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Views From a Height: A Brilliant Overview of the Exciting Realms of Science
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224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1963
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138 people want to read
About the author
Isaac Asimov
4,340 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 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 28, 2017
I was a bit worried View from a Height would be woefully outdated, but only noticed a handful of definite mistakes in my reading. There's probably a few more that I didn't notice—a properly annotated edition would be neat.
On the whole, though, Asimov stays sufficiently general that minor inaccuracies don't compromise the book's value. His purpose was to survey science—to take in the view from a height—and on that front he succeeds. I knew a good deal about these topics, and learned a great deal more. Whether View from a Height would be informative without a science background, I can't say, but I would strongly recommend it to those who do.
On the whole, though, Asimov stays sufficiently general that minor inaccuracies don't compromise the book's value. His purpose was to survey science—to take in the view from a height—and on that front he succeeds. I knew a good deal about these topics, and learned a great deal more. Whether View from a Height would be informative without a science background, I can't say, but I would strongly recommend it to those who do.
June 13, 2018
This book was so good I bought it twice! Not really. I had to buy a second copy because my dog chewed up my first and I was only 4 or 5 essays from finishing. Of the 17 essays, I marked 6 as being favorites. Of those favorites, The Height of Up was probably my favorite of Asimov's essays I've read which as of the time of finishing this book is 68. For being written in the early 60's it's remarkably relevant and clear as are all of Asimov's writings.
October 18, 2015
The author answered what I usually ask some questions in the book about biology ,physics,astronomy . I'm worthy reading it .
I always discover what I ask some scientific questions for a long time in his science essays.
and then it is full of interesting and intriguing science topics in science history.
I wonder it appears currently like him!
I always discover what I ask some scientific questions for a long time in his science essays.
and then it is full of interesting and intriguing science topics in science history.
I wonder it appears currently like him!
August 22, 2018
The second collection of his S&SF essays. He still has not quite found his touch. But magnificent, of course.
May 25, 2017
Vaatamata sellele, et raamat on üle poole sajandi vana (ning teaduse arengut arvestades võib see tunduda paraja igavikuna), on tegu igati väärt lugemisega.
Asimov ei keskendu mitte niivõrd faktidele, vaid tõlgendustele ja fantaseerimisele. Ning kuigi tõesti lähedalt vaadates on meie teadmised maailmast oluliselt suurenenud (raamatu ilmumise ajaks ei olnud inimene veel Kuulegi jõudnud), on suures pildis (ehk kõrgelt vaadates) enamus ju endiselt sama.
Mitmed mõttekäigud ning ideed on aktuaalsed tänapäevalgi.
Pluss, tegu on Asimoviga, mis minu jaoks on pea alati üsna nauditav lugemine.
Asimov ei keskendu mitte niivõrd faktidele, vaid tõlgendustele ja fantaseerimisele. Ning kuigi tõesti lähedalt vaadates on meie teadmised maailmast oluliselt suurenenud (raamatu ilmumise ajaks ei olnud inimene veel Kuulegi jõudnud), on suures pildis (ehk kõrgelt vaadates) enamus ju endiselt sama.
Mitmed mõttekäigud ning ideed on aktuaalsed tänapäevalgi.
Pluss, tegu on Asimoviga, mis minu jaoks on pea alati üsna nauditav lugemine.
August 15, 2024
I was hoping for something like current day popular science i.e. Mukherjee, and some of this got close. Lots of math out to the quintillionth decimal. Lots of history. Each essay feels like it might have been an initial lecture to a class of his at Boston U. Lots of Asimov fans still left out there. This one is currently out of print, not in my local library system, but Thriftbooks to the rescue via AMZN. Math is truly the 'language' of science and Asimov doesn't hold back on that score. OBTW pg 165 of this edition Hong Yee Chiu. Supernova. Google him. This was initially published 1963. Hong Yee Chiu goes on to 30+ year career at NASA - with distinction.
May 27, 2017
Very nice, friendly essays. Nicely dated to encourage
you to look things up for yourself ("Is that still true?").
you to look things up for yourself ("Is that still true?").
December 1, 2017
Didn’t understand most all of the math bits but enjoyed this a lot anyways. Also I found a factual error that was wrong when the book was written in 1963 so I feel p good about that.
December 9, 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.
Although the Introduction fails to mention it, I'm pretty sure that this compendium of 17 science essays was drawn from Asimov's monthly contributions to The Magazine and Science Fiction during the early 1960s. (In fact, it is the second such collection.) They focus on three general areas of science: four on biology, three on chemistry, and five each on physics and astronomy.
Especially strong essays in this collection include two of the three on chemistry: "The Weighting Game," an explanation of atomic weights and why we adopted the current carbon-12 = 12.0 standard; and "The Evens Have It," a description of the huge parity bias in the number of protons and neutrons in stable nuclei (alas, with no explanation for this phenomenon, although one probably existed even in 1960). Also very enjoyable is "Hot Stuff," in which Asimov speculates on the role of neutrino production in the death of very large stars (whether this hypothesis is still considered accurate, I don't know for sure).
Other works in the collection include three on cells as the basic unit of life; one discussing possible systems of complex molecules (and, therefore, life) not based on carbon, hydrogen and oxygen; one on the discovery and uses of helium; one on echolocation; one on the infinitesimal scale of time at the atomic level; two on entropy; and one each on motion and temperature, the nature of the Sun's core, the chemical composition of the Earth, the Lagrange points of a two-body orbital system, the relative quantities of atmosphere surrounding the planets of the solar system, and why asteroids should be far more habitable than the Moon, in the long term.
Although the Introduction fails to mention it, I'm pretty sure that this compendium of 17 science essays was drawn from Asimov's monthly contributions to The Magazine and Science Fiction during the early 1960s. (In fact, it is the second such collection.) They focus on three general areas of science: four on biology, three on chemistry, and five each on physics and astronomy.
Especially strong essays in this collection include two of the three on chemistry: "The Weighting Game," an explanation of atomic weights and why we adopted the current carbon-12 = 12.0 standard; and "The Evens Have It," a description of the huge parity bias in the number of protons and neutrons in stable nuclei (alas, with no explanation for this phenomenon, although one probably existed even in 1960). Also very enjoyable is "Hot Stuff," in which Asimov speculates on the role of neutrino production in the death of very large stars (whether this hypothesis is still considered accurate, I don't know for sure).
Other works in the collection include three on cells as the basic unit of life; one discussing possible systems of complex molecules (and, therefore, life) not based on carbon, hydrogen and oxygen; one on the discovery and uses of helium; one on echolocation; one on the infinitesimal scale of time at the atomic level; two on entropy; and one each on motion and temperature, the nature of the Sun's core, the chemical composition of the Earth, the Lagrange points of a two-body orbital system, the relative quantities of atmosphere surrounding the planets of the solar system, and why asteroids should be far more habitable than the Moon, in the long term.
June 23, 2013
Can't say how many times I actually read this but I still gain insight from these essays, no matter how dated they are (1963).
September 29, 2015
Сборник собран из публикаций Азимова-колумниста - неожиданные факты и общеизвестные вещи под новым углом из всех областей современной автору науки - читается с неослабевающим интересом.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews