Occasionally dense, but the rewards in viewing science as a passionate pursuit that self-corrects over time make this book...
A scholarly history of genetics.
Science writer Schwartz first focuses on the early days, beginning with Darwin’s “pangenesis” theory, whereby physical particles in the bloodstream were thought to embody hereditable traits. The author then proceeds to Darwin’s half first cousin Francis Galton, who dismissed pangenesis, espousing eugenics as the way to improve the human race through selective breeding. Galton’s contributions to statistics also led him to believe that evolution could not proceed gradually, but required “sports”—mutations to alter hereditary factors. In turn, Galton’s disciples would champion mutational theory, opposing the rules of inheritance developed by Mendel and rediscovered by the turn of the 20th century. Schwartz’s sketches of the lives of Mendel, of his rediscoverer William Bateson and of Mendelism critics Hugo De Vries and Bateson’s once-best friend W.F.R. Weldon are gems of melodrama framing the complex breeding experiments each side conducted. But the drama really heats up when the focus changes from Europe to America and the celebrated studies of fruit flies in the Columbia laboratory of T.H. Morgan, who emerges as vain, quixotic, stubborn and quick to take all the credit, all the while inspiring students. Out of the fly group would emerge Hermann Muller, whose flashes of insight, ingenious crossing experiments and use of X-rays to induce mutations would resolve many results that seemed to challenge Mendel’s laws, and in the end demonstrate their validity. Muller’s extremes of behavior—he embraced both communism and eugenics—have clouded his reputation, but the biographical details Schwartz provides are restorative. They point to a brilliance and prescience that merited Muller’s Nobel Prize in 1946, as well as to an emotional life and idealism that led to an almost successful suicide. Schwartz concludes with an epilogue that brings genetics research up to date.
Occasionally dense, but the rewards in viewing science as a passionate pursuit that self-corrects over time make this book worth sticking with.Pub Date: April 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-674-02670-4
Page Count: 370
Publisher: Harvard Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2008
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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