Davies is an astrophysicist who often writes about the famous question posed in the title of Erwin Schrîdinger’s What Is Life? (1944). Here he tries a different answer from that offered in his Are We Alone? Philosophical Implications of the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life (1995). If his new hypothesis turns out to be true, then we all end up as Martians. The author claims that life may have started on Mars and later traveled to Earth on meteorites. But what kind of alternative state of matter qualifies and describes life? This puzzle and that of biogenesis, have puzzled humanity for over 2.5 millennia, leading to many biogenetic theories, such as the “primordial soup” hypothesis. Davies tells a different story. He replaces the chemical-soup metaphor with that of “information-processing systems” in which the secret of life—the transformation of chemistry into biochemistry—lies in the ability of genetic codes to organize, process, and transmit information. No familiar law of nature can adequately account for such a complex phenomenon. “Something funny” must thus have occurred in our bio-friendly universe three billion years ago which was predestined to produce life. Like Stephen Jay Gould’s “punctuated equilibrium,” Davies’s mysterious and open-ended explanation will prompt fundamentalist Christians to fill any lingering gap with their preference for divine intervention. Davies himself attempts to fill the same gap by relying on the recent discovery of rock-eating, volcanic microbes’superbugs—living deep within the earth’s geothermal vents, their temperatures rising well over boiling point. Basing his suppositions on new evidence found in meteorites in Antarctica (and despite heated contrtoversies over interpreting the evidence on these meteorites), he theorizes confidently that ancestors of our superbugs traveled to Earth via Martian asteroids. His new work offers testimony to Davies’s passionate curiosity and to masterful writing, which reads like science fiction. (Book-of-the-Month Club dual main selection/Quality Paperback Book Club alternate selection)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-684-83799-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1999
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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