Look back

Historians too often leave science out of the story. But not Michael Howard
who, as a military historian, knows its importance. In his Oxford History of the
Twentieth Century edited with William Roger Louis, the boffins take a lead. His
first three contributors cover the expansion of knowledge, physics in the 20th
century and demography, before minor matters like the world wars get a look in.
Refreshing. Published by Oxford University Press, £24.99, ISBN
0198204280.