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allisonarthur's review
4.0
This book is an opportunity to get inside the heads of leading scientists in a variety of fields. Eduardo Punset and Lynn Margulis simplify science through interviews and translate complicated information for the reader who has no professional background in science.
Mind, Life and the Universe is split into the following four parts: People Primates, Animal Body-Mind, Life on an Animate Planet and Toward the Invisible. Topics include many facets of science, including biology, chemistry, physics, nanotechnology, as well as their numerous sub-topics within them. Each chapter/interview/topic is only an average of five to seven pages, which keeps the subjects flowing well.
I lost interest in the middle of the book, somewhere within Life on an Animate Planet, primarily because I have little interest in biology. However, overall, Mind, Life and the Universe is a good, quick read. I could understand almost every topic discussed, even though I have little formal education in the sciences. I'd encourage all those with a broad interest in the sciences to pick this book up.
Favorite Chapters:
Life, Master of the Earth: Interview with James E. Lovelock
Too Huge for the Atom, Too Tiny for the Star: Interview with Sheldon Lee Glashow
Manipulation by Dwarves: Interview with Nicolas Garcia
Favorite Quotes:
"We are in the right place just because life exists; it is life that has modeled this lovely planet that it is so favorable to life." [reference to a group of scientists' opinions, p. 202]
"Physics encompasses chemistry, biology, astronomy, cosmology. Everything is based on physics. All sciences are, in the end, physics." [Sheldon Lee Glashow, p.289]
"If life exists elsewhere in the universe, it doesn't necessarily have to be like ours." [Nicolas Garcia, p. 305]
Note: As this book was published almost five years ago, in includes outdated scientific information. For example, several chapters discuss the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which had yet to be finished. I'd love to hear what these scientists think of the LHC and its findings now!
Mind, Life and the Universe is split into the following four parts: People Primates, Animal Body-Mind, Life on an Animate Planet and Toward the Invisible. Topics include many facets of science, including biology, chemistry, physics, nanotechnology, as well as their numerous sub-topics within them. Each chapter/interview/topic is only an average of five to seven pages, which keeps the subjects flowing well.
I lost interest in the middle of the book, somewhere within Life on an Animate Planet, primarily because I have little interest in biology. However, overall, Mind, Life and the Universe is a good, quick read. I could understand almost every topic discussed, even though I have little formal education in the sciences. I'd encourage all those with a broad interest in the sciences to pick this book up.
Favorite Chapters:
Life, Master of the Earth: Interview with James E. Lovelock
Too Huge for the Atom, Too Tiny for the Star: Interview with Sheldon Lee Glashow
Manipulation by Dwarves: Interview with Nicolas Garcia
Favorite Quotes:
"We are in the right place just because life exists; it is life that has modeled this lovely planet that it is so favorable to life." [reference to a group of scientists' opinions, p. 202]
"Physics encompasses chemistry, biology, astronomy, cosmology. Everything is based on physics. All sciences are, in the end, physics." [Sheldon Lee Glashow, p.289]
"If life exists elsewhere in the universe, it doesn't necessarily have to be like ours." [Nicolas Garcia, p. 305]
Note: As this book was published almost five years ago, in includes outdated scientific information. For example, several chapters discuss the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which had yet to be finished. I'd love to hear what these scientists think of the LHC and its findings now!
davidr's review
4.0
This book is a set of interviews with 36 contemporary scientists. Some of the scientists are well known to laymen; Daniel Dennett, Joan Goodall, Richard Dawkins, Oliver Sacks, Stephen Jay Gould, Paul Davies, James Lovelock, Lisa Randall, and Edward O. Wilson, for example. Many of the other scientists are not as well known, at least to me. So, in several pages per interview, I got an inkling--just an inkling of an idea of what each scientist is about. A brief biography on each scientist, and a reading list are featured at the end of the book.
Almost every interview was enjoyable, but I sometimes felt cheated--the interviews are so short, that I got the feeling that we were just skimming the surface, and not penetrating in depth into any particular subject. The vast majority of the interviews were with biologists and psychologists. Only six scientists work in the physical sciences, and most of them are not well-known. So, I felt that the bias of the editors showed through their selection, and again, I felt a bit cheated.
Several of the interviews were particularly fascinating to me. For example, Daniel Gilbert talked about the "Science of Happiness". When people try to predict how happy they might be in some particular vacation, they prefer to read brochures rather than ask others about their experience on the same vacation. They often make the wrong decision about the vacation, because humans have an "illusion of uniqueness". People do not believe that the experiences of others can help them decide, because they we feel we are unique; we know our own thoughts and feelings, and we don't believe that the experiences of others are relevant.
James Lovelock's interview was fascinating. The interview did not explicitly bring up Lovelock's "Gaia" hypothesis, but he had lots to say about the origin and preservation of life on Earth. When asked about how humans might prevent the demise of life, Lovelock declared that it is important to overcome our fears of nuclear power, as it is the only energy source that does not harm the atmosphere. He talked about the pressures that humans put on the Earth's ecology, and some of the misguided efforts of environmentalists.
I loved Eugene Chudnovsky's interview--he is quite a character. I enjoyed his response when he was asked,
This book is not good as a comprehensive guide to the sciences. But it is an excellent way to be exposed to some very interesting, prominent scientists and a wide range of ideas. Think of this book as a "teaser", and you will be well rewarded.
Almost every interview was enjoyable, but I sometimes felt cheated--the interviews are so short, that I got the feeling that we were just skimming the surface, and not penetrating in depth into any particular subject. The vast majority of the interviews were with biologists and psychologists. Only six scientists work in the physical sciences, and most of them are not well-known. So, I felt that the bias of the editors showed through their selection, and again, I felt a bit cheated.
Several of the interviews were particularly fascinating to me. For example, Daniel Gilbert talked about the "Science of Happiness". When people try to predict how happy they might be in some particular vacation, they prefer to read brochures rather than ask others about their experience on the same vacation. They often make the wrong decision about the vacation, because humans have an "illusion of uniqueness". People do not believe that the experiences of others can help them decide, because they we feel we are unique; we know our own thoughts and feelings, and we don't believe that the experiences of others are relevant.
James Lovelock's interview was fascinating. The interview did not explicitly bring up Lovelock's "Gaia" hypothesis, but he had lots to say about the origin and preservation of life on Earth. When asked about how humans might prevent the demise of life, Lovelock declared that it is important to overcome our fears of nuclear power, as it is the only energy source that does not harm the atmosphere. He talked about the pressures that humans put on the Earth's ecology, and some of the misguided efforts of environmentalists.
I loved Eugene Chudnovsky's interview--he is quite a character. I enjoyed his response when he was asked,
"But do you believe in cyborgs, in those half-machine, half-organism hybrids?"There is a famous story about Chudnovsky, when he was young, attending a lecture by the world-famous Soviet Professor Lysenko. Unfortunately, Lysenko believed in Lamarkism, and he had a lot of influence in the Soviet Union. Lysenko said,
"Of course I believe in cyborgs."
"If we cut the ears off calves when they were born, generation after generation, after some time cows would be born without ears."
"Professor Lysenko," timidly asked the young Chudnovsky, "if it were true that by systematically cutting off cow's ears, generation after generatation, they would end up being born without ears, how do you explain that all the young women of the Soviet Union continue to be born virgins?"
This book is not good as a comprehensive guide to the sciences. But it is an excellent way to be exposed to some very interesting, prominent scientists and a wide range of ideas. Think of this book as a "teaser", and you will be well rewarded.
kaylana's review
4.0
Fascinating interviews with the world's leading scientists. I felt some of the interview edits were a bit too short to make an impact. Some of Eduardo's comments were a bit zany and hokey which digressed from the actual interview. But overall, I learned some new insights. Also disappointed that there were only 3 women scientists interviewed...
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