Let’s Talk About Kelvin, by Marcus Chown
The world we live in is there but not there. It is both visible and highly complex – and every step is onto matter which may not actually be there after all…
This is the intellectual mind-boggle that Let’s Talk About Kelvin discusses and investigates. And in Marcus Chown’s expertly well-written world, it’s a voyage of discovery that is both alarming and breathtaking.
I have to be honest, I don’t understand people who don’t like science. I always wonder how this can be true, and if it’s true, how this came to be. I have always found science to be the underpinning of everything I know, so when someone tells me that science is dull I feel like it’s a personal insult. I almost want to break down in tears on the spot.
Fortunately Marc Chown’s book is written with these kind of people in mind. What it does is take examples of everyday things we all see happen everyday – lights go on, the sun go down – and make them unbelievable and mesmerising. Really, it’s a book that every single person on this planet should read, regardless of their scientific or religious persuasion.
Even people who hate complex numerical puzzles and equations will find something to fascinate them and get their teeth into
Another thing which Marcus Chown does in this book – and with the kind of natural ease that is absolutely incredible considering the subject – is make the seemingly impossible-to-understand realms of quantum physics and the like accessible to people who don’t have a clue about the most basic things in science. I know this to be true because on the way into town just last week I got into a scientific conversation with a man who was a cabbie but said he used to work for Red Diesel Scotland .
“What do you do for work then, mate?” he asked me.
“Science stuff,” I said.
“Really?”
I said really.
“I read that about Kelvin book. Interesting stuff. Not as interesting as working with red diesel, but still, some good stuff in it.” I’d like to say this was the only time he’d talked about this, but…
“Indeed,” I said, and smiled widely.
Lastly, the best thing about the book is undoubtedly its amazingly down-to-earth nature. Even people who hate complex numerical puzzles and equations will find something to fascinate them and get their teeth into here. Which for me makes Marcus Chown’s novel a worthy addition to a genre that isn’t exactly liked too much by the main-stream. Now that’s not something I say or write every day, I can assure you.
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