Are physicists a priesthood excluding women on age-old grounds that women can't be ``ordained''? So argues Wertheim, Australian- educated physicist/mathematician cum science writer. Taking the long view, she traces the role of women in mathematics and physics through the ages, starting with the Pythagoreans. Apparently there were women Pythagoreans; however, by the time of Aristotle women were declared inferior. Wertheim is to be complimented for bringing to light the stories of the females who tackled physics, astronomy, and mathematics (and the men who encouraged them): Hypatia of Alexandria; the 14th-century Christine of Pisan; Tycho Brahe's sister Sofie. But societal forces all but forbade female participation in natural science: the closure of universities to women; the imposition of celibacy on priests and university dons; not to mention the prevailing dichotomy that posited men as abstract thinkers and women as bound with the material world. Slowly but surely this has changed, nearly everywhere but in physics, according to Wertheim. Physicists are the new priests, she declares, as witness their popular writings: Stephen Hawking alludes to the Mind of God, and others espouse Theories of Everything. But here Wertheim is assuming a unity that does not exist. Many physicists find TOEs an illusory game, if not a bore. So the reason why fewer women than men get Ph.D.s in physics today is more a question of secular trends and where the jobs are: Female Ph.D.s in physics and math are increasing, but at a slower rate than female M.D.s; the numbers of women getting degrees in engineering and computer sciences are also lowfields where theology hardly pertains. But while her basic premise on physics as theology overstates the case, Wertheim's text has other merits: She brings to light fascinating details of the lives and times of many exceptional women and men who have helped shape our current worldview.
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-8129-2200-X
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Times/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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