The books of Charles Seife are always fascinating. I am intrigued by science writing and found him to be well spoken and inviting no matter what the subject.
He was a science reporter turned journalism professor and writes science I can enjoy. I've read three so far and find them entertaining on subjects that may not seem so welcoming.
The first of his I read was Zero - The Biography Of A Dangerous Idea. It's for fans of history, science and mathematics, where he shows the history of the 'number' zero, then moves into both infinity and nothingness. This is a fascinating and witty book I highly recommend!
The next was Alpha & Omega - The Search For The Beginning and End of the Universe, which explained cosmological concepts in easy to understand and sometimes humourous ways. Even though there were a lot of technical terms, he made the physics informal enough to be enjoyable.
Sun In A Bottle is a book I've just reread. Look at that cover! The concept and creation of giant superconductors is mind boggling to me - a world so far from my own - they are totally fascinating.
It's an informal history of fusion research from the Manhattan project in the 1950's to the projected working fusion reactor in 2030. By that I mean, it might not be comprehensive, but for me, it was the perfect amount. Seife details the politics, development, and uses of nuclear weapons, and then into the race for harnessing fusion power - both high temperature and cold fusion. I am only into science as far as my interest in the concepts and his writing style simplified the process of thermonuclear reactions so that I could enjoy and understand it. He describes the many attempts over the years to achieve true fusion - some even at the expense of spending as much power was it took to create - and the competing teams of scientists working towards it.
This was the intriguing part to me, the human side of the endeavour. Seife goes into the many ways scientists conceive creating a sustainable, zero-energy fusion reaction, so far without success. There are millions of dollars spent on each attempt for the future of fusion power itself, and whether it was true fusion or just a phenomena that mimicked that can be overlook in the race for glory. Claims could be made for success, only to be investigated as non-existant or flawed. The peer-review system the scientists go through to claim their prize and the problems that reveals was the most fascinating part of the book - the human side of success and failure.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in science. I once reviewed Oliver Sack's Oaxaca Journal and (although it was in the world of Botany) found it on the same level as this - an enjoyable and informative glimpse into the world of science.
I look forward to whatever Seife come up with next.
2008 / Hardcover / 233 pages
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