Galileo's Finger: The Ten Great Ideas of Science

Excellent account of ten pioneering ideas in science ranging from natural selection through quantum theory to curved spacetime.
`The Nobel Prize for Literature has never been won by a scientist. It is high time it happened, and Peter Atkins would be my candidate. He is not a popularizer of science in the ordinary sense.... He is not afraid to lead us toward the far horizons of scientific understanding but, rather than oversimplify and trivialise, he uses his powerful mastery of the English language to open our eyes to the poetry of deep science.... Atkins's literate prose leaves us inspired, fulfilled, enriched, and properly alive.' Richard Dawkins