Reviews

Darwin's Watch by Ian Stewart, Jack Cohen, Terry Pratchett

skundrik87's review against another edition

3.0

Bit too much physics for a book that is supposed to be about biology. And infinities being bigger than other infinities is still confusing.

marafranzen's review against another edition

4.0

While it is a tad different from most of Terry Pratchett's other works, I still enjoyed my time during this book.

It taught me in ways where I didn't feel like I was learning, (objectively, the best way) and gave me interesting tidbits to bring up in conversation that I would otherwise not know, or had even been misinformed about.

I believe that this book could be read by any fan of Terry Pratchett's, but not necessarily every fan.

zlwrites's review against another edition

3.0

Science was a bit everywhere in this one but I still enjoyed it and I learned a couple things.

dawniesummers's review against another edition

2.0

.

chrisbond's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny informative lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

chicafrom3's review

funny informative reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

An examination of the development of the theory of evolution and the scientific method broadly, using the Discworld wizards to help illustrate. Doesn't quite hang together but has some bright spots, particularly with regards to illuminating lesser known parts of Darwin's work.

carosbcher's review

2.0

Well, I come to think that Pratchett and me just doesn't work...or maybe it's the combination of supposed to be funny science talk plus a supposed to be funny story that doesn't really go anywhere? I don't know. I also gave up on this book about 120 pages in. I liked it a little better than the second book but still...just not for me. I do have one other Terry Pratchett book on my shelf and I might like that one better because it's "only" a story but I think for now I'll take a little Discworld/Roundworld break ;)

mairywo's review

challenging funny informative slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

laguiri's review

4.0

Para entender mejor este libro, hay que leer los dos anteriores, sobre todo el primero. La mezcla de una historia de los magos y capítulos de divulgación científica está mejor enlazada, los temas son originales, a veces complejos pero tratados de una manera sencilla, al alcance (casi siempre) de humanistas sin remedio como yo. Muy recomendable.

tehstripe's review

3.0

This was the first book I read in the Science of Discworld series, and though it was comprehensible, I think it may have been a more enjoyable experience had I read the other two first.

Either way, this is a strange book - one third of it is a short story about Discworld and Roundworld and Charles Darwin, and the other two thirds alternates as a mix of a popular science book, a biography on Darwin, a history book, and a philosophy book. All of the Discworld portion was fun, but some of the chapters in the other two thirds were either boring (I had to skip some of the sections on Victorian England) or so deep into theory that they’re nearly incomprehensible (the chapters on time travel and infinity are particularly intense).

Still, for the most part I found it enjoyable and learned some fun facts. Not a bad read if you like both Discworld and science.