An impressive rendering of the disturbing history of human tinkering with nature.
An exploration of humans’ role as “curators of the planet that we have come to dominate.”
Transforming plants and animals for our own benefit began in prehistoric times, according to this expert, often unsettling account of this transformation’s progress, which accelerated after World War II and will soon reach warp speed with advances that continue to build on those from the past decade. Science writer Pilcher, whose previous book was about de-extinction, writes that it began with the dog, domesticated tens of thousands of years ago. This was accomplished by simple Darwinian natural selection: The most amiable wolves prospered by associating with humans, produced far more offspring than their unfriendly peers, and they now vastly outnumber them. Similarly, by selecting only desirable qualities, our ancestors converted other flora and fauna to more productive crops and domestic animals. After scientists learned the secrets of DNA in the mid-20th century, genetic modification worked its wonders so well that today, there is enough food to feed the world—a goal widely considered impossible 50 years ago. Readers who forget the downside to ordering the Earth for our convenience will squirm as Pilcher chronicles how the world’s jungles are being cleared to grow food mostly intended to feed livestock, which make up 60% of the planet’s large land animals. Humans come next at 36%. Wildlife brings up the rear, at 4% and dwindling. Chickens are by far the most common bird. We eat more than 65 billion (!) each year, and their massive bone remains will lead future paleontologists to believe that chickens were the 21st-century’s dominant life form. Concluding on an upbeat but only mildly uplifting note, Pilcher recounts successful efforts to restore barren countryside to genuine wilderness and the rescue of the cute, flightless New Zealand kakapo from extinction.
An impressive rendering of the disturbing history of human tinkering with nature.Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4729-5671-2
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Bloomsbury Sigma
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
A quirky wonder of a book.
A Peabody Award–winning NPR science reporter chronicles the life of a turn-of-the-century scientist and how her quest led to significant revelations about the meaning of order, chaos, and her own existence.
Miller began doing research on David Starr Jordan (1851-1931) to understand how he had managed to carry on after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake destroyed his work. A taxonomist who is credited with discovering “a full fifth of fish known to man in his day,” Jordan had amassed an unparalleled collection of ichthyological specimens. Gathering up all the fish he could save, Jordan sewed the nameplates that had been on the destroyed jars directly onto the fish. His perseverance intrigued the author, who also discusses the struggles she underwent after her affair with a woman ended a heterosexual relationship. Born into an upstate New York farm family, Jordan attended Cornell and then became an itinerant scholar and field researcher until he landed at Indiana University, where his first ichthyological collection was destroyed by lightning. In between this catastrophe and others involving family members’ deaths, he reconstructed his collection. Later, he was appointed as the founding president of Stanford, where he evolved into a Machiavellian figure who trampled on colleagues and sang the praises of eugenics. Miller concludes that Jordan displayed the characteristics of someone who relied on “positive illusions” to rebound from disaster and that his stand on eugenics came from a belief in “a divine hierarchy from bacteria to humans that point[ed]…toward better.” Considering recent research that negates biological hierarchies, the author then suggests that Jordan’s beloved taxonomic category—fish—does not exist. Part biography, part science report, and part meditation on how the chaos that caused Miller’s existential misery could also bring self-acceptance and a loving wife, this unique book is an ingenious celebration of diversity and the mysterious order that underlies all existence.
A quirky wonder of a book.Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5011-6027-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 1, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
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
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