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Review: Albert Einstein: The persistent illusion of transience
Illustrated books Weaving magic Textiles Today by Chloë Colchester, Thames & Hudson, £29.95, ISBN 9780500513811 Reviewed by Jo Marchant
YINKA SHONIBARE (NK) SPACEWALK, 2002
ANTHROPOLOGIST Chloë Colchester’s survey of the world’s textiles is about so much more than clothes. She reviews the latest technology in woven materials, such as embroidered surgical implants and vests that monitor the wearer’s health, and looks ahead to fabric robots and invisibility suits. There’s also a strong emphasis on the role of textiles in a more sustainable future, from recycled plastic bags to inflatable dwellings. Tradition and modernity lie side by side throughout the book, with ethnic designs colourfully showcased alongside patterns inspired by biochemistry, fluid dynamics and even space travel. The words can be clunky, but the ideas and images are inspiring.
Meet Albert Einstein
JOEL SARTORE
Albert Einstein: The persistent illusion of transience Edited by Ze’ev Rosenkranz and Barbara Wolff, Magnes Press, £35.99, ISBN 9789654933254 Reviewed by Andrew Robinson
48 | NewScientist | 15 December 2007
“FOR us believing physicists, the demarcation between past, present and future has merely the significance of but a persistent illusion,” Einstein told the bereaved family of an old friend, a month before his own death. Hence the title of this intelligent, affectionate and sumptuous scrapbook of photos, facsimiles of original documents and choice quotations. Unfamiliar sights include his provocative missive resigning from the Prussian Academy of Sciences, and a photo of him in 1946 holding an infant (far left), which made me laugh aloud because of his exquisite comment: “It will certainly look like an Italian picture of the Madonna.” Reading this book feels like meeting him in person. www.newscientist.com
YINKA SHONIBARE (NK) SPACEWALK, 2002
ANTHROPOLOGIST Chloë Colchester’s survey of the world’s textiles is about so much more than clothes. She reviews the latest technology in woven materials, such as embroidered surgical implants and vests that monitor the wearer’s health, and looks ahead to fabric robots and invisibility suits. There’s also a strong emphasis on the role of textiles in a more sustainable future, from recycled plastic bags to inflatable dwellings. Tradition and modernity lie side by side throughout the book, with ethnic designs colourfully showcased alongside patterns inspired by biochemistry, fluid dynamics and even space travel. The words can be clunky, but the ideas and images are inspiring.
Meet Albert Einstein
JOEL SARTORE
Albert Einstein: The persistent illusion of transience Edited by Ze’ev Rosenkranz and Barbara Wolff, Magnes Press, £35.99, ISBN 9789654933254 Reviewed by Andrew Robinson
48 | NewScientist | 15 December 2007
“FOR us believing physicists, the demarcation between past, present and future has merely the significance of but a persistent illusion,” Einstein told the bereaved family of an old friend, a month before his own death. Hence the title of this intelligent, affectionate and sumptuous scrapbook of photos, facsimiles of original documents and choice quotations. Unfamiliar sights include his provocative missive resigning from the Prussian Academy of Sciences, and a photo of him in 1946 holding an infant (far left), which made me laugh aloud because of his exquisite comment: “It will certainly look like an Italian picture of the Madonna.” Reading this book feels like meeting him in person. www.newscientist.com