Review When we look to the “anomalies” that science can?t explain, we often discover where science is about to go. Here are a few of the anomalies that Michael Brooks investigates in 13 Things That Don?t Make Sense: Homeopathic remedies seem to have biological effects that cannot be explained by chemistry Gases have been detected on Mars that could only have come from carbon-based life forms Cold fusion, theoretically impossible and discredited in the 1980s, seems to wo…
Buy 13 Things that Don’t Make Sense: The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of Our Time at Amazon
Related Products:
Related posts:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant read
This book is excellent. It covers physics, mathematics, chemistry and biology in a way that is easy to understand whilst providing the reader with lots of information.
“I believe that knowledge is fractal in nature. No matter how much we learn, what remains how seemingly small is infinitely complex.”
Isaac Asimov
In detailing 13 mysteries at the edge of modern science Michael Brooks expertly lays bare fertile domains for scientific progress. But much more than that, referencing history and historical shifts in perspective that accompanied scientific advance (as for example, when the church attempted to suppress the writings of Galileo and was ultimately unsuccessful in doing so) Brooks also suggests that shifts in perspective may be necessary for us to gain the advance we seek.
But enough about generalities…let’s take glimpse at the mysteries surveyed by Brooks:
1) The search for the missing mass in the universe: Today’s physicists believe they can only fully explain four percent of what constitutes the universe. The remaining 96 percent has been supposedly divided into dark matter and dark energy owing to qualities about some of it that seem to behave more like matter and others that seem to behave more like energy. However, another proposal is that our understanding of gravity itself is at fault and just as Einstein had to tweek Isaac Newton’s concepts of gravity in relation to light we may also have to tweek them in relation to supposedly empty space…which relates to the next mystery:
2) The Pioneer anomaly: In the early 1970s the US sent out two Pioneer probes that are now both past Pluto. Yet amazingly both of them are off course and by the same degree than would be predicted under traditional notions of gravitational pull. Have our probes journeyed far enough to make contact with that missing universe aluded to in the first mystery? The answer to that question is related to our next mystery:
3) Varying Constants: The set strength of the various fundamental forces of nature may not be constant. For those whose appetite is whetted by this chapter, please read Oxford University Prof. John Barrow’s book entitled simply “Constants of the Universe.” In a rough way, this mystery relates to the next one:
4) Whether cold fusion is possible: Thanks to Einstein’s famous E = MC2 huge amounts of energy can be produced by either nuclear fission (the division of nuclear particles) or alternatively fusion (the unification of certain nuclear particles). For those familiar with US A bomb and H bomb testing videos and Godzilla movies, this process is usually a very dramatic one. If cold fusion were possible it would bode significantly against global energy concerns. And while we still don’t know for sure if it can be done, we do know that the US Navy is convinced enough to massively fund research in this area. From this mystery, we leap to our next one:
5) How did life originate: Wisely Brooks peppers this part of his book heavily with quotations from both Erwin Schroedinger whose 1944 essay of the same name is still in print and also Adelaide U prof Paul Davies fantastic book The Fifth Miracle. While personally, I believe life will ultimately be found to a fairly common emergent property on certain types of planets and moons, it’s still interesting reading to see just how far current research has NOT come. This brings us to our next mystery:
6) Did Viking find evidence of life on Mars: On July 20 1976 the Viking lander did just that on Mars. In four then cutting edge tests (the fifth one failed to work properly) Viking’s magic eight ball said: Probably not. But was that the final word? Itself probably not. Which brings us to the next mystery: did we alredy recieve an extra terrestrial signal?
As can be seen, the issues (and the ones listed were just a sampling are fascinating reading for both the questions they answer and the others they beckon us…their inheritors…to answer.
1.0 out of 5 stars
The further I got into it, the worse it was
I got it and started listening to it with all the sympathy in the world.
It’s such a mishmash of true mysteries and belligerent cranks-are-rightism that it’s…
I was very disappointed. The first chapter on dark matter and dark energy was indeed a baffling mystery of science. However, many of the 13 things were not so baffling or in a couple of cases not even serious phenomenon.
There is a Nobel Prize waiting for the person who figures out cold fusion, but until someone can actually reproduce the experiments there is no “thing” to be baffled by. Occam’s razor does not suggest an alien transmission is the best explanation for SETI’s “Wow” signal. The “Wow” signal was a onetime event. It is scientific frustration that we don’t have more data from the event, but it isn’t one of the most baffling mysteries in science.
The situation gets even worse when the author moves on to free will and homeopathy. I was hoping for a book about the frontiers of science. This was not it. Failing to prove negatives does not constitute scientific mystery.
This book bursts with enthusiasm – that with which the author wrote it. And that enthusiasm can be very contagious for any of its readers. In 13 spellbinding chapters the author presents concise overviews of 13 topics in modern-day science that seem to defy scientific explanation. These topics include dark matter/energy in the universe, varying constants, cold fusion (still alive in some laboratories), the placebo effect and homeopathy to name just a few. In each case, scientists specializing in the field in question have been interviewed and their work discussed in sufficient detail for the reader to get a good grasp of what is involved. This book contains very good examples of the scientific method at work. The writing style is animated, clear, friendly and quite engaging. Although the book is also quite accessible to anyone, it will likely appeal the most to science buffs.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Engaging take on science with a physics bent
The strength of this book, as noted by other reviews, is the general spin on science as an endeavor driven by perpetual inquiry and mystery, rather than by certainty.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Overpriced for Kindle
WTF with all these new, overpriced, Kindle downloads? I thought $9.99 was excessive, but at $14 and up my Kindle will soon be gathering dust in a closet or up for sale on ebay…
5.0 out of 5 stars
13 things that don’t make sense
great book for anyone with an interest in science. Written in a way that anyone can understand.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Mildly Amusing
I found that a few of the topics of this book were very interesting. I found that the chapters on space were the most interesting and readable.
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Incedible is Here
Wonderful book! Amazing! So many things that defy scientific explanation. Be sure to look up unfamiliar words in the dictionary. It’s lively reading.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fun
a fun read from the get go. Not to dumbed down but not to complicated to hurt your brain while reading it. My co workers are taking dibs on it when I am finished.
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Wonder of What We Don’t Yet Understand
As a science teacher for many years, one of the challenges I face is communicating to students (and, indeed, to many of my adult friends) the ways of thinking that make science…
5.0 out of 5 stars
EXCELLENT
Interesting and compelling. Well written. Good narration/speaker. “Strange science” at its “makes one think”-best.