Customer Reviews

Subatomic Monster (Mentor)

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Writing popular science effectively is definitely an art and, while many are called, few are chosen. Michio Kaku, for example, is one of those talented scientists who can speak to us lay people on our own level and make us understand whereof he speaks. Clifford Pickover, on the other hand (to name only one, in my opinion) hasn't got a clue when it comes to making his science even lucid let alone enjoyable. Unless you have a joint degree in cosmology, quantum mechanics and conformal geometry, Clifford Pickover's books are an impenetrable maze of scientific mumbo-jumbo.

Isaac Asimov, rest the good doctor's soul, had the uncanny ability to make science light, understandable, enjoyable, informative, entertaining and at times even intuitive. And not for one second did he ever trivialize his subject or talk down to his readers.

Like most of his books, THE SUBATOMIC MONSTER is a collection of thought-provoking essays on a myriad of topics - physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology, technology and even the length of the life of the universe. Because it was written in the mid '80s, the science is, of course, somewhat dated but, in no instance, did I catch Asimov in an scientific mis-statement or an outright error that had been superseded by the mind-boggling advances that scientific research is now making on an almost daily basis.

So, even if you think of yourself as an informed popular science reader and current on the state of today's research, re-visiting Asimov's essays is always worth the time. What a shame he isn't alive today to lend his writing expertise to telling us about 21st century physics.

Recommended.

Paul Weiss