Customer Reviews

Universal Foam: From Cappuccino to the Cosmos

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This book is both less and more than I expected.

It will disappoint the sophisticated science-literate reader who is seeking details about the physics, chemistry, and geometry of foams. It is tantalizingly sketchy in this regard and fails to probe its titular topic at the level of, say, an article in Scientific American magazine. For example, Perkowitz extols the wonders of the shaving cream nozzle without actually describing how it works. The author takes us on a whirlwind grand tour of modern science, with a few short detours into history, glimpsing the facades of many areas of science but never setting foot within the edifices. Depending on your pre-existing familiarity with general science, you might find it totally fascinating or merely a tedious rehash of familiar topics.

The purported common thread--foamy structure in all physical domains--is a little disingenuous, often serving as a far-fetched excuse to introduce a seemingly irrelevant topic. For example Perkowitz touches on the subject of black holes by describing them as space-time "bubbles," in reality having nothing to do with foam per se.

It is sparsely illustrated with just a handful of photos and only a couple of diagrams. The hundred or so bibliographic references are likewise a mixed bag of old and new, general and technical.

Still, all readers are bound to learn something useful, even if parceled out as small nuggets of science trivia. Competently written and a commendable achievement in scope if not detail.

In his newest book, "Universal Foam: From Cappuccino to the Cosmos", Dr. Sidney Perkowitz has, simply and personally, uncovered mysteries that permeate our universe, most of which we were subliminally aware, but always took for granted. Now, he has opened the door for us to seek additional uses for these ever present phenomena. Perkowitz shows us, all ages included, how these simple, usual things, such as foam, can be put to many extraordinary uses. We need more observant science writers to jump start our young people into thinking about their everyday surroundings in greater depth. His present writing is on par with his exciting 1998 paperback, "Empire of Light". Perkowitz presents his ideas in such a clear manner that you can see simple substances materialize into the most intricate technological advances. It is awe inspiring to see the world of physics unfolding before your eyes.

This book was delightful, I learned so much from it. Sidney Perkowitz took a subject a seemingly laughable subject and made it fascinating.

The first section lays down the basics of foam. There is far more than just three states of matter - solid, liquid, and gas - and foam is a important type of "soft matter," a substance that is neither rigid like a solid nor completely free flowing like a liquid, and generally contains large amounts of a gas. Perkowitz points out simple observable facts about foams, that in their simplest definitions they are generally bubbles of gas distributed throughout a liquid or a solid; that liquid foams tend to be white, are usually short-lived, and move differently than either a pure gas or a pure liquid; and that foams within solids usually start out as liquid foams. The geometry of the bubbles within foam is discussed as well, with reference to a set of universal laws, Plateau's rules, devised by the 19th-century Belgian physicist Joseph Antoine Ferdinand Plateau. Vital to an understanding of the physics and geometry of foam are knowledge of surface tension, the minimumizing principle, and surfactants (an acronym for surface-active agent), all of which Perkowitz discusses with clarity and precision.

Chapter two goes into the tools used to examine foams. Over the years the methods of studying foam have ranged from cells made from transparent glass half an inch wide to much more complex methods such as diffusing-wave spectroscopy and magnetic resonance imaging with computer simulations playing a role of increasing importance.

Next we get to examine edible foam, my favorite. Foam is found in a variety of foods, from mousse (French for "foam") to meringue (which we learn was invented by the Swiss chef Gasparini in 1720 and named after his hometown of Meringen) to bread and beer, all of which are highly reliant upon foam in their formation. We find that the study of foam in a head of beer is a much a science as it is an art, which the brewing industry has done research into, determining what type of glass is the best and on the importance of the foam to beer drinkers. Even more research goes into the foam in crema, important to lovers of espresso. Perkowitz analyses the art and science of foam in cappuccino (where the type, brand, and temperature of the milk are critical), whipped cream (we learn that aerosol whipped creams are propelled by nitrous oxide or laughing gas), carbonated soft drinks (arising originally from drinks believed to have medicinal value), champagne, and that ultimate expression of edible foam, the soufflé (from the French verb souffler, which translates into "to blow or to puff").

The fourth chapter looks at practical foam, from cork to aerogel to shaving cream. We first look at natural foams that have daily value, such as pumice (foamy volcanic rock), sponges, and cork (where we learn why cork is both a great insulator against heat, why it is great in sound proofing, and why it has been used by wine producers for so long). Plastics, particularly foamed plastics, are analyzed in great detail, from their formation and chemistry to their many uses (and disposal of in landfills as well). Perkowitz looks at foamed plastic in everything from packing peanuts to Styrofoam cups to insulation for the space shuttle to bizarre furniture. Fascinating was his description of aerogel, so-called "frozen smoke," a ghostly substance as much as 98 percent or more air, an ounce of which contains the area of several football fields. Difficult to manufacture, we learn about its uses particularly in the space program. Liquid foams are also discussed, from shaving cream (which shares some similarities to whipped cream) to foam used in fire-fighting or in oil drilling. Foamed metal, another high-tech product, is also looked at.

Chapter five looks at "living foam," foam that is found in the world of nature. He describes a single cell as resembling a fluid-filled bubble, which crowd together like foam to form the parts of complex organisms. An understanding of foam has been crucial in the study of cells, body tissues, cell division, and reproduction. Foam, in solid form, gives many bones both strength and light weight. Foams are quite common in animal reproduction and in parental behavior, from frogs to insects to fish to even quail. Foams are also important in medicine, from the days when carbonated water was thought to have value to today when they are important in ultrasound therapy, in birth control, and - negatively - in some ailments such as the bends and altitude sickness, which he writes "has been called a disease of bubbles," as well as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and transmissible spongiform encephalopathy.

Chapter six looks at foam in meteorology and geology, from pumice, which reveals important information on the subsurface geologic actions of the earth, to sea foam, an understanding of which is important in climatology and an accurate understanding of storms and waves.

The book closes with a look at "cosmic" foam, which exists as part of the very bedrock of the universe in which we live, both at the level of the incredibly small and the incredibly huge. At the smallest possible level of analyses, at the quantum level of subatomic particles, the very space-time continuum is possibly made up of something known as quantum foam. Perkowitz brings into the discussion the research of Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, and Max Planck among others. On the larger side of the equation foam describes in a startling way the distribution of galaxies throughout the universe. The very galaxies themselves appear to be distributed in a foam-like pattern, the universe a vast series of cosmic bubbles, the film of which is made up of galaxies which enclose a volume of space up to 200 million light-years that is virtually void of galaxies. This finding has profound implications for the origin of the universe and for the Big Bang.

I highly recommend this book.

Universal Foam blends science with a cultural overview and history of the physical world, from the simple soap bubble to the history of foam science. It's unusual to find a book devoted to foam science alone: this has a surprising amount of facts packed into a review of how foam operates.