The Eighth Day of Creation
The Eighth Day of Creation by Horace Freeland Judsonby Horace Freeland Judson
Shares rank 18 of 51 history books by recommenders
Recommended as a history of the makers of the revolution in biology, built from interviews with its leading scientists, and called possibly the best history of science ever written.
Recommended as a history of the makers of the revolution in biology, built from interviews with its leading scientists, and called possibly the best history of science ever written.
5 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Built from interviews with leading scientists
“Constructed from interviews the author had with the great biologists and chemists of the era.”
Comment from 8 Nov 2025 in “James Watson has died” Excellent beyond its DNA structure chapters
“which is amazing book beyond the part that covers the elucidation of the structure of DNA”
Comment from 7 Nov 2025 in “James Watson has died” Called possibly the best history of science
“possibly the best history of science ever written”
Comment from 7 Nov 2025 in “James Watson has died”
Other history books people recommend
The four most recommended other history books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Dawn of Everythingby David Graeber and David Wengrow | 23 | 5 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Cadillac Desertby Marc Reisner | 18 | 0 | 100% | 11 | — | Approved |
| The Boxby Marc Levinson | 16 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Sapiensby Yuval Noah Harari | 13 | 9 | 59% | 8 | — | — |
| The Eighth Day of Creationby Horace Freeland JudsonThis page | 5 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
3 of the 5 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Constructed from interviews the author had with the great biologists and chemists of the era.”
“possibly the best history of science ever written”
“which is amazing book beyond the part that covers the elucidation of the structure of DNA”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.