Relativity Of Wrong by Isaac Asimov

by Isaac Asimov

Sparkling with charm and the legendary Asimov wit, this remarkable collection of 17 essays delivers a delightful potpourri of chemical conundrums, galactic puzzles, and awesome astronomical anomalies. "(Asimov is) as formidable and readable as ever."--Kirkus Reviews.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Essays, Philosophy, Short Stories, Physics, Book Club

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Works of prolific Russian-American writer Isaac Asimov include popular explanations of scientific principles, The Foundation Trilogy (1951-1953), and other volumes of fiction.

Isaac Asimov, a professor of biochemistry, wrote as a highly successful author, best known for his books.

Asimov, professor, generally considered of all time, edited more than five hundred books and ninety thousand letters and postcards. He published in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey decimal classification but lacked only an entry in the category of philosophy (100).

People widely considered Asimov, a master of the genre alongside Robert Anson Heinlein and Arthur Charles Clarke as the "big three" during his lifetime. He later tied Galactic Empire and the Robot into the same universe as his most famous series to create a unified "future history" for his stories much like those that Heinlein pioneered and Cordwainer Smith and Poul Anderson previously produced. He penned "Nightfall," voted in 1964 as the best short story of all time; many persons still honor this title. He also produced well mysteries, fantasy, and a great quantity of nonfiction. Asimov used Paul French, the pen name, for the Lucky Starr, series of juvenile novels.

Most books of Asimov in a historical way go as far back to a time with possible question or concept at its simplest stage. He often provides and mentions well nationalities, birth, and death dates for persons and etymologies and pronunciation guides for technical terms. Guide to Science, the tripartite set Understanding Physics, and Chronology of Science and Discovery exemplify these books.

Asimov, a long-time member, reluctantly served as vice president of Mensa international and described some members of that organization as "brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs." He took more pleasure as president of the humanist association. The asteroid 5020 Asimov, the magazine Asimov's Science Fiction, an elementary school in Brooklyn in New York, and two different awards honor his name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_As...

Reviews

[Yasmeen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've decided to read this collection of essays after a person recommended that I read Asimov's article: 'The Relativity of Wrong' since I loved this quote of his and used it many times:

"When people thought the Earth was flat, they were wrong. When people thought the Earth was spherical they were wrong. But if you think that thinking the Earth is spherical is just as wrong as thinking the Earth is flat, then your view is wronger than both of them put together."

This book contains that title-essay (which was the most important one, in my opinion), in addition to the other 16 articles that were scientific but very simple, detailed, and required no previous deep knowledge of any sciences. Asimov divided his essays into three groups: Isotopes and Elements (I liked this one the least, since I am not very interested in Chemistry), The Solar System, and Beyond The Solar System. What I really loved about his writing style is that he included an interesting and fun anecdote in the beginning of each article.

Read 'The Relativity of Wrong' (essay, not the whole book) here: http://depa.pquim.unam.mx/amyd/archiv...

I can't wait to read Asimov's fiction!

[Brian Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

"When people thought the earth was flat, they were wrong. When people thought the earth was spherical, they were wrong. But if you think that thinking the earth is spherical is just as wrong as thinking the earth is flat, then your view is wronger than both of them put together."

The accumulation of knowledge and the gradual revision and improvement of humankind's understanding of the Universe. This is how science is done.

[Bettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Jihad Lahham · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely incredible. Asimov is one of the best writers to explain the most complicated of areas in science and make it absolutely digestible by the lay person. although the relativity if wrong as an essay is a very solid, informative, mind twisting and engaging essay, it is a little sad to see most the readers talking about it as if it's the only great essay and quoting the same sentence over and over again. What i loved about this book is that Asimov explained so many things that i just took for granted from my previous science reading without asking why. how do enzymes metabolize foods? why are novas called that? why is it that stars explode shortly after they start fusing lighter elements in iron? how does radioactivity work, in details, and what implication that has on the human body...etc

i can't recommend this book enough for someone who enjoys reading science.

[Ericka Clou · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of science essays by Asimov, so of course, it's pretty cool. He tries to make the concepts understandable to laymen but honestly I struggled with some of the essays. The book is about half chemistry and half physics, and I found most of the physics more interesting. There are numerous chapters on planets and stars and those were super interesting. Some of the essays about chemistry and nuclear reactivity were a challenge, but each essay built into the next so that at the end the reader had some of the tools to understand our place in the universe.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

When is right wrong? What will fuel interstellar space ships? How are new stars born?

In the pages of this book, readers embark on a fascinating journey that takes them from the center of the human brain to the outer reaches of the universe. Brimming with the legendary Asimov wit, this sweeping collection of real-life wonders is a delightful potpourri of conundrums, puzzles, and awesome astronomical anomalies, all guaranteed to thrill readers who long to comprehend the incomprehensible.

Highly recommended.

[khOkh · Rating 3 out of 5]

الكتاب اربع أقسام بس أنا قرات قسم واحد و هو القسم الثالت ما وراء النظام الشمسى

**الكتاب عبارة عن مقالات متسلسلة ف كل مقالة بيوضح أكتر ل القارئ اللى مايعرفش اسحق عظيموف انه بيكتب من نظرة مؤلف او كاتب مش عالم دارس
لكن لا مش معنى كده ان الكتاب مش طارح الكتير من المعلومات المجمع بشكل هائل فهو جامع الكتير و الكتير من المعلومات من الكتير من المراجع

** طريقة كتابته دى تقدر تخلى اى مبتدأ او اى يخص مايعرفش حاجة عن العلم دا انه يحصل اكبر قدر من المعلومات و نفس الوقت مش هيزهق و دى تعتبر ميزة ل اسحق ف كل كتبه

** بالنسبة ل الكتاب نفسه ف انا شايفة ف انه يذكر جزء من حياته الشخصية ف بداية كل مقالة و احيانا ليس له علاقة ب موضوع المقالة دى تعتبر سلبيه ل اللى هيقرا الكتاب ل البحث العلمى

** أفكار ارسطو الفلسفية الدينية اكتر منها علمية متفقة تماما معاه ف الاختلاف عليها لكن طريقة نقده المستمر ل ارسطو كانت بطريقة سلبية او بمعنى اصح تعصبيه

** ف نفس الوقت فسر اسباب سيطرة فكر أرسطو على الناس و خفهم من تقبل غيرها تفسير كويس
**تتتابع الاحداث كان كويس جدا
** اخيرا و ليس اخرا اللى عايز يقرا كتاب فيه معلومات كتير و قيمه عن ما وراء النظام الشمسى و ف نفس الوقت يستمتع بطريقة عرض مش بحته علميا يقرا الكتاب دا :)

[Anas Re]

اعجبني فيه القسم الاخير الذي ذكر فيه وسائل عملية ممكن ان تكون متاحة للسفر الى اقرب نجم الينا مع ان افضل هذه الطرق تتيح لنا الوصول لنجم قريب باربعين سنة
مثل المادة المضادة او حتى جمع الهدرجين الموجود في الفراغ الكوني بشراع .
و اسلوب الكاتب يعطيك مفاهيم جديدة ويوسع الافق في كثير من الامور التي لن فهمها بشكل كامل
كما انه خصص فصلا عن الحديد وكيف انه اثقل عنصر ثابت والعناصر التي بعده نواها تتفك مثل اليورانيوم وغيره

[SaraKat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Asimov's essays are the best! I loved the essay that the book is titled after the best.

[Liedzeit Liedzeit · Rating 5 out of 5]

(9/10)

[‏★Štarlight★ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of what Asimov writes follows a story, meandering along down different lines of diverting questions. Indeed, through exploring how our understanding of certain topics evolved from scratch, and skillfully painting a picture of how scientists at the time were thinking with the limited information they had, Asimov guides the reader on a stroll through history, letting it all play out like a mystery.
But if it was Asimov that lured me to open the book, it was the discoveries and their backstories that kept me turning the page. These were often so unusual or interesting that I forgot that I might be learning something.

[Leo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reads like a great sci-fi book. You kind of forgot you're reading a science book.
The book has 2 sections, one on biology and one on space. The biology section was a bit too much detail for me, but the space section was great.

[Jeffrey Dill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not sure if I agree with the final premise presented in the last essay, about rightness and wrongness existing on a spectrum instead of being absolutes, but the rest of the essays in the book are fantastic.

[Michael Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very few books by Isaac Asimov can be rated less than five stars.

[Amanda Naud · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a phenomenal book. I have read it twice.

[Thomas Ray]

Quiz time!
https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...

[Anthony Faber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another colection of F&SF science articles from 1986 & 1987

[Magdy Shonoda · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Draft review)
Just read The 'Relativity of Wrong' essay (the title-essay from the book), really good.
http://chem.tufts.edu/AnswersInScienc...

The essay is built upon this thought:
"When people thought the earth was flat, they were wrong. When people thought the earth was spherical, they were wrong. But if you think that thinking the earth is spherical is just as wrong as thinking the earth is flat, then your view is wronger than both of them put together."

Asimov explains what he thinks about the fuzzy nature of right and wrong in science, and how scientific knowledge evolves.

[Mati Roy]

I only read one of the essays in this book, which is also named 'The Relativity of Wrong'. You can read this essay here: http://chem.tufts.edu/answersinscienc...

"When people thought the Earth was flat, they were wrong. When people thought the Earth was spherical they were wrong. But if you think that thinking the Earth is spherical is just as wrong as thinking the Earth is flat, then your view is wronger than both of them put together."

[Rod Hemingway · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now that was satisfying. I've been wanting to read this book for a while and now that I have, I am sorry that it over. A worthwhile way to learn about the basic components of atoms, isotopes and radioisotopes all the way up to supernovas and galaxies. I will be reading this again at some point because I am sure I have already forgotten some of the things Dr Asimov wrote in this book. Not always a quick page turner, but a fun, educational opportunity.

[Juliana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a compilation of essays from Issac Asimov. It's mostly scientific but the last essay that shares the title of the book is not so scientific but a really fun read.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good combination of personal and enlightening, a general overview of science and what was known about the universe at the time.

[Maximiliano · Rating 5 out of 5]

2 chapters so far, it immediately captured my attention.