Magic Universe: The Oxford Guide to Modern Science [Hardcover]

Almost all my free time during the past two weeks has been devoted to reading this extraordinary book. I thought that I would read just a selection of the (119) essays (over 700 pages!) on the cutting edge of science, but after reading two or three I was so enthralled that I turned to the beginning and read all the way through. Why? Simply because this is easily the most readable and knowledge-packed book on science that I have ever read.

The range of topics (organized alphabetically from "Alcohol" to "Volcanic Explosions") that science writer extraordinary Nigel Calder reports on is impressive, from the very small at the subatomic level to the very large at the edge of the universe, to the very old near the beginning of the Big Bang, to the very new as the genomes of species are being read. The depth and breath of Calder's knowledge is extraordinary, but that's not the best part of this frankly amazing book. What Calder does so very well is convey that knowledge in a way that makes science fascinating.

He calls his essays "stories." He usually begins with a bit of atmosphere, letting us know where the research is being done and who the people are making the discoveries. And then he may dip back into time and give us a brief historical precis. After that Calder takes us right up to the very edge of discovery, and sometimes even beyond, as he tries to make sense of where the research is going and what effect it will have on our lives. His prose is full of excitement and fascination, and yet he is no pie-in-the-sky enthusiast. Indeed, as he says in the Introduction, he's wary of scientific hype and dogmatism, and aware "that thrilling discoveries can tiptoe in, almost unnoticed," and so his tone is sober and largely objective.

The result is no modest accomplishment. Very few other people in the world could have written this book. Perhaps no one else could have. Calder's requisite knowledge comes from a lifetime of reading, editing and reporting on science in the press, in magazines and on television. He negotiates a fine path between pleasing scientists and those who read about science. He must be both accurate and intelligible--and, as far as I can tell, he is both to an amazing degree.

Yet there is, as he allows, a certain subjectivity inevitable in such a momentous task--the task of guiding the educated reader to a knowledge of what is happening in a host of scientific disciplines. The science must not only be reported on, but it must be interpreted; and, as anyone who has ever interpreted anything more difficult than the leaves at the bottom of a tea cup knows, the interpretative waters are murky and full of danger.

Before I suggest a couple of places where Calder may have gone wrong--and believe me no one could write a book like this and not be wrong in at least a dozen places--let me say that I would not have--could not have--read this book unless I was enormously impressed with what I was reading. One does not devote so many hours to one book--especially considering the reading schedule that I have--without the belief that the time is very well spent.

I am not qualified to critique Calder's interpretation of what is likely to come from a bigger and faster supercollider, or whether epigenetic heredity can explain the rapid development of new species, or a hundred other ideas that Calder comments on. Even those people at the horizon of a particular discipline cannot be sure. But I very much like the fact that Calder sometimes takes a critical stance and sometimes dares to put his reputation on the line by evaluating the discoveries. He has no chair at university to maintain, nor is he in the employ of any organization or government. So he is free to say what he wants as long as it is intellectually responsible. In fact, that is one of the most agreeable features of his writing.

When he avers that "Evolution proceeds mainly as a result of changes in the control of pre-existing genes," (p. 414) as he assumes a nongradualist view of evolution, one can agree or disagree, but be glad that he does indeed interpret the work being done. However when he takes a tone that suggests, as he does several times in the book, that environmentalists are largely alarmists while reminding us that so far Malthus has been wrong, one must demur. Or when he tells "conservationists" that "a sensible policy" (for reducing the killing of African animals for bushmeat) would be to "help... [indigenous people] find alternative sources of affordable protein," one wonders why he misses the better advice of helping them to find better methods of birth control. Artificially feeding a population that has grown too large for its larder is not going to solve the problem in the long run, and indeed is only going to extend the pain to generations to come.

These quibbles aside, this is a book not to be missed, a delight, an adventure in reading, and easily one of those books that the scientific-minded person most certainly would like to have on that desert island.

Let me close with an example of Calder's understated, dry wit. He is talking about Homo erectus. He writes, "Although this species then spread successfully across Eurasia, and was a skilled predator, it went on making the same old hand-axes for more than a million years--which suggests a certain lack of imagination." (p. 411)

One more. Here he is being sly as he refers to "a vacuum at the heart of biology, which leaves the survival of the fittest as an empty tautology. The survivors are defined as the fittest because they survive..." (p. 47)

Nigel Calder is a lifelong science journalist. He has spent 49 years explaining big scientific discoveries to the public, and is perhaps best known for his award winning science documentaries for BBC TV.

This book is an obvious labor of love consisting of 119 chapters in 705 pages, averaging 5.9 pages per entry. I suspect he has written about most (if not all) of these subjects in the past, judging from the familiarity and ease with which he handles each item. For $4.50 plus postage (used through Amazon) one could not find a better, cheaper science resource book. Time and again after bringing us up to date in a given chapter, Calder tells us about new research, imminent plans for a new satellite or new technology which will exponentially increase our knowledge base within only a few short years. In Nigel Calder's world, what an exciting time to be alive!

It will take a while, but I guarantee reading this book will be well worth your time. "Magic Universe" can be read straight through (the chapters are in alphabetical order), each new subject being pot luck, or start anywhere you like. At the end of any given chapter, you will be directed to 2-5 related chapters, thereby maintaining continuity in that particular field.

Calder is brilliant in the depth of his knowledge. While presenting the inevitable scientific controversies, he does not hesitate to show his biases. I approve of his license to do so and believe this quality of his writing adds color and vitality.

By the way, did you know that one of the naturally occuring forms of carbon has 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons, just like a soccer ball? This little gem from the chapter "Buckyballs and Nanotubes" gained entry into a 10th grade chemistry paper my son was writing.

On a personal note, I have endeavored to increase my science literacy during the past 2 years. One of the better books I started with was Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything." Calder's book is more complete, more knowledgeable, and is pure gold. I do not have a higher recommendation for a mid-range comprehensive science book. I believe if this book (and Bryson's) were somehow included with (or substituted for) the usual textual materials in high schools, there would be a significant increase in candidates for majors in science of all types in college.

Congratulations, Nigel Calder, on this superb effort.

Nigel Calder is a distinguished polymath and author, whose interests for years have spanned all of modern science. Here, he demonstrates his intellect and eloquence in 756 pages of compelling prose.

You can't fail to be impressed by how well he covers both the biological and the physical sciences. It is really tough to do both well. Perhaps Calder is a good successor to the late Isaac Asimov.

Very suitable (and recommended) for a high school or undergraduate reading. I would claim that this book is best directed at the high school level. For it is there that students may decide to pursue further studies in science, or not. And even for those who do not, the book gives an excellent and authoritative broad spectrum education in science, that they can carry with them in good stead.