A recycling of Asimov's articles on chemistry originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. The essays range from space-fillers (on the similarity of scientific jargon rhythms to Gaelic) to reconstructions of discoveries (oxygen, and the inert gases) that contain the suspense of excitement of a first-class mystery. Asimov is particularly good on the often-neglected but supremely important role of the cultural, social and intellectual milieu which is often the determining factor in shaping raw data (the geometrical-minded Greeks differentiated atoms on the basis of shape; English chemists of the mechanical Newtonian school classified them according to mass), and the importance of incorrect but useful hypotheses (e.g., a substance called "phlogiston" which was thought to be the element of fire) in advancing the path of knowledge. There are also fascinating tidbits on both the great and the obscure researchers, in addition to better explanations of phenomena such as "catalysts," than can be found in most standard chemistry texts.
Pub Date: Nov. 22, 1974
ISBN: 0385040059
Page Count: -
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1974
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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