Descartes, Mr Gribbin explains, invented the geometric system that bears his name after watching a fly buzzing around a rectangular room.

ECONOMIST: History of science: Time's arrow | The

Mr Gribbin's is an unashamedly old-fashioned approach to the history of science.

ECONOMIST: History of science: Time's arrow | The

Rubbish, says Mr Gribbin: scientific theories are rooted in truth, and new theories are not merely different from old ones, but are measurably better.

ECONOMIST: History of science: Time's arrow | The

The endorsement of the late Roy Porter, Britain's foremost practitioner of the history of science, who died earlier this year, underscores the magnitude of Mr Gribbin's achievement.

ECONOMIST: History of science: Time's arrow | The

Mr Gribbin's prose is confident, and his amusing asides include an explanation of the origins of soda water and the observation that the length of a French nobleman's title was, by and large, inversely proportional to his social standing.

ECONOMIST: History of science: Time's arrow | The