Biologist Harold Morowitz delights in discovering scientific principles behind everyday phenomena, from doing laundry to registering a car with the department of motor vehicles. Who else but Morowitz could explain exactly what takes place every time we put a load of dirty laundry into the washer? In the essay "Thermal Underthoughts" he ponders the scientific foundations of laundry day: thermal physics, centrifugal force, and vaporization. His detailed analysis describes the way detergent is dissolved in water, the processes ...
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Biologist Harold Morowitz delights in discovering scientific principles behind everyday phenomena, from doing laundry to registering a car with the department of motor vehicles. Who else but Morowitz could explain exactly what takes place every time we put a load of dirty laundry into the washer? In the essay "Thermal Underthoughts" he ponders the scientific foundations of laundry day: thermal physics, centrifugal force, and vaporization. His detailed analysis describes the way detergent is dissolved in water, the processes involved in removing soil, and the inefficiencies inherent in the conversion of water to vapor in the dryer. Not even the lint trap escapes his keen eye. Yet these pieces range far beyond the laboratory. "It is not possible to reduce all of experience to the logic of science, " he says, and much of his writing engages his thoughts on philosophy, history, language, and people.
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Seller's Description:
Signed by author. First edition, first printing. Very good+ hardback in very good dustjacket. Interior clean & bright. Boards have light edge wear & light bumping to ends of spine. Dustjacket shows minor shelf/edge wear and mild rubbing. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 199 p. Audience: General/trade.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good. No spine creases & mild wear on cover. Lightly aged pages, no markings. From Kirkus Reviews More short takes (40 of them) from polymath biophysicist Morowitz (Entropy and the Magic Flute, 1993), ensconced now on the faculty at George Mason University in Virginia. The order of the essays is derived from Buddhist groupings cal.