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A Matter of Degrees: What Temperature Reveals About the Past and Future of Our Species, Planet, and Universe Hardcover – July 1, 2002

by Gino Segre (Author)

15 customer reviews

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Theorizes that temperature is the most revealing method of measurement, considering such topics as the fixed internal temperature of most mammals, the significance of hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor, and the problem of superconductivity in quantum physics. 25,000 first printing.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Length and mass are measurements we understand intuitively, but temperature is fleeting and elusive. Why is it so hard to measure compared with other fundamentals? Why do living things require such a narrow range of temperatures to go about their business? How cold is deep space, anyway? Physicist Gino Segre knows how to keep interest flowing along; even when he's explaining the intricacies of small-scale physics, he takes time to ground it in real life. His scope is wide--from the beginning (and ending) of the universe to the history of life on Earth, little falls outside his purview. Yet the book touches on so many subjects of immediate interest to 21st-century humans (high fevers, sports medicine, and the next scheduled Ice Age, to name a few) that it's compelling even to those who don't care about the Big Questions. --Rob Lightner

From Publishers Weekly

Segre, a theoretical physicist at the University of Pennsylvania, begins this far-ranging survey of the history of science by explaining how living organisms maintain stable temperatures and showing how adaptations to hot or cold habitats influenced animal evolution. Subsequent chapters cover a wide range of topics such as the development of heat-measuring technologies; influences of temperature on earth's climate, including speculations on "snowball" and "slushball" earth scenarios and the greenhouse effect; survival mechanisms of thermophiles and psychrophiles (bacteria that tolerate extremely high and extremely low temperatures, respectively); and the role of neutrinos, tiny particles produced in the core of the sun, in explaining solar dynamics. Segre observes that the history of human civilization can be read as a story of the "ever-hotter fires humans made as they moved from hunter-gatherers to villagers to toolmakers," while the formation of the universe can be seen as a vast cooling, from one hundred billion degrees at one hundredth of a second after the big bang to the cooler temperatures at which neutrons and protons could bind together (one billion degrees) and some 300,000 years later hydrogen and helium atoms could form (3,000 degrees). While some of Segre's material will be a challenge to readers without knowledge of college-level physics, he brings humor and passion to his subject and excels in showing its relevance to both current policy and future research.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product details

Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Viking / Penguin; 1st edition (July 15, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0670031011
ISBN-13: 978-0670031016
Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.2 x 8.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 15 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,175,912 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #436 in Thermodynamics (Books)
- #14629 in Earth Sciences (Books)

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white gold wielder

Basics of evolving universe omitted

February 23, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The publisher does not really describe what the book is about, as there is almost nothing about the changing universe and temperature - which discussions demand a much more thorough treatment of entropy and complexity. In particular, why is it that local increases in order may occur in spite of the second law?

So much discussion about the author's background as a physicist, but then he omits such a basic physical concept about the changing universe?

A great disappointment,

If you really want to know the basic science of life and its evolution in terms of physical science do NOT get this book.
Instead, look to Into the Cool: Energy Flow, Thermodynamics, and Life.

If you really want to know the basic science of the universe and its evolution in terms of physicsal science do NOT get this book.
Instead turn to The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself

One person found this helpful

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Robert J. Hard

Degrees of Excellence

September 27, 2002

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

It is hard to say which is more compelling: A Matter of Degrees' strength as a book of science history or its strength as a work of literature. Segre writes with such elegance, clarity and charm that it is easy to forget that this is a work we read for self-improvement rather than self-indulgence.
In a step-by-logical-step fashion, Segre leads the reader first to appreciate the importance of temperature and its regulation in living things into an understanding of thermo dynamics generally. We see things from the standpoint of giants like Newton, Davey, Rumford, Carnot and Kelvin, through moderns like Einstein, Bohr, Heizenberg, et al.--all the way up to discoveries circa 2001. We also see how even the great ones have stumbled and struggled with their misapprehensions, and will doubtless continue to do so.
From the warmth of mammalian bodies to the warmth of the greehouse effect, from the shriek of the first steam engines to the flickering near-nothingness of the neutrino, Segre ties the first to the last to show how an understanding of temperature leads to an understanding of origin. And by that I do not mean the origin of life--I mean the origin of everything.
This book is for people who--
A) Did not take any science courses in college but wish they had;
B) Did take science courses in college but wish they hadn't;
C) Want to see how a master teacher teaches his area of mastery; or
D)Are even passingly curious about How It All Began and How It All Might End.

31 people found this helpful

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Tony

Running naked in Antarctica

February 17, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Sinplicity is reached when u realize something that is so obvious that u cannot help but realize it. I thought about what Segre wrote, about running naked in Antarctica and searched cute harp seals. This biography is a worthy read, even thoug I’m a quick reader it made me slow down

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Kaushik Basu

An open invitation to research!

March 31, 2008

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This is a wonderful account relating the role temperature plays in widely varying disciplines, ranging from physiology to cosmology. Though Segre is a physicist and quips that physics is pretty much the family business, his understanding and enthusiasm for a broad range of problems under the blanket of science is truly astonishing. The majority of non-fiction works in this genre tend to focus on a relatively narrow area which often happens to be the author's domain of expertise. The more general approach this book takes without watering things down is truly refreshing.
The tone reflects the excitement of the non-specialist, surely. Also, in describing the events and often surprising turns a field has taken, Segre's sketches of the personalities involved are colorful without relying too much on what often turns out to be insider perspectives. While there is a place for that, and several writers, particularly David Lindley, has used it to sharp advantage, Segre's account skims over the trees for the forest.
What I found very noticable was the even balance between weighing the current state of knowledge with the absence of any overarching statement about where things are headed. This caution, for example, was not something that was expressed in James Gleick's 'chaos,' for example. For all its novelty of expression, the basic science was at times suspect, as practitioners like David Ruelle has pointed out in his 'chance and chaos.'
While the narrative for the subjects like geothermal vents and global warming were quite seamless, I thought Segre's treatment of low-temperature physics was a little stilted and disjointed. This was a bit of a dissapointment because one would expect a somewhat more cohesive picture from a well-known neutrino physicist. The dialogue between Einstein and Bohr could have been richer and more contextual, and the time-span of interesting events could have stretched somewhat longer.
A missed opportunity, however, is only one side of the coin, and a book can only be so long. One hopes that some equally competent author pieces together the somewhat difficult if specialized story of laser cooling of atoms, or delve into why low temperatures are so interesting in revealing the quantum nature of materials.
I actually bought this copy after borrowing it from the library for following up on the excellent bibliography and references. I also appeared animated enough about it for my wife to whisk my copy away for her commute...

4 people found this helpful

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Luis Mansilla

A fascinating and lucid book!

April 8, 2006

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

For me this was an excellent book and recommend it to everyone interested in always learning new things. Segre's easy way of explaining tough matters is admirable. In this book you learn lots of stuff, like the average internal temperature of humans, earth temperature, what is absolute zero and quantum dynamics, all of them sauced with lots of history.

3 people found this helpful

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Ray B.

Perspective changing book

August 5, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Fantastic for those with or without scientific backgrounds. Would be a superb text for a liberal arts course in science and science history.

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Susan V. Meschel

Segre:Amatter of degrees

May 2, 2009

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I was interested in both the topic and the author. The book is excellent, both an entertaining reading for people interested in the relationahip of ScieNce and history and also for teaching purposes.

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A Matter of Degrees: What Temperature Reveals About the Past and Future of Our Species, Planet, and Universe Hardcover – July 1, 2002

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