THE SUN SHINES BRIGHT

An Asimov miscellany: 17 erratic pieces reprinted from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, 1979-80, on over-familiar topics ranging from astronomy and physics to medieval weaponry, biology, and human nature. Some of the essays are passable enough, if superficial: sunspots and the "Maunder minimum"; solar neutrinos and Davis' experiments; the English longbow; Leo Szilard, neutrons, and nuclear bombs; Cyril Burt and scientific self-delusion. Others are unfocused and largely inane (moon, tides, and angular momentum; clones as sources of surgical spare parts)—or Asimov at his rambling and self-indulgent worst: a retort to a "itpicking critic," an (already dated) update on the planets, discussions on urban population growth and on human nature. A very mixed, often noisy bunch, with little appeal to any but ardent Asimov admirers.