When I first decided to read this book I was under the impression it was another look at discoveries and ideas that we thought were so modern but had really already been discovered in ancient times. That is not what this turned out to be, it included many things the ancients thought and discovered that were just flat out wrong as well as what they got right. Most of them I have come across before but its always interesting to hear about them again but from a different perspective and this was true here.

There wasn’t a lot of detail in the stories but that was more than all right, in relatively short sections the author both made clear what each invention, philosophy or discover was and managed to humanize the story and inject a great deal of humor without sounding forced or condescending…no matter how silly the idea the ancients had.

I learned some new things, gained a different perspective on others and made connections between ideas, culture and history that I hadn’t previously made and had fun in the process so for me this was a very successful book. ( )

Won as an ARC.

If my response to the tone is an indication, I'm not the target audience. I find it pleasant enough to dip into, but I don't enjoy reading more than a few pages at a time. I'm classifying it as "reference" to indicate that it contains many interesting facts and doesn't need to be read sequentially. ( )

Divertidas anécdotas sobre los descubrimientos científicos de la Antigüedad y sus creencias. ( )

This book looks at science, technology, and superstition in the Greco-Roman world. The book's title is from a bit on Alexander the Great's body being preserved in honey. The format is short, one or two page anecdotes and mini-histories. Everything from war machines to makeup is covered, and the writing style is very breezy. It kind of annoyed me in a few places, but for the most part it was enjoyable. I didn't know even half the stuff in the book, and I really appreciate books that teach me something. (Even if my bad memory makes me forget it a week later... Sigh.) ( )

Fans of Vicki Leon's other books will enjoy this one. I certainly did (though not as much as Working IX to V). It's just as witty and informative as all her other books, and it impressed me as to just how sophisticated and advanced ancient technologies really were. In some instances, modern engineering has been unable to replicate what the ancients did back in the day! ( )