The Subatomic Monster: Essays on Science

by Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov, who has been called 'The Balzac of Science', presents this new volume of seventeen lucid, humorous and awesomely well expounded articles on a variety of topics in physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology and technology. Here are:

'The Victorious General', a well reasoned interpretation of Einstein's general theory of relativity;

'Love Makes the World Go Round', an artful and intriguing speculation on the hidden forces that bind the universe together;

'More Thinking about Thinking', a contemplation on the wonders of human and artificial intelligence;

and 'Coming Full circle', a thoughtful meditation on the human heart, inspired by his own recent triple bypass surgery.

Each chapter begins with a humorous, often personal anecdote, related to the subject at hand.

These essays are full of information, artful and charming-guaranteed to enlighten and entertain. All the essays originally appeared in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction during 1983 and 1984

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Physics

213 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

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

[Paul Weiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dated, but still entertaining and informative

Writing popular science effectively is definitely an art and, while many are called, few are chosen. Michio Kaku, for example, is one of those talented scientists who can speak to us lay people on our own level and make us understand whereof he speaks. Clifford Pickover, on the other hand (to name only one, in my opinion) hasn't got a clue when it comes to making his science even lucid let alone enjoyable. Unless you have a joint degree in cosmology, quantum mechanics and conformal geometry, Clifford Pickover's books are an impenetrable maze of scientific mumbo-jumbo.

Isaac Asimov, rest the good doctor's soul, had the uncanny ability to make science light, understandable, enjoyable, informative, entertaining and at times even intuitive. And not for one second did he ever trivialize his subject or talk down to his readers.

Like most of his books, THE SUBATOMIC MONSTER is a collection of thought-provoking essays on a myriad of topics - physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology, technology and even the length of the life of the universe. Because it was written in the mid '80s, the science is, of course, somewhat dated but, in no instance, did I catch Asimov in an scientific mis-statement or an outright error that had been superseded by the mind-boggling advances that scientific research is now making on an almost daily basis.

So, even if you think of yourself as an informed popular science reader and current on the state of today's research, re-visiting Asimov's essays is always worth the time. What a shame he isn't alive today to lend his writing expertise to telling us about 21st century physics.

Recommended.

Paul Weiss

[Δημήτριος Καραγιάννης · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be clear, i had not realized that this is non-fiction.
The three stars are bestowed because this guy Asimov is clearly a highly talented writer, i have never before read about scientific experiments and practical application of scientific theorems without stifling a large, deprecating yawn.
He kept me going and i finished the book with relative ease, though most of what he wrote about did not interest me.
Still, he is arrogant, flamboyant and incredibly narcissistic, while he makes some lingering demeaning comments towards women that didnt stick well with me. You cannot begin half your chapters by describing encounters with 'gorgeous' women at several hotels and conferences to which you were a guest of honor.
Talent, yes. Humility, severely lacking.
A good book if you want to read about science and not be bored at the same time.

[Matias Cimmino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Como no me decidia con que libro empezar, opte por la opcion mas segura: Asimov. Por si no lo sabian, este hombre es asi como un idolo y un modelo a seguir en mas de un aspecto.
El libro consta de un compendio de ensayos sobre diversos temas de la ciencia, entre ellos Fisica / Quimica / Astronomia / Miscelaneo. Como siempre me resulto muy facil de leer y muy llevadero. Ademas, siempre hay alguna frase o idea que me hace reir. En este caso la que mejor recuerdo es una en la que comienza hablando sobre como el amor hace girar al mundo y termina relacionandolo con gravitacion. La ultima parte se me hizo medio largo debido a que trata sobre la medicion del tiempo si los eventos relevantes se desarrollaran a lo largo de un mismo año. Por ejemplo comparando si toda la historia del
hombre se hubiera desarrollado en un año con si toda la historia del planeta o del sistema solar se hubiera desarrollado en ese tiempo. Lo hace para dar perspectiva del tiempo transcurrido y en eso es util, pero no mas.
De todos modos, es un libro que recomendaria ampliamente.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great essay collection by Asimov- he says these are his favorites to write. While the edition I read had its share of typos, the overall substance of the collection was excellent. This text seemed to focus more on astronomy- and I certainly loved the essay "The World of the Red Sun" on why Betelgeuse cannot have life in its star system. The titular monster is the magnetic monopole (still yet to be found). The search for quantized gravity is next, in "E. Pluribus Unum." Asimov then surveyed general relativity and the relatively recent evidence for Einstein's version. "Love Makes the World Go Round" describes millisecond pulsars and likens gravity to love, as the attractive force that causes orbit. In his chemistry section, Asimov focuses on the discovery of photosynthesis and the porphyrin structures that make plants green. "More Thinking About Thinking" gives an interesting early argument about how dolphins are probably smarter than humans, in a different way, and that artificial intelligence will similarly likely never compare to human thought, but exist in its own right. This brings me to my favorite essay, "What Truck?" which describes a 1903 article on how to get to the moon, which missed rocketry entirely. Here, Asimov presciently acknowledges that in the future his own writing may be seen as inaccurate or missing the point. Luckily, in my eyes, he has not yet missed the metaphorical truck. At last, a description of Dodge's dream of a solar plant on the moon (in 1903!), the first aeronaut who also was the first astronaut killed in flight, and two fairly derivative essays on shrinking time scales down to a year length for perspective.

[Eddie Moctezuma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pequeño libro que reúne ensayos de diferentes temas como física, química, biología, tecnología. Cada uno introducido por alguna anécdota que vivió Isaac de una forma chistosa y amena.

Ensayos interesantes, algunos quizá un poco densos (sobretodo física, que siempre se me ha hecho difícil) pero con muchos datos históricos que al menos a mi me gustan. Donde explican el "Por qué, cuándo, dónde o quién" descubrió/experimento muchas de las cosas actuales.

Lei comentarios un poco malos sobre la parte final del libro sobre los "Calendarios" pero a mi me gustaron ya que dan un panorama de la cantidad de tiempo que ha pasado desde que comenzó todo....literal TODO

[Remo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recopilación de artículos variados del maestro Asimov. Pasa por la Relatividad General, la física de partículas y las cuatro fuerzas fundamentales, la inteligencia artificial y, aprovechando que le operaron de un triple bypass, también se mete algo en medicina e histología. Es un poco cajón de sastre pero cada uno de los artículos es muy entretenido y pedagógico. Este era el maestro en su cénit. Por supuesto, y para que no quede duda de que se amaba mucho a sí mismo, cada capítulo viene con una anécdota personal en las que él no suele quedar mal. Muy bueno.

[Juanjo Conti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lo bueno de un escritor tan prolífico como Isaac Asimov es que nunca terminás de leer su obra y siempre podés descubrir pequeñas joyitas. Es el caso de El monstruo subatómico (Una exploración de los misterios del Universo). El libro es una recopilación de ensayos publicados en The Magazine of Fantasy and Science (entre los años 1983 y 1984) y está dividido en 6 partes.

[Pedro Manuel Pastor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Otra gran obra didáctica del genio Asimov. Imprescindibles ensayos científicos, esculpidos con soltura, amenos, y aunque hayan pasado los años, imperecederos por su certeza descriptiva de las temáticas de ciencia que aborda.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Siempre es interesante leer a Asimov, un escritor y hombre hilarantemente henchido de sí mismo. Racional y responsable, expone los temas fronterizos de la ciencia con pulso seguro, sin descuidar las oportunidades para amenizar con anécdotas personales.

[Sergey Selyutin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent collection of popular science essays.

[Vincenzo Ferraro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alcune parti complesse, ma molto bello

[Poncho González · Rating 5 out of 5]

"paté de hígado" que gran manera de romper la cuarta pared con el lector.

[Polifemo]

Isaac Asimov ha sido el escritor de temas de divulgación científica más conocido de todos los tiempos. Su fama se debe a su capacidad para simplificar los conceptos científicos más complejos sin banalizarlos, y a la gran cantidad de libros que ha escrito. Buena prueba de todo ello es esta obra, una colección de ensayos sobre diversos temas científicos que despertarán la curiosidad del lector y aclararán muchas de sus dudas sobre ámbitos científicos que en la actualidad experimentan grandes avances. En El monstruo subatómico se tratan temas de física, astronomía, química, biología y tecnología. Asimov nos sorprende de nuevo terminando el libro con una original cronología de diversos acontecimientos en la historia del mundo y el Universo.

[Alpixels · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un conjunto de ensayos sobre la ciencia hasta los 80's. En general un libro muy ameno, salvo la ultima parte (la definición de años) que en lo particular se me hizo tediosa.
De cualquier manera, una buena lectura para todo público.

[Soul · Rating 4 out of 5]

If u ever liked science a bit then, this is the book for your brunch time read.

[AndrewP · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another collection of essays on scientific topics.