English astrophysicist Gribbin (Timewarps, White Holes, etc.) proves once again that he is a lucid and fluent expositor to lay readers. But there is some sleight-of-hand here. In this volume, says Gribbin, he wants to dwell on the anomalies of space in an Einsteinian universe: matter disturbs the smooth flatness of the terrain, producing the gravity wells or warps predicted by general relativity theory. However, these are but foils that allow Gribbin to introduce those major distortions of space—wells that close in upon themselves: the black holes. Once they are encountered and possible candidates detailed, they provide a springboard by which to describe white dwarfs and other assemblages of compacted matter, along with the evolution of stars. The material covered, in the end, is much the standard fare we meet in other contemporary surveys of cosmology/astrophysics—including Gribbin's. A new wrinkle, possibly, is his idea that the present universe may be a black hole turned inside out. Whether or not the universe will continue to expand ad infinitum, or contract back to the ultimate singularity that was the Big Bang, becomes food for thought on the amount of mass in the universe. Some calculations suggest that perhaps 90 percent of the mass may be undetectable—black holes not near enough to perturb visible masses. Some authorities, Gribbin admits, find this an off-putting thought: astronomers, after all, like to think that their domain is investigatable. Apparently such conjectural invisibility does not daunt Gribbin (a theorist), nor one of his most admired contemporaries, Stephen Hawkins, who has spawned a theory of miniblack holes. As a variation on Gribbin's and other recent popularizations, the book is fine—just remember you may have read it elsewhere already.
Pub Date: Nov. 11, 1983
ISBN: 0385293666
Page Count: 232
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1983
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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