Book Review of: The Edge of Physics

A Journey to Earth's Extremes to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe

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Reviewer: Mark Lamendola, author of over 6,000 articles.

This book's title does not describe its contents. An accurate title for the book would have been "My Visits to Ten Sites Used for Astronomy and Physics Research." The subtitle hints at this, but only if you ignore that title.

The author doesn't cover the edge of physics. He journals his visits to ten sites that have advanced equipment for astronomy or physics. He tosses in a little physics background, mostly string theory and precious little else.

Unfortunately, Ananthaswamy works in journalism. So, he wrote a journal instead of a science book. This, despite a title that indicates the opposite. Today's "journalism" has an increasingly solid track record of agenda-driven, unbalanced writing. In keeping with this trend, Ananthaswamy wrote an unbalanced piece.

I've read a fair number of other books on physics (written by researchers, not journalists with zero bona-fides on the subject) and watched several videos geared toward the more curious segment of the public. So, I'm aware of the subject's landscape. Ananthaswamy doesn't seem to share this awareness. Instead, he seems fixated on string theory. It's as if he read some books on it and hasn't read anything else on physics. While string theory is fascinating and complex, Ananthaswamy:

1. Explains it superficially, at best.
2. Proceeds under the assumption it is "the" theory rather than one of several competing theories currently being explored.
3. Gives the impression that all of the current experimentation is based on string theory (it's not).

Balanced coverage of the leading theories that are on the edge of physics would have resulted in a much better book. To fit this in the same page count, the book would need to focus on the core topic without all of the off-topic material that should have been cut anyhow. In places, I wondered what the heck the author's ramblings had to do with the subject--and I'm still wondering.

One good approach in the editing process would have been to remove the string theory comments from the narrative and write an appendix summarizing the leading theories. Then, re-title the book so it reflects the content. This way, the title actually fits the book and if you're interested in the background science you can read an overview.

Some positives:

1. The book is extensively researched. Unlike the typical journalist author, Ananthaswamy used credible sources.
2. The copyrighter (Sara Lippincott) is astoundingly good. There are few errors in the book (well below normal).
3. It's a good read. The prose is smooth and clear (kudos to the editor, Amanda Cook, but she should have cut more material).

This book would make a nice introduction for someone newly interested in what's going on with the General Theory of Relativity today and what it's like to visit some of the sites where experiments and research are taking place. It does not take you to the edge of physics, though it does take you to some edgy places in remote, hostile locations.

This book consists of ten chapters, each of which is devoted to describing the author's visit to a particular research site. Chapter 8, for example, journals his visit to Antarctica.