Bonner’s own lifecycle makes for pleasant reading and inspires a new respect for slime molds.
A charming memoir combining autobiography and a 20th-century history of biology.
“A gentleman and a scholar” aptly describes Bonner (Biology Emeritus/Princeton; Life Cycles, 1993, etc.). Born in 1920, he describes growing up in fine style in New York, Paris, and London. His parents moved in literary circles that included the likes of Alexander Woollcott and Rebecca West; late in life, Pa became a bestselling novelist. Early on, Bonner was smitten by nature: first birds and then, after reading H.G. Wells’s The Science of Life, by all living things. He also credits the teachers who inspired him at Harvard and the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Intrigued by how a fertilized cell develops into a complex organism, Bonner got turned on to the study of cellular slime molds as a model organism after reading a Ph.D. thesis he picked up by chance. The mold’s lifecycle begins with individual amoebae that (1) eat bacteria until there are no more, then (2) stream together to form a multi-cellular slug-like organism that (3) migrates (secreting all that slime), (4) stops and turns upright, developing a stalk that (5) becomes topped by a fruiting body, which will disperse spores to start the cycle all over again. Myriad questions of how and why would occupy Bonner, aided and abetted by the increasingly sophisticated tools of genetics and molecular biology, for the rest of his career. As he tracks it, he charts the transformation of biology in 20-year spurts, from the rediscovery of Mendel at the turn of the 20th century through population genetics, Watson-Crick, sociobiology, and the genome fallout today. He considers the overarching theme of biology to be lifecycles, embellished by ideas about size, division of labor, and complexity as driving forces of evolution.
Bonner’s own lifecycle makes for pleasant reading and inspires a new respect for slime molds.Pub Date: May 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-674-00763-8
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Harvard Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
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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