A familiar argument but with interesting twists and a rosier forecast than many other books of social/technological...
A well-paced consideration of the effects of technology on lives made ever busier by it—and whipping by in a whirlwind as a result.
Consider the younger cohort of the millennials, who have grown up digital, date online, buy online, and live online. They are likely to become “fragile, narcissistic young adults,” disconnected to others and disaffected overall. Or are they? By another gauge, these digerati are “less materialistic than their parents, more socially liberal, completely at ease with modernity.” Which view of them is correct? Both, writes U.K. columnist and commentator Colvile: technology enables both anomie and activism. One thing is certain, however. Among the social effects of this technology are the increasing fragmentation of time and the sense that there’s never enough of it, wherefore we attempt to juggle too much, even though, “hummingbird mentality” notwithstanding, we know that multitasking is a fraud. There’s little new in the author’s description of the modern scene and plenty of the we’ve-heard-it-before variety. James Gleick got to the heart of the argument 17 years ago in Faster. Where Colvile’s account is useful is in documenting what has happened in the years since in terms of our mores and expectations. Most of the British author’s examples come from Wales, Scotland, and the files of David Cameron; when he writes of our material desires, he includes among them the ability to get “fruit and veg” in every season. The prescriptive part of the program gets a little fuzzy: technology can be destructive, sure, but if it accelerates to the point that it can solve climate change, then it will be good, right? Generally optimistic, Colvile closes with the hedged observation that it will take far-seeing, imaginative leaders to be sure that “techno-Utopia for the few does not become dystopia for the many.”
A familiar argument but with interesting twists and a rosier forecast than many other books of social/technological criticism.Pub Date: May 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4088-4007-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2016
A media-savvy scientist cleans out his desk.
Tyson (Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, 2017, etc.) receives a great deal of mail, and this slim volume collects his responses and other scraps of writing.
The prolific science commentator and bestselling author, an astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History, delivers few surprises and much admirable commentary. Readers may suspect that most of these letters date from the author’s earlier years when, a newly minted celebrity, he still thrilled that many of his audience were pouring out their hearts. Consequently, unlike more hardened colleagues, he sought to address their concerns. As years passed, suspecting that many had no interest in tapping his expertise or entering into an intelligent give and take, he undoubtedly made greater use of the waste basket. Tyson eschews pure fan letters, but many of these selections are full of compliments as a prelude to asking advice, pointing out mistakes, proclaiming opposing beliefs, or denouncing him. Readers will also encounter some earnest op-ed pieces and his eyewitness account of 9/11. “I consider myself emotionally strong,” he writes. “What I bore witness to, however, was especially upsetting, with indelible images of horror that will not soon leave my mind.” To crackpots, he gently repeats facts that almost everyone except crackpots accept. Those who have seen ghosts, dead relatives, and Bigfoot learn that eyewitness accounts are often unreliable. Tyson points out that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, so confirmation that a light in the sky represents an alien spacecraft requires more than a photograph. Again and again he defends “science,” and his criteria—observation, repeatable experiments, honest discourse, peer review—are not controversial but will remain easy for zealots to dismiss. Among the instances of “hate mail” and “science deniers,” the author also discusses philosophy, parenting, and schooling.
A media-savvy scientist cleans out his desk.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-324-00331-1
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
Jahren transcends both memoir and science writing in this literary fusion of both genres.
Award-winning scientist Jahren (Geology and Geophysics/Univ. of Hawaii) delivers a personal memoir and a paean to the natural world.
The author’s father was a physics and earth science teacher who encouraged her play in the laboratory, and her mother was a student of English literature who nurtured her love of reading. Both of these early influences engrossingly combine in this adroit story of a dedication to science. Jahren’s journey from struggling student to struggling scientist has the narrative tension of a novel and characters she imbues with real depth. The heroes in this tale are the plants that the author studies, and throughout, she employs her facility with words to engage her readers. We learn much along the way—e.g., how the willow tree clones itself, the courage of a seed’s first root, the symbiotic relationship between trees and fungi, and the airborne signals used by trees in their ongoing war against insects. Trees are of key interest to Jahren, and at times she waxes poetic: “Each beginning is the end of a waiting. We are each given exactly one chance to be. Each of us is both impossible and inevitable. Every replete tree was first a seed that waited.” The author draws many parallels between her subjects and herself. This is her story, after all, and we are engaged beyond expectation as she relates her struggle in building and running laboratory after laboratory at the universities that have employed her. Present throughout is her lab partner, a disaffected genius named Bill, whom she recruited when she was a graduate student at Berkeley and with whom she’s worked ever since. The author’s tenacity, hope, and gratitude are all evident as she and Bill chase the sweetness of discovery in the face of the harsh economic realities of the research scientist.
Jahren transcends both memoir and science writing in this literary fusion of both genres.Pub Date: April 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-87493-6
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Jan. 4, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2016
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