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THE OUTER REACHES OF LIFE

Name: THE OUTER REACHES OF LIFE
Author: John Postgate
ISBN: 0-521-44010-6

by John Postgate ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 1994

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Diversities of life among the microbes make up 18 generally lively essays by Postgate that—for the general reader—waver on the edge of opacity. Twenty-five years ago, Postgate wrote a well- received textbook, Microbes and Man, now in its third edition. Postgate edges towards chummy tales of the microbes, though his learnedness, however lightly worn, also rises up and may well cool the ardor of the more uninformed reader. He is not Lewis Thomas, or, simply, he is less entertaining than Thomas. He tells us why some microbes can flourish at high temperatures, ``some thriving at, and even above, the normal boiling point of water,'' while others cook like an egg. Readers will learn of the varieties of alcohol—ethanol (wines and spirits), methanol, pentanol, glycol (automobile anti-freeze), glycerol (glycerine), and so on; why ice formation is lethal to cells and how glycerol prevents it and allows for cold-storage of cells and organs needed for transplants. We also find how microbial life survives at the highest and lowest atmospheric pressures, including the deep-sea bottom, and how life of the terrestrial king might evolve into highly complex forms even on a massive planet like Jupiter with its strong gravity and high surface pressures. We learn about the biological effects of salt and what happens when salts dissolve in water. Although microbes die under certain kinds of stress, the products of bacterial cell division show a seeming immortality among microbes (and yeasts); microbes are sexless and reproduce by fission, so that a microbe that divides remains itself, is neither mother nor daughter. Lifts your head out of the muddle.

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1994

ISBN: 0-521-44010-6

Page Count: 280

Publisher: Cambridge Univ.

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1993

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.