A welcome excursion for pop-sci fans featuring a number of striking artworks.
In this diverse collection of essays, short stories, illustrations, anecdotes, and other missives, Raham informs without being dry and teaches without being pedantic while covering a wide range of subjects in biology and the history of science.
The project of making sense of human existence may be endless, but you’ve got to start somewhere. In one piece, Raham explains how the story of the evolution of life on Earth is intimately related to microbial development. An obituary for a revered scientist sheds light on the value of her discoveries, translating them into everyday speech while capturing the personal significance of her work for Raham. “Alive & Aloft in the Aeolian Zone,” a combined essay and interview with science professors, describes the role played by the wind in creating and sustaining the planet’s complex aerial ecosystem. Other pieces discuss metamorphosis, Thomas Jefferson’s interest in the study of fossils, and the momentous discovery of arrowheads by Loren Eiseley in the 1930s. Also included are captivating excerpts from original works of sci-fi and adventure following “a dynasty of outstanding fossil hunters….Like me—and most paleontologists—the Sternbergs became captive to the lure of finding worlds lost in the catacombs of deep time.” Raham’s striking illustrations figure prominently throughout, varying in style from pen-and-ink sketches and cartoons to colorful, otherworldly paintings of tiny life forms. What’s more, comments from Raham preface each piece in the collection, providing context and background, which adds a personal touch and something of an overarching narrative to the book. Overall, the well-rounded collection testifies to the riches gained by sustained dedication to scientific inquiry, an enterprise that involves patience, persistence, and original thinking. Though the pieces differ in style and intent, the general outlook is broadly humanist, emphasizing the importance of scientific experimentation as a fundamental component of our collective self-understanding as a species. And yet this enthusiasm is tempered by humility about our place in an incomprehensibly large cosmos.
A welcome excursion for pop-sci fans featuring a number of striking artworks.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2015
ISBN: 978-0990482659
Page Count: 162
Publisher: Penstemon Publications
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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