A thorough, at times dazzling, display of physics taking on physics, raising many questions as it throws a withering...
A challenging rebuke to many of the foundation stones of physics.
Launier has many bones to pick with the way in which the science of physics is conducted, most notably its disassociation with simple logic and commonsense, and he tackles them with vigor. “Physics is about elucidating the mechanics of our materialistic environment; but unfortunately, in too many instances, it is deceived by mysticism, vanity, and/or blind idolism.” The idea espoused in his book rests upon the principle that a physical equation must accurately describe how a physical event unfolds, without the inconsistencies and incongruities that pepper the field. In that sense, and as a card-carrying skeptic, Launier makes you do that most elementally gratifying thing—stop and think. Take a minute—well, at 700 densely composed pages, a few minutes—and run a test or two. Watch closely as he displays how Young’s classical kinetic energy equation founders when run in conjunction with the conservation of energy law, using the same figures and parameters. Observe how he shrewdly delineates his quarrels with relativity theory. Launier is happy to give credit where it is due—Newton’s corollary 1 vector theory works for him, corollary 2 doesn’t; he appreciates Feynman’s work regarding interactions between elementary particles and their carrier bosons. And he is bold, but practical, with his own constructs: “Einstein’s idea, that the transfer of energy always involves a proportional transfer of mass, is illusory. If there is an increase in energy, it involves a proportional increase in mass and/or a proportional increase in velocity.” He moves steadily forward, starting with energy, on through time, forces, gravity, light; pointing to where scientific orthodoxy caused the fudging of experiments; tendering corrections where he has been able, freely admitting when he is flummoxed.
A thorough, at times dazzling, display of physics taking on physics, raising many questions as it throws a withering spotlight on old favorites.Pub Date: March 11, 2011
ISBN: 978-1456560201
Page Count: 702
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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