Will appeal to neophyte beer drinkers and foodies generally.
Informative overview of the economic and cultural transformations surrounding the world of beer.
Craft Beer and Brewing magazine senior editor Holl (The American Craft Beer Cookbook, 2013, etc.) is a passionate advocate for beer as both libation and lifestyle. He feels fortunate to have built a career as a beer judge and critic, and he argues that beer remains misunderstood despite its acknowledged popularity. The author shows how this popularity developed over the last few decades thanks to iconoclasts like New Albion Brewing’s Jack McAuliffe, who resurrected knowledge lost during Prohibition. As he writes, “a brewing culture exists in America today that not only creates and supports local drinking communities but has launched a global phenomenon.” Holl first captures this as narrative: During the 1980s and ’90s, the “microbrew” and “craft” categories blossomed despite push back from corporate-controlled brewers like Budweiser and initially skeptical food-scene chroniclers. Such controversies have persisted. “It’s easy,” writes the author, “to criticize the ‘big guys’ and the ‘traitors’ that are no longer ‘craft’ or ‘independent.’" Still, it’s undeniable that the breadth and quality of American brewing today constitutes a renaissance. Holl writes enthusiastically about such facets of beer appreciation as the science behind the sensory experience of beer and its core ingredients (yeast, water, malt, and hops) and the varied methodologies employed by brewers to resurrect neglected forms and try radical new taste combinations. He writes perceptively about current trends, noting that such marketplace competitiveness has an unsettling side: “Chemical flavoring is having a big impact in beer these days.” He also addresses the social aspects of enjoying beer, including the benefits of pub culture versus drinking at home, and some persistent issues regarding diversity and retrograde imagery in marketing; he notes his own editorial pleas for inclusiveness resulted in abuse from thin-skinned trolls online. The book is clearly written and only occasionally pedantic; this is leavened by good observations and nuggets of obscure brewing information.
Will appeal to neophyte beer drinkers and foodies generally.Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-465-09551-3
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Basic Books
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
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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