Many scientists say that reading science fiction inspired them to launch their careers. Krauss concludes: Why not draw on sci-fi lore, exploits, and tales to teach hard science? The author (Physics and Astronomy/Case Western Reserve Univ.) scored a bestseller with his previous book, The Physics of Star Trek (1995). Now he expands his scope to address other sci-fi hits, ranging from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey to TV's The X-Files. He also scrutinizes such newsworthy events as the chess match between world champion Gary Kasparov and an IBM computer. Krauss begins by examining the alien attack on Earth that was portrayed in the movie Independence Day. He uses basic Newtonian physics to show that the gravitational effects of the huge arriving alien ships would have caused floods and earthquakes sufficient to destroy our civilization before the invaders had even fired a shot. Next, the author assesses the supposed flight characteristics of UFOs, depicted as stopping on a dime and making sudden sharp turns at utterly unbelievable speeds. Krauss calculates that these maneuvers would create inertial G-forces greater than a close-range nuclear explosion; neither the pilots nor any conceivable construction material could withstand them. Another chapter examines the cost of mounting an interstellar expedition, a journey that would require many decades to complete and cost more than the moon. Later chapters apply the principle of general relativity to star travel, explore computer consciousness, and forecast the end of the world. The book concludes by affirming the author's belief that the universe is a place of boundless potential—and that we must fathom it. Perhaps because Krauss shares the public's affection for the pop sources he consults, his book will entertain and instruct general readers without insulting the scientifically literate. ($75,000 ad/promo; author tour)
Pub Date: Nov. 12, 1997
ISBN: 0-465-00637-X
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Basic
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1997
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION
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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 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1992
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION | BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
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