An encyclopedic yet personal and imaginative account of human genetics by someone who has ``ridden briefly over the ground'' he wishes to cover. Shapiro (Chemistry/NYU) divides his discussion into ``Yesterday,'' ``Today,'' ``Tomorrow,'' and ``After Tomorrow,'' providing historical chronology as well as future speculations. ``Yesterday'' begins with Mendel and moves on to Morgan and the fruit-fly group at Columbia at the turn of the century, revisits the Eagle Pub in Cambridge in 1953 (site of notable Watson-Crick conversations), and moves apace to the mid-70's and the birth of biotechnology with the work of Walter Gilbert at Harvard and Fred Sanger at Cambridge. ``Today'' begins with the launching of the project to map and sequence the entire human genome: the promises, the problems, and the politics. Shapiro chooses the metaphor of DNA as literary script to be decoded and describes genetic diseases as various typos and misreadings. He spends considerable time explaining techniques in current use, such as DNA fingerprinting and chromosome walking. This is tough stuff, but Shapiro does well by his language analogies. And the two sections on the future reveal that he is no novice at speculation. Indeed, he raises the specter of people gaining intimate knowledge of one's personal genome by obtaining a hair or other easily shed body sample—for all the world a 21st-century analogue of black magic, in this case enabling the future ``magician'' to know just what ills one is heir to. Shapiro concludes with the optimistic view that humans may someday dip into the germline to create subspecies with different traits. That, plus interesting asides on the English royal family, Jefferson's descendants, the origins of the Jewish ``race,'' and other examples of DNA sleuthing, add spice and potential controversy to a first-rate study.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-312-05873-X
Page Count: 432
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1991
BOOK REVIEW
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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