A painless introduction to two of the 20th century’s greatest geniuses.
Dual biography of “the two brilliant individuals who have made the greatest impression on people across the world when they think of science.”
The meeting was the iconic first 1911 Solvay Conference in Brussels, attended by many geniuses besides the two in the title. Orens, a former engineer and executive with Solvay Chemical, presents portraits of Einstein and Curie that will not replace a focused individual life—see Walter Isaacson’s Einstein (2007) and Susan Quinn’s Marie Curie (1995)—but it’s a good read. Ernest Solvay (1838-1922) was a wealthy Belgian industrialist who, like Alfred Nobel, his contemporary, became a philanthropist for scientific causes. Still held every three years, Solvay conferences assemble elite physicists and chemists to discuss a significant problem. Einstein and Curie met at the first and remained friends, although their research never overlapped. As such, Orens skips back and forth as he recounts their lives. Not yet a scientific superstar, Einstein was a central figure at the 1911 meeting, the goal of which was to explain newly discovered quantum phenomena that didn’t make sense. His epic 1905 papers are mostly known for proposing relativity, but one explained that an electron could behave as a particle and energy wave at the same time. A groundbreaking discovery at the birth of quantum mechanics, this “photoelectric effect” (not relativity) won Einstein his Nobel Prize. It was among the first proven phenomena to contradict Newton’s laws, and scientists are still trying to reconcile these quantum effects and classical physics. Curie discovered radium, by far the most radioactive element. Although she didn’t discover radioactivity (a common error), she explained it as a consequence of a breakdown of the atom itself—not, as some theorized, a sort of chemical reaction. Fiercely dedicated, ambitious, and workaholic, she overcame poverty and the almost universal prejudice against educated women to became the first internationally famous woman scientist.
A painless introduction to two of the 20th century’s greatest geniuses.Pub Date: July 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64313-714-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Pegasus
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
A lucid, astute text that unpacks the myths of Russian history to help explain present-day motivations and actions.
An expert on Russia delivers a crucially relevant study of a country that has been continuously “subjected to the vicissitudes of ruling ideologies.”
Wolfson History Prize winner Figes, one of the world’s leading authorities on Russian history and culture, shows how, over centuries, Russian autocrats have manipulated intertwined layers of mythology and history to suit their political and imperial purposes. Regarding current affairs, the author argues convincingly that to understand Putin’s aggressive behavior toward Ukraine and other neighboring nations, it is essential to grasp how Russia has come to see itself within the global order, especially in Asia and Europe. Figes emphasizes the intensive push and pull between concepts of East and West since the dubious founding of Kievan Rus, “the first Russian state,” circa 980. Russia’s geography meant it had few natural boundaries and was vulnerable to invasion—e.g., by the Mongols—and its mere size often required strong, central military control. It was in Moscow’s interests to increase its territorial boundaries and keep its neighbors weak, a strategy still seen today. Figes explores the growth of the “patrimonial autocracy” and examines how much of the mechanics of the country’s autocracy, bureaucracy, military structure, oligarchy, and corruption were inherited from three centuries of Mongol rule. From Peter the Great to Catherine the Great to Alexander II (the reformer who freed the serfs) and through the Bolsheviks to Stalin: In most cases, everything belonged to the state, and there were few societal institutions to check that power. “This imbalance—between a dominating state and a weak society—has shaped the course of Russian history,” writes the author in a meaningful, definitive statement. Today, Putin repudiates any hint of Westernizing influences (Peter the Great) while elevating the Eastern (Kievan Rus, the Orthodox Church). In that, he is reminiscent of Stalin, who recognized the need for patriotic fervor and national myths and symbols to unite and ensure the oppression of the masses.
A lucid, astute text that unpacks the myths of Russian history to help explain present-day motivations and actions.Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-79689-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Metropolitan/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
As elegant and moving as a grief memoir can be.
A deeply felt, searching examination of the feelings and memories provoked by the death of a best friend.
“Would I have been this person without you? Would I have been bold and fearless without you by my side, provoking me and laughing with joy when I succeeded at anything? I will never know, you were with me throughout my most formative years, you are so intrinsically linked to my molding that I cannot think about my fundamental traits…without also thinking of you." Carson and her best friend, Larissa, were a magical pair—not just tall and gorgeous, but also smart, funny, and very well-read Black models who shared a flat in London and went out to clubs, where people got in line to pay for their drinks. Their connection was intense, their love for each other radiant in the anecdotes and text exchanges included here. The decision to include the texts was inspired, since the friends' silly nicknames for each other ("shmoo" and "shmoomies,” "poo head," "poopoo," and more) and their many declarations of love ("You're my soulmate, do you know that?" "Of course I know that") brilliantly evoke the particular flavor of the friendship. Carson was married and living on the West Coast with a husband and baby at the time of Larissa's death at 32; at first, she was only told that she died in the bath. The author didn't know her friend was involved with heroin, so when that was revealed, a whole new set of painful, unanswerable questions emerged. "You know the obsessiveness—weeks spent poring over the minutiae of the days and hours prior to death, as if somewhere, hidden in plain sight, is the answer. Something you missed that could have prevented it all," she writes. So many of us fully understand this obsessiveness, and in sharing the specifics of hers, Carson strikes a deeply resonant chord.
As elegant and moving as a grief memoir can be.Pub Date: April 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781685890452
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Melville House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 9, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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