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A review by devon_marie
Будущее вещей: Как сказка и фантастика становятся реальностью by David Rose, Дэвид Роуз
3.0
This book was pretty good. I was really engaged with the first half of the book, but somehow for me it dwindled the more I read. Within a couple of pages towards the middle of the book I hit an incorrect assumption and reasoning about music, which soured me a bit as I read. I found myself much more interested in the theoretical, the overarching theme, and less so in the down-and-dirty getting it done portion. I didn’t read the last 100 pages or so.
For the record, the portion I found troubling was about musical instruments. Rose makes the point that brass instruments of old were just pipes, creating a wide range of flexibility and musicality that we had to slightly sacrifice in order to have the convenience of valves. He makes this point by comparing a trombone’s ability to play a wide range of varying notes versus the limited set on a trumpet. This isn’t true, as musicians will quickly jump in. Not all (and in fact, I’d argue most) old brass instruments were like the bugle - stuck playing partials in one key. Adding valves dramatically INCREASED the possible musicality, opening the instrument up to the full chromatic range in all keys.
Outside of this major error, the book is good. Lovers of technology will enjoy it, especially if you like getting hands-on.
For the record, the portion I found troubling was about musical instruments. Rose makes the point that brass instruments of old were just pipes, creating a wide range of flexibility and musicality that we had to slightly sacrifice in order to have the convenience of valves. He makes this point by comparing a trombone’s ability to play a wide range of varying notes versus the limited set on a trumpet. This isn’t true, as musicians will quickly jump in. Not all (and in fact, I’d argue most) old brass instruments were like the bugle - stuck playing partials in one key. Adding valves dramatically INCREASED the possible musicality, opening the instrument up to the full chromatic range in all keys.
Outside of this major error, the book is good. Lovers of technology will enjoy it, especially if you like getting hands-on.