Present at the Future

tags: book review, science essays, technology, Present at the Future, Ira Flatow

Many months ago, I was signed up for the HarperCollins email list that briefly describes their books that are hot off the presses, prior to their public release. The publisher then holds a contest where they ask you to email them a little essay describing why you would be the best person to review a particular title in their list, then they choose the winners and mail the books. Even though HarperCollins published several scientific books this past year, including one that dealt with evolution, my essay was mysteriously passed over when it came time to choose reviewers for those particular books. So I was both surprised and pleased when I learned that I was finally one of the Chosen Ones: I was chosen to review Present at the Future: from Evolution to Nanotechnology, Candid and Controversial Conversations on Science and Nature by Ira Flatow (NYC: HarperCollins; 2007). Many of you know Flatow as the familiar voice on National Public Radio's wonderful program, Science Friday.

The book starts out tantalizing the reader in the Introduction by claiming that Bernoulli's Principle is not a scientifically valid explanation for why airplanes (or birds or bats or insects) can fly. Oh? Well, I was captivated immediately, wanted to learn more (the essay on this topic appears strategically near the end of the book) and, in view of this strong beginning, I expected more great scientific mysteries would unfold on the pages in front of me. Alas, that was not to be.

This book is 340 pages long, and consists of a few black-and-white illustrations and 34 essays of varying lengths about scientific issues. These essays are loosely based on Flatow's interviews with scientists throughout the past 30 years or so. Flatow covers a wide variety of topics such as neurobiology, cosmology, global warming, alternative energy sources, nanotechnology, space tourism, scientific pioneers, the ultimate computer and humanity's quest for immortality. Oddly, there wasn't much balance; some chapters had as many as six essays in them, while others had only one. Worse, I was nearly always frustrated because each essay only presented an overview; I wanted them to present more detail, more information, and more quotes from the scientist(s) interviewed.

I was truly dismayed to read Flatow's section about science and religion because it was the only section that even touches upon the dynamic field of evolution, yet it only had three small essays, none of which really focused on evolution at all. The first essay, "Fitting God into the Equation", was a rambling survey of several scientists' religious beliefs. Unfortunately, this essay didn't seem to have any message at all except to point out the obvious; some scientists are religious while many are not. The next essay, "Evolution: Still Under Attack" was a two page "throw-away" that concludes by saying that there is no controversy to teach. But why was this essay included in the book at all? It didn't explore or address this issue adequately for the reader, so it also was rather pointless. The last essay in this section, "The Dover School Board Case" was equally disappointing because it was far too brief to provide a reasonably complete picture of this important legal decision to the reader, nor did it provide any interesting or thoughtful insights to the reader.

Of course, I could be biased since I read a rather lengthy book that was devoted to the Dover School Board case.

Despite my criticisms, Flatow can indeed, write. Overall, the pieces about computer technology and physics were generally well-written. However, the best essays in the book were in the next-to-last section, entitled "Beauty is in the Details", and I'd guess that Flatow had the most fun writing them, too. Especially interesting was "The Misbehaving Shower Curtain", which explains the physics behind why a shower curtain billows inwards and sticks to your leg while you take a shower; another interesting essay was "The Great Champagne Bubble Mystery", which discusses all those bubbles found in various alcoholic beverages (my beertender was especially interested to learn why the bubbles go down in a newly poured pint of Guinness, even as the head goes up; and why champagne rapidly goes flat when there is lipstick on the glass); and of course, the interesting essay that was promised in the introduction appeared here too; "Why an Airplane Flies: Debunking the Myth". In short, planes/birds/bats/insects fly not because of the Bernoulli Principle, but because of the Coanda Effect.

I was disappointed that the book lacks a bibliography and references to Flatow's many interviews, so interested readers cannot pursue a particular topic further. But a more serious omission is the editing, or should I instead rephrase that as "the lack of editing" -- which was enormously distracting. The book is rife with what I refer to as "cut and paste errors"; missing punctuation, missing or duplicated words (or homophone errors, such as "too" for "two") and even, in one case, a portion of a paragraph went missing in mid-sentence. In one other essay, I discovered two sentences from one paragraph were repeated word-for-word two-and-a-half pages later. Because the book that I read was the uncorrected proof, I am not allowed to quote from it here, but I sincerely hope that the editors managed to sort out those cut-and-paste issues before the book hits the shelves next week.

Overall, as much as I wanted to like this book and even though there were some very interesting essays in the book, I (sadly) cannot recommend it to my readers.

Ira Flatow is very familiar to many of you because he is a former science correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR), and he still is a regular science correspondent and award-winning radio and TV journalist and host of Talk of the Nation: Science Friday on NPR. His popular books include Rainbows, Curve Balls and Other Wonders of the Natural World Explained and They All Laughed ... . He lives in Connecticut.