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The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science
In this exuberant book, the best-selling author Natalie Angier distills the scientific canon to the absolute essentials, delivering an entertaining and inspiring one-stop science education. Angier interviewed a host of scientists, posing the simple question What do you wish everyone knew about your field?” The Canon provides their answers, taking readers on a joyride thro...more
Paperback, 304 pages
Published
April 3rd 2008
by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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Reading The Canon, A Chronology:
Chapter One: "Oh, interesting. I'd never thought about it that way before. Ha ha, clever." *giggles*
Chapter Two: "I had forgotten about that!" *feels superior for remembering the basics of probability* *chuckles at a drawn out word play*
Chapter Three: "Huh, that's neat." (100th bad pun.) *crickets*
Chapter Four: "I can't see the science for all of the terrible 'funny jokes'."...more
Chapter One: "Oh, interesting. I'd never thought about it that way before. Ha ha, clever." *giggles*
Chapter Two: "I had forgotten about that!" *feels superior for remembering the basics of probability* *chuckles at a drawn out word play*
Chapter Three: "Huh, that's neat." (100th bad pun.) *crickets*
Chapter Four: "I can't see the science for all of the terrible 'funny jokes'."...more
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I gave up on this one after about 100 pages. I hate not finishing books, but this one was so irritating it started to make me angry. Too often it seemed like the book was less about science than about showcasing Angier's insufferable cleverness. She couldn't seem to decide whether she wanted to be playfully incomprehensible in a Finnegan's Wakean way, or drolly incisive in a kind of Popish verse. The result was a bastard child caught somewhere between the two that had an annoying sing-song quali...more
Joe
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
My enemies.
Recommended to Joe by:
Jenny! Why?!
Shelves:
physics
Annoying is the fairest word I could come up to describe The Canon after suffering through it for these past weeks. In fact, this is easily the most annoying book I've ever read, not because the science is poor or the topics contrived. In fact, the subject areas Angier chooses to describe are somewhat intuitive and logically ordered (for the most part).
She just has this writing style that, well... it just makes me want to scream.
"Peppers" isn't even the approp...more
She just has this writing style that, well... it just makes me want to scream.
"Peppers" isn't even the approp...more
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally here.)
The more I learn about the history of science, the more I realize why it has such a precarious, semi-mystical reputation with so much of the general public by now; because when the modern "scientific process" was first formed in the 1600s, the first few generations of "scien...more
The more I learn about the history of science, the more I realize why it has such a precarious, semi-mystical reputation with so much of the general public by now; because when the modern "scientific process" was first formed in the 1600s, the first few generations of "scien...more
The goal of this book is to recapture science from the nerdy margins of society. Angier does this by bimboizing everything, referring to David Trump's toupee as a force of nature and with a giddy, Tourettes-like prose (at the end of one paragraph anecdote involving the Bronx: "Gee, thonx, said the Bronx. I feel richer already. Do you mind if I give a Bronx cheer?")
If this is the only way to popularize science, let's leave it unpopular.
If this is the only way to popularize science, let's leave it unpopular.
The Canon is exactly what its subtitle says: a tour of the basics of science. Natalie Angier is a science writer; that is, a writer who is a knowledgeable observer of science and who is able to get scientists to explain things in terms the rest of us might understand. Her writing style is very light, loaded with enthusiasm, and a bit chatty at times. At first I found the chattiness to be slightly off-putting, but when I got to the chapters on material that I didn't know much about (molecular bio...more
Science is cool. I didn't think so back in high school but I like to think I've matured since then. Back then I evaded chemistry by taking an earth science course (Rocks for Jocks). Seems a shame because now I find that stuff very interesting. What Ms. Angier so ably and entertainingly covers in this slim — under 300 pages — volume is the scientific method, probabilities, physics, chemistry, biology, geology, and astronomy. You don't have to be a Ph.D. to understand it either. I only wish s...more
Natalie Angier writes wonderful columns which frequently appear in the New York Times. While her style can become a bit draining after a while, it is easy to see how much she loves science. And, perhaps for that reason alone, I enjoyed this book. I should have read this book only one chapter at a time. It would have been more enjoyable that way.
Perhaps I hated this book because I have a science background. Perhaps I despised being talked to like a second grader because I actually know how to "think scientifically". And perhaps I loathed every second of my multiple tries at reading this because I'm no fun.
But really, science background or not, this book is written like a kids book -- except with "witty" phrases every damn sentence instead of illustrations. I might not have had as much of a problem with...more
But really, science background or not, this book is written like a kids book -- except with "witty" phrases every damn sentence instead of illustrations. I might not have had as much of a problem with...more
My inner science nerd felt confused (the chapter on physics), nostalgic (molecular/cell biology), and downright fascinated and amazed (geology and astronomy) (but never bored) as I traversed through the whirligig tour. This book was great learning/review on the beautiful basics of science bundled with a rather random, charming, and accessible writing style. Although she apparently interviewed hundreds of eminent scientists for this book, Angier's appreciation of what the average layperson would ...more
I finally buckled down and finished this book. I certainly appreciated getting a review of all of all of these topics and concepts learned (or glossed over) throughout school. It was a great refresher course. However, in her effort to make is "accessible" to the masses, she ends up going over the top, being annoyingly condescending and talking down to the reader. It is not something to be read on consecutive nights of reading, but it is a great reminder of basic scientific principles t...more
I was really looking forward to reading this book, which purports to be a layperson's introduction to all things beautiful in science. But I can't imagine any layperson ever actually reading it. It's unbelievably long and dull -- the first chapter is 17 small-type pages about how people should like science more than they do, and makes the same points over and over again. The second chapter is 29 small-type pages about how science is cool. But it just meanders from point to point, with no par...more
This was a great book. Natalie Angier makes an excellent case for why we need to know the rudiments of science in her very entertaining introduction. Then she goes on the instruct us on what those rudiments are, beginning with a lesson on how a scientist thinks and questions and comes to conclusions.
"Science is not a body of facts. Science is a state of mind. It is a way of viewing the world, of facing reality square on but taking nothing on its face. It is about attacking ...more
"Science is not a body of facts. Science is a state of mind. It is a way of viewing the world, of facing reality square on but taking nothing on its face. It is about attacking ...more
I'd recommend that every high schooler sits down and reads this book sometime during their high school career. Yes, it does cover many of the things we were supposed to learn in our high school classes, but the thing that really makes it fun is the way the book ties it all together - seeing these things explained in a continuous fashion is eye opening, even for those of us who mostly "got it" before. Part of what makes it great is the departure from the staid descriptions of textbooks,...more
282 pages.
With the intelligence and exuberance that rocketed Woman to international acclaim, best-selling science writer Natalie Angier distills the scientific canon to the absolute essentials in a work that is both entertaining and inspiring. Angier interviewed hosts of scientists, posing the simple question What do you wish everyone knew about science? The Canon provides their answers, covering the fundamentals of the hard sciences: scientific process, probability, calibration, phy...more
With the intelligence and exuberance that rocketed Woman to international acclaim, best-selling science writer Natalie Angier distills the scientific canon to the absolute essentials in a work that is both entertaining and inspiring. Angier interviewed hosts of scientists, posing the simple question What do you wish everyone knew about science? The Canon provides their answers, covering the fundamentals of the hard sciences: scientific process, probability, calibration, phy...more
This book is not without merit, but if you payed any attention in high school science classes at all, you're going to know most of this information already. This puts the book in a weird place, because anyone who picks it up probably has some level of interest in science, yet anyone with an interest in science probably will not benefit greatly from this book.
The ideal reader is someone who just never had a good introduction to science and doesn't know exactly where to start--either a...more
The ideal reader is someone who just never had a good introduction to science and doesn't know exactly where to start--either a...more
I liked the concepts she explained in this book, but she is a horrible writer. I don't mean she doesn't have facility with the language - she does, as her NY Times writing shows - but she spends so much of her time trying to be cute and alliterative, trying to be "entertaining," that you worked to figure out something she could have said with a few sentence. Alliteration works well sometimes, but if you're doing it all the time it gets real annoying and real boring.
Another...more
Another...more
Angier is thorough (a lot more so than I expected going into this) and accessible, and while some chapters covered more familiar ground than others, I felt I got something from each of them. Even in the driest sections, the conversational tone was intact and my interest was held. There are a lot of little literary/cultural winks thrown in with the substantive material, some working better than others. For some reason, the only one explained with a footnote was the reference to Rosencrantz & Guil...more
This book has the virtue of doing exactly what it said it was going to do. And that is impressive.
She doesn't try to review all the basic tenets of each scientific discipline. But she does get to the root of the science, and in an engaging, enthusiastic fashion. She's interested in science in general and always in the immediate topic at hand (well, at least it reads that way).
And it read well both for the disciplines where I'm clueless, and for the ones where I'm eve...more
She doesn't try to review all the basic tenets of each scientific discipline. But she does get to the root of the science, and in an engaging, enthusiastic fashion. She's interested in science in general and always in the immediate topic at hand (well, at least it reads that way).
And it read well both for the disciplines where I'm clueless, and for the ones where I'm eve...more
This book is a tour of what scientists in fields as diverse as physics, biology, paleontology, chemistry, geology, and astronomy have found out so far. To keep it from reading like a textbook, Angier writes in an exceedingly clever and playful fashion. This writing style will either appeal to you or you'll find it annoying. At first I enjoyed it, she's continually make allusions to literature or uses literary devices such as alliteration. But the downside is that her style can detract from ...more
WORST. SCIENCE BOOK. EVER.
Highly poetic, but aggravatingly dumbed down!
This book seems targeted towards scientifically illiterate adults.
The well-informed reader will be weeping tears of boredom by the middle of the introduction, and cringing every few sentences at poor analogies, unforgivable rhymes, etc.
List of complaints:
- Bad jokes, lame rhymes. I get that you're a fun person, stop trying so hard to convince me with kitschy prose!
- Defending th...more
Highly poetic, but aggravatingly dumbed down!
This book seems targeted towards scientifically illiterate adults.
The well-informed reader will be weeping tears of boredom by the middle of the introduction, and cringing every few sentences at poor analogies, unforgivable rhymes, etc.
List of complaints:
- Bad jokes, lame rhymes. I get that you're a fun person, stop trying so hard to convince me with kitschy prose!
- Defending th...more
I cannot continue after a substantial portion of it, perhaps the first 1/5. The book starts with talking about the author self, and about science writing, and then endlessly complaints about how science writing is unwelcome in publications and Americans in general hate science, such as most Harvard graduates, even including some major in physics, think summer and winter seasons are due to distance variation between the earth and the sun, and most people don't know that gravity constantly acts o...more
Pulitzer Prize-winner Natalie Angier (Woman: An Intimate Geography), a science journalist at the New York Times, was writing an article on whale genetics when her editor suggested that she define the term mammal for her readers and confirm that mammals are animals. That was the last straw for Angier, who nevertheless writes with respect for The Canon's intended audience. She incorporates imaginative metaphors, concise analogies, and jokes into her writing, which result in clear and accessible ex
...more
This book is a great approach to talking about science in layman's terms without having any of the really cool, complex stuff dumbed down. However Angier's writing really started to get on my nerves, it's a little too 'clever' at times when she tries to force a casual, jokey tone to make the Science seem less imposing.
Very cool book. Everything you ever wanted to know about all kinds of scientific stuff -- from the names and sizes of the tiniest of particles, to the way static electricty really works. A great book for parents of curious kids. If only science teachers at my high school had been as engaging as this writer.
Joyous and fascinating. It's true that the punning can be a little much, but that fact pales before the book's virtues.
“What do you wish everyone knew about your field?” That the question that Natalie Angier, the New York Times biology writer and National Book Award finalist, poses to a host of scientists in her quest to explore public apathy and confusion about science—as well as science’s joys.
Angier is frequently described as being a writer of exuberance and charm, and ind...more
“What do you wish everyone knew about your field?” That the question that Natalie Angier, the New York Times biology writer and National Book Award finalist, poses to a host of scientists in her quest to explore public apathy and confusion about science—as well as science’s joys.
Angier is frequently described as being a writer of exuberance and charm, and ind...more
Hmmm....I didn't like this as much as I thought I was going to, and didn't actually finish it. I love science so I thought this would be a no-brainer. She arranges the chapters in Physics, Astronomy, Thinking Scientifically, Molecular Biology, etc., which I did like. But I don't feel as if I learned anything.
The author describes scientific theories and processes with metaphors and examples that don't make sense to me, I can't "picture" most of the scenarios she writes abou...more
The author describes scientific theories and processes with metaphors and examples that don't make sense to me, I can't "picture" most of the scenarios she writes abou...more
Frank Jude
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
All those interested in science, even if, and especially if, they are a bit scared by it!
Shelves:
general-science
Go to the top scientists in the fields of physics, biology, chemistry, geology and astronomy and ask them what principles (not data or factoids) are central to their discipline and what they wish the general public knew and understood and then write a readable, enjoyable book about it. That's what top science writer, Natalie Angier did and the results are fabulous.
If you are a science phile or phobe, this one is for you! At times Angier's wit gets the best of her. It's almost like sh...more
If you are a science phile or phobe, this one is for you! At times Angier's wit gets the best of her. It's almost like sh...more
Fabulous book about basic scientific principles everyone should understand and almost no one does. Chatty and fun, I had a better understanding of electrons, neutrons and quantum leaps after reading this book than I ever had before -- and I loved every minute of it.
I enjoyed this book, but I felt like it was a little pretentious. The author truly did her homework, interviewing scads of scientists, and reviewed the basics of science. I got bored after awhile, because most of it was material from general ed college classes (physics 101, etc), classes that reinforced my desire to major in English, where at least the material was interesting to read. She dolled it up with so much cleverness that I think its purpose was somewhat defeated by all the obscure refe...more
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