©1996, ProMotion, inc.
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Trefil gets around. He wrote Introduction to the Physics of Fluids and Solids and co-authored both Cultural Literacy and a book on the scientific facts behind the abortion controversy. But most of his books explain scientific topics for lay readers. He has explained the physics and biology of seashores, cities, mountains, and sunsets.
In his new book, The Edge of the Unknown, he tackles issues on the frontiers of science. He uses the stories of a giant human face carved on Mars as a "proxy" for addressing such nonsense as the Shroud of Turin and UFO abductions. In three-page chapters, he explains the paradoxes of time travel, why there is no electric car in your driveway yet, how the Human Genome Project goes about its work, and why quantum physics seems to finally bring us face to face with "an area of the universe that our brains just aren't wired to understand."
Most chapter titles are questions, and they cover the spectrum of contemporary scientific concerns: "Will we be looking for fossils on Mars? Do other stars have planets? Is there really a science of complexity?" As fascinating as such questions are, most people regard them as of little importance in their daily lives. However, Trefil also addresses issues of immediate relevance: "What causes cancer? Where will nanotechnology take us? What will follow the Pill? Are we going to lose the Ozone Layer?" and, perhaps of greatest importance, "How many species are there on Earth and why does it matter?"
"Within the next few years," Trefil predicts, "we are going to be deluged with new discoveries about how living systems, including the human body and mind, work, with consequences that are too broad to envision." The only way we can responsibly address such issues is by learning to follow the sciences involved. James Trefil is an excellent and painless tutor.
Michael Sims's almanac of natural history, Darwin's Orchestra, will be published in October by Henry Holt.
©1996, ProMotion, inc.