Physics of the Impossible

Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel is an account by Michio Kaku of the different technologies that may or may not be possible given today's understanding of the laws of the universe. Kaku divides the ideas into three categories: things that are possible with today's knowledge but require more technology; things that science does not rule out but there's no known way to accomplish them; and things that physics says is impossible.

Kaku starts with ideas such as force fields and invisibility, which he says are possible impossibles. Force fields use basic magnetism as it is understood. An invisibility cloak could use metamaterials--substances with properties that affect how light works. Other ideas such as telepathy are an extension of technologies currently under study today. Mental images can be read from the brain with smaller and smaller resolution, and there is technology to send signals to the brain.

I was impressed with the fundamentals of science and presented in the book. Kaku gives an accurate and informative analysis of artificial intelligence and the possibilities it holds. There is a lot more to the science but his overview is pretty solid. He does end up pretty optimistic and, I believe, gives too little attention to the difficulties involved.

The next class of impossibilities are those that would require a new understanding of physics. He includes faster than light travel and time travel, both of which would require understanding the shape of the universe and the nature of existence. He gives a pretty good analysis of string theory and quantum mechanics and the extent of our knowledge of reality.

The only truly impossible ideas are precognition and perpetual motion machines. Kaku describes many hoaxes and frauds that claim to defeat the second law of thermodynamics. Overall I was impressed with the science background presented to explain the reasoning for each classification. Kaku selects some fun fantastic technologies and explores the scientific possibilities that would enable them. B+

Unscientific America

Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens our Future is an analysis by Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum of the communication problem between scientists and the general public in the U.S. today. The authors trace the rise of science during the mid Twentieth Century in the aftermath of the Second World War, and especially after Sputnik. For decades scientific research had strong support from the government and society at large. The authors go beyond the basic scientific illiteracy in the general public and make a case the while the public is not necessarily anti-science, they do not have an appreciation for how important science is in our society and are not enough involved in scientific research and discoveries.

I was a little concerned when they attack Richard Dawkins and other outspoken atheists, which makes me wonder if they have ever read Dawkins. They try to make a valid point about science and atheism not necessarily being linked, and the case for scientific naturalism vs. philosopohical naturalism. They fear that too much attention given to atheist scientists will scare away the religious American public, and they may have a point there. I also found little discussion about how science is under attack by moneyed interests. I expect that is because that subject is covered in Mooney's book The Republican War on Science

The central lament is about how scientists no longer have the ear of the President or other national leaders. There is also concern about how much attention scientists and the scientific community gives to outreach and just communicating with the public. There are important organizations like the American Association for the Advancement of Science, but the authors call for a more organized approach, as well as more attention given to communication in science degree coursework. They have some interesting ideas, such as more combination science/journalism degrees. Their big central case is that of Carl Sagan, one of the most well known scientists in the last fifty years, who caught blow-back in the science community for popularizing and "dumbing down" science.

More than an assessment of the public's knowledge of science, this book looks at the ways the two cultures of science and the general public do not even speak the same language. Their call is for more interaction with science and a bigger presence for scientists at leadership levels. It is a worthy goal. B+

Time, Love, Memory

Time, Love, Memory: A Great Biologist and His Quest for the Origins of Behavior is a book by Jonathan Weiner about the origins of molecular and the search for the genetic roots of behavior. Weiner starts with an overview of the discovery of genes and the structure of DNA. In the early 1900's the biologist Thomas Hunt Morgan began studying fruit flies, Drosophila. Drosophila was easy to study because of its fast reproductive cycle, the ease with which its genes mutate, and the ability to look for the mutations under the microscope. Using the basics of heredity from Mendel and others, Morgan and his students were able to establish the basic theory of genetics. It is amazing to see such great science at work, especially given the basics of the tools and the rudimentary understanding they had. They had to invent the concepts from the ground up with little to go on. Without understanding how DNA was structured, they mapped the different traits to genes and in turn mapped those genes in relation to each other, based on how often they mutated at the same time. The process was brilliant.

Mapping physical traits is is a fairly straightforward matter of looking at the subjects under a microscope. But to measure behavior, different methods are required. The physicist turned biologist Seymour Benzer, the main subject of the book, was determined to track down the genetic foundations of behavior. In his first behavior experiments, he separated flies who flew towards a light from those that didn't. With this and other experiments Benzer and his associates were able to track down specific genes that codes for behaviors. After finding the appropriate mutant they would cross breed it with a mutant with a known genetic defect and look at the offspring and their offspring. The results would show where the genes were in relation to each other. In this way scientists were able to find a gene they called clock, which determines the rate that certain proteins build up and disperse in a cell, thus determining the biological clock. This gene could make a fly's metabolism run fast or slow. What's more striking is that the same gene is found in organisms throughout nature.

More experimentation led to the discovery of a gene for the flies' memory, and a gene that when mutated would direct males to court with other males. Eventually technology would enable the mapping of the entire genetic code of the fruit fly, and of course the human genome. Genes have been tied to all sorts of human behavior. Weiner cautions that the link between genes and behavior is not direct; there is embryonic development, the growth of the brain, and many factors of experience that can play a part.

The book is a blend of science experiments, science theory, biography, and political and social discussions. The men and women who made breakthroughs in genetics and molecular biology were very intelligent and very bold. Weiner explains the experiments very clearly. He also paints a great picture of Benzer and the other scientists, including their antics and their disagreements. They all come across as not just intelligent robots but humans with the drive to find the building blocks of life. Benzer is portrayed as a driven man who wants to find the origins of behavior. Despite the complex factors involved in human behavior, these scientists have gone a long way toward tracking the links from our genes to our actions. A-

Modern Scholar: Basics of Genetics

I recently listened to the Modern Scholar lecture course Basics of Genetics on our long trip back from Colorado. It is an entry level course on genes with a good bit of history.

Professor Betsey Dexter Dyer starts with the history of genetics as practices by humans for thousands of years. She then describes how Gregor Mendel experimented with pea plants and discovered basic principles of heredity. He discovered that the descendants of plants with one green pea and one yellow pea parent would be in a three to one distribution green to yellow. Though Mendel's work was not well known for decades, this proved to be a critical discovery of statistics and genes.

Professor Dyer gives a basic description of how genes work inside a cell, using two different colorful metaphors. I found the cookie factory metaphor to be useful, if a bit simplified and clumsy, but the monk copyist metaphor really brings out the details of copying and mistakes. I could have used a little more details about how genes are expressed or how mutations occur, but in general it was a good high level discussion.

The professor does give good examples of how genes turn into characteristics. The best examples are with mammal coat color. I now understand why all calico cats are female. I also understand the basics of the sex genes, though again I could have used more detail.

There is also a decent description of chromosomes and how they are built and how they replicate. It is difficult to picture this with just a lecture but the professor did well (and there is a course book to accompany the course, though I didn't look at it). I was surprised to learn that much of the DNA in our chromosomes is virus DNA. Professor Dyer wraps up with a short talk about the uses we can put our genetic knowledge. Genetics is still a young science: there are new discoveries all the time and there is still much to understand about how our genes work. DNA is extremely complicated, more so that simple three letter codes can express. This course is a good start in the basics. B+

The Greatest Show on Earth

Yet again Richard Dawkins has impressed me with his latest book The Greatest Show on Earth. This book goes beyond the interesting facets of evolution and shows the mountains of evidence for evolution. Throughout the book Dawkins addresses the critiques made by the deniers of evolution.

Dawkins spends a good amount of text covering the basics, the fundamentals that are the building blocks for biology. He uses one chapter to cover geology, including the evidence of the age of the Earth: 4.5 billion years. He talks about how the continents have moved and how the species on the continents match up with the separation of the continents. I enjoyed learning about how a single cell grows into a human being in nine months. Again, Dawkins ties the details into evolution via the development of other species.

I also enjoyed learning about the different hominid species that have evolved since the evolutionary split from chimpanzees six million years ago. The author shows ample evidence of so-called missing links that have been discovered. He also gives a fascinating discussion about turtles and tortoises. Some species of tortoise may have made a second venture from sea to land. There is a great section about the analogues of our skeletons among the mammals and other vertebrates, especially when he compares the human hand to the wing of a bat.

This is a good book which is only enhanced by listening to the audio edition, where Dawkins and his wife do the reading. I learned facts and concepts that support evolution, plus the arguments against the silly ideas of creationism. The illustrations--which I found on the Internet--are great additions to the text. Dawkins presents a great case for the truth and beauty of evolution. A

The Varieties of Scientific Experience

The Varieties of Scientific Experience is a compilation of Carl Sagan's Gifford Lectures in 1985. In the lectures he presents a scientific view of the universe as well as a logical approach to the idea of God. The first lecture starts with images and descriptions of our solar system and the neighboring space around us. Sagan shows a great sense of awe at the vastness and variety of the universe.

In the following chapters he discusses the anthropic principle and the organic matter that is in the rest of the universe. He points out how pervasive organic compounds are throughout our solar system and beyond. Then he talks about something he is well known for, the possibility of extraterrestrial life and the search for intelligent life beyond Earth. He points out the difficulties of communication across the expanse of the cosmos. He also brings up the historical mistakes and blunders, such as the canals of Mars and the classical belief that the planets were kept in motion by God's hand.

In the last few lectures Sagan brings a logical and methodical view of the existence of God. He deftly debunks standard arguments for God's existence. He contrasts Western and Eastern views of the gods. Next he points out the biological basis for many religious experiences, namely chemicals such as epinephrine. Each scientific discovery like this makes God's domain more and more remote. He describes this well in chapter 3, "The Organic Universe": "So as science advances, there seems to be less and less for God to do. ... evolving before our eyes has been a God of the Gaps; that is, whatever it is we cannot explain lately is attributed to God. And then after a while, we explain it, and so that's no longer god's realm. The theologians give that one up, and it walks over onto the science side of the duty roster." I've never seen a more cogent explanation for the God of the Gaps.

I found the last section of questions and answers the most interesting. A dialogue of back and forth discussion is usually more interesting and a one-way lecture. The attendees at the lectures ask some interesting questions and he responds well. Apparently bringing a scientific approach to religion was controversial and didn't sit well with all the attendees. In a response to a questioner to proposed that "God is love", he gives a cogent rebuttal ending with the summary, "So my proposal is that we call reality 'reality,' that we call love 'love,' and not call either of them God, which has, while an enormous number of other meanings, not exactly those meanings." It is refreshing to read such a clear definition that does away with so much nonsense, which has a way of infecting discourse.

Though the book is short it is full of good information and thoughtful analysis. Sagan is known as a good science writer and he doesn't disappoint here, even though these we lectures given to a live audience. It would have been a fascinating experience to have been there. Many of the arguments he makes aren't new but he expresses them well and shows a depth of knowledge about astronomy and the rest of the universe of science. It's well worth the read. A-