[Ichneumon]

While history is studded with geniuses who have had success at defining the elusive processes that keep the universe humming, few have Brian Green's gift for making these processes transparent.

One of the best ever authors for making science understandable was the late Isaac Asimov. He wrote hundreds of essays (many collected in several dozen books) which addressed one aspect of science or another (e.g. the Periodic Table, gravity, etc.) and covered it with striking clarity for the general public.

And more than just covering a topic, he often made a point of taking the reader on a tour of *how* that topic was first discovered, *what* had first gotten scientists on its trail, *which* false starts they had explored, and *why* the current theory was arrived at and seems to be the inevitable explanation for the phenomenon being considered.

All too often science is presented as a dry, "here are some facts and equations, memorize them". Asimov was one of the few authors who took the time to show a nonscientific audience just how science actually works to root out truth and discard error and nonsense, and why it has been so successful in uncovering so many of the secrets of the universe.

In short, he answered not just "what" science knows, but how we know it, and why it's probably correct -- or at least pretty close to it. In fact, one of his essays, "The Relativity of Wrong", did a great job of showing how even "wrong" theories are often "right" to some degree, like how Newtonian or "classical" physics wasn't entirely "right" (it didn't include the effects of quantum physics or Relativity), but it wasn't even close to being all "wrong" -- even today most physics calculations can be done with great accuracy using only classical physics. Science is about "narrowing in" on answers, about getting closer and closer to the whole answer over time.

Many articles by various authors cover *what* science has discovered -- Asimov was a master at showing *how* and *why* those discoveries occurred, how the scientific method is successful, and all the fun drama of the "detective story" that lies behind most scientific discoveries or theories.

Asimov also frequently walked the reader through scientific or mathematical analysis of various problems or topics, in order to show how logical conclusions were arrived at, instead of just presenting a declaration with a "take my word for it".

I learned more real science from Asimov's fun little essays than I did in many of my school science courses.

There's been no one to fill his shoes in that way.

[RightWingAtheist]

Asimov was my hero, and my father's hero as well. He was also the best teacher I ever had. Not only did I learn so much about science, history, and so many other things, as well as the desire to search and learn even more, he also taught me the importance of writing clearly and elegantly. Whenever someone complements me on the "clearness" and "organization" of one of my papers, I'm privately thanking Isaac.