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Science: Abridged Beyond the Point of Usefulness
In this new book, every major field of science is summarized in a small section, containing the history, major insights, specific subdisciplines, and recent developments of that field. We also provide at least one important chart for each branch of science.
60 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2017
13 people are currently reading
794 people want to read
About the author
Zach Weinersmith
30 books321 followersZachary Weinersmith (born Zachary Alexander Weiner) is an American cartoonist, who is best known for his webcomic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (SMBC). He is the author of two other webcomics, the completed Captain Stupendous with artist Chris Jones, and Snowflakes, co-written by James Ashby and also illustrated by Chris Jones. He also founded the sketch comedy group SMBC Theater with James Ashby and Marty Weiner in 2009.
Weinersmith has been involved in writing and drawing comics since his high school years, but he first published on the internet in the late 1990s. His early comics usually had three or more panels, but after 2002, he switched to drawing predominantly one panel comics. He stated in a 2009 interview that he was glad to have decided to draw one panel comics because he felt three panel webcomics had become a webcomic cliche by that time, and that there were almost no decent one panel comics on the internet. More recently, he has drawn a mixture of single and multi panel comics for SMBC.
Weinersmith's webcomic was recognized in 2006, and 2007 with the Web Cartoonists' Choice Award for Outstanding Single Panel Comic,[3] and received nominations in 2003,[4] and 2008.[5]
SMBC is at heart a geek comic, which nevertheless addresses a broad range of topics, such as love, relationships, economics, politics, religion, science, and philosophy. As shown by the diverse range of blogs listed above, it appeals to many different groups.
SMBC has around 250,000 daily readers, served over 300,000,000 comics in 2010, and is one of the fastest growing comics online (has sextupled in readership since 2008). The comics have been featured on many important blogs, including The Economist, Glamour, BoingBoing, Bad Astronomy, Blastr, Blues News, Joystiq, Washington Post, Freakonomics, and more.
Zach has a degree in Literature and 3/8ths of a degree in physics. He enjoys reading about math, logic, science, history, fiction, and philosophy. His hobbies are space travel, dinosaur riding, and wishful thinking. He currently lives in southern California with his beautiful and brilliant wife.
Note: Zach publishes SMBC and SMBC material under both "Zach Weiner" and "Zach Weinersmith".
Weinersmith has been involved in writing and drawing comics since his high school years, but he first published on the internet in the late 1990s. His early comics usually had three or more panels, but after 2002, he switched to drawing predominantly one panel comics. He stated in a 2009 interview that he was glad to have decided to draw one panel comics because he felt three panel webcomics had become a webcomic cliche by that time, and that there were almost no decent one panel comics on the internet. More recently, he has drawn a mixture of single and multi panel comics for SMBC.
Weinersmith's webcomic was recognized in 2006, and 2007 with the Web Cartoonists' Choice Award for Outstanding Single Panel Comic,[3] and received nominations in 2003,[4] and 2008.[5]
SMBC is at heart a geek comic, which nevertheless addresses a broad range of topics, such as love, relationships, economics, politics, religion, science, and philosophy. As shown by the diverse range of blogs listed above, it appeals to many different groups.
SMBC has around 250,000 daily readers, served over 300,000,000 comics in 2010, and is one of the fastest growing comics online (has sextupled in readership since 2008). The comics have been featured on many important blogs, including The Economist, Glamour, BoingBoing, Bad Astronomy, Blastr, Blues News, Joystiq, Washington Post, Freakonomics, and more.
Zach has a degree in Literature and 3/8ths of a degree in physics. He enjoys reading about math, logic, science, history, fiction, and philosophy. His hobbies are space travel, dinosaur riding, and wishful thinking. He currently lives in southern California with his beautiful and brilliant wife.
Note: Zach publishes SMBC and SMBC material under both "Zach Weiner" and "Zach Weinersmith".
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
January 28, 2019
Caution to my rating is, a low rating doesn't mean the book is not well to read.
This book is fine, jolly good, pleasure making for a different kind of insight. But the thoughtful means are not the ideas what science is about. A funky little read is rather an advertising level of something. Though the book doesn't seem to be click-bait, it gives the sense to comment like the lines are written. For the supreme coverage of social media, daily life is getting its story even from the virtual worlds. Too much commenting, than working. Too much judging, making things funnier isn't the way to last. We must build the mentality of significance making things.
To form a drop of water there's a threshold amount of water. To express a long time journey there's no at least sentence that one can absolutely replicate the feelings from the experience. But the larger the sketches of descriptions are, it's nearer. I want just to note a rebel to short-time things.
Caution: I read the preface, but the reader will not act like what a writer says to read like. The reader will do what he is facing.
This book is fine, jolly good, pleasure making for a different kind of insight. But the thoughtful means are not the ideas what science is about. A funky little read is rather an advertising level of something. Though the book doesn't seem to be click-bait, it gives the sense to comment like the lines are written. For the supreme coverage of social media, daily life is getting its story even from the virtual worlds. Too much commenting, than working. Too much judging, making things funnier isn't the way to last. We must build the mentality of significance making things.
To form a drop of water there's a threshold amount of water. To express a long time journey there's no at least sentence that one can absolutely replicate the feelings from the experience. But the larger the sketches of descriptions are, it's nearer. I want just to note a rebel to short-time things.
Caution: I read the preface, but the reader will not act like what a writer says to read like. The reader will do what he is facing.
February 18, 2021
বইয়ের নামেই পরিচয়— বিজ্ঞানের বিভিন্ন শাখা-প্রশাখা নিয়ে এত সংক্ষিপ্ত করে বলা হয়েছে যে আদতে আর কিছু বুঝবার জো নেই। রসিকতা-মাখা ওয়ান লাইনার হয়ে দাঁড়িয়েছে একেকটা পর্যবেক্ষণ। লেখকগণ দেখলাম নিজেদেরকেও পচাতে ছাড়েননি। বইটার শুরুতে একটা পঙক্তি লেখা ছিল জার্মানে, "Das is nicht einmal falsch". অর্থ গুগল করে দেখি, মানে দাঁড়ায়, "ঠিক তো হওয়া দূর, ভুলও হয়নি!" নিজের ল্যাখা বইকে ইঙ্গিত করে এমন চাপা কৌতুকের স্ফূরণ দেখা যায় না সহজে।
বই পড়ে মজা পেয়েছি৷ রেফারেন্সগুলো একেবারে 'যথার্থ' যাকে বলে, ধরতে পারলে আরো ভাল্লাগবে! যেমন দেখুন বইয়ের এক্কেবারে প্রথম পাঠ ফিজিক্স, ফিজিক্সের ইতিহাস বলা হচ্ছে:
"এরিস্টটল অনেক কিছু কইছিল, সব ভুল। গ্যালিলেও আর নিউটন আইসা ঝামেলা ঠিক করছে। তারপর আইনস্টাইন আইসা উল্টাপাল্টা কৈরা দিসে আবার। এখন আমরা মোটামুটি সবই গবেষণা কৈরা সমাধান করে ফেলছি, কয়েকটা জিনিস বাদে। ছোট্ট জিনিস, বড় জিনিস, গরম জিনিস, ঠাণ্ডা জিনিস, দ্রুতগতির জিনিস, ভারী জিনিস, নড়াচড়া করে এমন জিনিস, আর সময়— এইগুলা সম্পর্কে জানা বাকি আছে আরকি।"
ব্যস, ইতিহাস- পাঠ সমাপ্ত! এভাবে একে একে ছয়টা বিজ্ঞানের খোঁজ পাবেন, tongue in cheek প্রথায় সরল বর্ণনা আর সরলতর গ্রাফ দিয়ে।
মাত্র ৫০ পৃষ্ঠার বইটা চমৎকার বিনোদন দিল। পড়া সার্থক।
বই পড়ে মজা পেয়েছি৷ রেফারেন্সগুলো একেবারে 'যথার্থ' যাকে বলে, ধরতে পারলে আরো ভাল্লাগবে! যেমন দেখুন বইয়ের এক্কেবারে প্রথম পাঠ ফিজিক্স, ফিজিক্সের ইতিহাস বলা হচ্ছে:
"এরিস্টটল অনেক কিছু কইছিল, সব ভুল। গ্যালিলেও আর নিউটন আইসা ঝামেলা ঠিক করছে। তারপর আইনস্টাইন আইসা উল্টাপাল্টা কৈরা দিসে আবার। এখন আমরা মোটামুটি সবই গবেষণা কৈরা সমাধান করে ফেলছি, কয়েকটা জিনিস বাদে। ছোট্ট জিনিস, বড় জিনিস, গরম জিনিস, ঠাণ্ডা জিনিস, দ্রুতগতির জিনিস, ভারী জিনিস, নড়াচড়া করে এমন জিনিস, আর সময়— এইগুলা সম্পর্কে জানা বাকি আছে আরকি।"
ব্যস, ইতিহাস- পাঠ সমাপ্ত! এভাবে একে একে ছয়টা বিজ্ঞানের খোঁজ পাবেন, tongue in cheek প্রথায় সরল বর্ণনা আর সরলতর গ্রাফ দিয়ে।
মাত্র ৫০ পৃষ্ঠার বইটা চমৎকার বিনোদন দিল। পড়া সার্থক।
February 4, 2023
Breve pero entretenida introducción en modo cachondeo a las diferentes ramas de la ciencia. Lectura ligera que esconde muchas perlas profundas. Algunos highlights:
Chemistry is “the central science,” which means if a chemist does something interesting, it will be categorized as either physics or biology.
Robotics: A method for converting mechanical energy into job loss.
Applied Mathematics: Mathematics for traitors.
Civil Engineering: The design and creation of stuff for military engineers to blow up.
Meteorology: The study of “Is it gonna rain today or what?”
Climate Science: The study of “Is it gonna devastate human civilization with floods and hurricanes this century or what?”
Paleontology: The classification of rocks by whether they once had feelings.
Volcanology: Dermatology, but for planets.
The Rosetta Stone of the human mind is traumatic head injuries.
Your personality is located at the part of your brain that is most likely to get punched, which gives you a sense of how much Evolution cares about your inner self.
If you suspect that you suck, you will probably suck. This is called the self-fulfilling prophecy. If you suspect you are great, you will probably suck. This is called the Dunning-Kruger effect. There’s an obvious deduction to be made here, but you probably missed it.
July 26, 2019
Ecology: The attempt to discover all the poorly understood species in a system, then misunderstand them at the same time.
Cognitive Science: 19th century men consulted their own thought processes and decided they were barely restrained perverts. 20th century men consulted their own thought processes and decided they were just stimulus-response machines. Later, it turned out people sometimes think about stuff, and not all of it is butts.
November 21, 2017
This very short book probably took about 5000 times longer to write than it took me to read. But it is really funny. I wanted to stop just about every sentence and share the joke with my wife. So I recommend reading this in a room by yourself.
September 14, 2020
Pros: Some of the most hilarious jokes on science in a summarised form.
Cons: you will probably have to be well acquainted with the science in order to get the joke.
Cons: you will probably have to be well acquainted with the science in order to get the joke.
June 2, 2024
I hate all knowledge now
April 10, 2020
Science: people trying to explain stuff and failing miserably.
November 16, 2020
Unlike the Bible one, this book delivers on its title since science is, in fact, useful for a thing or two, and Weinersmith brilliantly and in blessedly short chunks explains exactly what each of those things are not.
December 23, 2020
Science made easy!
January 14, 2018
EN/CZ
This book is pure genius. As far as I can tell, Zack delivers on the promise from the books name.
He manages to capture the essence of every scientific field he discusses and at the same time presents basically useless descriptions of these fields. Although quoting even
one can present a significant part of the book, I still want to present one of my favorite bits and actually Zack allows me to, because the whole book is under a Creative Commons
license! So if you have the opportunity, get it, read it and realize that your so important field of science can be summed up in one misleading sentence.
"Applied Mathematics: Mathematics for traitors."
CZ
Škoda, že neexistuje český překlad, ale je to geniální sbírka krátkých popisů vědních oborů.
Je to krátké, k věci, a totálně mimo. Popisy jsou, jak Zack slibuje, natolik krátké, že jsou prakticky nepoužitelné.
Kromě vtipu je na knize také velmi sympatické, že je vydána pod licencí umožňující nekomerční sdílení!
This book is pure genius. As far as I can tell, Zack delivers on the promise from the books name.
He manages to capture the essence of every scientific field he discusses and at the same time presents basically useless descriptions of these fields. Although quoting even
one can present a significant part of the book, I still want to present one of my favorite bits and actually Zack allows me to, because the whole book is under a Creative Commons
license! So if you have the opportunity, get it, read it and realize that your so important field of science can be summed up in one misleading sentence.
"Applied Mathematics: Mathematics for traitors."
CZ
Škoda, že neexistuje český překlad, ale je to geniální sbírka krátkých popisů vědních oborů.
Je to krátké, k věci, a totálně mimo. Popisy jsou, jak Zack slibuje, natolik krátké, že jsou prakticky nepoužitelné.
Kromě vtipu je na knize také velmi sympatické, že je vydána pod licencí umožňující nekomerční sdílení!
April 3, 2019
My advice for the reader: this book was written for the professional scientist. You probably wont enjoy it if you aren't one. Those who are not employed in the gritty business of the sciences are apt to find them glamorous and meaningful. Only if you work frantically grant to grant and publish useless drivel to please the money makers will you find this book at all refreshing. The one star reviews, please understand, this was not for you. Only the disgust and hopelessness one feels when forced to study what has been proved to earn the money to be permitted to postulate the radical might enjoy this collection of one liners poking fun at the playmates across the hall "studying " a rival discipline. I enjoyed it. Add my five stars to the average and think what you will. Thank you weinersmith, long may you run
.
.
November 12, 2017
Funny, but also (slightly) informative. Does a pretty good job of lumping all (ish) of science into just six categories, and summarizing each one in a sentence or two, plus a one or two more for various sub-disciplines. As the preface explains, it does however exclude "Anthropology and its important subdiscipline Sociology, as well as Economics and its important applied field, Evil." It also excludes Mathematics, but I'll leave you to read the reasons why in each case.
This is a follow-up to the author's "Holy Bible Abridged...", and I enjoyed it quite a bit more, perhaps because I'm frankly more familiar with the source material.
This is a follow-up to the author's "Holy Bible Abridged...", and I enjoyed it quite a bit more, perhaps because I'm frankly more familiar with the source material.
August 7, 2017
Weinersmith acknowledges on the last page that he may have ignored notes from PhDs to make a joke work. That said, there's enough truth in here that every one I've shared the section of their degree with has found it really funny. It's a quick read and a great gift for the science nerd in your life.
October 24, 2017
All of science in 52 pages; definitely not useful for learning anything about a subject you don't know anything about (see title!) but funny if you already know something about them. My favourite joke is the one about Physics stealing all of the recent Chemistry developments; it's funny because it is true (and I am a physicist).
November 18, 2019
A book that is so entertaining, intelligent and fun, is truly what reading a book for entertainment is all about. I chuckled because I understood the references, and the references I didn't understand I still chuckled because it was very funny how he worded them.
June 6, 2020
Another in Zach Weinersmith’s “Abridged” series, Science: Abridged Beyond the Point of Usefulness is another tongue-in-cheek examination of topics that require much more than a few witty summations to understand completely. Unfortunately, much like his Nerd Disses book, only those who have extensively studied all of these scientific disciplines will understand every joke. As an engineer, I could understand a lot of the humor here, but even I was ignorant of some of the more obscure (or more social) sciences. That being said, he nailed the abridged version of engineering, which makes me think the other sciences received the same treatment.
While not nearly as borderline sacrilegious as The Holy Bible: Abridged , Science: Abridged does get its cheap shots in where it can. I’m sure those who extensively study these sciences will laugh at the sardonic tidbits contained in this book, understanding how ridiculous their chosen field may appear at times. Others might groan with how “close to home” some of the jabs come to exposing the weaknesses in their particular areas of study. I’m sure it’s all written in good fun and without any malice intended toward its audience.
Even though this is a short book that I’d assume would be best suited as a decorative item on a coffee table, end table, or toilet tank, I would have appreciated an appendix or “further reading” section for those people who happened to have their interest piqued with the brief summations of these scientific studies. Of course, having an extensive bibliography would somewhat defeat the purpose of a book that touts its abridgment cuts the source material down to mere uselessness.
A funny book for those who know what’s funny about it, I give Science: Abridged 3.0 stars out of 5.
January 2, 2021
Hilarious take on Science and its sub-fields
Also, the title of the book is true in every sense.
Earth Science: History
A bunch of space-junk formed into a big hot space-ball. Later it cooled down, and life formed. Then, apes evolved on its surface and tried to get it back to its earlier state.
Another one, this time from recent developments in the field of cognitive science:
We can now connect your brain directly to a computer, so you should finally be able to play video games without having to engage your arms.
So brutal.
Last one I promise, History of Physics:
Aristotle said a bunch of stuff that was wrong. Galileo and Newton fixed things up. Then Einstein broke everything again. Now, we’ve basically got it all worked out, except for small stuff, big stuff, hot stuff, cold stuff, fast stuff, heavy stuff, dark stuff, turbulence, and the concept of time.
Turbulence? 😂
Also, the title of the book is true in every sense.
Earth Science: History
A bunch of space-junk formed into a big hot space-ball. Later it cooled down, and life formed. Then, apes evolved on its surface and tried to get it back to its earlier state.
Another one, this time from recent developments in the field of cognitive science:
We can now connect your brain directly to a computer, so you should finally be able to play video games without having to engage your arms.
So brutal.
Last one I promise, History of Physics:
Aristotle said a bunch of stuff that was wrong. Galileo and Newton fixed things up. Then Einstein broke everything again. Now, we’ve basically got it all worked out, except for small stuff, big stuff, hot stuff, cold stuff, fast stuff, heavy stuff, dark stuff, turbulence, and the concept of time.
Turbulence? 😂
August 7, 2020
More literal laugh out loud funny. Weinersmith is deliciously witty and as they say in Boston, wicked smaht, but then we already knew that. He abridges Physics, Chemistry, Engineering and Applied Science, Biology, Earth Science, and Cognitive Science into history, major insights, subdisciplines, recent developments, and important charts and apologizes none to the 39 acknowledged people from whom he “received considerate notes, found them lucid and insightful, then ignored [...] to make a stupid joke work.”
One chuckler quote, from Major Insights on Cognitive Science:
“If you suspect you suck, you will probably suck. This is called the self-fulfilling prophesy. If you suspect you are great, you will probably suck. This is called the Duning-Kruger effect. There’s an obvious deduction to be made here, but you probably missed it.”
One chuckler quote, from Major Insights on Cognitive Science:
“If you suspect you suck, you will probably suck. This is called the self-fulfilling prophesy. If you suspect you are great, you will probably suck. This is called the Duning-Kruger effect. There’s an obvious deduction to be made here, but you probably missed it.”
July 27, 2020
This was kind of a non-fiction book but more a satire than anything else. Weinersmith essentially summarises all the science fields and it's absolutely hilarious if you understand the context. One of my friends told me about this book, sending me a few excerpts and I knew I had to read the rest of it. So damn worth it! I think my favourite section was probably the psychology bits.
The book was super short (and this review will be too) but I was just glad to be able to laugh aloud at something. The author also has a web-comic linked here which is definitely worth checking out too!
The book was super short (and this review will be too) but I was just glad to be able to laugh aloud at something. The author also has a web-comic linked here which is definitely worth checking out too!
December 20, 2017
I received this book in the mail and then walked a block to where my car was parked.
On the way, I found myself in conversation with a small man from Boston walking his dog. He was very upset that social media wouldn't allow him to solve his problems by physically assaulting people. I showed him this book and he said, "nothing else needs to be said," and walked away.
Your results may vary.
On the way, I found myself in conversation with a small man from Boston walking his dog. He was very upset that social media wouldn't allow him to solve his problems by physically assaulting people. I showed him this book and he said, "nothing else needs to be said," and walked away.
Your results may vary.
June 23, 2020
Very funny.
Some complain that it is very short. It is indeed very short, but it is also very cheap; technically you can even get it for free without breaking the law. So I really don't see how length is an issue.
Some complain that it is very short. It is indeed very short, but it is also very cheap; technically you can even get it for free without breaking the law. So I really don't see how length is an issue.
December 27, 2021
I needed a book for my busy college son’s Christmas “book box,” and came across this one. I haven’t missed an episode of Science Friday in nearly 20 years, and he’s a Computer Science major who just took a “History of Science” class, and we each laughed out loud reading this. Absolutely delightful!
June 22, 2022
It is funny. I enjoyed it a lot - especially the Earth Science and its subdisciplines.
It is short though. Officially 49 pages, actually closer to 40. With ~€5 price tag it costs you around 10 cents per page which is quite expensive.
But it's worth it :)
It is short though. Officially 49 pages, actually closer to 40. With ~€5 price tag it costs you around 10 cents per page which is quite expensive.
But it's worth it :)
January 5, 2024
"If you suspect that you suck, you will probably suck. This is called the self-fulfilling prophecy. If you suspect you are great, you will probably suck. This is called the Dunning-Kruger effect. There's an obvious deduction to be made here, but you probably missed it."
literalmente eu aí
literalmente eu aí
February 26, 2024
I thought that the book was potentially too short, but it was hilarious through and through and I cannot find so much as a comma of filler, which I quite like. Great jokes that even people who are casually acquainted with science can understand and appreciate.
July 30, 2017
If only all books about learning stuff were this easy to read...
July 31, 2017
Good. Shorter than I expected it to be.
October 15, 2017
Short, fun and surprisingly accurate.
November 12, 2017
A hilarious and yet disturbingly accurate view of many sciences through the lens of the creator of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews