From a pair of computer industry reporters (Markoff: The New York Times; Hafner: formerly with Business Week)—three cautionary tales of 1980's computer hackers gone amok in this dark-side correlate to Steven Levy's more optimistic Hackers (1984). They lived thousands of miles from one another—Kevin Mitnick in Los Angeles, Pengo in West Berlin, and Robert Morris in Ithaca, N.Y.—and their personalities were widely divergent, but in the no- man's land of international, complexly interlinked computer networks these three hackers not only shared an addiction to computer intrigue but probably encountered one another prowling through secret computer files along the way. Mitnick, an overweight, unemployed high-school dropout, began ``phone phreaking'' and computer hacking to tap phones and meddle with his enemies' credit ratings until he managed to break into the secret electronic research files of a leading computer manufacturer. Pengo, a West German teen-ager who enjoyed ``traveling the world'' via computer networks and considered penetrating the files of Darpanet, the US defense network—an irresistible challenge—found himself drawn into Project Equalizer, a bumbling youthful effort to sell computer information to the Soviets to further world peace. Robert Morris, an introverted Cornell Univ. computer-science graduate student and son of a National Security Agency computer- security expert, mischievously planted a supposedly harmless ``virus'' in a computer network and accidentally shut down Darpanet and other networks across the country. Sentences for all three electronic wanderers were surprisingly light—a fact that apparently irritates the authors, who claim that hacking, spawned by the philosophy that all information should be freely shared, has long since been transformed into a threat to security that should be punished more severely in the future. Disturbing tales for would-be computer outlaws as well as those who fear them.
Pub Date: July 29, 1991
ISBN: 0-671-68322-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1991
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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