Publishers Weekly
05/01/2023
Theoretical physicist Parisi, who won the 2021 Nobel Prize in physics for his scholarship on how constituent parts organize themselves within larger wholes, delivers a stimulating debut for general readers that reflects on his work and the scientific method. “It is essential that the public have a fundamental understanding of the practice of science,” Parisi contends, citing climate change and Covid-19 as threats to which understanding science plays a crucial role in preparing the public to mobilize and respond. To illustrate how scientists operate, he recounts episodes from his career, including his studies on spin glasses (metal alloys with spinning particles that cause the metals to behave like molten glass) and the behavior of molecules during phase transitions. Discussing his investigation into how starlings fly in flocks without colliding, the author describes taking 3D images of the birds in flight and discovering that turns are usually initiated by small groups on the side of a flock, with each bird following its immediate neighbors. Parisi also waxes philosophical about how scientific innovation happens and suggests that unconscious thinking contributes to breakthroughs. He largely succeeds in making accessible such complicated subjects as particle physics, and the personal anecdotes are revealing. This ode to the scientific process fascinates. (July)
From the Publisher
It doesn’t take interest or a background in physics to appreciate Parisi’s work. Writing in clear terms for the layperson that avoid making the reader feel like they’ve wandered into a lecture hall, the physicist offers a glimpse into his work and a look at how scientific research has evolved over the years . . . The deceptively slim volume serves as a forceful argument for the value of scientific literacy at a time when it’s increasingly being challenged by misinformation . . . Parisi’s book is a step toward making physics feel more accessible.” —Associated Press
“An interesting collection of essays reflecting on [Parisi’s] long career in science . . . The scientific explanations are admirably lucid.” —The Wall Street Journal
“Stimulating . . . This ode to the scientific process fascinates.” —Publishers Weekly
“Parisi’s voice is amiable and conversational, which endows [In a Flight of Starlings] with the feel of a conversation with a wise and generous elder.” —Kirkus
“[Giorgio Parisi is] an extraordinary scientist.” —Carlo Rovelli
“Giorgio Parisi is renowned for his scientific creativity, originality, and power. In this exhilarating little book, he shows his human side, too. By its end, readers will feel they’ve made a charming, witty new friend.” —Frank Wilczek, winner of the Nobel Prize and author of Fundamentals
“In this delightful and deeply thoughtful book, Giorgio Parisi weaves a tapestry of experiences and ideas that connects disciplines and prepares us to appreciate the beauty, importance, and cultural value of science.” —Frances Arnold, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Library Journal
06/01/2023
The entire premise of Parisi's tome is this: that both citizens and politicians need to trust scientists and allow the scientific community to assist in making objectively sensible decisions, for everything from climate change to the COVID pandemic. Nobel Prize in Physics winner Parisi (theoretical physics, Sapienza Univ. of Rome) enthusiastically guides readers on a journey traversing the fields of statistical and experimental physics. The author is happy to travel down memory lane—from his roots as a physics student in Italy 50 years ago to the time when he narrowly missed an opportunity to further explore order and disorder as found in nature and experienced in a wide variety of circumstances. While each chapter might feel like its own in-depth lesson or anecdote, the summations are wise and bring readers back to the author's original premise: people must trust science (and scientists) to make recommendations on how to improve the earth's circumstances going forward. VERDICT While the scientific lingo can feel a little overwhelming at times, readers who persist through to the end will likely find themselves enlightened and eager to listen and learn.—Jennifer Moore
SEPTEMBER 2023 - AudioFile
Dry text collides with a flat, bland narration to sink any chance of audibly enjoying this presentation of the author's Nobel Prize-winning research into complex systems ranging from the atomic to the planetary scale. Stephen Graybill narrates in a steady, monotonous tone. Although properly executed, his pronunciation of the audiobook's many Italian names and phrases is slow and awkward, a notable weakness since this audiobook is written by an Italian author. Physics experts will find most chapters too basic; sadly, the author fails to enliven his research in a way that might resonate with lay listeners. J.T. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2023-04-04
An Italian Nobel laureate uses his background as a theoretical physicist to illustrate the importance of science.
In the opening paragraphs of this essay collection, Parisi states that crises like climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic have demonstrated that now, more than ever, science is essential to humanity’s survival. Unfortunately, in today’s hypercharged partisan landscape, nonscientists often view science through a lens of distrust, a stance that, most recently, led to the unnecessary deaths of the unvaccinated during the pandemic. “If citizens and politicians do not trust science,” writes the author, “we will move inexorably in the wrong direction, and the struggle against any number of global ills—global warming, infectious disease, hunger and poverty, the depletion of the planet’s natural resources—will fail.” Parisi believes that scientists can rebuild this trust by being more open about their processes and says that the purpose of this book is to help people understand how science really works. “It is important to understand how scientific consensus is achieved,” he writes. What follows is a collection of essays that range widely. The author offers a personal account about participating in an occupation of the Physics Institute in Rome in 1968; a philosophical treatise on the importance of metaphor in scientific breakthroughs; and a diagram-laden chapter on “the theory of spin glasses, considered my most significant contribution to physics.” Throughout, Parisi’s voice is amiable and conversational, which endows the book with the feel of a conversation with a wise and generous elder. However, each of the chapters is wildly different in tone and content. While some passages read like literary memoir, others read like dry excerpts from textbooks. Though the author returns to his thesis about science and trust at the end of the book, the thesis feels only loosely applicable in the middle.
An intermittently charming but incohesive essay collection about physics, matter, and memory.