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| The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science | 
| Author: Natalie Angier
Publisher: Mariner Books
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
Buy Used: $3.00
You Save: $12.95 (81%)
New (31) from $9.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  74 reviews
Sales Rank: 10202
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.8
ISBN: 0547053460
Dewey Decimal Number: 500
EAN: 9780547053462
ASIN: 0547053460
Publication Date: April 3, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 The errors are too much June 23, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
It's amazing that in a book which contains an entire chapter on Thinking Scientifically, Ms. Angiers commits one of the ultimate sins in science writing: the dissemination of information without bothering to check if it is actually correct. The discipline of referencing every "fact" presented in science writing (something this book fails to do) is important because, aside from allowing the reader to discover the evidence that a particular "fact" is based on, it forces the author to make sure that what they are presenting is actually CORRECT. The number of errors in the later chapters of this book (chapters 5-9) are far too many for a book aimed at non-scientists.
Some of the errors are minor and show only a slight misunderstanding on the author's part, but her explanation of why planets don't twinkle (they do twinkle, by the way) is wince inducing. And I'm sure it would be a surprise to many botanists that plants, in general, don't respire during the day time. This is the sort of laziness that I would expect from a tired middle school student writing a science report late at night the day before it's due, not what I would expect from a prize winning science writer in a book that had actually been EDITED.
I'll let others harp on the unhelpful language throughout the later chapters and the cheerleading mess of her chapter on evolution but would rather leave potential readers with this: Do not take anything you read in "The Canon" for granted until you confirm it in a trusted second source. This should go for anything you read but goes doubly so for this book.
 A very fun tour through the basics of science June 6, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
The author provides a very fun tour through the basics of science - not at the "how to solve the equations" level, but at the "how and why this is fun and important" level. The chapters follow nicely one after the other. The writing style helped this be a page-turner for me, with zing and zest on every page. The two major drawbacks of the book (and they're minor ones) is the significant number of uncommon words, and the large number of North American cultural references. The tone of the book is decidedly rationalist, which could make it less palatable to those with fundamentalist leanings.
The author very intentionally focuses on the fundamental areas of science and scientific thought. She manages to cover all the major bases in a way that interconnects and makes sense. Chapters that go over material that have not been my favorites in general science classes helped me to sit up and take notice of the fun and wonder in those areas as well. I'd recommend this book to anyone who'd like to learn about the world around them better in an easy and fun way.
The chapters cover: 1. Thinking Scientifically, 2. Probabilities, 3. Calibration, 4. Physics, 5. Chemistry, 6. Evolutionary Biology, 7. Molecular Biology, 8. Geology, 9. Astronomy.
Humor and Knowledge Abound! June 2, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Natalie Angeir's book "The Canon" is an exceptional work of educational non-fiction. From the first page it is evident that this book was a labor of love for Ms. Angier, and that affection is read in every line. For anyone with a longing for learning something new I wholeheartedly suggest this book.
Ms. Angier covers in 9 chapters what the scientists she interviewed believe to be required scientific knowledge for laypersons: scientific method, probability, scale, physics, chemistry, evolutionary biology, molecular biology, geology, and astronomy. Each chapter is full of information, anecdotes, and hilarious quips by the author.
Purchase this book for the student in your life - scholastic or otherwise - and get a copy for yourself, too.
 Too Cute By Far June 1, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I wanted this book to provide me with a sort of science literacy which a well rounded, well educated non-science oriented person should have. I am a lawyer with widely varying interests. The topics chosen by Ms. Angier (thinking scientifically, probabilities, physics, chemistry, evolutionary biology and more) are fine, but in an effort to make the information accessible, she relies far too much on popular culture references which will be dated in just a few years, as well as metaphors and exclamatory observations that just get in the way after awhile. Instead of actually helping they just are annoying. It's a shame because the actual substance of the information is pretty accessible without all that. Her chapter on evolutionary biology, however, is hardly more than a refutation of creationism. I was disappointed.
Too whimsical, overly playful May 6, 2008
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
Admirable as Ms. Angier's book is in its attempts to lay out the basics of science, she is far too continually sarcastic in her delivery for anything truly lasting to come from this book. I fear that when you finish 'The Canon,' you will come away with some anecdotes and nothing much else.
Here's an example of an author much too concerned with being funny, and not at all trusting to her subject matter:
"A top of the line radar can pinpoint the whereabouts of a housefly two kilometers away, although clearly this is a radar with far too much time on its hands."
"Fine. They are all light. They are all electromagnetic radiation. They are all - what?"
"The universe, though, doesn't only like to cut things short, it also opts for the sagging saga approach, dictating thick volumes of time that are nearly as unfathomable as Finnegan's Wake."
"Where might Ebola weigh in? And how many of any could dance on a pin?"
"Contrary to myth, time doesn't fly particularly fast when you're dead."
"Hold your Miss Havensham's, huffed the progressive-spirited Darrell."
After several hundred pages, these trite quips (appearing as they do ten a page) grow tiresome and even somewhat alarming. Ms. Angier does not trust her reader to surrender to the facination of her subject or her research and, like an annoying friend in a museum, continues to make jokes upon viewing each painting ('I mean, I guess you can paint with one ear, am I right?')
New Yorker readers (I am one) who are not much interested in science might find a friend in Ms. Angier as she presents 'boring' material with a wink and a nudge-nudge. But to those with curious minds who purchase a book like this to actually learn a few things, move along.
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