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Knocking On Heaven's Door
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Review
'Lisa Randall is a hugely gifted theoretical particle physicist... Her account of the humungous engineering and logistical achievement that is the building and running of the Large Hadron Collider is fantastic: full of passion and jaw-dropping facts... A fascinating account of modern particle physics, both theoretical and practical' --Independent on Sunday
`In this fascinating book, Lisa Randall, professor of theoretical physics at Harvard, explains the experimental research at the LHC and the theories that try to anticipate what they will find' --Independent
`dry wit and ice-cool clarity inform Randall's explanation of the role of science in our lives.' --Sunday Times
`Her touch is light and deft; these are not topics that come easily to life, and they are unavoidably complex at times, but Randall's calm authority and clarity of explanation are exemplary'
--New Scientist
`In this fascinating book, Lisa Randall, professor of theoretical physics at Harvard, explains the experimental research at the LHC and the theories that try to anticipate what they will find' --Independent
`dry wit and ice-cool clarity inform Randall's explanation of the role of science in our lives.' --Sunday Times
`Her touch is light and deft; these are not topics that come easily to life, and they are unavoidably complex at times, but Randall's calm authority and clarity of explanation are exemplary'
--New Scientist
Book Description
One of the most illuminating science books in years, Knocking on Heaven's Door makes clear the biggest scientific questions we face and reveals how answering them could ultimately tell us who we are and where we came from.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
There's probably a need for a book that explains the state of cutting edge science at the moment in an accessible and intelligent format for the layman. Unfortunately, this book isn't it. There's no doubt that the author knows her stuff. But science writing, ironically, is an art, and Randall isn't very good at it. Her prose is dull and highly repetitive. In order to digest a difficult subject for an uninitiated audience, you need to tell a good story, but Randall really makes this a laborious, grinding job, forever repeating, meandering, and circling back to her theme (...'as I said in Chapter 3'), without building up any tension or interest. Other problems: 1) she has a habit of name dropping throughout the text, letting us know what this or that celebrity, irrelevantly, thinks of current science issues. This gives the disagreeable impression that the Large Hadron Collider is a lifestyle club for the rich and famous. It probably is, but it doesn't help the book. 2) Scientists are not known for their mature sense of humour. The author would have been well advised to leave out most of the jokes. 3) The illustrations in the book are largely superfluous, and more patronising than the text. 4) You don't need to put citations throughout the text. It's not an academic paper, so noone is going to accuse you of stealing their work. You don't need to attribute every idea to its originator here. Scientists must be paranoid.
There are science writers, and then there are scientists, like Randall, who need either a good ghost, or a skilled copyeditor to pull her text together. Knocking on Heaven's door could be half as long, and twice as good. Bit of a shame, really.
There are science writers, and then there are scientists, like Randall, who need either a good ghost, or a skilled copyeditor to pull her text together. Knocking on Heaven's door could be half as long, and twice as good. Bit of a shame, really.
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
A Theoretical Physicist Ponders Scientific Thinking and the Future of Particle Physics and Cosmology
8 Oct 2011
Format:Hardcover
Eminent theoretical physicist Lisa Randall regards her new book "Knocking on Heaven's Door" as a "prequel" to her earlier "Warped Passages". But it is much more than that, as a clearly written statement by a distinguished scientist explaining how science works to an interested, if substantially scientific illiterate, public. While there are other books, such as those written by her high school and college classmate, physicist Brian Greene, which emphasize the state-of-the-art thinking in theoretical physics, Randall's is one that still deserves a wide readership, especially for its emphasis on how scientists conduct their scientific research, and in noting how the public often misinterprets it. These aspects of science, and the public's understanding of it, are the most important reasons why "Knocking of Heaven's Door" is an important contribution to popular scientific literature.
The notion of scaling - or rather, scale - is one of the most important concepts which Randall returns to again and again in "Knocking on Heaven's Door". She argues persuasively that, on a macroscopic scale, Newton's laws of motion are still relevant in explaining the motions of large objects such as planets and moons in the Solar System; it is only at atomic and subatomic scales that quantum mechanics does a much better job in explaining motions of subatomic particles. In other words, in plain English, Newtonian classical mechanics has become merely a subset of modern theoretical physics. A similar analogy exists for biology, with regards to the Darwin/Wallace Theory of Evolution via Natural Selection, now subsumed within the Modern Synthesis Theory of Evolution; the latter also incorporates population genetics and some aspects of both developmental biology and paleobiology (As an aside, I also recommend her reminder that evolution denialism isn't a problem only for religious conservatives, by recounting at the end of Chapter Three, an airplane conversation she had with a Hollywood actor trained in molecular biology, an Obama supporter, who rejects the biological evolution of humans since it is contrary to his religious views.).
Probabilistic thought is something which Randall also stresses throughout much of "Knocking on Heaven's Door". While she does not explain probability theory at any great length, she does explain via probability, why science is by very nature, a very tentative process in which there are no clearly defined answers that can be answered in the affirmative or negative with utmost certainty. This very underlying theme is one which underscores her conversations with noted Hollywood screenwriters and New York City dance choreographers that she cites as notable examples of misconceptions about the nature of science widely shared by the public. A firm understanding of probability theory is required for determining risk, which is discussed at length late in "Knocking on Heaven's Door" (Chapter Eleven). In a similar vein, I found equally rewarding her discussion of uncertainty as it pertains to both risk and experimental design (Chapter Twelve).
Most readers will appreciate her extensive discussion on the building and ongoing operation of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN's Swiss research facility. She eloquently ties that into current theoretical models in particle physics and cosmology, as well as to the two overarching themes of scale and probability that the reader encounters repeatedly throughout "Knocking on Heaven's Door". However, as compelling as that discussion is, the reader shouldn't forget that hers is a book which conveys to the general public, the very nature of science as seen through the eyes of this distinguished physicist.
The notion of scaling - or rather, scale - is one of the most important concepts which Randall returns to again and again in "Knocking on Heaven's Door". She argues persuasively that, on a macroscopic scale, Newton's laws of motion are still relevant in explaining the motions of large objects such as planets and moons in the Solar System; it is only at atomic and subatomic scales that quantum mechanics does a much better job in explaining motions of subatomic particles. In other words, in plain English, Newtonian classical mechanics has become merely a subset of modern theoretical physics. A similar analogy exists for biology, with regards to the Darwin/Wallace Theory of Evolution via Natural Selection, now subsumed within the Modern Synthesis Theory of Evolution; the latter also incorporates population genetics and some aspects of both developmental biology and paleobiology (As an aside, I also recommend her reminder that evolution denialism isn't a problem only for religious conservatives, by recounting at the end of Chapter Three, an airplane conversation she had with a Hollywood actor trained in molecular biology, an Obama supporter, who rejects the biological evolution of humans since it is contrary to his religious views.).
Probabilistic thought is something which Randall also stresses throughout much of "Knocking on Heaven's Door". While she does not explain probability theory at any great length, she does explain via probability, why science is by very nature, a very tentative process in which there are no clearly defined answers that can be answered in the affirmative or negative with utmost certainty. This very underlying theme is one which underscores her conversations with noted Hollywood screenwriters and New York City dance choreographers that she cites as notable examples of misconceptions about the nature of science widely shared by the public. A firm understanding of probability theory is required for determining risk, which is discussed at length late in "Knocking on Heaven's Door" (Chapter Eleven). In a similar vein, I found equally rewarding her discussion of uncertainty as it pertains to both risk and experimental design (Chapter Twelve).
Most readers will appreciate her extensive discussion on the building and ongoing operation of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN's Swiss research facility. She eloquently ties that into current theoretical models in particle physics and cosmology, as well as to the two overarching themes of scale and probability that the reader encounters repeatedly throughout "Knocking on Heaven's Door". However, as compelling as that discussion is, the reader shouldn't forget that hers is a book which conveys to the general public, the very nature of science as seen through the eyes of this distinguished physicist.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is the sort of book I was hoping for when I bought the book I last reviewed, somewhat critically.
It too is quite wide-ranging, but it never loses relevance with the science she wishes to convey. Quite a lot of different slants too, while keeping it very interesting: a discussion of probability and risk appreciation; a fairly detailed 'engineering' description of the LHC and its main experiments; a brief survey of the alternative proposals for resolving a couple of big issues with the Standard Model, and a good discussion of the critical relevance of scale in proposing scientific explanations, including an interesting caveat that there are limits to the extent to which unknowns can affect events at the human scale, including the 'black Hole' scare brought up about the new energies at the LHC.
Quite a long but very interesting book, which covered a lot of ground within a logically connected framework.
It too is quite wide-ranging, but it never loses relevance with the science she wishes to convey. Quite a lot of different slants too, while keeping it very interesting: a discussion of probability and risk appreciation; a fairly detailed 'engineering' description of the LHC and its main experiments; a brief survey of the alternative proposals for resolving a couple of big issues with the Standard Model, and a good discussion of the critical relevance of scale in proposing scientific explanations, including an interesting caveat that there are limits to the extent to which unknowns can affect events at the human scale, including the 'black Hole' scare brought up about the new energies at the LHC.
Quite a long but very interesting book, which covered a lot of ground within a logically connected framework.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Please... get to the point!
As a subscriber to New Scientist and reader of plenty of popular science books I was quite excited to get this book by a leading physicist. Read more
Published 10 days ago by Adodado
Undertaking a lot of "catch-up"...
Last month we were pleased to be invited to the annual gala event hosted by the National Museum of Nuclear Science, right here "where the story all began," or, at least, made... Read more
Published 1 month ago by John P. Jones III
Contents as verbose as the title
I bought this book on the back on the 4 star rating. Unfortunately it turns out the 2 and 3 star reviews were spot on. Read more
Published 4 months ago by asdfgh
The Prospects for the Large Hadron Collider...
This work is well worth making the effort to read, although - despite Lisa Randall's valiant efforts - it is quite a demanding read. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Isadore Grange
Understanding the challenges facing modern physics
This is one of the most interesting books on the understanding and origins of the Universe I have read for a very long time. Read more
Published 5 months ago by achillespubtalk
Great overview of LHC status
The subtitle of the book (and the brief presentation in The Daily Show) lead me to think that it is about modern day physicist relation to the world. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Normann Aaboe Nielsen
knocking above
cannot properly review yet as it is a Christmas present --- please try again in the new year.
Amazon has given me very good service in the past and the packaging and... Read more
Amazon has given me very good service in the past and the packaging and... Read more
Published 6 months ago by pacejoub
Deeply Disappointing
The universe is 96% full of stuff and we have no idea what it is. I bought this book after a good review in New Scientist hoping to get an inkling of how physicists are... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mick Shaw
Incomprehensible made comprehensible
Congratulations to Lisa Randall for a lucid account of natures mysteries. For someone who graduated in physics in 1955 I could keep up with it for at least 75 percent of the time. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Graham Butlin
New physics in a form you can digest
I have read all the books by Brian Greene and I enjoyed them so much. Someone suggested I should read Warped passages by Lisa Randall. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Agneta
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