I’m always a sucker for science trivia so naturally this book jumped right off the shelf at me.
There’s a considerable breadth to cover for a title like this, considering that science isn’t so much a subject as the very thing used to explain the modern world. Aydon has instead steered towards a general history of science that dramatically changed public thought and/or went against seemingly absolute truths of the time. So for every Faraday and Hubble, you naturally get your Galileo and Darwin too. 
The entire book is sliced into neat bite sized stories, making it easier to pick up and put the book, instead of the usual flick-through to find the end of the chapter. This also serves a double purpose when you use the book as a quick reference. The scope of the book across the fields of science ensure its value as a handy reference to keep at arms length for anybody keen to brush up on fundamental stuff on a whim.
The argument I can see with Aydon’s book is the subject overlap it shares with another text of science miscellany, Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything. Bryson’s book concerns itself more with the living world, whereas this is more concerned about how science has shaped our modern life. In any case I’d recommend both to anybody, not just people interested in history or science – saying that Bryson’s book is slightly more accessible, although both contain some smirkably good humour.
Overall highly recommendable, and especially great for anybody who’d like to know more about the world without having to delve into seriously difficult science to learn more about the world and universe.
