Book Reviews March 2007

Cultural software : a theory of ideology J M Balkin Yale University Press, 1998 ISBN: 0300072880 We are all constrained by the norms of the societies in which we live, even when we want to frame an abstract discussion of those norms. So is it possible to escape from this recursion? In Cultural Software J M Balkin thinks that it is, but we should steer clear of attempts to systematize the process, which only results in another ideology. Instead we must rely on what looks like ad hoc thinking - metabricolage is the term Balkin uses. I felt that the book makes an excellent bridge between the scientific ideas of memes and the like and the more literary discussion of ideologies and social norms. Continued..

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Feynman Lectures on Computation Richard Feynman ,Tony Hey and Robin Allen Penguin Books, 1996 ISBN: 0140284516 Mentioned in quantum computing Co-authors Feynman,Richard Hey,Tony Feynman Lectures on Computation is based on a series of lectures given by Richard Feynman in the early 1980's. Note that it isn't a comprehensive look at computer science in the model of his Lectures on physics. Its more like 'A physicist looks at computation'. Rather than taking the 'black box' view of computers, Feynman clearly wants to know whats in those boxes and how it works. So whilst you might think that the lectures in this book would be out of date, I would say that they still contains much of interest, which is presented in Feynman's usual (reasonably) easy to read style. Continued..

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The Marriage of Sense and Thought Stephen Edelglass ,Georg Maier and Hans Gebert Lindisfarne Press, 1992 ISBN: 086315140X Reductionism is a powerful force in the development of science. In The Marriage of Sense and Thought: Imaginitive Participation in Science the authors claim that it is driving science in the wrong direction, and what is more that it is leading to a lack of meaning in our lives. For instance the claim in the first chapter is that smiles are being robbed of their meaning by scientists describing them in reductionist terms. So how do the authors justify this claim. Well, I have to say: not very well - they seem to take it as read in their discussions, whereas I would see it as something which requires a lot of supporting argument in order to be taken seriously. Continued..

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Seven Wonders of the Cosmos Jayant Narlikar Cambridge University Press, 1999 ISBN: 0521638984 The title Seven wonders of the Cosmos suggested to be that this would be a 'coffee table book' - that is a book which showed off some impressive astronomical objects without going into the theory. However, that is not what I found - the book does contain quite a bit of astrophysics. Jayant Narlikar's presentation skilfully makes this accessible to the novice (I felt that it was less suited to those with some experience in the subject), hence the book seems best suited to those who have developed an interest in astronomy and want to find out more about it, without going too much into the technicalities. Continued..

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The Trouble with Physics Lee Smolin Allen Lane, 2006 ISBN: 9780713997 Mentioned in Full Review String theory is a controversial subject at the moment - some people think that it has drifted too far from experimentally testable results. One such person is Lee Smolin, and in The Trouble with Physics he presents his case. As the book proceeds it includes quite a bit of modern physics, but Smolin manages to do this without technicalities, and so the book can be read by those without much experience of the subject. Not everyone will agree with what Smolin is saying, but he presents some well thought out arguments ant the book is definitely worth reading. Continued..

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An introduction to statistical thermodynamics Robert Gasser and W G Richards World Scientific, 1995 ISBN: 9810223722 Mentioned in Absolute zero Co-author Gasser,Robert An introduction to statistical thermodynamics by Gasser and Richards is a small book, but the authors manage to pack a significant amount of useful material into it. The book contains the typical applications of thermodynamics to physics, such as calculation of heat capacities and the behaviour of materials at low temperatures but since the authors are professors of chemistry, the book also has several chapters on topics related to that subject, such as rates of reaction and spectroscopy. The final chapter looks at the thermodynamics of biopolymers, showing how the subject relates to the behaviour of DNA and proteins. Continued..

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A Passion for DNA James Watson Oxford University Press, 2000 ISBN: 019850697X James D. Watson is a controversial figure, with his strong support for gene therapy and genetic modification of plants and animals , and a greater belief in genetic determinism than most geneticists. A Passion for DNA allows the reader to see some of the reasoning behind Watson's beliefs. The book is a collection of essays written by Watson at various times between 1966 and 1999, and we see how he feels that worries about Recombinant DNA were politically stirred up, with no real evidence of danger. He also writes about his views on the ethos of science, on the different approaches to the 'War on Cancer' and on the implication of the Human Genome project. Continued..

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The third law of thermodynamics J Wilks Oxford University Press, 1961 ISBN: 0198514107 Mentioned in Absolute zero The Third Law was written almost fifty years ago, and a lot has happened in low temperature science since that time. However, I feel that this book is not just of historical interest. Certainly if your aim is to find out about to the 3rd law of thermodynamics, then this book is still a useful resource. Since it is devoted to one subject it is quicker to read than a more general thermodynamics textbook. Naturally it has quite a bit of mathematics - at the level of an undergrauate science student, but I felt that this isn't too overwhelming and that there's plenty of non-mathematical discussion. Continued..

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Beyond star trek Lawrence Krauss Perseus Books ISBN: 0060977574 Mentioned in Interstellar travel In Beyond Star Trek, Laurence Krauss builds upon The physics of star trek to look at the science which lies behind other science fiction. Its a bit more critical than his previous book, starting off by demonstrating the impracticalities of interstellar travel. The trouble is that it all seems a bit negative - science fiction fans will want to know how what they read about might be achieved, not about how it can't be done. Some of what Krauss had to says was more positive, such as his views on extraterrestrial life, but even here I had feeling that he didn't have a convincing argument for his ideas. Continued..

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Breaking the Spell Daniel C Dennett Allen Lane, 2006 ISBN: 0713997893 C.S. Lewis said 'You cannot go on explaining away for ever', i.e. there has to be something at the root of what we believe. In Breaking the Spell Daniel Dennett seems to have turned this argument back on itself, saying in effect, OK if that's the case then it won't harm for us to go on trying to explain things such as religion. I can't help thinking that he's trying to pull a fast one myself (if you can use the word 'fast' in relation to Dennett's long books). But if you're interested in the status of religion then it's definitely worth taking a look at this book. Continued..

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Entropy and its physical meaning J.S. Dugdale Taylor and Francis, 1996 ISBN: 0748405690 Mentioned in Absolute zero Entropy and its physical meaning by J.S Dugdale is a short undergraduate level textbook which explains the laws of thermodynamics, looking at their classical as well as their statistical formulation. The book inevitably contains quite a bit of mathematics, but none of it should be too taxing to an undergraduate science student. Also, the first half of book has plenty of discussion of the concepts involved, which makes the maths less of a problem (the later parts seemed more mathematical to me). The book has exercises at the end of each chapter, with solutions at the end, and would be a good choice for independent study of thermodynamics. Continued..

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The refrigerator and the universe Martin Goldstein Harvard University Press, 1993 ISBN: 0674753240 Mentioned in Absolute zero The laws of thermodynamics are often mentioned in popular science books, but often this only gives a superficial view. On the other hand most readers wouldn't want to struggle with thermodynamics textbooks. The refrigerator and the universe provides a substantial introduction to the subject but with a minimum of mathematics - any reader who knows a bit of high school maths. should have no trouble with this book. Indeed some might find the book slow going, with more than 200 pages taken to introduce the first and second laws of thermodynamics and to show the link between entropy and microscopic information. But it isn't difficult to read, so most readers will find the insight gained from this to be very worthwhile. Continued..

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Troubled Waters Sarah Lazarus Natural History Museum, 2006 ISBN: 0565091921 There's a lot of controversy at the moment concerning whaling - some countries consider whale populations are sufficient to resume full scale hunting, while others believe the ban on whaling should be extended. In Troubled Waters Sarah Lazarus examines how the relationship between humans and whales (and other cetaceans such as dolphins) has developed over time. She looks at how human activity brought many species to the brink of extinction, at how attitudes have changed, and at the many problems which still remain. If you want to find out about what we are doing to these intelligent creatures then you will find this book of great interest. Continued..

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The birth of time John Gribbin Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1999 ISBN: 0300089147 Mentioned in stretchy space The subject of The birth of time, that is the measurement of the age of the universe, can be rather puzzling. After all, there was no-one to mark when it began, so how can we get a reasonable idea of its age. Fortunately John Gribbin is not just a renowned science writer, he has also been involved with astronomical observations addressing the question. Hence in this book he gives an excellent explanation of how our views on the age of the universe have come about, but one which requires no prior knowledge on the part of the reader. Continued..

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Metamathematics, machines, and Godel's proof N Shankar Cambridge University Press, 1994 ISBN: 052142027X Mentioned in Gdel's incompleteness theorem How much computers can be used to prove mathematical theorems is a question of great interest. Some would claims that Gödel's incompleteness theorem means that there are severe limits on what a computer can do. Well, Metamathematics, machines and Gödel's proof presents a computerized proof of Gödel's incompleteness theorem itself. Natarajan Shankar uses the lisp programming language, firstly to write a program to check proofs for the first order set-theoretic language Z2, and secondly to express the proof checking program itself in Z2, using the Boyer-Moore theorem prover to prove the existence of an unprovable sentence Continued..

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