Customer Reviews

Dance for Two: Essays

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Last weekend, I was wandering through my local bookstore when I chanced upon Alan P. Lightman's collection of essays DANCE FOR TWO. I remembered reading Lightman's EINSTEIN DREAMS and GOOD BENITO in college over 10 years ago, when I picked them up from the student bookstore because I liked the way the books felt in my hand, and, after reading them, I liked the way Lightman's prose stuck in my memory.

So I added DANCE FOR TWO to my stack of purchases and read it over the last two nights. I was not disappointed.

DANCE FOR TWO is a collection of 24 short essays that Lightman has published over the last 15 years in various magazines and journals. Each essay is written in a economical, nearly austere, style that is reminiscent of the clear, autumn days on the East Coast that must have influenced Lightman. Though the prose is spare and distilled, the essays themselves are strangely moving. In reading, "Smile", a boy-meets-girl story reduced to the mechanics of the eye, ear, and brain, I got choked up when I read the ending lines "All of this is known. What is not known is why, after about a minute, the man walks over to the woman and smiles." I still don't know why I got choked up.

Unfortunately, like any collection of short works, some of the essays that would be quite enjoyable on their own pale in comparisons to the more beautiful siblings. While most of the essays here are excellent, one or two only rise to the merely good.

The subject of these essays is ostensibly about the role of science in everyday human experience, and Lightman does a masterful job of communicating sometimes complex topics into common language. But, as the title of the collection suggests, a dualistic theme pervades throughout the book. In particular, Lightman is constantly comparing and contrasting science and art, finding the hidden creative and human aspects in the hard sciences, as well as craft and objective nature of art. Lightman also explores other dualistic notions.

In his essay "Students and Teachers", Lightman explores the two seemingly opposite roles and finds their hidden connections. In his fable "Mirage", Lightman explores the difference between theorizing on the world and having the courage to act on those theories when he creates a city in Persia where the inhabitants seem enringed by distant fortress walls. In "Flash of Light," Lightman discusses the difference between theoretical science and experimental science by examining a humorous episode in his attempt at experimental science. In "Seasons", Lightman contrasts the certainty provided by the world of physics with the messiness and uncertainty of the political climate on college campuses during the Vietnam War. In "Pas De Dux", Lightman explores the effect of the dancer on the earth she dances upon. The ending paragraph of this essay is quite beautiful. "For an ending, the ballerina does a demi-plie and jumps two feet in the air. The Earth, balancing her momentum, responds with its own sauté and changes orbit by one ten-trillionth of an atom's width. No one notices, but it is exactly right."

But perhaps the biggest dualistic theme threading its way throughout this book is the relationship between the reader and the writer. In his Introduction, Lightman warns us that "writing is a selfish and self-centered profession," and he remarks on the pleasure he receives on going through his old works and being surprised at the small fraction that is pleasing. But while Lightman may be performing this task egotistically, one gets the texture of humility throughout all of his essays. Lightman, rather than being proud of his writing ability, seems more amazed by it, as if his writing ability was another type of natural phenomena outside of the author to be studied and measured if it can. And if it cannot be subjected to the tools of science, then it should at least be appreciated for the beauty it provides.

And that seems exactly right.

Dav's Rating System:
5 stars - Loved it, and kept it on my bookshelf.
4 stars - Liked it, and gave it to a friend.
3 stars - OK, finished it and gave it to the library.
2 stars - Not good, finished it, but felt guilty and/or cheated by it.
1 star - I want my hour back! Didn't finish the book.

These 24 essays, written during the past 15 years, were chosen because, on retrospection, they pleased the author. They are sure to please the reader, too. Their stage is the ever-fascinating interface between science and the arts.

Have you ever pondered that the upward force generated by the churning electrons and protons in the molecules of the stage floor opposes and exactly counterbalances the downward force that the weight of the ballerina exerts on the floor? Or that as she completes her leap, the earth's orbit readjusts itself by a trillionth of an atom's width? Lightman has pondered these and other matters, and describes all in graceful, accurate and compelling prose.

Several events in the book, like the building of a bomb shelter, appear in a fictional setting in Lightman's novel "Good Benito," leading me to wonder if other chapters of his first novel are autobiographical, also.

Several humorous essays describe imaginary visits by Newton, Einstein, and others to Lightman's twilight zone. These visits always end with an unexpectd twist, leaving this reader gasping for reality--and for more.

One of Lightman's many perceptive messages can be found on p. 95 where he says, "Science offers little comfort to anyone who asks to leave behind a personal message in his work." Of course, this impersonality is undoubtedly the key to the great success of science. But in bringing his own wry and perceptive slant to 'writing' about science, Lightman is able to have his cake and eat it too, conveying an entertaining message which is both scientifically informative and yet gratifyingly personal.

Few things are good enough to make me cry. This book did, and after reading the intro and first chapter. Some people are born with 'old souls': Lightman is one. A scientist explains how the universe works lyrically, and with passion. Some of finest prose on cosmology since Chaucer. Completely accessible. Damned near perfection. A keeper. Great material for bedtime stories, for all ages.

Brilliantly written stories whose themes revolve around science and scientists and their interactions with art, society, history and life in general. Gives science a human touch, makes it more personal and approachable to anyone. Makes us think about the universe around us and the lives we lead and how everything untimately ties together. I liked it even more the second time I read it.

many, if not most, scientists beleive in evolution and that science is the leading force of this universe. Alan Lightman so simply proves it not so. Through everyday circumstances he displays a larger force at work, a demonstration rarely seen, heard, or read. My career is in the science field and the internal battle between science and religion is constant in my life. Now I read 'Smile' and 'In His Image' when I question that. All of these essays are brilliant and insightful. I recommend this book not only to my friends, but my librarian as well.

Alan Lightman beautifully expresses his deep passion for science and art, and all the magic that the chaos in between can bring. Only someone who has thought deeply about science, life, art, uncertainty could evoke it so beautifully, and so simply. Highly recommended!

This book made me dream and think about my life and me. Thought me the magic of writng and the reasons behind it..." For one's delight, to give the same pleasure to others, to go back and find meaning in what we wrote or simply dismiss it..." The essay format made it a simple and enjoyable reading and made me look for more of his work. I read Einstein's Dreams, although I was dissapointed his writing style pull me to look for this book, this one is a great one. Einstein's Dreams left me waiting for a conclusion or a dialog with "The Great One"