God's Equation by Amir Aczel

Amir Aczel wrote God’s Equation following the 1998 announcement of studies that indicated that we live in an open universe that will continue expanding without end. This is in contrast to theories that the universe might be closed, with gravity eventually pulling everything back in to a great collapse, or stable, with the universe continuing to expand at an ever slower rate. He attempts to show for a lay audience how these discoveries were built on the work of Albert Einstein and complex forms of geometry.

It is complex. Aczel does not dive too deep into the math. Most of his intended audience wouldn’t understand it—it is beyond any math I’ve mastered. It is rooted in Einstein’s general theory of relativity and his field equation, which describes it mathematically. Many people are familiar with E=mc². It is simple and it is fairly easy to understand what it is describing. The field equation may look fairly simple when written out, but behind it is very complex math that has complex ramifications.

I think a lay person could read this book and have no better understanding of the physics and math of our expanding universe than he did before. I’m not sure that understanding complex physics is the great value of the book anyway.

To me, the value of the book is the way it shows how science works. Aczel demythologizes the process, especially in relation to Einstein, without devaluing it or the accomplishments of leading scientists. For instance, the myth of Einstein is that he came up with the theory of relativity in an instant due to his extraordinary genius and it instantly revolutionized science.

The reality is that, even though Einstein was way ahead of his contemporaries, it took him years of effort and false starts to develop general relativity. He had help and input from other physicists and mathematicians. His work was met with skepticism. It took many years for Einstein and others to flesh out the ramifications of his theory, and for astronomers and other experimental scientist to confirm them.

Another bit of demythologizing is that Einstein wasn’t good at math. He simply wasn’t interested in math for its own sake, so he didn’t put in the effort as a student except to the degree he found it useful. Though Einstein came up with ideas with imagination that did not always depend on math, the fleshing out of his theories into sound physics required a lot of math. He applied himself diligently to mastering it, and it was quite advanced.

A physicist will seek more technical books on the subject of cosmology. Arguably a book that is nearly 20 year old may be a bit dated, too. However, I think it is still interesting history and how our understanding of the world is developed over time with imagination, diligence, debate, testing and the effort to many people.

Amir Aczel also wrote:

Chance

Descarte’s Secret Notebook

Why Science Does Not Disprove God

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

Copernicus’ Secret by Jack Repcheck

Einstein’s Clocks, Poincare’s Maps: Empires of Time by Peter Galison 

The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan

Planck by Brandon R. Brown

The Powerhouse by Steve Levine

Miss Leavitt's Stars by George Johnson

Aczel, Amir D. God’s Equation: Einstein, Relativity, and the Expanding Universe. New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 1999.

The Computers of Star Trek by Lois Gresh & Robert Weinberg

Star Trek fans, I’m one of them, have praised the show for the way it has anticipated technology. It used to be quite the thing to compare a flip phone to the Trek communicator.

However, have you ever watched a rerun of the show and seen something that now seems quaint, even ridiculous, especially when it comes to computers? Back in 1999, Lois Gresh and Robert Weinberg published observations like this, along with a few kudos for the shows, in The Computers of Star Trek.

The book covers episodes from the original series (TOS), The Next Generation (TNG), Deep Space Nine, Voyager and the films through Insurrection. While all the series, even the more recent prequel series Enterprise, depict a technologically advance future, none are focused on technology. They are more focused on telling stories that deal with the social issues in the periods in which they were made.

Gresh and Weinberg note this: Trek computers are mainly supersized versions of the computers of the time the show is made. In some ways, the Federation computers in the show are throwbacks to 1970s and earlier era mainframes, even though smaller, networked computers were becoming the dominant model when the revival series started in the late 1980s. This continued even as the Internet emerged and became part of the popular culture.

Of course the producers of the show aren’t especially interested in how computers actually work; they want to make an entertaining TV show and sometimes explore what is going on the society around them through the lens of a fictional future. Trek is interesting in this regard because it shows the attitudes of people about computers over time. In TOS computers are regarded with skepticism: computers break down, Spock is a hacker who takes over the ship, artificial intelligences take over planets but get fried by the illogic of emotions. By the time of TNG, computers are ubiquitous and acceptable—everyone uses them—but the threat of the Borg show concerns that computers might take over our lives and cause us to be depersonalized, destroying our individual identities.

An almost 20 year old book can’t help to be out of date, and the authors inevitably miss on some predictions. For instance, in their criticism of Trek’s take on medicine (not very advanced at all except when it is practically magic), the mention Army research into smart shirts that will monitor wearers for vital signs and injuries. It was a tee shirt with sewn in sensors that could be made for $30 (in 1998 dollars). Though we now have a lot of wearable technology, hospitals, soldiers and health nuts aren’t making use of cheap tees that keep track of their status moment by moment.

I don’t bring this up to knock the authors’ predictions. It’s hard to predict the future, especially by projecting from the current state of the art. Trek writers arguably haven’t tried very hard, but the show really isn’t about technology anyway.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in:

A Little History of Science by William Bynum

Ada's Algorithm by James Essinger

How to Build an Android by David F. Dufty

I Am Spock by Leonard Nimoy

The Numerati by Stephen Baker

Gresh, Lois, & Robert Weinberg. The Computers of Star Trek. New York: Basic Books, 1999.

The Right to Write by Julia Cameron

We are all writers. Language and writing come naturally to us. We learn the notion that we are bad writers somewhere along the way, most likely in school. We are trained to be self-conscious and anxious about writing; we need to break that training and start having fun.

This viewpoint is the starting point for Julia Cameron’s advice to writers in The Right to Write. She envisions millions of people writing. They’ll write naturally and organically for the joy of writing.

That is the other major theme that runs through the book: write for the sake of writing. Writing has a lot of benefits even if you only write for your own eyes. It is a way for us to express ourselves and examine our lives.

Cameron has a lot of advice for writers but it is generally not prescriptive. Each writer has his own way. Cameron’s advice is aimed at helping him discover it. That does not mean her advice is impractical. She has some hardnosed comments about what it takes to overcome the blocks would-be writers create (or accept) to their own development.

As Cameron describes it, the writing life is not about being a writer. It is more about becoming the person and writer you can be. It is a process of learning and discovery. She tells several stories of writers who, for various reasons, stop learning and stop being open. The result is that they stop writing or find it difficult. Always be learning is good advice for anyone who wants to improve at something, whatever it may be.

Writing should be integrated into life. Your life, interests, experiences, relationships, emotions, and all the things you take in through the senses are fuel for writing. The more you live, the more you’ll have to write about and the more you’ll want to write.

The book contains many exercises to help a budding writer develop. One of the main things is simply to write every day. She describes daily writing that is intended to get one used to writing without the inner censor putting on the breaks. You also get used to writing even when not in the mood, though once you start writing your mood is likely to come around.

If you’re looking for a step-by-step guide for writing a popular genre novel, this isn’t it. If you want some practical advice and encouragement from a professional writer who thinks you can write something worthwhile, and enjoy it, then The Right to Write is a good choice.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

Finding Your Writer’s Voice by Thaisa Frank & Dorothy Wall

Just Write by Walter Dean Myers

Keeping a Journal You Love by Sheila Bender

Mastering Fiction Writing by Kit Reed

No Plot? Not Problem! A Low Stress-High Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days by Chris Baty

Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose

Write Your Heart Out by Rebecca McClanahan

Cameron, Julia. The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 1998.

The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine N. Aron

At the end of sixth grade, my English teacher, Mrs. Lumsden, gave out “unusual awards.”  I was awarded “Best Observer.”    It is one of the signs that I am a highly sensitive person, and it is one of the happier memories related to my trait.

Research psychologist Elaine N. Aron describes highly sensitive people, or HSPs, in her book The Highly Sensitive Person.  HSPs, which make up about 15 to 20 percent of the population, are people with more responsive nervous system, who notice smaller stimuli and react more strongly to stimuli.

Aron is careful to distinguish the physiological trait of high sensitivity from inhibition, introversion, and shyness.  Okay, HSPs are often, or appear to be, introverted and shy.  Aron reframes HSP behavior as a response to overstimulation.  Everyone has an optimal level of arousal, and because HSPs are aroused more by smaller stimuli, which are abundant and can even include our own emotional responses to experiences, they are more easily aroused more than is optimum for them.  Everyone withdraws (is shy) when faced with too much arousal, and everyone needs time to quietly process (introversion).

Let me give you an example from my own life.  When I was a young child, I was very emotional.  I was easily overwhelmed, to the point of losing self-control, by my own emotions and the experiences that triggered them.  When I was in fifth grade, I found a model for managing it: Mr. Spock of Star Trek.  He was person (or Vulcan or half-Vulcan) with intense emotions that used various practices of logical thinking, meditation, art and study to discipline himself and control his own behavior.  Yes, at that age it meant repressing my emotions and withdrawing from others to some degree.  I gained a sense of self-control and space to think.  It was a little patch of high ground above the flood.  As a kid on the verge of puberty, it was precious to me.

That challenge hasn’t diminished as an adult.  How can I enjoy the sensory and emotional richness I can experience without being carried away by it?  How can I take notice of the little things that make me pause without getting jumpy?  How can I pursue the challenging and meaningful work that attracts me without being exhausted by distractions and the social demands organizations?  These are questions all HSPs must answer.

Aron doesn’t always give a simple answer, but she does show readers how to find the answers for themselves.  Relationships and work present all manner of highly arousing situations that can drain an HSP.  Aron provides information on how to approach these challenges in ways that acknowledge your trait of high sensitivity, with its weakness and the many strengths that can be brought to bear on the problem.

These problems can be exacerbated for HSPs who had rough childhoods, which is all too common.  (I’m fortunate that I had accepting and tolerant parents.  I suspect there are several HSPs scattered in my extended family, which fits with high sensitivity generally being inherited.)  Therapy can be very helpful for HSPs who need to deal with these issues.  Aron provides recommendations on what kind of therapies may be most useful to HSPs.

I suspect most of the readers of this book will be HSPs.  If you’re not an HSP, you probably know one.  If you think your spouse, close friend, or employee is an HSP, it may be worthwhile to read this book.  HSPs have a lot of strengths they would happily bring to your relationship or business if they are given the opportunity and a little quiet space in which to thrive.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

Quiet by Susan Cain

Aron, Elaine N.  The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You.  1996.  New York: Broadway, 1998.

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