Not much here about technology, but an eye-popping survey of the northern California landscape and (perhaps) its future. (70...
A year spent in Silicon Valley and environs, trying to understand what sorts of clues it will leave for archaeologists of the future.
No one would argue that anything in California is permanent, but British archaeologist and journalist Finn is shocked by the almost incomprehensible pace of change. Only 30 years ago, Santa Clara Valley (Silicon Valley’s real name) was known for its cherry, apricot, and pear orchards. Now all the fruit trees are gone, replaced by computer companies, malls, and apartment buildings. Finn finds a few old-timers who remember the orchards (fondly), but very few. Silicon Valley is like Manhattan: young people from all over the country come there to throw themselves at a dream of fabulous success, though few will make it. The collapse of the dot.coms has clarified this process, bankrupting many young millionaires and sending them home to Modesto. Those who do succeed build fabulous, enormous houses in which one or two people live. Future archaeologists will puzzle over these mansions’ many rooms, whose only function is decor. The mostly Hispanic servants who clean and landscape can find no affordable place to live; they pack, several families deep, into converted garages and studios. However, if you happened to own real estate in the 1960s and sold it in the ’90s, you can count on being wealthy. In one three-month period, property values rose by 40 percent. One family bought a house in Los Altos in 1997 for $7,000,000; it’s now worth $15,000,000. Even mobile homes sell for enough to retire in Arizona. Finn seems to have intended the book to be a full-scale academic study, but she delivers instead a pastiche of notes and photographs, sort of an archaeologist’s diary.
Not much here about technology, but an eye-popping survey of the northern California landscape and (perhaps) its future. (70 illustrations, mostly b&w photos)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-262-06224-0
Page Count: 231
Publisher: MIT Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
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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