder is a colorful and utterly absorbing history of the men and women whose discoveries and inventions at the end of the eighteenth century gave birth to the Romantic Age of Science.

When young Joseph Banks stepped onto a Tahitian beach in 1769, he hoped to discover Paradise. Inspired by the scientific ferment sweeping through Britain, the botanist had sailed with Captain Cook in search of new worlds. Other voyages of discovery—astronomical, chemical, poetical, philosophical—swiftly follow in Richard Holmes's thrilling evocation of the second scientific revolution. Through the lives of William Herschel and his sister Caroline, who forever changed the public conception of the solar system; of Humphry Davy, whose near-suicidal gas experiments revolutionized chemistry; and of the great Romantic writers, from Mary Shelley to Coleridge and Keats, who were inspired by the scientific breakthroughs of their day, Holmes brings to life the era in which we first realized both the awe-inspiring and the frightening possibilities of science—an era whose consequences are with us still.

©2008 Richard Holmes (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Richard Holmes—who is almost unfairly gifted both as a writer of living, luminous prose and as a tireless researcher—braids Herschel’s story together with a dozen others to create the most joyful, exciting book of the year.” ( Time, The Top 10 Everything of 2009)

Fascinating history and biography rolled into one.

Great storytelling of an incredible time in human history, the evolution of the scientist in Western culture.

wonderful book - completely worth it

I love this book and am on my second time listening. the reading is good but the content is amazing

An in depth look at the romantic science period

A great story of the beginning of the science most of us know about, before after Newton and before Darwin, there was a time where they found the beginning of the universe, the idea of electromagnetic forces and many other sciences that the Victorian era stood upon to reach such lofty heights.
This is the story of the men... and women who made science something that people did as a pursuit for the good of humanity.
A well told and often gossipy tone, the story of the time of science is well told. A good read for the history and science buff in us.

History's interesting stories that are rarely told

Great ride through history and the lives that changed the investigation of our universe when coming out of a dark period for our species.

Surprisingly Fascinating!

With just the right amount of detail, and covering all the most interesting aspects of these great scientists' lives, this book takes you through all the most memorable and important episodes of the Romantic age of scientific exploration. Exquisite narration.