A stimulating exploration of thermodynamic science.
Graham, who has a degree in theoretical physics from Cambridge University, plumbs theories from thermodynamics for the keys to unlock the mysteries of life.
The author observes that some consider thermodynamics—the study of heat in motion—to be the “poor cousin of modern physics.” But he contends that an understanding of thermodynamics is essential to understanding the origin and nature of life itself, and that the field provides intriguing portals into such topics as the character of human consciousness. One must grasp the “wild complexity” of cells and their inner machinations—a “complex dance of minutely choreographed activity.” A cell is basically a collection of molecules, he explains, that are always moving and colliding with one another in random ways; this chaos of motion is sometimes referred to as “thermal noise,” but Graham prefers a less “tame” descriptor: It’s a “molecular storm.” In order to understand life, he asserts, one must understand this storm, which accounts not only for life’s initial appearance but also its subsequent development: “The molecular storm blows like a hurricane in air thick as treacle, driving everything that happens.” Graham displays a magisterial command of the material, offering a concise overview of the basic ideas of thermodynamics—his account of entropy is particularly edifying to the uninitiated—and also explains how these categories help to illuminate, and even demystify, the elemental processes of life. Graham also extends the scope of his study to grander questions, including humanity’s place in the cosmos, all seen from a materialistic perspective. The author overstates the case when he writes that this book is suitable for “all those who are curious about how the world works”; readers will need more than mere curiosity to understand this often-challenging work. But it’s as lucid an exposition as one could reasonably expect, given the technical nature of the subject, and it’s a thought-provoking reflection on the deepest of questions.
A stimulating exploration of thermodynamic science.Pub Date: Nov. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9783031386800
Page Count: 291
Publisher: Springer
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
Sedaris at his darkest—and his best.
In which the veteran humorist enters middle age with fine snark but some trepidation as well.
Mortality is weighing on Sedaris (Theft by Finding: Diaries 1977-2002, 2017, etc.), much of it his own, professional narcissist that he is. Watching an elderly man have a bowel accident on a plane, he dreaded the day when he would be the target of teenagers’ jokes “as they raise their phones to take my picture from behind.” A skin tumor troubled him, but so did the doctor who told him he couldn’t keep it once it was removed. “But it’s my tumor,” he insisted. “I made it.” (Eventually, he found a semitrained doctor to remove and give him the lipoma, which he proceeded to feed to a turtle.) The deaths of others are much on the author’s mind as well: He contemplates the suicide of his sister Tiffany, his alcoholic mother’s death, and his cantankerous father’s erratic behavior. His contemplation of his mother’s drinking—and his family’s denial of it—makes for some of the most poignant writing in the book: The sound of her putting ice in a rocks glass increasingly sounded “like a trigger being cocked.” Despite the gloom, however, frivolity still abides in the Sedaris clan. His summer home on the Carolina coast, which he dubbed the Sea Section, overspills with irreverent bantering between him and his siblings as his long-suffering partner, Hugh, looks on. Sedaris hasn’t lost his capacity for bemused observations of the people he encounters. For example, cashiers who say “have a blessed day” make him feel “like you’ve been sprayed against your will with God cologne.” But bad news has sharpened the author’s humor, and this book is defined by a persistent, engaging bafflement over how seriously or unseriously to take life when it’s increasingly filled with Trump and funerals.
Sedaris at his darkest—and his best.Pub Date: May 29, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-39238-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2018
PROFILES
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