Review: How do we know? by Kenny A. Chaffin

How do we know? is a back-to-basics science book for the curious lay person. In a series of short essay like chapters it takes the reader on a journey from the start of our planet to then modern man and AI, explaining the basic science as you go.

The book is written in a conversational style, with a smattering of humour, which makes it easy and enjoyable to read. I even learnt some new things, for example it had never occurred to me that iron ore deposits were formed by Cyanobacteria in the ocean. The language used is generally accessible for someone without a background in science as Chaffin explains concepts in simple terms, however the general language used is still difficult in places, so for educators, I wouldn’t recommend this for students younger than GCSE/A Level.

As each chapter is merely a brief summary of the topic the author provides some helpful links at the end of each chapter, so that the reader can read around the subject. I was somewhat surprised to see that many of these links are to Wikipedia, which I find not to be the most accessible source of further reading in terms of complexity, and is a website that I and most other teachers discourage students from using, due to the sometimes erroneous information it can contain.

Overall an enjoyable and informative read.  How do we know? is available from Amazon.co.uk for £3.45 and from Amazon.com for $5.13.

[A review copy was provided by the author]