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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Portable history has good dose of science

Reviewed by: Marlene Woligroski

Posted: 03/15/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

You Are Here

A Portable History of the Universe

By Christopher Potter

Random House, 274 pages, $30

You Are Here

A Portable History of the Universe

THIS ambitious entry into the popular science sweepstakes spans the fields of physics, cosmology, astronomy, evolutionary biology, history, philosophy and religion.

First-time author Christopher Potter, an American with an academic background in the history and philosophy of science, adds a hefty dose of history and philosophy to his actual scientific information.

In its spiritual and metaphysical references, it is comparable to The Sacred Balance by David Suzuki and Amanda McConnell, another less rigorous look at scientific knowledge.

Potter address such questions as What is nothing?, How scared should we be? and Is there room for God in a material universe?

His approach is to examine the universe in "powers of 10" to highlight major discoveries in different scales of space and time. In doing so, he draws his audience out of their everyday world and into the realms of the ancient past, the very large, and the very small.

His aim is to give the reader new ways to consider and appreciate the everyday world. He explains, for example, our ability to see as the co-evolution of eyes and brains in animals living under the ocean half a billion years ago.

Some chapters are a straightforward scientific explanation of the universe, while others deal almost exclusively with history.

Most sections of the book are a blend of both history and science. For example, in one section Potter explains how the clocks and calendars we live by are tied to both the physical motion of our solar system and the rituals of ancient civilizations.

Potter uses colourful, if convoluted, analogies to relate difficult concepts. When describing the new perception of the world that physicists have due to their knowledge of quantum mechanics, he says "a world that appeared to be sinuous reveals itself, when looked at closely, to be grainy, in the same way as our technological world which was once smoothly analog is now pixilated and digital."

None of the material Potter uses is mathematical or difficult to grasp.

In places his scientific accuracy is less than perfect. For example, he defines the speed of light -- an exact physical quantity -- incorrectly in at least two different places, and he confuses the terms "meteorite" and "meteoroid."

But perhaps such inaccuracies are beside the point. What Potter does do well is communicate his sense of wonder about the universe to a general audience.

Potter quickly identifies himself as a non-scientist. He claims he is unsettled by the predictability of nature, while suggesting that all scientists truly feel the same way.

He mixes his descriptions of the physical world with a sense of their apparent miraculousness. His decision to include references to religion in this book will appeal to some readers but not to others.

For those who wish to gain a more solid perspective of our place in the universe, this isn't the place to start. But if you're looking for an artistic interpretation of some very interesting science with plenty of historical context, you have come to the right place.

Marlene Woligroski is a science student at the University of Manitoba.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 15, 2009 B8

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