Boltzmann's Tomb: Travels in Search of Science

by Bill Green

A selection of the Scientific American book club

Recommended by MSNBC, Los Angeles Times, & American Association for the Advancement of Science’s SB&F magazine

“This wonderful scientific memoir captures the romance and beauty of research in precise poetic prose that is as gorgeous and evocative as anything written by Rilke, painted by Seurat, or played by Casals.” —Mary Doria Russell, author of Doc and The Sparrow

“A radiant love letter to science from a scientist with a poet’s soul . . . Green is an exquisite writer, and his fierce focus and mastery of style are reminiscent of the biologist and essayist Lewis Thomas.” — Kirkus Reviews

In Boltzmann’s Tomb, Bill Green interweaves the story of his own lifelong evolution as a scientist, and his work in the Antarctic, with a travelogue that is a personal and universal history of science. Like Richard Holmes’ The Age of Wonder—this book serves as a marvelous introduction to the great figures of science. Along with lyrical meditations on the tragic life of Galileo, the wildly eccentric Tycho Brahe, and the visionary Sir Isaac Newton, Green’s ruminations return throughout to the lesser-known figure of Ludwig Boltzmann. Using Boltzmann’s theories of randomness and entropy as a larger metaphor for the unpredictable paths that our lives take, Green shows us that science, like art, is a lived adventure.

Bill Green is a geochemist and professor emeritus at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He is also the author of Water, Ice & Stone: Science and Memory on the Antarctic Lakes which received the American Museum of Natural History’s John Burroughs Award for Nature Writing, was a finalist for the PEN/Martha Albrand Award, and was excerpted in The Ends of the Earth: An Anthology of the Finest Writing on the Arctic and the Antarctic, edited by Elizabeth Kolbert.

Genres: Science, History, Nonfiction, History Of Science, Biography, Travel

208 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2011

Reviews

[Leonid Yabloko · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was looking for scientific drama in all its glorious details. What I found was a well-told and beutifully written personal account of scientific jorney with geographic notes, rother romantic and at times captivating but somewhat lacking a deeper insight into the true nature of scientific enqiery. Take the story of Boltzmann who was at the edge of madness or ,perhaps, over it - while at the center of famous Viena Circle where the fate of Science was on the table - this subject call for more then traveling notes. Nevertheless ,I am thankful to the author for the time wellspent and many new facts learned and for his genuine love of the subject

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not realize the extent to which this was an autobiography. I expected a book more like "Age of Wonder". Nonetheless, it was enjoyable to read about the scientists and the author's interest in the men and women behind those equations and laws you learn in science class.

[Margaret · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I sometimes see glimmers of the "poetry" suggested by the book blurb, this book is actually a disjointed amalgam of personal memoir and homage to titans of science who paved the way. While I appreciate each of these pursuits in appropriate context, they simply did not come together for me here. This book also sorely needed a better editor. There were misspellings and other typos galore. I also find it annoying when an author refers to a person as "she" when they have never introduced them to us. This happens more than once. I think 2 stars is a little generous, but I did enjoy the early chapters about his undergraduate years and work in Antarctica.

[Greyson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bill Green is careful to present to the reader with what this book "is" among the first few pages, because it isn't much of anything specific -- there are elements of memoir, history of science, philosophical asides, geoscience, and chemistry comingled within, without ever delving too deeply into any specific topic.

Loosely, Green takes us to various locales and ponders the science that's taken place there (e.g Cambridge --> Newton, Florence --> Galileo) while interspersing a number of non-sequitor literary allusions. So, when he's referencing his work on Lake Vanda and it's mineral composition, he drops mention of the Pequod. Why? I don't know.

Not to be harsh (as I adore Green's Water, Ice, and Stone) but this never comes together. I think the author himself would admit as much, since he immediately uses the Acknowledgements to thank his editor Erika Goldman for helping him generate this book from "essentially a collection of notes".

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected a popular science book with some interesting anecdotes about history of science and about scientists. This book is not that. It has some science aspects but it's mostly a personal story told by a retired scientist about his own adventures. Reads like a memoir by a grandpa to grandchildren, things he wantto be remembered by. Not bad if you're into that sort of thing. I was not, so just 3 stars.

[Wombat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Popular science at its best. Green casts a new light on historic figures (in addition to Boltzmann) who fall within his sphere of interest. Drawing together modern experience and older luminaries provides valuable insights into the continuity of the search for knowledge.

[Lauren Little · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the most organized book (almost reminded me of Kurt Vonnegut, except this is non-fiction). Still had some interesting points about how random life is, etc.

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book about science and travel discusses giants in science: mainly European.

[Sylvia Biondich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written. Not just a book for scientists, everyone will find value in this poetic story of geochemistry!

[Midge Bork · Rating 2 out of 5]

An ovewview of paradigm shifts in the hard sciences. More the author's personal odyssey through the physical sciences. Presupposes I remember more from science classes than I do. Very disjointed.