Philip Morrison's long look at the literature

his reviews of a hundred memorable science books

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Last edited by ImportBot
May 25, 2022 | History

Philip Morrison's long look at the literature

his reviews of a hundred memorable science books

  • 0 Ratings
  • 1 Want to read
  • 0 Currently reading
  • 1 Have read

The reviews in this collection, written during the 1960's, '70's and '80's, are more like essays, cutting through the sometimes arcane writing of the original to weave an engaging story that captures the essence of book he is reviewing, enriched by a broad familiarity with other sciences, history, mythology, and popular culture. A review of a book on the specialized gyroscopes used in ballistic missiles begins, "About as numerous and expensive as Rolls Royces..." Another, on the eradication of smallpox in India, begins with a digression on the Hindu deities associated with milk and smallpox, and the disease's conjectured origin as a side effect of the domestication of cattle, before proceeding to the disease's methodical and triumphant eradication. As a gateway to the love of science, it ranks with Slosson's "Creative Chemistry," de Kruif's "Microbe Hunters" and Asimov's "One, Two, Three...Infinity." In an unusual oversight it appears not to be listed in Google Books. It is probably out of print, but used copies are widely and economically available.

Publish Date
Publisher
W.H. Freeman
Language
English
Pages
351

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Previews available in: English

Book Details


Edition Notes

Includes index

Includes bibliographical references (p. [337]-346)

Published in
New York

Classifications

Library of Congress
Q158.5 .M67 1990, Q158.5.M67 1990

The Physical Object

Pagination
xi, 351 p. ;
Number of pages
351

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL16689956M
Internet Archive
philipmorrisonsl0000morr
ISBN 10
0716721074
LCCN
89023784
Library Thing
491369
Goodreads
1081299

Excerpts

The islanders' marriages with their neighbors shuffled the replicated gene widely enough so that the gene could often find its partner, and deafness, without other symptoms, could appear.... But chromosomes do not and cannot make a handicap out of that mere disability. It was nurture, not nature, that fixed a quite different destiny for the deaf men, women and children who inhabited this engaging island. Never were they treated as handicapped; never were they outcast, impoverished or isolated. The islanders instead actively adapted their society to the pattern of frequent hereditary deafness. " 'Oh, they didn't think anything about them, they were just like everyone else...everyone here spoke sign language.' "
added by Charles H. Bennett.

to illustrate the wide range, self-contained nature and cultured eloquence of the reviews

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History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON
May 25, 2022 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
March 2, 2022 Edited by Charles H. Bennett Edited without comment.
March 2, 2022 Edited by Charles H. Bennett corrected typos and added comment on why chosen
March 2, 2022 Edited by Charles H. Bennett Edited without comment.
December 9, 2009 Created by WorkBot add works page