Many readers will settle for the magic show, but those who choose to pore over the authors’ explanations and perhaps take a...
Two physicists lead a tour of our universe and explain how we can better understand it by “doing science.”
Authors who take on cosmology have a difficult job. Many concepts (relativity, quantum phenomena) are complex, and even familiar ones, like gravity and light, need at least a little mathematics to make sense. Since equations are often considered the kiss of death regarding sales to general readership, popular science writers traditionally assure readers that none will sully their texts. Even in skilled hands, the simplification and/or absence of math converts much of cosmology into a magic show. Although they’re entertained, readers must accept many phenomena on faith. This is not a problem since few creationists read these books, but TV commentator Cox (Particle Physics/Univ. of Manchester) and Forshaw (Theoretical Physics/Univ. of Manchester), who have co-authored multiple books, including The Quantum Universe (2012), refuse to take that approach. The authors not only describe what cosmologists have learned over the centuries, but how they proved it, and there is no shortage of math. As they note, “anybody, standing in their back garden with a reasonably sized amateur telescope…can prove that we live in an expanding Universe and measure the rate of the Universe’s expansion.” Readers willing to make a modest effort and use their high school algebra can confirm that examining the present universe makes it clear that it began with the Big Bang. Calculating when this happened is not difficult, but determining how everything—i.e. space, time, matter, and energy—evolved takes some thought. Fortunately, plenty of brilliant scientists, led by Einstein (a big favorite of the authors), gave it close attention.
Many readers will settle for the magic show, but those who choose to pore over the authors’ explanations and perhaps take a pencil and paper to follow along will gain a more significant understanding of some profound cosmological phenomena.Pub Date: April 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-306-82270-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Da Capo
Review Posted Online: Jan. 15, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
An intriguing meditation on the nature of the universe and our attempts to understand it that should appeal to both...
Italian theoretical physicist Rovelli (General Relativity: The Most Beautiful of Theories, 2015, etc.) shares his thoughts on the broader scientific and philosophical implications of the great revolution that has taken place over the past century.
These seven lessons, which first appeared as articles in the Sunday supplement of the Italian newspaper Sole 24 Ore, are addressed to readers with little knowledge of physics. In less than 100 pages, the author, who teaches physics in both France and the United States, cogently covers the great accomplishments of the past and the open questions still baffling physicists today. In the first lesson, he focuses on Einstein's theory of general relativity. He describes Einstein's recognition that gravity "is not diffused through space [but] is that space itself" as "a stroke of pure genius." In the second lesson, Rovelli deals with the puzzling features of quantum physics that challenge our picture of reality. In the remaining sections, the author introduces the constant fluctuations of atoms, the granular nature of space, and more. "It is hardly surprising that there are more things in heaven and earth, dear reader, than have been dreamed of in our philosophy—or in our physics,” he writes. Rovelli also discusses the issues raised in loop quantum gravity, a theory that he co-developed. These issues lead to his extraordinary claim that the passage of time is not fundamental but rather derived from the granular nature of space. The author suggests that there have been two separate pathways throughout human history: mythology and the accumulation of knowledge through observation. He believes that scientists today share the same curiosity about nature exhibited by early man.
An intriguing meditation on the nature of the universe and our attempts to understand it that should appeal to both scientists and general readers.Pub Date: March 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-18441-3
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Riverhead
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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