Jargon-riddled and dense—not for the uninitiated.
An intriguing but often impenetrable look at mirror neurons, specialized brain cells that the author believes enable us to empathize with others.
Mirror neurons are the chameleon cells of the brain, explains Iacoboni (UCLA School of Medicine). They help us “read” the actions and expressions of others, allowing us to understand the intentions and feelings of people around us. Numerous experiments have revealed that mirror neurons “fire” when we observe someone else taking an action or expressing an intention or feeling we recognize. For example, if you see someone reaching for an apple, your grasping and apple-eating mirror neurons will fire. When you see someone smiling, your mirror neurons map out a “mental plan” for smiling yourself. In effect, mirror neurons enable us to “imitate” the act of smiling, and give us the ability to feel empathy for the smiling person in front of us. The more a person imitates others, Iacoboni argues, the more empathetic he or she is likely to be. This is difficult material, and it’s made more so by the author’s discursive, roundabout and often turgid prose. Although his subject will be interesting to the lay student of neuroscience, it’s clear Iacoboni is a scientist first, a writer second—and a distant second at that. He describes each experiment in interminable, excruciating detail, but to no particular end; his excitement about the machinery that enabled a particular discovery will not be shared by anyone unversed in the minutiae of brain-scanning and electrode-implantation technology. The final chapters veer into random philosophical and cultural musings—the author argues, for example, that the science of mirror neurons should be put to use reducing violence, controlling addiction and introducing Americans to other cultures.
Jargon-riddled and dense—not for the uninitiated.Pub Date: May 21, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-374-21017-5
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2008
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
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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