The idea is better than the execution

It seems an intriguing idea to commission 17 well respected authors to write a short story illustrating great moments in the history of science from seventeenth century astronomy to the Periodic Table, 20th century theory of Inclusive Fitness and DNA, and 21st century AIDS in South Sudan. Each story is accompanied by an Afterword in which a specialist in the scientific field of the story gives a clear explanation of the Light Bulb moment involved in the science.

What really bothered me was - who was Litmus written for? The simplicity of the Afterwards make me think it's not for scientists, (although scientists aren't specialists in all fields), so it must be for the intelligent general reader / listener with a lively interest in science who may be either familiar with the bare bones of - or completely unfamiliar with - the science. But that audience is unlikely to be impressed or engrossed by the stories which on the whole are cumbersome in their inclusion of chunks of undigested science ('I fractionalised our radium isotopes' says one character) with characters who are mere awkward mouthpieces for scientific fact rather than real people.

There are some exceptions, but very few. There are some great scenes - Pavlov's dogs drowning in their cages in St Petersburg when the Neva overflows; the fluorescent and luminescent jellyfish (accompanied by an interesting Afterword on the proteins which produce the glow); the doctor in Africa struggling with yet another baby's death from AIDS. I found only two of the stories worked as complete stories and not merely vehicles for their scientific message. Maggie Gee's Life with Insects combined the theory with real life in the account of Lisa abandoned by her father during her A Level year, and Kate Clancy's Bridehill is a chilling and insightful story of a wife who knows her husband's Alzheimer's is erasing his memory. In these the science is woven in effectively.

I think it was just too difficult to make fiction AND mini science lectures successful. I nearly gave up on it, but I struggled on and am glad that I did. It may not be great, but there's plenty of interest and ideas along avenues you may not usually explore.

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Dull and pretentious

So I've done a few hours of litmus book and it's Just dull. It's like having to Listen to a pretentious old uncle wittering on about a historical event in his life that no one else
Has any interest in. Which is odd because I am interested in science, Maybe I'm not enough of a scientist to enjoy it or take any delight from the story content. The narrator also has a creepy demeanour and I found myself zoning out.

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