Present at the Creation: The Story of CERN and the Large Hadron Collider Review

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(More customer reviews)The completion of repairs to CERN's new supercollider has resulted in a wealth of general science offerings devoted to the attempt to explain humanity's most expensive and complicated machine. It is quite clear that a number of publishers are hoping to ride an anticipated wave of publicity to great profit--if and when the Higgs boson is discovered. Having previously tackled several of the related books, I am pleased to say that this volume is one of Dr. Aczel's best efforts; it provides an excellent road map to the intricacies of the standard model--which I now understand a bit better than before--and provides both a more informative and more entertaining read than its competition. To be sure, this is no replacement for a text nor should anyone think of it in that light; rather, it is a story about discovery.
To even begin to intelligently discuss the science that makes the supercollider relevant requires massive amounts of backstory. The reader must be introduced to fantastically complex theoretical musings and, I think some editor somewhere has dictated that no equations may be used, although a few of them crept into the appendix. Here is where Dr. Aczel's effort is superior. His recital of the basic underlying scientific principles has all the hallmarks of a capable lecturer--other authors in this area focus almost entirely on their unique and valuable contributions to the science in such a way that makes an understanding of the whole picture somewhat difficult, but this more general work is better able to convey the sense of wonder and shared discovery that motivates scientists to keep digging deeper into nature's inner workings.
Now, I grant that perhaps having read several similar books my understanding was primed to better receive this volume; however, I believe that independently of the other offerings, this work does a better job of telling a story and teaching the science. It can always be done better and, frankly, much of it just makes my head spin. Yet because this book can take such an esoteric topic and leave you interested in learning more, the author is to be commended.
Highly Recommended

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God's Equation: Einstein, Relativity, and the Expanding Universe Review

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(More customer reviews)I had expected this book (foolishly judging it by the cover) to present a new theological interpretation of cosmology, or perhaps a theory based on new astronomical observations. In fact it seems as if Aczel had the title "God's Equation" thrust on him by a publisher eager for more sales.
The book is actually a pretty enjoyable and readable introduction to special and general relativity, interwoven with some more modern physics and plenty of anecdotes about Einstein's life.
The author has conducted unique research of his own, commissioning his father to translate some of Einstein's previously unpublished letters. And so an intriguing character sketch emerges, blended seamlessly with the science. It dwells at length on the "greatest blunder", the cosmological constant, which is still debated by cosmologists today.
The explanations of the physics are really rather good. I would highly recommend this book to someone who's after an easier read than Hawking's Brief History of Time, and not yet ready for the Elegant Universe.
A very personal, thoughtful, and welcome book.

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Are we on the verge of solving the riddle of creation using Einstein's "greatest blunder"?In a work that is at once lucid, exhilarating and profound, renowned mathematician Dr. Amir Aczel, critically acclaimed author of Fermat's Last Theorem, takes us into the heart of science's greatest mystery. In January 1998, astronomers found evidence that the cosmos is expanding at an ever-increasing rate. The way we perceive the universe was changed forever. The most compelling theory cosmologists could find to explain this phenomenon was Einstein's cosmological constant, a theory he conceived--and rejected---over eighty years ago. Drawing on newly discovered letters of Einstein--many translated here for the first time--years of research, and interviews with prominent mathematicians, cosmologists, physicists, and astronomers, Aczel takes us on a fascinating journey into "the strange geometry of space-time," and into the mind of a genius. Here the unthinkable becomes real: an infinite, ever-expanding, ever-accelerating universe whose only absolute is the speed of light. Awesome in scope, thrilling in detail, God's Equation is storytelling at its finest.

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How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming Review

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(More customer reviews)Thanks to Mike Brown, two of my childhood illusions have been shattered: Pluto is no longer a planet, and Astronomy isn't a riveting, exciting science as I thought it would be.
Mike Brown is a CalTech astronomer who has been looking for objects past Pluto and found over a dozen of them. That's where the problem lies. Most of objects are half the size of Pluto, and Eris is about 25% bigger than Pluto. So it stands to reason that either Eris is our new 10th planet in the solar system, or since it behaves a bit strangely like Pluto, then Pluto isn't a planet (since it moves in an irregular orbit, etc.) The logic makes sense, and Dr. Brown explains it from both sides and fully understands that growing up, all of us learned that Pluto was a planet, and that changing that would result in uproar. He's fair and balanced in his logic and reasoning and explains it very well.
Dr. Brown doesn't romance the life of the astronomer: they work odd hours, have to deal with weather, the moon, long hours poured over maps and plates to determine if objects move or not. They're obsessive creatures with understanding spouses (Dr. Brown mentions his spouse a lot, who sounds like a great person and adds "Astronomy wives" to the long list of suffering spouses who deal with a spouse with a crazy profession.)
There's an interesting background to what it means to actually discover something. I didn't know that there was a proper naming nomenclature behind finding objects. Giving Eris the original name of Xena (after the "Warrior Princess" TV show) lead to vigorous discussion. If it was a Kuiper belt object, then it should be named after a creation deity. This is something that not many people are aware of, and they got bent out of shape when Brown and his group deviated from it, even with nicknames.
The writing is strong. Sometimes with books written by scientists, the narrative tends to get in the way of the science. I hope that this isn't Dr. Brown's last book, because I could see him writing more books on astronomy for wider audiences.
Overall, I'd recommend this book for people with an interest in astronomy and anyone who has an interest in why Pluto isn't a planet any longer. It's a good read for anyone who's ever dreamed beyond the planet.

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1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created Review

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(More customer reviews)Charles Mann has a knack for making the details of history into fascinating reading, and this book did, indeed, keep me up reading past my bedtime. The book combines the results of his prodigious reading, his own travels and personal experiences, and his conversations with some of the leading scholars in the field.
On the heels of his earlier success (1491), Mann now turns to the post-Columbian world, and shows how Columbus's voyages brought about what Mann calls (rather inelegantly, perhaps) the "Homogenocene Age." We're all living in one world now, like it or not, and he explores how it got that way. The book doesn't attempt to be exhaustive, but goes into detail about some of the more interesting aspects of what scholars are now calling the "Columbian Exchange": a massive swap of plants, microorganisms, and animals (including humans). The period after Columbus brought about some of the most radical (and often surprising) changes in the nature of the world.
In some ways, the book recalls James Burkes' Connections television series. We see the unintended consequences and often unexpected results of seemingly minor events. The 1707 Union of Scotland and England turns out to be, quite possibly, partly the result of Panamanian mosquitoes, for example. And I learned a lot. We all know about the Puritans landing in New England, but I had no idea they also founded a colony off the coast of Nicaragua!

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