The Earth: From Myths to Knowledge

by Hubert Krivine (Verso, £20)

MORE than 40 per cent of US citizens adhere to creationist beliefs about the origins of the universe, according to polls conducted last year. 

This rejection of evolutionary science is not just restricted to Christian fundamentalism either — throughout the Islamic world creationist beliefs, often repackaged as “intelligent design,” are also on the march in what has become a worldwide assault on the scientific project and enlightenment values. 

So the publication of this book could not have come at a more timely moment. Focusing on the millennia-old voyage of discovery to verify the age, position and trajectory of our planet, it’s a spirited defence of science against the religious obscurantists.

In what’s often a fascinating read, it demonstrates how the construction of knowledge is very much a cumulative enterprise.

In the process, author Hubert Krivine emphasises how fundamentally global the whole endeavour has been, refuting claims of Eurocentric or Islamist narratives which have little basis in fact. 

The contributions of key individuals — not only Copernicus, Galileo and Johannes Kepler but Edmond Halley, Lord Kelvin, Charles Darwin and Ernest Rutherford among them — are outlined in detail along with central debates such as those between Darwin and Kelvin on the age of the solar system.

For those who have trouble conceptualising space, there are umpteen helpful diagrams and a number of rather heavy-going appendices are included to buttress Krivine’s arguments. On balance, the prose is pretty dry and there are only glimpses of the author’s obvious ability to write in a way that is lively, engaging and amusing. 

Much of the material presented is by no means as groundbreaking as the publishers almost breathlessly make it out to be.

Full marks for intention, however. As Krivine so pointedly notes, although scientific progress “is not a sufficient condition for social progress, it is at least a necessary one.”