by Lorraine Justice ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 4, 2019
A skillful, comprehensive, and complex look at design as it’s shaped by technology and culture.
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An overview of the principles of design focuses on globalization and technological developments.
In this business book, Justice (China’s Design Revolution, 2012) looks at product design in the context of the global economy. The author concentrates on products sold internationally and leads readers through the process of designing and testing. Justice pays particular attention to making sure the design fits the needs and preferences of customers in each regional market. The book teaches readers to develop and apply design thinking skills and “the nuances of design reasoning” throughout the planning process and to understand how the result aligns with overall business goals. The author also explores ways in which technology is changing both the world of design itself and how people expect to interact with products. The book emphasizes the possibilities of a design-driven future and the ethical responsibilities creators must embrace (“Designers and other disciplines related to technology will need to take a prominent role, with values and ethics as a key part of their education”) in order to make it beneficial. Justice incorporates many anecdotes and examples from her own work (for instance, modifying a focus group format in Hong Kong to make participants comfortable sharing their opinions) and that of other designers, providing illustrative stories that constitute one of the volume’s strengths. On the whole, the book is well organized and covers a substantial amount of territory despite its short length, though much of it is presented at a high level rather than in significant detail. But the author points readers to plenty of additional resources with further information, both throughout the text and in extensive endnotes. Justice also does an excellent job of explaining that design exists within a cultural context, and both regional differences and technological developments may require creators to regularly adjust their thinking (“What you think of as good design attributes may change in the future based on what becomes culturally important”).
A skillful, comprehensive, and complex look at design as it’s shaped by technology and culture.Pub Date: June 4, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4736-8467-6
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Nicholas Brealey Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Carlo Rovelli ; translated by Simon Carnell & Erica Segre ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2016
An intriguing meditation on the nature of the universe and our attempts to understand it that should appeal to both...
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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
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by Carlo Rovelli ; translated by Simon Carnell
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by Carlo Rovelli ; translated by Erica Segre & Simon Carnell
by Richard Rhodes ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 1986
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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