by John Daniel ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 1992
Thoughtful, plain-spoken nature essays, mostly about the Pacific Northwest. Poet Daniel introduces his prose with a slew of short and amiable, although unremarkable, essays on such subjects as planting a garden, hiking the High Sierra, battling a pack rat in the house, and writing poetry about nature. In several outings, however, Daniel shows considerable originality, force, and descriptive art. In ``The Impoverishment of Sightseeing,'' he tours Yosemite in a bus with his mother, contrasting the static images passing by the window with his compelling view when climbing a rock face—the cracks and tiny nubbins in front of his face and the bright granite valley always flaring in the periphery. Moving from bus excursions to TV as a way of seeing nature, Daniel points out that ``we give up the active moments of awareness—glancing around, comparing, looking long or only briefly—to the autocratic screen.'' The reality of nature— without images preselected and framed for visual impact—can appear lifeless and disappointing, he says, when one's consciousness has been trained by TV. ``The Long Dance of the Trees'' eloquently evokes old-growth forests, particularly in the Northwest. Thousand-year-old Douglas firs tower over smaller trees, giants in themselves—western hemlock, red cedar—the canopy diffusing a soft radiance of light down to the earlier tree generations rotting on the forest floor, covered with mosses, lichens, truffles, and mushrooms. The timber companies, having clear-cut their own lands, have every year pressed for higher cuts of these forests on public lands, until only 15% of original old-growth forest is left in Douglas fir country. To Daniel, the economic ``growth we hold practically sacred is in fact a self-centered adolescence we'd do well to put behind us.'' A voice that's fresh, self-reflective, and free of cant: a welcome debut.
Pub Date: June 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-679-41209-3
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1992
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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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by Carlo Rovelli ; translated by Marion Lignana Rosenberg
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by Richard Rhodes ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 1986
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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