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Title: How the Universe Got Its Spots: Diary of a Finite Time in a Finite Space by Janna Levin ISBN: 1-4000-3272-5 Publisher: Anchor Books/Doubleday Pub. Date: 12 August, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.4 (15 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: thought provoking, different
Comment: Levin attempts to describe in lay terms a foundation for cosmology, including the big bang, finite-vs-infinite size of the universe, and geometrical shape of the universe. It is a formidible challenge given the nonmathematical approach. She writes her book as a compilation of letters to her mother, with supplemented diagrams that are nonmathematical. Her argument for a finite universe is persuasive. She also writes about her life as a physicist/mathematician/artist including her relationship with a boyfriend musician. They break up in the book, with him resurfacing as an "appendix" in the end.
I met author Levin in a book signing event in Milwaukee and she updates us...she is married with a newborn.
The book is well written, lucid with many personal touches. A female physicist is a rarity and subsequently, this book, with its emotional touches and relationship referrals, is distinct and unique. But this aspect is refreshing and not distracting to the reader. I recommend Levin's book as a refreshing "4" stars and my only criticism, mildly, is the short address of string theory and future predictions on astronomy research.
Rating: 5
Summary: A Glowing Example of Parabasis. Seinfeld Eat Your Heart Out
Comment: Dr.Janna Levin, a physicist/mathematician/topologist, steps out of the halls of academe and her personal life, and takes center stage at The Riddle of the Universe Theater and shows herself to be a brilliant performer. She is a connecting link between the musings of Oswald Spengler, P. D. Ouspensky & Alfred Korzybski on one side and Sir James Jeans, Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington & George Gamow on the other. It's a pity that James R. Newman (THE WORLD OF MATHEMATICS)is not around to comment on her performance. Like David Lynch's movie, she admits that "The world (universe) is strange on top and wild at heart," but unlike an Edward Gorey character does not despair or lose her subtle sense of humor. Humor is an avis raris in cosmology, but here it shines like a dewdrop in a cesspool. Practicing eggheads will immediately realize that this book should be on the bookshelf next to Carroll's THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK along with the commentary upon it completed by F. C. S. Schiller in 1901.
Her professional modesty is refreshing. She does not stand in the "Chariot of the Intellect" and shout, BEHOLD THE DUST I'M RAISING! The unstated conclusion of her performance can be summarized as: To assert or deny one "shape" for the universe
is a mark of prejudice. The rational person will regard the question as open; but don't despair, a solution just might be on the horizon.
Rating: 5
Summary: All of a sudden I realized how big our universe might be
Comment: The author is an astrophysicist and has all the right credentials in the scientific world to perpetrate her theories on the nature of the universe. However, she has targeted this book to a broader audience. Had I not seen her promote her book in a local bookstore I might not have had my interest piqued. Also, my book discussion book selected this as its monthly choice and I was determined to read it even though, at first glance, some of the scientific diagrams seemed impossible to me as I have no background whatsoever in this area.
Wisely, though, the book is constructed as a diary of her personal life as well as explanations of her work in a letter format. She actually wrote these letters to her mother, and therefore I thought her descriptions would be simple. They weren't. However, by pushing myself to read every word, even though much of the theory was difficult, I made a discovery. All of a sudden I was introduced to concepts that I had never heard of before, no less understand. Although I'll never remember the details, I learned about Einstein and the theory of relativity, how the topology of the earth makes it a lot more complex than a perfect sphere and what the concept of "infinite" really means. And, most important, I realized just how big our universe must be and how we humans are just a tiny part of it.
As this is probably the only book I will ever read about the world of physics, I must thank the author for taking me on a journey to new and unexpected places in the small universe that is my own personal mind. The book is not an easy read, but for anyone willing to explore new frontiers, I definitely recommend it.
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Title: The Universe Next Door: The Making of Tomorrow's Science by Marcus Chown ISBN: 0195168844 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality by Brian Greene ISBN: 0375412883 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 10 February, 2004 List Price(USD): $28.95 |
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Title: Biocosm: The New Scientific Theory of Evolution : Intelligent Life Is the Architect of the Universe by Seth Shostak, James N. Gardner ISBN: 1930722222 Publisher: Inner Ocean Publishing Pub. Date: 01 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order by Steven Strogatz ISBN: 0786868449 Publisher: Hyperion Pub. Date: 05 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Einstein's Unfinished Symphony: Listening to the Sounds of Space-Time by Marcia Bartusiak ISBN: 0425186202 Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group Pub. Date: 04 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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