The Virgin And The Mousetrap

The Virgin and the Mousetrap

From Library Journal As indicated by the book's subtitle, as well as those of his two previous books, Soul of the Night: An Astronomical Pilgrimage ( LJ 11/1/85) and Honey from Stone: A Naturalist's Search for God (Dodd, 1988), Raymo is something of a soul searcher. The essays in this collection attempt to frame a broad humanist context for various current and historical scientific topics. Subjects range from an astronomical interpretation of Van Gogh's Starry Night to popular misconceptions about Neanderthal humans to the risk factors that are inherent in the development of any new technology. The tone of the book is very personal, sometimes digressive. In contrast to some other science popularizers, Raymo is a seeker, rather than a giver of answers. A very readable treatment that is recommended for general science collections in public libraries.- Gregg Sapp, Montana State Univ. Libs., BozemanCopyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. Essays discuss environmental responsibility, computer culture, military technology, the use of animals in research, and the human meaning of science From Publishers Weekly Boston Globe science columnist Raymo eases the reader gently--perhaps too gently--into a dozen social and ethical problems arising in science. Beginning where science itself began, with the patterns of the night sky, he glides through genetic engineering, creationism, SDI and other topics. Referring to elements of a Flemish altarpiece, a reproduction of which he keeps on his desk, Raymo considers its "vision of two worlds faith and technology in perfect balance," a balance upset by the industrial revolution. Longing for this old order lulls the text; although it deals with the tensions of science past and present, this collection emits only low-frequency signals. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus Reviews Raymo, science writer (Honey From Stone, 1987, etc.) and novelist (In the Falcon's Claw, 1989), zigzags between beauty and bombast in this collection of 21 rambling essays on ``the soul of science.'' Scientists, as Raymo notes, can be ``grim, white-coated technicians wielding power without responsibility.'' What to do? Raymo suggests we make science more human by returning to the lessons of everyday experience. In one essay, he speculates on what our civilization might be like if Earth, like Venus, were wrapped in clouds. Elsewhere, he tackles a question as old as Adam and Eve- -''Who am I?''--finding clues to an answer in DNA research. Other pieces mull over sea squirts, Halley's comet, Neanderthals, SDI, the dangers and blessings of machinery, why there are two sexes, the pros and cons of vivisection--more or less whatever one might hear discussed in a freewheeling science classroom. The binding glue throughout is the ``mediocrity principle,'' Raymo's belief that we and our planet are so commonplace as to be ``cosmically mediocre,'' an idea that might make many nonscientists blanch. All unravels in the second half, as Raymo fires away at creationism, astrology, the New Age, UFOs, and other ``pseudosciences'' about which he seems to know little, and ends up shooting himself in the foot. Beautifully composed--but done in by dogma. -- Copyright