âAlmost made me want to become a scientist again,â says Trevor Pinch of Steven Strogatzâs Sync: The emerging science of spontaneous order (Theia). Pinch is professor of science and technology studies at Cornell University and author of Analog Days (Harvard, 2002). He loves Strogatzâs irreverent approach to mainstream science.
Pinch is on sabbatical for six months in Berlin so heâs catching up on a few novels. One favourite is W. G. Sebaldâs The Emigrants (Vintage, 2002): âIt captures the almost accidental connections between people and places in disrupted lives, weaving between details of rural East Anglia, the Swiss Alps and Ithaca â all places I have lived in.â Set in the Second World War, Ian McEwanâs Atonement (Vintage, 2002) âreminds people what it was like in the retreat from Dunkirk to be on the receiving end of shock and aweâ. And Pinch is reading Philip Pullmanâs series His Dark Materials (Scholastic) with his 10-year-old daughter. They both agree it is much more imaginative and scarier than Harry Potter â and are delighted that âthe main character is a girl!â
