Tom Mcleish relishes the earlier name for science, “natural philosphy” – in other words, “loving wisdom about nature”. In this fascinating book McLeish, professor of physics at Durham University, presents a rich and positive alternative to the sterile thesis of the “New Atheists” that science and faith are in perpetual conflict. In its place he offers an altogether grander vision, in which science takes an honoured and natural place in a much broader historical and cultural narrative. Science is a truly human endeavour, in which all of us have a stake – not just the experts. McLeish liberally sprinkles his book with examples of science in practice, often drawn from his own experience, which give an idea of the excitement of modern science as