Waldman is a bright and curious companion in this lively adventure in search of the scourge of rust and its ingenious...
How the world turns to rust.
Oxidation occurs on everything made of metal, corroding cars, boats, trains and planes and causing bridges to fall and washing machines to explode. Rust, journalist Waldman writes in his sprightly debut book, “represents the disordering of the modern” and has an impact on “our health, safety, security, environment, and future.” It’s a human enemy, battled throughout history by a cast of inventive, often quirky men and, occasionally, women. Take Harry Brearley, born in 1871, a self-taught British chemist with no patience for scientists’ “bluff and bunkum.” He was “curious but opinionated, flexible but intolerant, innovative but persnickety, knowledgeable but overconfident, and determined but obstinate.” His determination led to his invention of a process to make steel that would not corrode; someone else marketed it as stainless steel, and it revolutionized the production of cutlery, machinery and weapons. Rust can also be beautiful, Waldman learns from Alyssha Eve Csük, “the country’s preeminent rust photographer,” who spent years documenting Bethlehem Steel Works and its demolition. Her images of rust evoke comparisons to “a forest, leaves in snow, a nebula, an amoeba.” John Carmona, “rust’s Johnny Appleseed,” started selling rust removal and prevention products from his garage in Fitchburg, Wisconsin, and a few years later expanded into a 10,000-foot warehouse, carrying 250 rust products. Surprisingly, the author discovered, colleges offer few courses on corrosion for materials science and engineering majors. Nevertheless, some 15,000 corrosion engineers are at work in the United States, in oil and gas industries, transportation and utilities. One small New Jersey company developed a polymer stronger than steel for use in bridges and buildings, and some corrosion engineers work on developing biomedical implants.
Waldman is a bright and curious companion in this lively adventure in search of the scourge of rust and its ingenious opponents.Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-1451691597
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2014
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
The Johnstown Flood was one of the greatest natural disasters of all time (actually manmade, since it was precipitated by a wealthy country club dam which had long been the source of justified misgivings). This then is a routine rundown of the catastrophe of May 31st, 1889, the biggest news story since Lincoln's murder in which thousands died. The most interesting incidental: a baby floated unharmed in its cradle for eighty miles.... Perhaps of local interest-but it lacks the Lord-ly touch.
Pub Date: March 18, 1968
ISBN: 0671207148
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1968
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