Readers old or new are in for a fine treat; there really has been nothing in the history of science writing comparable to...
The classic Double Helix (1968) is here again, this time annotated and illustrated and told in all the bold, brash, bumptious style that has become Watson’s (Avoid Boring People and Other Lessons from a Life in Science, 2007, etc.) trademark in the intervening years.
The book scandalized Watson’s peers, got scathing reviews from some, threats of libel from others and all but destroyed relations between Watson and his co-discoverer, Francis Crick. Of course, there was that classic first sentence: “I have never seen Francis Crick in a modest mood.” Reading it again does nothing to diminish the excitement of the pursuit: Watson and Crick batting ideas back and forth, reading, experimenting, consulting, making models, zealous to win out over the competition, primarily Linus Pauling at Caltech. What makes this version so rewarding is the fact that editors Gann and Witkowski have wonderfully put the pursuit in context. The footnotes and illustrations provide thumbnails of the cast of past or contemporary scientists who played a role: in London, Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin, whose X-ray crystallographic images of DNA were critical clues, or those scientists at the Cavendish lab in Cambridge, where Watson and Crick worked. But context also means scenery and lifestyle: the pub lunches, the girl-chasing, the films, dances, ski trips and holidays in storied mansions that Watson so adored. Interestingly, even at the height of battle, with the double helix almost in view, Watson needed time off to play tennis, see a film or attend parties. The book’s publication marks the 50th anniversary of the Nobel Prize awarded to Watson, Crick and Wilkins.
Readers old or new are in for a fine treat; there really has been nothing in the history of science writing comparable to Watson’s tell-all memoir.Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4767-1549-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2012
More short takes (40 of them) from polymath biophysicist Morowitz (Entropy and the Magic Flute, 1993), ensconced now on the faculty at George Mason University in Virginia. The order of the essays is derived from Buddhist groupings called skandas, so that, for instance, Morowitz's ``People and Places'' section ``resonates'' with the skanda of feeling, ``Language'' with the skanda of form. Readers who already know Morowitz's pithy way with words will read the new essays as though they were letters from an old friend whose mind leaps from one thing to another as inspiration hits. Generally, his approach is to celebrate rather than denigrate. And so we stumble upon unsung heroes like the Ukrainian Ivan Puluj, who appears to have been a co-discoverer of X-rays. We learn about the real achievements of Dr. Joseph Ignace Guillotin, the 18th-century French physician and humanitarian who favored mechanical decapitation for all executions as more democratic (and merciful) than the two-class system of the noose for the hoi polloi and the ax for nobility. Some essays are purely personal and meant to charm. In ``The Proctological Truth,'' the author shares his reveries while visiting the History of Medicine Library at Yale, his nose buried in The Romance of Proctology (``I have certainly acquired a knowledge of the history of proctology that goes way beyond what cultural literacy would require of me''). While traveling in Hawaii, he explores the lore of ficus trees. And he confesses that ``for two years I was faculty adviser to the Esperanto Club of George Mason University.'' ``People and Places'' has Morowitz uncharacteristically facing off against that other celebrated scientist/essayist, Stephen Jay Gould, whom he takes to task for accusing the Jesuit Teilhard de Chardin of being a conspirator in the Piltdown hoax. There is something here for nearly anyone who appreciates graceful, seasoned, casual wisdom.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1997
ISBN: 1-887178-49-X
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Counterpoint
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A prolific popularizer of science, Davies (Physics/Univ. of Adelaide, Australia; The Matter Myth, 1992, etc.) gives a broad survey of concepts of time, a subject he has become intimately acquainted with in his research. In a long ramble interspersed with biographical digressions, personal reflections, and questions from a hypothetical ``skeptic'' baffled by the quantum world, Davies discourses on concepts of time embodied in ancient cultural and religious beliefs; the Newtonian clockwork universe, in which time flows according to unbending mathematical laws; Einstein's theory that time is relative and flexible; and nonintuitive ideas from quantum mechanics. In this light, he interprets the history of human intellectual development. There have been revolutionary changes, he notes, but the story is far from over. Davies is energized by the notion that nature is permissive—that just about anything can happen if it is not forbidden by a physical law. This leads into speculations about exotic phenomena as possible consequences of relativity and quantum mechanics: black holes, strings, time warps, wormholes, time travel, alternative consciousness, and time reversal. This list of current hot topics in theoretical and experimental physics gives a realistic picture of contemporary science. A pleasant surprise is how many examples of these investigations are given from the scientific community working ``down under,'' in Australia and New Zealand. Equally enjoyable are the personal stories, including Davies's recollections of his discussions with Stephen Hawking and others. In an amusing passage, the ``chattering classes'' of British literati are savaged for their ill-considered criticism of Hawking's A Brief History of Time. But the copious epigraphs, while sometimes salient, are often irrelevant or bewildering. For readers new to the subject, Davies offers many ``believe- it-or-not'' tidbits for cocktail-party conversation; the better- informed can glean insights, cultural commentary, and late-breaking reportage on the cosmologically bizarre. (Line drawings)
Pub Date: March 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-671-79964-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1995
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