Although not aimed at the young, this funny and factual blend of science, history and adventure would make an ideal gift for...
From the author of Cold (2009), another engaging, easy-to-read, free-ranging exploration of a natural phenomenon.
Streever mingles his personal adventures with heat and hot places with tidbits about early mistaken notions about heat, current events and research involving it, and narratives of those who have lived through its toughest challenges. Opening with a scene in which he tests his endurance by holding his hand over an open flame, the author then recounts his own experiences in the blistering, dry heat of the American Southwest. From natural heat, Streever moves on to unmanaged heat (wild fires and their disastrous effects), controlled fires, cooking, peat mining and Iron Age smelting. The author also humorously recounts his own hapless attempts to master the art of starting a fire. To give a sense of Streever’s scope and technique, his chapter on petroleum features a brief history of oil drilling in the United States, a visit to a museum on the site of Drake Well in Pennsylvania, a taste of oil, a canoe trip down a nearby creek and an interview with a refinery engineer in Alaska; his treatment of volcanoes includes not only the mechanisms underlying eruptions and Pliny’s description of the eruption of Vesuvius, but an extensive account of his own trip to Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, where he attempted to make popcorn on freshly hardened lava. At the end, the author recounts his pleasant chat with a physicist and his impressions of the pipes inside the supercollider at Brookhaven, where temperatures of trillions of degrees are produced.
Although not aimed at the young, this funny and factual blend of science, history and adventure would make an ideal gift for an inquisitive adolescent.Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-316-10533-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 3, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2012
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A magnificent account of a central reality of our times, incorporating deep scientific expertise, broad political and social knowledge, and ethical insight, and Idled with beautifully written biographical sketches of the men and women who created nuclear physics. Rhodes describes in detail the great scientific achievements that led up to the invention of the atomic bomb. Everything of importance is examined, from the discovery of the atomic nucleus and of nuclear fission to the emergence of quantum physics, the invention of the mass-spectroscope and of the cyclotron, the creation of such man-made elements as plutonium and tritium, and implementation of the nuclear chain reaction in uranium. Even more important, Rhodes shows how these achievements were thrust into the arms of the state, which culminated in the unfolding of the nuclear arms race. Often brilliantly, he records the rise of fascism and of anti-Semitism, and the intensification of nationalist ambitions. He traces the outbreak of WW II, which provoked a hysterical rivalry among nations to devise the bomb. This book contains a grim description of Japanese resistance, and of the horrible psychological numbing that caused an unparalleled tolerance for human suffering and destruction. Rhodes depicts the Faustian scale of the Manhattan Project. His account of the dropping of the bomb itself, and of the awful firebombing that prepared its way, is unforgettable. Although Rhodes' gallery of names and events is sometimes dizzying, his scientific discussions often daunting, he has written a book of great drama and sweep. A superb accomplishment.
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1986
ISBN: 0684813785
Page Count: 932
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1986
An authoritative, engaging study of plant life, accessible to younger readers as well as adults.
A neurobiologist reveals the interconnectedness of the natural world through stories of plant migration.
In this slim but well-packed book, Mancuso (Plant Science/Univ. of Florence; The Revolutionary Genius of Plants: A New Understanding of Plant Intelligence and Behavior, 2018, etc.) presents an illuminating and surprisingly lively study of plant life. He smoothly balances expansive historical exploration with recent scientific research through stories of how various plant species are capable of migrating to locations throughout the world by means of air, water, and even via animals. They often continue to thrive in spite of dire obstacles and environments. One example is the response of plants following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Three decades later, the abandoned “Exclusion Zone” is now entirely covered by an enormous assortment of thriving plants. Mancuso also tracks the journeys of several species that might be regarded as invasive. “Why…do we insist on labeling as ‘invasive’ all those plants that, with great success, have managed to occupy new territories?” asks the author. “On a closer look, the invasive plants of today are the native flora of the future, just as the invasive species of the past are a fundamental part of our ecosystem today.” Throughout, Mancuso persuasively articulates why an understanding and appreciation of how nature is interconnected is vital to the future of our planet. “In nature everything is connected,” he writes. “This simple law that humans don’t seem to understand has a corollary: the extinction of a species, besides being a calamity in and of itself, has unforeseeable consequences for the system to which the species belongs.” The book is not without flaws. The loosely imagined watercolor renderings are vague and fail to effectively complement Mancuso’s richly descriptive prose or satisfy readers’ curiosity. Even without actual photos and maps, it would have been beneficial to readers to include more finely detailed plant and map renderings.
An authoritative, engaging study of plant life, accessible to younger readers as well as adults.Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-63542-991-6
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Other Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
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