edited by John Brockman ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 21, 2002
An ample anthology whose chief virtue lies in each presenter’s snapshot history of a field: where we are, how we got there,...
Enterprising editor/literary agent/Web-site meister Brockman (The Greatest Inventions of the Past 2,000 Years, 2000, etc.) is at it again, cajoling his buddies to speculate on what brave new world lies half a century ahead.
In Part I, theoreticians ponder whether we will ever understand the Big Bang, learn the origin of time, or arrive at a quantum theory of gravity. Maybe yes, but we may still be in the dark about why elementary particles have the masses they do or whether we are alone in the universe (or multiverse). A mathematician sees hope for computer-aided proofs to resolve celebrated problems. A biologist conjectures that all the stuff we call emergent properties (like consciousness and feelings) are really not emergent but present in matter; he opts for a new science of qualities. Others also call for new paradigms that would enable us to read the minds of animals, understand how brains learn, see psychology mature toward the study of love, aesthetic judgment, and moral development. Maybe we will even create life. Amidst the optimism comes an essay speculating that stress and depression will increase and another that suggests we may be bystanders in awe of ever-smarter computers. In Part II, “In Practice,” Richard Dawkins suggests we could eliminate our species-ism by letting a surrogate mom birth a latter-day Lucy. Other practitioners envision the merger of flesh and machines, virtual schools where kids will experience reality, and information-beam fantasies limited only by complexity “ceilings.” Medical speculations include the idea that discoveries of genetic variants that increase susceptibility will revolutionize treatment of mental illness. At the same time, there will be new interest in studying wellness and what protects people from adversity. A final essay suggests that in 50 years we may discover that chronic diseases from cancer to schizophrenia are infectious in origin.
An ample anthology whose chief virtue lies in each presenter’s snapshot history of a field: where we are, how we got there, where we might be headed.Pub Date: May 21, 2002
ISBN: 0-375-71342-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Vintage
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2002
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by Lulu Miller illustrated by Kate Samworth ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 14, 2020
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
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by Carlo Rovelli ; translated by Simon Carnell & Erica Segre ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2016
An intriguing meditation on the nature of the universe and our attempts to understand it that should appeal to both...
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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
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