Seeing Further

by Bill Bryson. Harper Collins, 490 pages, $54.99

In 1662, a small informal scientific society was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II. It actually began two years earlier, hence this year is its 350th anniversary.

The title is surely a reference to a famous quote by Sir Isaac Newton, an illustrious member who was also president of the Royal Society for 24 years. He said that "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants" – referring, of course, to the cumulative and collaborative nature of scientific progress, a paradigm embraced by the society.

This book, edited and introduced by the inimitable Bill Bryson, brings together a collection of essays on the science and the scientists, the society and its works, and the debates great and small that have enlivened it over the years. It is a celebration and a congratulation.

A compilation like this will live and die on the strength of its contributors, and this book most definitely lives.

The list of contributors is impressive, a veritable who's who of top science writers and thinkers. A lively history with plenty of eyes on the future.

• Matt Bowler is a freelance reviewer from Nelson.

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