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Sidney Perkowitz is a scientist and science writer. He is the Charles Howard Candler Professor Emeritus of Physics at
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...
, where he has pursued research on the properties of matter and has produced more than 100 scientific papers and books. He is a Fellow of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science.
In 1990, Perkowitz's interests turned to presenting science to non-scientists via books and articles, the media, lectures, museum exhibits, and stage works. His popular science books ''Empire of Light'', ''Universal Foam'' and ''Digital People'' have been translated into six languages and Braille. His book ''Hollywood Science'' was published in Fall 2007, and his latest volume, ''Slow Light: Invisibility, Teleportation, and Other Mysteries of Light'', was published in 2011.
Perkowitz has also written for ''
The Sciences
''The Sciences'' was a magazine published from 1961 to 2001 by the New York Academy of Sciences. Each issue contained articles that discussed science issues with cultural relevance, illustrated with fine art and an occasional cartoon. The perio ...
'', ''
Technology Review
''MIT Technology Review'' is a bimonthly magazine wholly owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and editorially independent of the university. It was founded in 1899 as ''The Technology Review'', and was re-launched without "The" in ...
'', the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'', the ''
Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...
'', ''
Encyclopædia Britannica
The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...
'' and others. Media appearances and lectures include
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
,
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
, the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, among others. He is the author of the performance-dance piece ''Albert and Isadora'', and the plays ''Friedmann’s Balloon'' and ''Glory Enough'', all produced on stage. He recently completed his first screenplay. He blogs about science for the National Academy of Sciences.
Sidney Perkowitz was born in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, NY, and was educated at Polytechnic University, New York, and the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
.
Books
''Slow Light'' (2011) is Perkowitz's fifth book of science nonfiction for popular audiences. ''Slow Light'' is a popular treatment of recent breakthroughs in the science of
light
Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 te ...
. Even though the quantum mysteries of light are still not fully understood, it can be slowed to a stop and speeded up beyond its
Einsteinian speed limit, 186,000 miles/sec; used for
quantum telecommunications; teleported; manipulated to create invisibility; and perhaps used to generate
hydrogen fusion
Stellar nucleosynthesis is the creation (nucleosynthesis) of chemical elements by nuclear fusion reactions within stars. Stellar nucleosynthesis has occurred since the original creation of hydrogen, helium and lithium during the Big Bang. As a ...
power.
''Hollywood Science'' (2007) discusses the portrayal of science in more than one hundred films, including
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
, scientific biographies, and
documentaries
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...
. Beginning with early films like ''
Voyage to the Moon'' and ''
Metropolis
A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications.
A big ci ...
'' and concluding with more recent offerings like ''
The Matrix
''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in ''The Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantolia ...
'', ''
War of the Worlds
''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by '' Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appearance in hardcover was i ...
'', ''
A Beautiful Mind'', and ''
An Inconvenient Truth
''An Inconvenient Truth'' is a 2006 American documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate people about global warming. The film features a slide show that, by Gore's own e ...
'', Perkowitz questions how much faith can be put into Hollywood's depiction of scientists and their work; how accurately these films capture scientific fact and theory; whether cataclysms like the earth's collision with a comet can actually happen; and to what extent these films influence public opinion about science and the future. The book features dozens of film stills and a list of the all-time best and worst science-fiction movies.
''Digital People: From Bionic Humans to Androids'' (2005) recounts the history of humankind's fascination with creating thinking beings from inanimate objects. Ancient Greek mythology tells of the god
Hephaestus
Hephaestus (; eight spellings; grc-gre, Ἥφαιστος, Hḗphaistos) is the Greek god of blacksmiths, metalworking, carpenters, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metallurgy, fire (compare, however, with Hestia), and volcanoes.Walter B ...
who was lame and created winged servants to assist him, while
Mary Shelley
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an early example of science fiction. She also ...
’s 1818 novel ''
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus
''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific exp ...
'' tells of reanimating dead body parts into something that resembles a living human being (these are two examples of many given by Perkowitz). The term “
robot
A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may ...
” was first used in
Karl Capek’s 1921 play ''
R.U.R.
''R.U.R.'' is a 1920 science-fiction play by the Czech writer Karel Čapek. "R.U.R." stands for (Rossum's Universal Robots, a phrase that has been used as a subtitle in English versions). The play had its world premiere on 2 January 1921 in H ...
'', but soon it was a standard term used everywhere to describe these fictional machines and their real-life counterparts.
''Universal Foam'' (2001) exposes the full dimensions of
foam
Foams are materials formed by trapping pockets of gas in a liquid or solid.
A bath sponge and the head on a glass of beer are examples of foams. In most foams, the volume of gas is large, with thin films of liquid or solid separating the ...
in human life, from cappuccino to the cosmos. Foam affects the taste of beer, makes shaving easier, insulates take-out coffee cups and NASA
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program ...
s, controls bleeding in trauma victims, aids in drilling for oil, and captures dust particles from comets. The foam of ocean whitecaps affects Earth's climate, and astronomers believe the billions of galaxies that make up the universe rest on surfaces of immense bubbles within a gargantuan foam.
''Empire of Light'' (1996) discusses the nature of light, how the eye sees, and how human understanding of these phenomena have emerged over the ages, including the role of light in the development of
quantum physics. Perkowitz examines the making of
electrical light and its integration into commerce, telecommunications, entertainment, medicine, warfare, and every other aspect of daily life. And he presents the role of light in the search for the beginning and the end of the universe, as astronomers with their instruments penetrate ever deeper into the sky. His examinations range from the
cave paintings at Lascaux to
Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko (), born Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz (russian: Ма́ркус Я́ковлевич Ротко́вич, link=no, lv, Markuss Rotkovičs, link=no; name not Anglicized until 1940; September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970), was a Lat ...
’s stark blocks of color in today’s art museums, from
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
’s speculation that the eye sends out rays to
Ramon y Cajal’s modern analysis of the visual system, from
Tycho Brahe
Tycho Brahe ( ; born Tyge Ottesen Brahe; generally called Tycho (14 December 154624 October 1601) was a Danish astronomer, known for his comprehensive astronomical observations, generally considered to be the most accurate of his time. He was ...
’s elegant measurements of planetary positions to the Hubble telescope’s exquisite sensitivity to light from billions of light years away.
Articles
Sidney Perkowitz has written nearly 100 articles, essays, and book chapters on science for popular audiences, including children. In addition to the major media outlets referenced above, publications in which his works have appeared include ''
The Miami Herald
The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami.[The Manchester Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...]
'', ''
San Jose Mercury
''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...
'', ''
Houston Chronicle
The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...
'', ''
Atlanta Journal-Constitution'', ''
Literal'', ''The Bridge'', ''
The Scientist'', ''
New Scientist
''New Scientist'' is a magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publish ...
'', ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'', ''Odyssey'', and more. His work has also appeared in national journals, including ''
Denver Quarterly
The ''Denver Quarterly'' (known as ''The University of Denver Quarterly'' until 1970) is an avant-garde literary journal based at the University of Denver. Founded in 1966 by novelist John Edward Williams.
''Publisher''
''Denver Quarterly'' i ...
'', ''
The American Prospect
''The American Prospect'' is a daily online and bimonthly print American political and public policy magazine dedicated to American modern liberalism and progressivism. Based in Washington, D.C., ''The American Prospect'' says it "is devoted t ...
'', ''
Art Papers
''ART PAPERS'' is an Atlanta-based bimonthly art magazine and non-profit organization dedicated to the examination of art and culture in the world today. Its mission is to provide an independent and accessible forum for the exchange of perspectiv ...
'', and ''
Leonardo Journal,'' and in books such as ''The Metaphorical Circuit'' (1983). His topics include popular science, the humor and culture of science, science on stage and screen, science and art, science and mythology, the literature of technology, and contemporary artists who use scientific ideas.
Critical reception
Sidney Perkowitz's science books for popular audiences have generally been well received by critics in national publications. The ''Scientific American Book Club'' reviewer wrote that ''Slow Light''
“Shines with insights from the cutting edge of physics.” David Schneider of the ''American Scientist'' called ''Hollywood Science'' “Great fun. It brings less-well-known films to the reader’s attention—I’m putting ''Panic in the Streets'' (1950) on my to-rent list—and delves into the serious issues of how such films serve to educate the public and to inspire the scientific enterprise. I give it two thumbs up!”
Beth Kephart of the ''Pennsylvania Gazette'' wrote that ''Digital People'' is "A helpful book—a straightforward summarization of the myth and magic, science and struggles, ideals and cautions that constitute the history of artificial beings.” ''Science Magazine'' called ''Universal Foam'' “Broad-ranging and enlightening.”, and ''Publishers Weekly'' and ''Kirkus Reviews'' both praised ''Empire of Light'' as “A wondrous, mind-expanding tour of the visible world" and as “Smoothly written, comprehensive, and thoroughly enjoyable,"
respectively.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perkowitz, Sidney
American science writers
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
American scientists