This readable survey of cosmology (and the astronomical evidence on which it is founded) shows an unusual awareness of the larger philosophical context in which scientific ideas are worked out. Thuan (Astronomy/Univ. of Virginia) is well known in France (where this book first appeared) both for popular science books and for TV appearances. It is easy to see why, if the present volume is a fair sample. He begins with a vivid description of his work at a modern astronomical observatory, where he and his colleagues are more likely to settle down in front of a bank of instruments and computer keyboards than to step outside for a direct view of the sky. Still, the emotional impact of the night sky is at the root of the appeal of astronomy and forms the source of its speculations about the universe we inhabit. Thuan quickly surveys the many ways in which past civilizations have interpreted the findings of astronomy, from the mythological universe of the ancients to the deterministic model of the late 19th century. He outlines the structure of the cosmos as revealed by increasingly more sophisticated instruments and techniques, smoothly explaining such central concepts as the Hubble constant and black holes. Thuan shows a particular willingness to grapple with some of the larger philosophical and religious issues implicit in any discussion of how the universe began and how it may end; his argument for the anthropic principle (that the universe is designed to produce intelligent living creatures) is tantalizing, although the principle itself seems to depend on circular reasoning. Likewise, his willingness to speculate on the ultimate fate of life in the universe sets him apart from many astronomers, who shy away from such questions. Clear, comprehensive, well written (and well translated), this is a fine introduction to the key issues of modern cosmology. (photos, not seen)
Pub Date: July 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-19-507370-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Oxford Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
If the authors are serious, this is a silly, distasteful book. If they are not, it’s a brilliant satire.
The authors have created a sort of anti-Book of Virtues in this encyclopedic compendium of the ways and means of power.
Everyone wants power and everyone is in a constant duplicitous game to gain more power at the expense of others, according to Greene, a screenwriter and former editor at Esquire (Elffers, a book packager, designed the volume, with its attractive marginalia). We live today as courtiers once did in royal courts: we must appear civil while attempting to crush all those around us. This power game can be played well or poorly, and in these 48 laws culled from the history and wisdom of the world’s greatest power players are the rules that must be followed to win. These laws boil down to being as ruthless, selfish, manipulative, and deceitful as possible. Each law, however, gets its own chapter: “Conceal Your Intentions,” “Always Say Less Than Necessary,” “Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy,” and so on. Each chapter is conveniently broken down into sections on what happened to those who transgressed or observed the particular law, the key elements in this law, and ways to defensively reverse this law when it’s used against you. Quotations in the margins amplify the lesson being taught. While compelling in the way an auto accident might be, the book is simply nonsense. Rules often contradict each other. We are told, for instance, to “be conspicuous at all cost,” then told to “behave like others.” More seriously, Greene never really defines “power,” and he merely asserts, rather than offers evidence for, the Hobbesian world of all against all in which he insists we live. The world may be like this at times, but often it isn’t. To ask why this is so would be a far more useful project.
If the authors are serious, this is a silly, distasteful book. If they are not, it’s a brilliant satire.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-670-88146-5
Page Count: 430
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
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