Books

Reviews .1;

YANN MARTEL ’° The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios 1 " 3.1" 'i it?“ C... " ,,'.,,I..|,r;:h., I: - } Helsinki Rm't' iiii.iiim ' '. :' 1' :' z i H ' 2' r . ‘.\. I . l . I. 1' ' ' ° .Aii'iiiink‘m {‘1 "WM" . ' Fleshmarket Close ' "' O... P'EX‘“) {it"l "i’.»-rri.:‘.:/,nai ' ’i lw‘itfatfiwr!r*;1‘.,\r/.'i7‘rit ' Marta,“ Jamar:.izsitru'rt; t.i' tr‘t: ',',’l‘.it?.’ ‘;ll.l<l'.lllll(l :r/ H 7." I't‘a': establishhi'risirltrrt'tii. imla": i": m, rtati‘.e (Lartadgi. lhest' Walt)" f' »- l' " tour short storiesar‘t:tl‘.u ~tl‘r“.'"l","m l'lo';i' H \ fruits of those earl, is rra "~- 1 «"a'i latiour‘s. lite. :ar‘, “Juliill, triuriht .irt l

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Big Bang (Fourth Emmy .... .1()l‘-f§lltli,il().";,lltit «merit. til a i l harness that '.‘.’l(l(: t:‘,t:rl. the fame. Ur :i. 'it' Simplifying important scientific theory for the lay folk implies large print, ()l)()li~ll€?£lll(:(l stwrit the arse: A rm: it baby language and patronising visual aids. Yet Simon Singh, particle .'.’lll(ill has; made his. i’lt' ordirzar. t,'tu':t"-;~ air. 'l n l’ .r' l'». a physicist and bestselling author of Fermat’s Last Theorem, has cleverly later ‘.'./<;r'l«1 so readable. iiitr; tn»; liaise-r fzir‘t'r .. 7:.2‘. , rt it .t worked out a means of explaining the origins of the universe to the ()t the four, out. ~.-.u’»e,-,v<: the rim "u (2"‘ t .l u. -' .1 l‘ r uninitiated in a straightforward, accessible, and decidedly non- 'Maririerf; of l), =no' no :r >.'"" as 'vvift. tr « .t l l ~- .1 s ."ll" ;.i condescending way. moniesupshoit f.i/:t.ir,.ivw.1'i‘r:ri, 't ,i .t i»: fhw Early in the book, Singh describes the moment when he learned about Hetellirit; the trim! hours ‘Silltlfi’il‘il at lla'r. ~ w. tw- lut'lt‘, tn.- the Big Bang theory in his teens. ‘l was astonished at its simplicity and of £1(L()ll(l(:lllll(}fl Yl‘illi ltgiriguiiirt'» 1"» w u H.‘ beauty,’ he says, a declaration those of us who struggled to get the on death roux. it is; high ill/MW l l‘ prawn l. t. stopper out of the test tube in the science lab will find utterly baffling. He on -::orit:t>i)l and if).'.’ on U I, _‘ I I: _. ‘_ m u T' w '7. ":l', at then embarks on a SOD-page history of the development and analysis of the substance. ()onmrsel, X. i' .. . 'il rid most simple-yet-significant of scientific discoveries. Singh initially treats "lhe lads; Behind the Magic Seeds {1" r w r U“; ram? us to a quick sweep through the origins of cosmology, namedropping such Helsinki Roctgirnritios' If; If)“, f, H, .... mt . . l' H. ytrirtwi loveable eccentrics as Pythagoras, Copernicus and Galileo, never shirking a raz‘. hut {iiitrtiiittti from the fascinating, murkier details of their lives and deaths before narratrxe l‘fi’it)tll‘.ll'l(_) the proceeding through Einstein’s theories to modern debates surrounding the dot izlitgitrnt; (?iir:rjif; of Big Bang theory. AIDS on its ‘.!fiin"lf) arid Singh‘s book is occasionally mindboggling only in that it is so very tn: use around tirw -"l.

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comprehensive, with sets of names, dates and historical events introduced inert: l") a ‘;Il‘ntliofr iliii r r iv tr: t w )r' and explained on virtually every page. Taken in manageable bites, however, that links theme st: rm: 2 t v . ' if i n the author’s clear, no-nonsense elucidation has the effect of creating a the f;(?llf3£lilt)l‘r the v. r' FM. l ' of

mental flow-chart which progresses to enable a real understanding of how noun or 's; rlrsmrtrw;trorx and why the Big Bang is so convincing. Now, will someone explain ‘string hr,- rt fl')'l farm, (A theory’ to me, please? (Allan Radcliffe) sooet t Martel .'.",:l‘ri on It. explore .‘nth eye". great l’Ot‘. TRY CULLFCHON effective work soonest; rr‘. [, t}:- ot I?

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. playful shle ensures that “‘CWW"“5’ w,- 1', r: .t x m. Clone. l'r’,’..":'t'.’l Reclamation Marks! , . r. , H', 1., ,1 CONTt*lflt’()i2f\l3r/ Pill P m, “I W, i, , ~. 54', NW... ,, ,,.-, of,” (Colon: Pr‘esleOOO Mi ‘1 (’ m'r ( Mug“ PAUL MAGRS " “‘1' “' f ' " "” "‘

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theme of reclaiming the even day life. COllllC Three different secuo'ts the titterr‘g "risotte‘ ;‘ Czu :2 t Le That 1"; " er . We more areas “9'” to make your own one-liners and the titled ‘Bet’ore'. ‘Dsr-rtg' R3 .3 Can . Re‘res" 61:329.“,th s r. or Let-:ee". good and

CHOICES running right occasIOnal slittDle yet and ‘Atter' ouroe the "ee 3‘ "as 590'" corner: :zn': are real encai', ran. {WOUQM WIS Simple $9.1 stunning Loxe poem tuck morning us to CK a: 1.9:“. 7)‘; err/2 1W; 'ia"’)s t/‘zw Roomy."

32 THE LIST 23' Oct :33: