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El electrón es zurdo y otros ensayos científicos
Esta recopilación de artículos de divulgación científica escritos por Isaac Asimov se abre con un divertido trabajo sobre la capacidad pronosticadora de la novela científica, al que siguen dos ensayos en torno a las leyes que gobiernan la expansión y miniaturización en la naturaleza.
«El electrón es zurdo» pertenece a una serie de cinco trabajos que se ocupan de la paridad y la simetría en el mundo inanimado y en los seres vivos. El resto de los artículos examinan muy diversos temas: los océanos, la certidumbre y la incertidumbre en la física, los axiomas de Euclides y las razones por las cuales fueron considerados como una verdad absoluta durante dos mil años, etcétera.
«El electrón es zurdo» pertenece a una serie de cinco trabajos que se ocupan de la paridad y la simetría en el mundo inanimado y en los seres vivos. El resto de los artículos examinan muy diversos temas: los océanos, la certidumbre y la incertidumbre en la física, los axiomas de Euclides y las razones por las cuales fueron considerados como una verdad absoluta durante dos mil años, etcétera.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
30 people are currently reading
783 people want to read
About the author
Isaac Asimov
4,338 books27.7k followersWorks 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...
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...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
November 13, 2022
Este señor es una gozada. LO AMO. En general le doy todas las estrellas, pero este volumen se me hizo difícil. ¿O quizá es que cometí el error de leer la mitad hace más de un año, y luego retomarlo así de la nada...? Ojalá sea eso y no que mis neuronas entraron en huelga.
Aun así, disfruté el libro. Asimov tiene la gracia de que, además de ser inteligente, es increíblemente simpático. No hay desperdicio en sus escritos, y gran parte del mérito está en que él no tiene ABSOLUTAMENTE NINGUNA DUDA de que todo lo que explica es fácil de entender... entonces, en general, lo es.
Y no tiene miedo de estar equivocado, o de hablar de un problema no resuelto... lo que resulta muy refrescante, porque es como si quisiera que lo resolviéramos juntos. Uno siente como si estuviera con un amigo en un carrete... y aprende mucho más, gracias a eso. Porque es divertido, además de educativo.
Ay, yo soy fan. ¿Lo había dicho?, porque no sé si queda claro, jajaja. Ojalá hubiera más escritores como él hoy en día. Serían los R. K. Rowling de la ciencia, haciendo que todos contáramos los días para leer un nuevo capítulo sobre ella.
Eso sí, no recomendaría este volumen para empezar. Recomendaría "Vida y tiempo" o "Fronteras", que son menos especializados y aun así INCREÍBLES.
Un par de citas que destaqué:
1. Como intro del capítulo donde habla del agua congelada.
"
En las fiestas de cóctel es cuando más me tienta el orgullo de mí mismo, porque yo no bebo. Y conste que no es por virtud, es sencillamente que no me gusta el sabor de los licores y que, aun en cantidades pequeñas, me producen erupciones y respiración fatigosa. Así y todo, sin probar gota puedo esta tan ebrio de alegría como el que más del salón, y sin la resaca subsiguiente.
Lo malo es que nadie quiere creérmelo. Me rodean y acosan, preguntándome quince veces: "Pero ¿de verdad no quieres tomar nada?". Es más, cuando me entra sed, tengo que acercarme a la barra, asegurarme de que nadie escucha y pedir al camarero, susurrando, un poco de agua. Primero, tengo que convencerle de que, de veras, quiero agua. Luego de que deseo un vaso grande, sin hielo.
Generalmente fracaso. Sin escuchar, coge un vaso de cóctel y me alarga "agua entre rocas", lo que significa que dispongo de cinco centímetros cúbicos de líquido y que tengo que estar dándole vueltas melancólicamente a los cubos de hielo, deseando que se derritan.
"
Cita 2, del capítulo sobre la incertidumbre.
"
A poco de comenzar aquel siglo, el astrónomo francés Pedro Simón de Laplace había dicho "Si en un instante determinado conociésemos la situación y velocidad exactas de todas las partículas del Universo, podríamos deducir por cálculos todo lo pasado y lo futuro del mismo". En otros términos, el Universo era perfectamente determinado, y yo que era un determinista convencido, me relamía de gusto al leer esa frase.
Claro que yo no comprendía que realmente nosotros no conocemos la velocidad y la posición exactas de todas las partículas del Universo, en ningún instante, y que estamos casi seguros de no conocerlas nunca. Pero en principio podríamos conocerlas y eso hacía al Universo completamente determinado, "en principio".
¿No era una sensación magnífica, la de ser lo bastante joven para saberlo todo? Mas, ay, nos hacemos más viejos y sensatos, y el saber se nos escurre de entre los dedos, dejándonos desnudos en un Universo frío y hostil.
".
Aun así, disfruté el libro. Asimov tiene la gracia de que, además de ser inteligente, es increíblemente simpático. No hay desperdicio en sus escritos, y gran parte del mérito está en que él no tiene ABSOLUTAMENTE NINGUNA DUDA de que todo lo que explica es fácil de entender... entonces, en general, lo es.
Y no tiene miedo de estar equivocado, o de hablar de un problema no resuelto... lo que resulta muy refrescante, porque es como si quisiera que lo resolviéramos juntos. Uno siente como si estuviera con un amigo en un carrete... y aprende mucho más, gracias a eso. Porque es divertido, además de educativo.
Ay, yo soy fan. ¿Lo había dicho?, porque no sé si queda claro, jajaja. Ojalá hubiera más escritores como él hoy en día. Serían los R. K. Rowling de la ciencia, haciendo que todos contáramos los días para leer un nuevo capítulo sobre ella.
Eso sí, no recomendaría este volumen para empezar. Recomendaría "Vida y tiempo" o "Fronteras", que son menos especializados y aun así INCREÍBLES.
Un par de citas que destaqué:
1. Como intro del capítulo donde habla del agua congelada.
"
En las fiestas de cóctel es cuando más me tienta el orgullo de mí mismo, porque yo no bebo. Y conste que no es por virtud, es sencillamente que no me gusta el sabor de los licores y que, aun en cantidades pequeñas, me producen erupciones y respiración fatigosa. Así y todo, sin probar gota puedo esta tan ebrio de alegría como el que más del salón, y sin la resaca subsiguiente.
Lo malo es que nadie quiere creérmelo. Me rodean y acosan, preguntándome quince veces: "Pero ¿de verdad no quieres tomar nada?". Es más, cuando me entra sed, tengo que acercarme a la barra, asegurarme de que nadie escucha y pedir al camarero, susurrando, un poco de agua. Primero, tengo que convencerle de que, de veras, quiero agua. Luego de que deseo un vaso grande, sin hielo.
Generalmente fracaso. Sin escuchar, coge un vaso de cóctel y me alarga "agua entre rocas", lo que significa que dispongo de cinco centímetros cúbicos de líquido y que tengo que estar dándole vueltas melancólicamente a los cubos de hielo, deseando que se derritan.
"
Cita 2, del capítulo sobre la incertidumbre.
"
A poco de comenzar aquel siglo, el astrónomo francés Pedro Simón de Laplace había dicho "Si en un instante determinado conociésemos la situación y velocidad exactas de todas las partículas del Universo, podríamos deducir por cálculos todo lo pasado y lo futuro del mismo". En otros términos, el Universo era perfectamente determinado, y yo que era un determinista convencido, me relamía de gusto al leer esa frase.
Claro que yo no comprendía que realmente nosotros no conocemos la velocidad y la posición exactas de todas las partículas del Universo, en ningún instante, y que estamos casi seguros de no conocerlas nunca. Pero en principio podríamos conocerlas y eso hacía al Universo completamente determinado, "en principio".
¿No era una sensación magnífica, la de ser lo bastante joven para saberlo todo? Mas, ay, nos hacemos más viejos y sensatos, y el saber se nos escurre de entre los dedos, dejándonos desnudos en un Universo frío y hostil.
".
December 18, 2016
Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) was professor of biochemistry in the Boston University and a very prolific writer,mainly of hard SF,popular science books and popular histhory books.
He is a great teacher,that explains,in his popular science books,with a simple direct and clear prose full of humoristic touchs,all sort of concepts of physics,chemistry and mathematics in a way that is a pleasure read his books
His popular science books are aimed to people with no or little scientific background.
In this book,i have the spanish version, in 18 chapters Asimov touchs subjects of fundamental physics,chemistry and mathematics.Yet is a book of 1962 is a great book,only dated in some questions of particle physics,by that is a book that to day hold all of it original value.
I will review the most interesting chapters (almost all ).
Chapter 2 : Here he make a disgression of the square,cube law.The surface of a body grows as the squre of it size but the volume as the cube of it size,this gives way to a lot of facts :for example as in a small animal the relation surface volume is great and the heat is loosen by the surface this makes that the metabolism (the heat generated by volume unit) of a small animal be much grater that the a big one and by that the hearth beat speed,also if the aging process is related to the metabolism speed one can hope as happen in general (the birds are a exception)that a big animal have a longer life than a small.
This law also put a limit to the hight of a nountain in a planet with a given gravity,also pts a limit to the size of a terrestrial animal as his weight grows as the cube but the resistance of his bones grow as the square (the section of a bone is a surface).
The sun being enormous has a very low ratio surface volume and has a metabolism much lower than a human ,by that it life span is of billion of years
Chapter 5 : Here he explains the no conservation of parity of weak interactions (Beta disintegration),the veak interaction make distinction from it mirror image.
But exist the CPT teorem that says that all interactins are invarian under the three sucessive changes (opposed charge,mirror image,time reversal)
Chapter 6: Explains the double refraction or double image of Island Spate,that descomposes a beam of light randomly polariced in two perpendicular plane polariced (the electromagnetic transversal wave oscillates in a fixed plane) beams of different refraction,giving two images.This allow the construction of polarizators,light reducing devices and measuring the angle of polarization.The light is also polariced when reflected ,for example in the sea.
Chapter 7:Explores the optical activity,the change in the polarization plane by the spatial distribution of the atoms in a molecule.The same compound with a diferent tridimensional spatial atoms distribution (for example mirror image )changes the plane to the left(levo form) or to the right (dextro form),if we mix two forms we obtain a racemic, optically inactive.The action of some medicines depends on spatial distribution of it atoms by that some medicines come in form dextro or levo.
Chapter 8: Explores the greatest mistery of molecular biology,the origen of the chosen chirality by life between two possibles.Strikingly one can die of starvation in a exuberant planet where the life chosen the opposed chirality,because the enzimes work with only a chirality.
chapter 13: Explains the Heisenbergs incertidumbre principle (position ,momentum;energy,time).Using a simple calculation with the principle energy ,time, Asimov make a estimation of the mass of the strong nuclear force interchange particle,the pion of Yukawa.
A massles particle as the photon can have as low energy as we wish and by that living as so long time,as the interchange particle in the electromagnetic interaction is the photon,this interaction has infinite range.
Chapter 14: Touchs the problem of the existence of the muon,another greatest mistery in the standard model.Why there are three generations of the same properties particles except mass? There be more generations? What is the origen of the mass relations? (Here the book is dated as the quantum chromodynamics was not developed in that time ).
Chapters 11 and 12: Explains the extraordinary properties of the water,it anomalous dilatation when freezes that make ice float and allows life in the lakes and oceans when freezes,has also a great latent state change heath and is a polar solvent that seem specially designed for life.
This strange properties,the ability of Carbon element to form complex molecules,the extremely fine tuned energy balance in the triple alfa process in the core of stars to form Carbon and Oxigen fundamentals for life, is a fact used by the inteligent design and fine tuning defenders and the origen of the antropic principle debate.
Chapter 15 : Prime numbers,here Asimov explains the most simple and elegant demostration of a theorem in the histhory of mathematis,the two lines demostration by Euclides of the fundamental fact that there are infinite primes,also other properties of primes ,for example each prime is of the form 6n+1 or 6n-1,when both are primes we have twin primes.Nobody knows if tere exist infinite twin primes,The Twin Primes Conjecture.
Chapters 16 and17 : Explores the independence in a consistent axiom system of the geometric fifth postulate of Euclides
The two opposed negation of this postulate originated two consistent geometries,the hiperbolic and the eliptic,we now have three consistent geometries,the Euclidean or plane,the Hiperbolic and the Eliptic (now the three angles of a triangle sum,180º,less of180º and more of 180º).Now the straight lines are geodesics,for example in the earth surface (a eliptic geometry ) the eodesics are maximun circles ,the ecuator or meridians for example.
Chapter 18: Here Asimov tolds the difficult and deathly search to obtain pure Fluor the most oxidant of all elements,more than the Oxigen,no other element can descompoe a fluor compound ,only the ultraviolet light,by that the CFC are so persistent and not biodegradables.
For me one of the best popular science books,aimed to all sort of readers
He is a great teacher,that explains,in his popular science books,with a simple direct and clear prose full of humoristic touchs,all sort of concepts of physics,chemistry and mathematics in a way that is a pleasure read his books
His popular science books are aimed to people with no or little scientific background.
In this book,i have the spanish version, in 18 chapters Asimov touchs subjects of fundamental physics,chemistry and mathematics.Yet is a book of 1962 is a great book,only dated in some questions of particle physics,by that is a book that to day hold all of it original value.
I will review the most interesting chapters (almost all ).
Chapter 2 : Here he make a disgression of the square,cube law.The surface of a body grows as the squre of it size but the volume as the cube of it size,this gives way to a lot of facts :for example as in a small animal the relation surface volume is great and the heat is loosen by the surface this makes that the metabolism (the heat generated by volume unit) of a small animal be much grater that the a big one and by that the hearth beat speed,also if the aging process is related to the metabolism speed one can hope as happen in general (the birds are a exception)that a big animal have a longer life than a small.
This law also put a limit to the hight of a nountain in a planet with a given gravity,also pts a limit to the size of a terrestrial animal as his weight grows as the cube but the resistance of his bones grow as the square (the section of a bone is a surface).
The sun being enormous has a very low ratio surface volume and has a metabolism much lower than a human ,by that it life span is of billion of years
Chapter 5 : Here he explains the no conservation of parity of weak interactions (Beta disintegration),the veak interaction make distinction from it mirror image.
But exist the CPT teorem that says that all interactins are invarian under the three sucessive changes (opposed charge,mirror image,time reversal)
Chapter 6: Explains the double refraction or double image of Island Spate,that descomposes a beam of light randomly polariced in two perpendicular plane polariced (the electromagnetic transversal wave oscillates in a fixed plane) beams of different refraction,giving two images.This allow the construction of polarizators,light reducing devices and measuring the angle of polarization.The light is also polariced when reflected ,for example in the sea.
Chapter 7:Explores the optical activity,the change in the polarization plane by the spatial distribution of the atoms in a molecule.The same compound with a diferent tridimensional spatial atoms distribution (for example mirror image )changes the plane to the left(levo form) or to the right (dextro form),if we mix two forms we obtain a racemic, optically inactive.The action of some medicines depends on spatial distribution of it atoms by that some medicines come in form dextro or levo.
Chapter 8: Explores the greatest mistery of molecular biology,the origen of the chosen chirality by life between two possibles.Strikingly one can die of starvation in a exuberant planet where the life chosen the opposed chirality,because the enzimes work with only a chirality.
chapter 13: Explains the Heisenbergs incertidumbre principle (position ,momentum;energy,time).Using a simple calculation with the principle energy ,time, Asimov make a estimation of the mass of the strong nuclear force interchange particle,the pion of Yukawa.
A massles particle as the photon can have as low energy as we wish and by that living as so long time,as the interchange particle in the electromagnetic interaction is the photon,this interaction has infinite range.
Chapter 14: Touchs the problem of the existence of the muon,another greatest mistery in the standard model.Why there are three generations of the same properties particles except mass? There be more generations? What is the origen of the mass relations? (Here the book is dated as the quantum chromodynamics was not developed in that time ).
Chapters 11 and 12: Explains the extraordinary properties of the water,it anomalous dilatation when freezes that make ice float and allows life in the lakes and oceans when freezes,has also a great latent state change heath and is a polar solvent that seem specially designed for life.
This strange properties,the ability of Carbon element to form complex molecules,the extremely fine tuned energy balance in the triple alfa process in the core of stars to form Carbon and Oxigen fundamentals for life, is a fact used by the inteligent design and fine tuning defenders and the origen of the antropic principle debate.
Chapter 15 : Prime numbers,here Asimov explains the most simple and elegant demostration of a theorem in the histhory of mathematis,the two lines demostration by Euclides of the fundamental fact that there are infinite primes,also other properties of primes ,for example each prime is of the form 6n+1 or 6n-1,when both are primes we have twin primes.Nobody knows if tere exist infinite twin primes,The Twin Primes Conjecture.
Chapters 16 and17 : Explores the independence in a consistent axiom system of the geometric fifth postulate of Euclides
The two opposed negation of this postulate originated two consistent geometries,the hiperbolic and the eliptic,we now have three consistent geometries,the Euclidean or plane,the Hiperbolic and the Eliptic (now the three angles of a triangle sum,180º,less of180º and more of 180º).Now the straight lines are geodesics,for example in the earth surface (a eliptic geometry ) the eodesics are maximun circles ,the ecuator or meridians for example.
Chapter 18: Here Asimov tolds the difficult and deathly search to obtain pure Fluor the most oxidant of all elements,more than the Oxigen,no other element can descompoe a fluor compound ,only the ultraviolet light,by that the CFC are so persistent and not biodegradables.
For me one of the best popular science books,aimed to all sort of readers
January 27, 2012
Siempre es un placer leer a alguien que te explica todo tan fácil que lo puedes entender. Es un placer leer a Asimov en cualquiera de sus manifestaciones. Te enseña y te entretiene. Me encanta.
January 22, 2009
proves that azimov can make physics interesting--and fuck with your head
June 28, 2019
Para mí, que poseo conocimientos básicos de las llamadas ciencias duras, este conjunto de ensayos fueron una delicia.
March 4, 2024
Uggh. Truthfully I don't know how anyone can read these articles without being some kind of professional scientist or a math wiz or something like that. Yet the author claims he was selling one of these articles each month to The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. But did anyone actually read them? Better yet did they understand them? Just because you read stories about aliens or spaceships or maybe dragons and elves doesn't mean you are going to understand this.
First of all I don't understand what is the point of these articles. They are all very dry. And I actually took notes on these too as I was reading. So I would know what to write on this review. Maybe I am not the intended audience for this but then who is? These were all published in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction so... Surely anyone who reads those should be the target? Right?
Like in article #9 he is going on about prime numbers. But why? I mean what point does a prime number serve? What good does it do to know if a number is a prime or not? I don't get it. And he doesn't say. So I am left confused. I am sure that prime numbers won't help add up my grocery bill at the supermarket or help to know if a sofa will fit into the space I have. So what good is it??
And #10 about Euclid's Fifth was just a bunch of gibberish!
He did say in #2 that he was trying to explain the universe as he sees it. And that by writing these articles he was basically teaching himself about these topics. And that even if the magazine would one day say STOP with the articles he would still write them for himself. That and he suffered insomnia (I have that problem too). The trouble is that many readers do not have the background knowledge that he has. Like I don't get why those prime numbers matter at all. And other articles seem to deal with physics which I certainly don't know about at all.
In #5 he was saying that glass rods would attract or repel. Why would glass in the shape of a rod do that?? Sounds highly suspicious.
And #6 was about if oceans other that water would be possible. He mentions a bunch of stuff in very dry details. Its like reading a dictionary. But he never mentions magma / lava. Surely an ocean of bubbling lava could be possible right? And it hardens into rock. So it has a liquid + solid forms like water. But it's not mentioned. No idea why not..
The only ones I sort of liked was #3 and #4. In #3 he was in a hotel and he was trying to write. And someone was banging on a hole in the wall..so he went out there to ask them how long they are going to be pounding on that hole in the wall. That just struct me as funny so it made me laugh. The chapter was about the Iceland Spar (crystals). I kind of liked #4 too - about the tartaric acid and the wine sludge - but I really don't understand WHY anyone cares about this sludge from wine. Or any other sludge. Why do people bother looking at the itty bitty crystals from the sludge when they dry it? Makes me think of the dry bits left at the bottom of an unwashed glass maybe? If you go wash it then there is no weird sludge... But why does anyone care about it? No idea. Its not practical.
In #8 he mentions slipping on an icy manhole cover. Yes, ice is slippery! But it was in this one where he points out that water is the only one that floats as a solid. All other solids sink when they are in their liquid form...that is a solid hunk of iron will sink if you drop it into a pool of liquid iron. So I guess water is the oddball. But I don't know if reading a long very dry, boring chapter is worth it. Because you just go to any pond or lake in the winter and there is the ice sitting on top of the water! It floats!
So unless you are some astrophysicist you may find this one to be very, very boring. Its a real struggle to get through. Not worth it in my opinion.
These topics are just not interesting. Or not to me anyway.
First of all I don't understand what is the point of these articles. They are all very dry. And I actually took notes on these too as I was reading. So I would know what to write on this review. Maybe I am not the intended audience for this but then who is? These were all published in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction so... Surely anyone who reads those should be the target? Right?
Like in article #9 he is going on about prime numbers. But why? I mean what point does a prime number serve? What good does it do to know if a number is a prime or not? I don't get it. And he doesn't say. So I am left confused. I am sure that prime numbers won't help add up my grocery bill at the supermarket or help to know if a sofa will fit into the space I have. So what good is it??
And #10 about Euclid's Fifth was just a bunch of gibberish!
He did say in #2 that he was trying to explain the universe as he sees it. And that by writing these articles he was basically teaching himself about these topics. And that even if the magazine would one day say STOP with the articles he would still write them for himself. That and he suffered insomnia (I have that problem too). The trouble is that many readers do not have the background knowledge that he has. Like I don't get why those prime numbers matter at all. And other articles seem to deal with physics which I certainly don't know about at all.
In #5 he was saying that glass rods would attract or repel. Why would glass in the shape of a rod do that?? Sounds highly suspicious.
And #6 was about if oceans other that water would be possible. He mentions a bunch of stuff in very dry details. Its like reading a dictionary. But he never mentions magma / lava. Surely an ocean of bubbling lava could be possible right? And it hardens into rock. So it has a liquid + solid forms like water. But it's not mentioned. No idea why not..
The only ones I sort of liked was #3 and #4. In #3 he was in a hotel and he was trying to write. And someone was banging on a hole in the wall..so he went out there to ask them how long they are going to be pounding on that hole in the wall. That just struct me as funny so it made me laugh. The chapter was about the Iceland Spar (crystals). I kind of liked #4 too - about the tartaric acid and the wine sludge - but I really don't understand WHY anyone cares about this sludge from wine. Or any other sludge. Why do people bother looking at the itty bitty crystals from the sludge when they dry it? Makes me think of the dry bits left at the bottom of an unwashed glass maybe? If you go wash it then there is no weird sludge... But why does anyone care about it? No idea. Its not practical.
In #8 he mentions slipping on an icy manhole cover. Yes, ice is slippery! But it was in this one where he points out that water is the only one that floats as a solid. All other solids sink when they are in their liquid form...that is a solid hunk of iron will sink if you drop it into a pool of liquid iron. So I guess water is the oddball. But I don't know if reading a long very dry, boring chapter is worth it. Because you just go to any pond or lake in the winter and there is the ice sitting on top of the water! It floats!
So unless you are some astrophysicist you may find this one to be very, very boring. Its a real struggle to get through. Not worth it in my opinion.
These topics are just not interesting. Or not to me anyway.
January 12, 2025
Libro de juventud que marcó mi deseo de aprender ciencias y descifrar los misterios del mundo que nos rodea.
November 10, 2019
Éste es, asombrosamente el primer libro que leo de Asimov, tengo como unos 15 libros de él. Lo agarré porque necesitaba leer algo rápido, el problema es que no sabía era tan denso. Asimov es un científico. El tema es que simplemente su enfoque, a diferencia de otros que son activistas, ya sea como Sagan que mandó el Voyager con discos de oro con información de la raza humana, o como Dawkins que es militante con la ciencia, Asimov se dedicaba a escribir ficción. Esto con el fin de poder dislumbrar de qué es capaz la raza humana. Es tan asombroso lo fácil que es encontrar videos de entrevistas realizadas a Asimov, y que él hace 40 años atrás describa con exactitud nuestros días en la actualidad.
Como bien indica el título, el libro es un compendio de algunos ensayos sobre ciencia, y cuando digo ciencia, por favor no se lo tomen a la ligera. Sentí que era nuevamente el alumno de ciencias físico-matemáticas que fui hace una década atrás, revisando todas las fórmulas sobre química, física, y aritmética. Cae pesado un poco porque también hay algo de geometría.
Lo increíble de Asimov, es que es la persona que alguna vez quise ser: el tipo es un historiador apasionado. Es difícil encontrar un párrafo de Asimov en donde él no mencione nada de conocimiento histórico; el tipo sabe de datos que normalmente no se encuentran en libros, como anécdotas de todos estos personajes históricos.
No soy nadie para ponerle menos de 5 estrellas a este libro. Y creería que nadie lo es.
Como bien indica el título, el libro es un compendio de algunos ensayos sobre ciencia, y cuando digo ciencia, por favor no se lo tomen a la ligera. Sentí que era nuevamente el alumno de ciencias físico-matemáticas que fui hace una década atrás, revisando todas las fórmulas sobre química, física, y aritmética. Cae pesado un poco porque también hay algo de geometría.
Lo increíble de Asimov, es que es la persona que alguna vez quise ser: el tipo es un historiador apasionado. Es difícil encontrar un párrafo de Asimov en donde él no mencione nada de conocimiento histórico; el tipo sabe de datos que normalmente no se encuentran en libros, como anécdotas de todos estos personajes históricos.
No soy nadie para ponerle menos de 5 estrellas a este libro. Y creería que nadie lo es.
April 14, 2011
Only Asimov could make the most mundane and the most complicated concepts in science so entertaining and understandable. His science fiction is great, but his essays are like sitting down for a drink with one of the most interesting people you could meet. While the topics of the essays in this collection vary greatly, they augment each other so nicely that you can't help but feel like you've caught a thread of the universe. I highly recommend Isaac Asimov's essays, especially if you have little to no interest in science.
August 13, 2020
Este libro me lo regaló mi profesor de física y química en COU, Ricardo Goizueta, y creo que no se lo podré agradecer lo suficiente. Es un conjunto de 17 ensayos escritos por el viejo maestro sobre los más diversos temas, aunque abundan los relacionados con la quiralidad y las definiciones de izquierda y derecha en el cosmos. Un libro impresionante, grandísima introducción a la ciencia, como casi todos los de IA. Obra maestra.
August 23, 2012
One thing I love about Asimov's science writing is that even when he discusses something I know a lot about, like prime numbers, he manages to explain it in a way I've never thought about before. He also manages to relate the gay marriage argument (in 1971!) to CPT symmetry violation in quantum mechanics.
I never know what I'm going to get into in one of these books.
I never know what I'm going to get into in one of these books.
July 15, 2019
Como es tradicional en Isaac Asimov, el título del libro corresponde con el de uno de los ensayos que contiene. En esta ocasión, Asimov nos ofrece 18 ensayos sobre Química y Matemáticas principalmente. Los primeros capítulos tratan cuestiones que he encontrado en múltiples libros de divulgación. Una se refiere al tamaño que tenemos los seres vivientes y si podemos tener uno mayor (Capítulo: Tamaño Justo) o uno menor (Capítulo: Contracción increíble). Seguido, dedica todo un capítulo a los pares e impares (o nones) para introducir un capítulo que discute "la asimetría" que se presenta de forma natural en los campos de la fuerza nuclear débil. Respecto los experimentos para demostrarlo, pero, siguiendo la línea einsteniana, me sorprende lo sofisticados que deben ser, al menos en la época de Asimov (evito caer en anacronismos). Admiro a los hombres que pasaron toda su vida para concluir cosas como "el electrón es zurdo", pero este tipo de logros destacan aún más los logros obtenidos meramente a través del pensamiento.
Los siguientes capítulos se dedican un poco más a la Química de materiales ópticamente activos, destacando la enseñanza en Cristalografía. Intentando no perder el hilo de la lectura, Asimov introduce capítulos que explican la naturaleza química de compuestos acuosos, introduciendo preguntas como "¿por qué no tenemos un mar de petróleo, pero sí de agua?". Los capítulos que siguen son mis favoritos e indagan en la grandeza (de verdad, la grandeza) del principio de incertidumbre. Me hubiese gustado un poco más de explicación matemática sobre los descubrimientos desencadenados por el enunciado del principio, pero se siento satisfecho de dedicar tres capítulos a ello.
Seguido, dejando atrás lo químico y lo cuántico (físico o químico), Asimov presenta (creo que a manera de paréntesis) un capítulo entero sobre números primos. Luego, los ensayos siguientes tratan la matemática de Euclides, y cómo de sus enunciados, se desprenden las geometrías que pueden explicar la forma del universo observable.
El último capítulo (definitivamente es una dedicatoria) muestra cómo la ambición de experimentación es potencialmente peligrosa si se juega con sustancias como el Flúor.
Sin desprestigiar el buen trabajo realizado por Asimov, sus ensayos sobre astronomía siguen siendo el top de su obra.
Los siguientes capítulos se dedican un poco más a la Química de materiales ópticamente activos, destacando la enseñanza en Cristalografía. Intentando no perder el hilo de la lectura, Asimov introduce capítulos que explican la naturaleza química de compuestos acuosos, introduciendo preguntas como "¿por qué no tenemos un mar de petróleo, pero sí de agua?". Los capítulos que siguen son mis favoritos e indagan en la grandeza (de verdad, la grandeza) del principio de incertidumbre. Me hubiese gustado un poco más de explicación matemática sobre los descubrimientos desencadenados por el enunciado del principio, pero se siento satisfecho de dedicar tres capítulos a ello.
Seguido, dejando atrás lo químico y lo cuántico (físico o químico), Asimov presenta (creo que a manera de paréntesis) un capítulo entero sobre números primos. Luego, los ensayos siguientes tratan la matemática de Euclides, y cómo de sus enunciados, se desprenden las geometrías que pueden explicar la forma del universo observable.
El último capítulo (definitivamente es una dedicatoria) muestra cómo la ambición de experimentación es potencialmente peligrosa si se juega con sustancias como el Flúor.
Sin desprestigiar el buen trabajo realizado por Asimov, sus ensayos sobre astronomía siguen siendo el top de su obra.
July 29, 2021
Todo un ejemplo de divulgación científica, El electrón es zurdo y otros ensayos científicos, es una lectura interesante y clarificadora que logra hacer comprender a cualquier profano en la materia de las ciencias, conceptos tan complicados como la paridad, la asimetría o la geometría Eucladiana. Y resulta una obra adictiva y muy práctica.
No hay mucho que decir sobre el autor, Isaac Asimov. Y es que su fama como escritor de ciencia-ficción y divulgador le precede. Y no defrauda. Asimov resulta ser un gran escritor. Con un estilo de escritura claro y sencillo, va desenredando la liosa madeja de la ciencia haciendo parecer fácil lo increíblemente complejo. Para ello cuenta con una prosa dinámica y fácil así como un lenguaje plagado de tecnicismos que acaba explicado de manera directa. Y luego está la estructura. Cada ensayo tiene una forma parecida. Empiezan hablando de cosas banales que le han ido ocurriendo al autor, hasta que enlaza, increíblemente bien, con el tema en cuestión.
Todos los ensayos que aparecen en El electrón es zurdo y otros ensayos científicos, versan sobre temas más o menos conocidos por el público pero dentro del ámbito de la ciencia. Así pues, Asimov nos invita a descubrir como están relacionados la paridad y la asimetría del universo. Y como ambos son los responsables de que toda la vida celular esté regida por la ecología L. También nos embarcamos en porqué los océanos están hechos de agua, en la magia de los números primos, la geometría eucladiana y la no eucladiana y su relación con el universo, los horizontes de la ciencia-ficción o como, a veces descubrir un nuevo elemento puede costarle la vida a varios científicos. Todos estos temas y más están tratados con gran rigor, claridad y un punto personal que hace que leerlos sea muy estimulante, además de instructivo.
En suma, El electrón es zurdo y otros ensayo científicos, es una gran obra divulgativa que gracias a su estilo asequible hace que aprender el conocimiento de diversas áreas tales como la física, química, biología y matemáticas resulte como un juego de niños. Se lo recomiendo a cualquier tipo de público. Por que si ya sabes del tema, te encantará. Y si no has oído nunca hablar de un electrón descubrirás por que el mundo de las ciencias tiene tantos adeptos entre sus filas.
No hay mucho que decir sobre el autor, Isaac Asimov. Y es que su fama como escritor de ciencia-ficción y divulgador le precede. Y no defrauda. Asimov resulta ser un gran escritor. Con un estilo de escritura claro y sencillo, va desenredando la liosa madeja de la ciencia haciendo parecer fácil lo increíblemente complejo. Para ello cuenta con una prosa dinámica y fácil así como un lenguaje plagado de tecnicismos que acaba explicado de manera directa. Y luego está la estructura. Cada ensayo tiene una forma parecida. Empiezan hablando de cosas banales que le han ido ocurriendo al autor, hasta que enlaza, increíblemente bien, con el tema en cuestión.
Todos los ensayos que aparecen en El electrón es zurdo y otros ensayos científicos, versan sobre temas más o menos conocidos por el público pero dentro del ámbito de la ciencia. Así pues, Asimov nos invita a descubrir como están relacionados la paridad y la asimetría del universo. Y como ambos son los responsables de que toda la vida celular esté regida por la ecología L. También nos embarcamos en porqué los océanos están hechos de agua, en la magia de los números primos, la geometría eucladiana y la no eucladiana y su relación con el universo, los horizontes de la ciencia-ficción o como, a veces descubrir un nuevo elemento puede costarle la vida a varios científicos. Todos estos temas y más están tratados con gran rigor, claridad y un punto personal que hace que leerlos sea muy estimulante, además de instructivo.
En suma, El electrón es zurdo y otros ensayo científicos, es una gran obra divulgativa que gracias a su estilo asequible hace que aprender el conocimiento de diversas áreas tales como la física, química, biología y matemáticas resulte como un juego de niños. Se lo recomiendo a cualquier tipo de público. Por que si ya sabes del tema, te encantará. Y si no has oído nunca hablar de un electrón descubrirás por que el mundo de las ciencias tiene tantos adeptos entre sus filas.
February 16, 2022
Yeesh. This one really ran the gamut for me. I went from my eyes crossing during some of the chemistry and math essays, to enjoying the platypus essay, to being really entertained at the Shakespeare essay, to being a bit shocked at the essays on population control. I'm pretty sure that last essay would have been a lot more shocking when it came out as he is basically advocating that we decrease the birth rate by getting rid of social pressure relating to having children, and also regarding homosexuality, pr0n, masturbation, etc. Frankly I was more shocked at some of his "scientific curiosity" pondering on why we should or shouldn't kill babies or the elderly to reduce the population. Cripes, Mr. Asimov....
I really like his science fiction and some of his nonfiction stuff but this didn't make me want to run out and get more volumes of essays.
I really like his science fiction and some of his nonfiction stuff but this didn't make me want to run out and get more volumes of essays.
January 9, 2021
The Left Hand of the Electron by Isaac Asimov
I was lucky enough to get a copy of this book from the Chicago Public Library.
The book comprises 17 essays on such topics as:
The problem of left and right
The problem of the oceans
The problem of numbers and lines
The problem of the platypus
The problem of history
The problem of population
In simple and somewhat funny language the essays are easy to read. I was most intrigued by the last section - population control. Asimov calls overpopulation the single biggest threat to our existence and considers ways to control the population. From mandatory sterilization to contraceptive forms. It even justifies homosexualism as a great form of contraception, which for the '70s was quite radical.
A fun easy read.
I was lucky enough to get a copy of this book from the Chicago Public Library.
The book comprises 17 essays on such topics as:
The problem of left and right
The problem of the oceans
The problem of numbers and lines
The problem of the platypus
The problem of history
The problem of population
In simple and somewhat funny language the essays are easy to read. I was most intrigued by the last section - population control. Asimov calls overpopulation the single biggest threat to our existence and considers ways to control the population. From mandatory sterilization to contraceptive forms. It even justifies homosexualism as a great form of contraception, which for the '70s was quite radical.
A fun easy read.
June 9, 2022
A collection of essays reprinted from “The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction” that spotlights Asimov’s usual excellent writing. He doesn’t hit a home run with every essay, but there are only a few strikes in this collection.
My favorites are 1) his discussion of the asymmetry of life and the asymmetry of the conservation laws of microscopic physics, 2) the very best non technical explanation that I have ever read that describes non Euclidean geometry, and 3) his insistence on reducing the human population on Earth and his suggestions for how to go about it. Below is his prescient quote from 1970 (!).
“... the first order of business is a halt to the population increase on Earth. Without such a halt right away, none of mankind’s problems can be solved under any conditions; none!”
My favorites are 1) his discussion of the asymmetry of life and the asymmetry of the conservation laws of microscopic physics, 2) the very best non technical explanation that I have ever read that describes non Euclidean geometry, and 3) his insistence on reducing the human population on Earth and his suggestions for how to go about it. Below is his prescient quote from 1970 (!).
“... the first order of business is a halt to the population increase on Earth. Without such a halt right away, none of mankind’s problems can be solved under any conditions; none!”
May 20, 2023
Another good collection of Science Fact writings by the father of Science Fiction.
These articles are grouped by topic, which range from Prime Numbers to Birth Control.
The two most interesting to me were the chemistry of water (the density of ice vs water makes our whole world survive) and the problem of overpopulation which, while a little outdated, makes me more determined than ever in my current opinions on birth and birth control.
These articles are grouped by topic, which range from Prime Numbers to Birth Control.
The two most interesting to me were the chemistry of water (the density of ice vs water makes our whole world survive) and the problem of overpopulation which, while a little outdated, makes me more determined than ever in my current opinions on birth and birth control.
September 23, 2025
Non-fiction - seventeen columns written by the good Dr. Asimov in the 1970's. Parity, prime numbers, Shakespeare (?), water and the population explosion. This last one is interesting because he is concerned that the population at that time was reaching 1 billion. We are now at 8 billion.
No Pharmacy references.
Canadian references - Canadian balsam used to make prisms; mention of the French Canadian birth rate.
No Pharmacy references.
Canadian references - Canadian balsam used to make prisms; mention of the French Canadian birth rate.
September 4, 2018
I normally like Asimov's collections of essays, but this one was a bit dry, and the last essay was obnoxious. I was okay with it until he started talking about different options for population control and got into killing babies and the elderly.
January 16, 2024
Todos los capítulos son súper interesantes y el estilo de escritura de Asimov te hace sentir en una charla con un amigo, haciendo que los temas sean fáciles de digerir. Sin embargo hay capítulos en los que no se llega a nada en concreto.
July 19, 2023
possibly fav book of all time?
January 15, 2025
Es muy interesante, te explica cuestiones científicas interesantes y amenas
October 2, 2016
Typical non-fiction Asimov. Very good articles, and he caps it off with the scare of the Population Boom. Articles: "Odds and Evens" "The Left Hand of the Electron" "Seeing Double" "The The 3D Molecule" "The Asymmetry of Life" "The Thalassogens" "Hot Water" "Cold Water" "Prime Quality" "Euclid's Fifth" "The Plane Truth" "Holes in the Head" "The Eureka Pheonomenon" "Pompey and Circumstance" "Bill and I" "Stop!" "...But How?"
July 15, 2007
Please see my review of X Stands for Unknown ([http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/98...]) for general comments on Isaac Asimov's science essays.
The great strength of this collection of essays, from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1970 through February 1972, is the opening series of five essays culminating in a hypothesis for why living organisms synthesize and use almost exclusively the L-isomers of amino acids. Asimov begins with a survey of laws of "parity" in physics, in "Odds and Evens." Next, in the eponymous article, he describes an asymmetry in the electron. In an apparent tangent, he then talks about the problem of double refraction, which long tormented physicists ("Seeing Double"). But he ties this problem in with asymmetry in one of his all-time great short essays, "The 3-D Molecule." Here, he recounts Louis Pasteur's greatest discovery outside of medicine. (Did you know that Pasteur was trained as a biochemist, and not as a physician?) Finally, Asimov applies the principle of three-dimensional asymmetry to the origin of life ("The Asymmetry of Life").
Another notable series of essays, three in number, offers due respect to water—an essential prerequisite for Earth life, and perhaps for any life anywhere. Asimov begins with a survey of possible ocean-forming compounds ("The Thalassogens"), and continues with the unique properties of water that are favorable to life ("Hot Water", "Cold Water").
Three essays on mathematics deal with prime numbers ("Prime Quality"), Euclid's fifth axiom (the "parallel postulate," "Euclid's Fifth"; he treats this topic with clearer explanation elsewhere), and the discovery of non-Euclidean geometries by way of attempting to prove the fifth axiom ("The Plane Truth").
The collection finishes off with two eerily prescient articles on population control. "Stop!", as you might expect, calls for immediate population control and examines methods by which it may be achived, voluntary of otherwise. A wonderfully perceptive bit of commentary, "...But How?" presents a biological explanation for Biblical taboos on homosexuality and other sexual practices still considered immoral with no justification.
On the subject of history, "Pompey and Circumstance," another of my all-time favorite Asimov essays, traces the near-ballistic rise and fall of a Roman general, with emphasis on the exact moment of apogee.
In other, "also-ran" essays, Dr. Asimov writes about the earliest mammals (by way of the "therapsid" reptiles), the "Eureka!" phenomenon and Shakespeare.
The great strength of this collection of essays, from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1970 through February 1972, is the opening series of five essays culminating in a hypothesis for why living organisms synthesize and use almost exclusively the L-isomers of amino acids. Asimov begins with a survey of laws of "parity" in physics, in "Odds and Evens." Next, in the eponymous article, he describes an asymmetry in the electron. In an apparent tangent, he then talks about the problem of double refraction, which long tormented physicists ("Seeing Double"). But he ties this problem in with asymmetry in one of his all-time great short essays, "The 3-D Molecule." Here, he recounts Louis Pasteur's greatest discovery outside of medicine. (Did you know that Pasteur was trained as a biochemist, and not as a physician?) Finally, Asimov applies the principle of three-dimensional asymmetry to the origin of life ("The Asymmetry of Life").
Another notable series of essays, three in number, offers due respect to water—an essential prerequisite for Earth life, and perhaps for any life anywhere. Asimov begins with a survey of possible ocean-forming compounds ("The Thalassogens"), and continues with the unique properties of water that are favorable to life ("Hot Water", "Cold Water").
Three essays on mathematics deal with prime numbers ("Prime Quality"), Euclid's fifth axiom (the "parallel postulate," "Euclid's Fifth"; he treats this topic with clearer explanation elsewhere), and the discovery of non-Euclidean geometries by way of attempting to prove the fifth axiom ("The Plane Truth").
The collection finishes off with two eerily prescient articles on population control. "Stop!", as you might expect, calls for immediate population control and examines methods by which it may be achived, voluntary of otherwise. A wonderfully perceptive bit of commentary, "...But How?" presents a biological explanation for Biblical taboos on homosexuality and other sexual practices still considered immoral with no justification.
On the subject of history, "Pompey and Circumstance," another of my all-time favorite Asimov essays, traces the near-ballistic rise and fall of a Roman general, with emphasis on the exact moment of apogee.
In other, "also-ran" essays, Dr. Asimov writes about the earliest mammals (by way of the "therapsid" reptiles), the "Eureka!" phenomenon and Shakespeare.
May 11, 2016
For those who know and love Asimov the sci-fi writer of The Foundation Trilogy, or I, Robot - and the films which they spawned, there's another Asimov waiting for you. Joining the entirely cogent and fascinating Wellsprings of Life and his prescient conclusion of the development of The Genetic Code, is The Left Hand of the Electron. In this series of related essays Asimov explores the underlying concept of chirality, or the patterns of mirror-imaging and synchronicity in various aspects of the natural world. I can't pretend to have understood everything, but he makes it clear enough to come away with the importance of the subject, and almost a duty to question, question, question.
December 31, 2015
A collection of essays on various scientific subjects. Dr. Asimov was a chemist, I believe, and the first half of this book is devoted to chemical issues. I confess, chemistry is my most hated science. I stumbled through the pages very slowly, thinking this would probably be a two-star book (worthy but dull) and then chemistry ended and he started writing about maths and biology and history, all of which I find infinitely more tolerable than messing around with the structure of molecules. The maths section was the most enjoyable... it hauled the whole thing up a star.
July 12, 2014
Como siempre un placer leerlo al doctor Asimov. En este caso en particular los ensayos tienen mucho que ver con propiedades atomicas y comportamientos de ciertos compuestos frente a distintas experiencias. Ademas hay varios ensayos sobre el agua y geometria Euclidiana. Como siempre estan los comentarios al pie de pagina que acotan datos anecdoticos o explicaciones sobre el tema del que esta hablando.
November 1, 2014
This is my first Isaac Asimov book, I don't know what's taken me so long. A collection of previously printed essays from the 1970's about science, history, mathematics, religion, politics and observations and anecdotes about life. I felt like I spent the last couple weeks with him, I'll definitely be reading more. My favorite was the Eureka!/Archimedes chapter about how we achieve breakthroughs.
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