In this densely packed deliberation on the shape of things to come, Kelly, the executive editor of Wired, offers a biological paradigm for a whole set of scientific and cultural phenomena: virtual reality, self-controlling robots, animation, nanotechnology, games, even the much ballyhooed ``information superhighway.'' Kelly's main thesis is that biological organization offers a degree of adaptability impossible with the more familiar hierarchic mechanical organization. A swarm of bees has no single guiding intellect; it arrives at a consensus based on the input of various individuals, generating more or less enthusiasm for a proposal as members go out to verify various reports. This lack of central control becomes a model for a variety of processes that combine great freedom of the individual parts with sophisticated overall performance. Computer networks like the Internet are classic examples of anarchy in action, making available an enormous amount of information with a minimum of structure. Space researchers have begun to speculate that a swarm of small, very simple machines independently following very simple instructions may be better able to prepare a lunar landing site than a single, more complex device. The ultimate in simplicity lies in the infant science of nanotechnology, which envisions the use of extremely simple machines no larger than some organic molecules. At the other end of the spectrum, Mark Pauline of San Francisco makes enormous ``organic machines'' out of spare (or stolen) parts and sets them to destroying one another in bizarre exhibitions that resemble freaked-out reenactments of the Roman circus. The book is full of such fascinating characters and oddball insights into the interplay between technology and living forms. Kelly's organization is often as seemingly uncontrolled as some of the processes he discusses. But the book as a whole is rewarding, full of food for thought, and a convincing preview of the probable future of technology.
Pub Date: July 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-201-57793-3
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Addison-Wesley
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
From the national correspondent for PBS's MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour: a moving memoir of her youth in the Deep South and her role in desegregating the Univ. of Georgia. The eldest daughter of an army chaplain, Hunter-Gault was born in what she calls the ``first of many places that I would call `my place' ''—the small village of Due West, tucked away in a remote little corner of South Carolina. While her father served in Korea, Hunter-Gault and her mother moved first to Covington, Georgia, and then to Atlanta. In ``L.A.'' (lovely Atlanta), surrounded by her loving family and a close-knit black community, the author enjoyed a happy childhood participating in activities at church and at school, where her intellectual and leadership abilities soon were noticed by both faculty and peers. In high school, Hunter-Gault found herself studying the ``comic-strip character Brenda Starr as I might have studied a journalism textbook, had there been one.'' Determined to be a journalist, she applied to several colleges—all outside of Georgia, for ``to discourage the possibility that a black student would even think of applying to one of those white schools, the state provided money for black students'' to study out of state. Accepted at Michigan's Wayne State, the author was encouraged by local civil-rights leaders to apply, along with another classmate, to the Univ. of Georgia as well. Her application became a test of changing racial attitudes, as well as of the growing strength of the civil-rights movement in the South, and Gault became a national figure as she braved an onslaught of hostilities and harassment to become the first black woman to attend the university. A remarkably generous, fair-minded account of overcoming some of the biggest, and most intractable, obstacles ever deployed by southern racists. (Photographs—not seen.)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-374-17563-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1992
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
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