by Craig Evan Royce ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 9, 2012
A blend of oral history, natural history and travelogue that brings an oft-forgotten corner of the West to life.
Royce (Country Miles Are Longer than City Miles, 2006) looks at the glory days of uranium mining in the American West.
The author draws on black-and-white images from a never-before-published 1970s photo essay by photographer Martin about Utah’s uranium mines to takes readers on a journey through the history of uranium mining. The book covers its early days—before the properties of radiation were discovered around the turn of the 20th century—as well as the industry’s heyday in the 1940s, when the demands of the Manhattan Project and the fledgling nuclear industry meant a booming market for every ton of ore the mines could produce. The book includes an oral history from Brenda Migliaccio, the daughter of a prominent mining family, as well as anecdotes from others in the industry. The text is illustrated with evocative images of the mines’ stark environment, and the author describes an engaging world, full of classic Old West characters and a handful of East Coast and European scientists who supplied the theoretical knowledge that made the miners’ finds so valuable. Several times, the author includes a story about a possibly apocryphal visit from Marie Curie, and it’s a tale that’s clearly important to local residents, even if, according to the author, it can’t be confirmed in the historical record. The book would likely have benefited from a stronger edit, as frequent grammatical errors and flowery prose drag down the narrative. The book’s subject, however, is an intriguing and specialized one, and this history will likely find a receptive audience among historians and enthusiasts of the Four Corners region. The author’s passion for his topic, and his desire to see this story told, is evident throughout.
A blend of oral history, natural history and travelogue that brings an oft-forgotten corner of the West to life.Pub Date: July 9, 2012
ISBN: 978-1477203996
Page Count: 166
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Adam Frank ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 21, 2023
Solid data and reasoned conjecture strike a harmonious balance in a new SETI.
A jocular title does not even hint at the real wonders of this cook’s tour of alien life.
Astrophysicist Frank, author of Light of the Stars and The Constant Fire, has been obsessed with the idea of extraterrestrial life since childhood. After years of dreaming about exploring the cosmos for signs of intelligent life, he and other scientists are on the threshold of a new era of unprecedented discovery in the field of astrobiology. He details not only recent revelations in the detection of exoplanets, but also the search for technosignatures, indicators of technologically advanced species on worlds light years distant. These are not merely elements of science fiction. They are realities now within human reach thanks to the continuing development of ultra-powerful telescopes and to the sea change in a scientific culture that once scoffed at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). Frank’s enthusiasm is contagious, occasionally over-exuberant, and there is plenty of hard science in this survey, which the author presents with economy and accessibility. The book brims with fascinating facts and speculations, from the particulars of astrobiology to Dyson spheres. Frank’s cosmic tour makes stops at such milestones as the Fermi Paradox and the Drake Equation, showing how these 1950s advances continue to inform our thinking about the possibility of technological civilizations. The author also recounts the origins and current manifestations of the UFO craze and how the advancement of actual science has been impeded by 70 years of pop culture images that haunt our collective expectations. Frank advises we look for alien life where it most likely exists: deep space. He also stresses the key point that we have only begun to peer into the universe with instruments capable of breakthrough discoveries, a useful riposte to critics of the effort. Throughout, Frank champions the importance of demanding standards of evidence: “They are, literally, why science works.”
Solid data and reasoned conjecture strike a harmonious balance in a new SETI.Pub Date: Nov. 21, 2023
ISBN: 9780063279735
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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by Jorge Cham & Daniel Whiteson ; illustrated by Jorge Cham ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 2, 2021
A solid foundational education in a handful of lively scientific topics.
Two science podcasters answer their mail.
In this illustrated follow-up to We Have No Idea: A Guide to the Unknown Universe (2017), Cham, a cartoonist and former research associate and instructor at Caltech, and Whiteson, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California, Irvine, explain the basic science behind subjects that seem to preoccupy the listeners of their podcast, Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe. Most of the questions involve physics or astrophysics and take the form of, is such-and-such possible?—e.g., teleportation, alien visitors, building a warp drive, entering a black hole). The authors emphasize that they are answering as scientists, not engineers. “A physicist will say something is possible if they don’t know of a law of physics that prevents it.” Thus, a spaceship traveling fast enough to reach the nearest star in a reasonable amount of time is not forbidden by the laws of physics, but building one is inconceivable. Similarly, wormholes and time travel are “not known to be impossible”—as are many other scenarios. Some distressing events are guaranteed. An asteroid will strike the Earth, the sun will explode, and the human race will become extinct, but studies reveal that none are immediate threats. Sadly, making Mars as habitable as Earth is possible but only with improbably futuristic technology. For those who suspect that we are living in a computer simulation, the authors describe what clues to look for. Readers may worry that the authors step beyond their expertise when they include chapters on the existence of an afterlife or the question of free will. Sticking closely to hard science, they deliver a lucid overview of brain function and the debate over the existence of alternate universes that is unlikely to provoke controversy. The authors’ work fits neatly into the recently burgeoning market of breezy pop-science books full of jokes, asides, and cartoons that serve as introductions to concepts that require much further study to fully understand.
A solid foundational education in a handful of lively scientific topics.Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-18931-3
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Riverhead
Review Posted Online: Sept. 6, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2021
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