Cosmic Numbers

May 30, 2011
Cal State professor Stein's "history by the numbers" breathes warm, surprising life into the constants that define the shape, breadth, and scope of our lives and our universe. The stories behind the measurement of scientific values like the speed of light and absolute zero are the history of modern science itself. Each value is a stepping stone to the next: Henry Cavendish's ingenious experiment to reveal the universal gravitational constant led to chemist Robert Boyle's painstaking work, which defined the "Ideal Gas Constant." The speed of light wasn't nailed down until Albert Michelson improved an older, flawed experiment. Later numbers reach deeper into the atom and farther from Earth, like Planck's constant, part of the foundation of quantum theory, which paved the way for understanding nuclear fusion and stellar life cycles. Some numbers we still don't know for certain, like the number called Omega, whose value will determine the eventual fate of our universe. Stein (How Math Can Save Your Life) expertly weaves together math, history, and biography into a thoroughly entertaining story of hard work and discovery.

July 1, 2011

Cheerful but not dumbed-down discussions of 13 fundamental numbers.

Unlike many popular-science writers, Stein (Mathematics/California State Univ., Long Beach; How Math Can Save Your Life, 2010, etc.) does not boast that he avoids math, so readers should remember their high-school algebra. Almost everyone knows that light has a speed and that temperatures can drop to absolute zero. However, no one knew that 500 years ago, and Stein recounts how astronomers (in the case of light) and physicists (for absolute zero) teased out the details. Fundamentals discovered more recently bear the names of their founding geniuses: Planck's constant that began the quantum revolution, Hubble's constant that measures how fast the universe is expanding, the Schwarzschild radius (how to make a black hole; squeezing the Earth to the size of a pea would do it) and the Chandrasekhar limit, which determines if an aging star will go quietly or light up the galaxy in a supernova (our sun is too small to explode). Stein is not shy about explaining the mathematics behind these phenomena at length rarely seen in a popular-science book. Readers who keep a pencil and paper handy will benefit, but those who skim will not regret the experience. While not math-free, the book is illustration-free, so readers should make liberal use of that pencil and paper because many explanations become clearer with a simple diagram.

Every educated reader should know what these numbers mean. Stein casts his net widely, delivering an entertaining history of each, often wandering into areas of science only distantly related but no less worthwhile.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

Starred review from August 1, 2011
The headstone of the twentieth-century scientist Ludwig Boltzmann bears the equation S = k ln W, with k standing for a revolutionary scientific numberaptly called Boltzmann's constantquantifying the dissipation of energy in a system, including the universe itself. In the explanatory power of fundamental numbers, Stein discerns the fundamental harmonies that emerge in the most profound science. Stein teases these harmonies out of their formulas and then weaves them into a broader conceptual fabric. Thus, readers learn that Boltzmann's constant connects in surprising ways with the ideal gas constant (essential to understanding the behavior of gases) and with Avogadro's number (critical to the calculation of relative atomic weights). Even greater mysteries yield to numerical science when Stein ventures into the theory of relativity, which enshrines the speed of light as the unchangeable constant, and into modern cosmology, which suspends the fate of the universe on a deceptively simple fraction labeled Omega. By turns amusing and poignant, Stein's engaging style eases general readers past their fears of scientific math, while also guiding them into a deeper appreciation of the stubborn human complexities of the scientists behind that math (including an awkward Henry Cavendish, a gloomy Boltzmann). Numbers become portals to mind-expanding questions.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)