The transmutation of science into pseudo-poetic baloney. ( )

What a book! This was the first time I have read about thermodynamics, and it has completely shifted my worldview. Into the Cool helps to see the human and non-human systems, through we navigate on a daily basis, against a cosmic backdrop.

All these processes, they argue, are fueled by gradient-reduction. Biological systems have the extraordinary tendency to reduce the gradient between the hot sun and cool space by the reproduction of new gradients, which can then be broken down by new parts of the ecosystem.

Schneider and Sagan make an effort to tie their natural science into everyday examples, with small excursions to philosophy and literature. Although the book gets technical at times, each page radiates enthusiasm about the wonders of the thermodynamic theory.

There are, nevertheless, two flaws with the book. The first is a lack of structure. Chapters vary in length, sections do not always follow logically on one another, the level of detail of explanation can shift abruptly within paragraphs... It seems like the book follows the whims of the authors, with wild associations suddenly popping up in the midst of chapters. It would have helped so much if this book made one argument, which the subsequent chapters would build towards, especially because the material can be challenging at times.

A second point of critique would be that to me, as a philosopher, not all the references to philosophy work well. Authors like Spinoza, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche are more or less randomly invoked to be connected to ideas of which I did not always perceive how they would follow from their theories. But well, that's just me, a grumpy philosopher. One could still value their effort to speak of thermodynamics in other terms than strictly mathematical!

Overall, read this if you do not yet have an understanding of thermodynamics. It will blow your mind. ( )