Mack's pleasing writing style makes speculating about the death of the universe unexpectedly entertaining.
A theoretical astrophysicist surveys five possible scenarios for the end of the universe, backed by the latest research in physics and cosmology.
Acknowledging the end of the universe is a grim proposition. But after accepting the fact that our universe cannot “persist unchanged, forever,” thinking through the science of end times is actually a thrill, an opportunity “to dig deep into the question of where it’s all going, what that all means, and what we can learn about the universe we live in by asking these questions.” Mack uses humor, metaphor, and personal experience to offset her often technical descriptions, creating a delightfully unsettling narrative that explains big ideas in modern physics and cosmology through the lens of end times. “Whether or not the world is falling apart from a political perspective,” she writes, “scientifically, we’re living in a golden age. In physics, recent discoveries and new technological and theoretical tools are allowing us to make leaps that were previously impossible…the scientific exploration of how the universe might end is just now undergoing its renaissance.” In accessible yet precise language, Mack details how these modern scientific approaches suggest five apocalyptic scenarios: the Big Crunch, Heat Death, the Big Rip, Vacuum Decay, and the Bounce. Each is creative in its demise, giving the author an excuse to expound on the latest theories about dark energy and the expanding universe, the Higgs boson, and the multiverse. She celebrates that the near future will be filled with knowledge and discovery, even if the far future is doomed. “Work on the cutting edge of physics is already pointing us toward a universe far stranger than we even could have imagined,” she writes. Drawing on the wisdom of a variety of pioneering physicists, the author delivers a sleek narrative of discovery.
Mack's pleasing writing style makes speculating about the death of the universe unexpectedly entertaining. (b/w illustrations)Pub Date: Aug. 11, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9821-0354-5
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
A rich book for scholars and fans of Lowell’s poetry.
A collection of the renowned poet’s personal writing.
At the heart of this hodgepodge of Lowell’s work is what editors Axelrod and Kosc call “My Autobiography,” mostly previously unpublished childhood memories written in the 1950s followed by writings about his severe bipolar disorder. Taken together, the editors write, “they tell a powerful story of a soul in pain and a writer searching, with courage and discipline, for a way forward,” and they provided the source material for Lowell’s influential 1959 poetry collection, Life Studies. Highly detailed, lucid, and precise, Lowell’s writing is witty, sarcastic, and revealing about himself, his parents, his beloved grandfather, and others in his orbit. The well-off Bostonian, as the editors put it, wanted “to both mock and mourn his family, his social world, himself.” Some of the writing is tinged with the elitist racism of his clan, a “declining yet still powerful white” family who “insistently disrespect[ed] people who are not ‘of the right sort.’ ” At 8, he recalls, he was “thick-witted, narcissistic, thuggish,” and poet and biographer relative “Amy Lowell was never a welcome subject in our household.” These memoirs end in 1937, followed by a section called “Crisis and Aftermath,” highlighted by “The Balanced Aquarium,” one of the longest pieces, what the editors call “postmodern psychomachy, an invocation of his internal turmoil.” In many pieces, Lowell recounts his mental torments and hospitalization. Composed from 1959 to 1977, the section titled “A Life Among Writers” is a collection of perceptive, image-laced essays, some never published before, of authors he knew: Pound, Eliot, and his “dear old friend” Randall Jarrell. Visiting elderly Tennessee poet Allen Tate, Lowell writes, “Here, like the battered Confederacy, he still lived and was history.” Robert Frost was the “best strictly metered poet in our history.” An acquaintance of Lowell’s, Sylvia Path wrote the “most perfect and powerful poems…among the melancholy triumphs of twentieth-century imagination.”
A rich book for scholars and fans of Lowell’s poetry.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-374-25892-4
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
Take a fascinating flight into human history on the wings of 10 important bird species.
An exploration of the deep and complex relationship between birds and human beings.
Moss, a British nature writer, broadcaster, and environmentalist who has written more than 40 books and field guides, is an ideal guide to this in-depth look at 10 consequential species and the threats to their continued survival. Spoiler alert: The world-changing birds are the raven, pigeon, wild turkey, dodo, Darwin's finch, guanay cormorant, snowy egret, bald eagle, tree sparrow, and emperor penguin. The contributions of some of these birds are immediately apparent—e.g., carrier pigeons could bring messages from the front lines of battles and wars, changing the course of the conflicts. The historical roles of other birds are more obscure. The snowy egret, prized for its long, feathery aigrettes, was driven to the brink of extinction by the plumage trade, but this led to the first bird protection laws. Moss is good at sorting out the myths from the realities of these birds' places in history. Darwin's finches, for example, were not actually the inspiration for his theory of evolution by natural selection but are still one of the best demonstrations of its veracity. The author also takes note of the prominent places these birds hold in mythology and literature, such as Poe's "The Raven,” but his larger theme is the threat of extinction that hovers over so many species today. As such, the centerpiece of his avian collection is the dodo, which has transitioned from a real bird to “the global icon of extinction." Its disappearance 300 years ago first suggested to the Western mind that a species could go extinct. The author’s thorough and well-argued book brings urgent attention to all the species that now face oblivion due to the global climate crisis. Heidaripour's illustrations complement the engaging, sobering analysis.
Take a fascinating flight into human history on the wings of 10 important bird species.Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2023
ISBN: 9781541604469
Page Count: 416
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 20, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
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