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Gino Segrè
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A Matter of Degrees: What Temperature Reveals about the Past and Future of Our Species, Planet, and Universe Paperback – July 1, 2003

by Gino Segre (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars 36
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In a wonderful synthesis of science, history, and imagination, Gino Segrè, an internationally renowned theoretical physicist, embarks on a wide-ranging exploration of how the fundamental scientific concept of temperature is bound up with the very essence of both life and matter. Why is the internal temperature of most mammals fixed near 98.6°? How do geologists use temperature to track the history of our planet? Why is the quest for absolute zero and its quantum mechanical significance the key to understanding superconductivity? And what can we learn from neutrinos, the subatomic "messages from the sun" that may hold the key to understanding the birth-and death-of our solar system? In answering these and hundreds of other temperature-sensitive questions, Segrè presents an uncanny view of the world around us.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    320 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Penguin Books
  4. Publication date
    July 1, 2003
  5. Dimensions
    5.08 x 0.68 x 7.7 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    9780142002780
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0142002780
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"An original and often creative angle on our universe"

"Refreshing and rewarding. Segre has an easygoing style, sprinkled with anecdotes and history, that immediately draws you in; it is like listening to a graceful conversation."

About the Author

Gino Segrè is professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Pennsylvania. An internationally renowned expert in high-energy elementary-particle theoretical physics, Segrè has served as director of Theoretical Physics at the National Science Foundation and received awards from the National Science Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the Guggenheim Foundation. This is his first book.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 014200278X
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books; Reissue edition (July 1, 2003)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780142002780
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0142002780
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.3 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.08 x 0.68 x 7.7 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 out of 5 stars 36

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Gino Segrè

Gino Segrè

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
36 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Robert J. Hard
5.0 out of 5 stars Degrees of Excellence
Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2002
Verified Purchase
It is hard to say which is more compelling: A Matter of Degrees' strength as a book of science history or its strength as a work of literature. Segre writes with such elegance, clarity and charm that it is easy to forget that this is a work we read for self-improvement rather than self-indulgence.
In a step-by-logical-step fashion, Segre leads the reader first to appreciate the importance of temperature and its regulation in living things into an understanding of thermo dynamics generally. We see things from the standpoint of giants like Newton, Davey, Rumford, Carnot and Kelvin, through moderns like Einstein, Bohr, Heizenberg, et al.--all the way up to discoveries circa 2001. We also see how even the great ones have stumbled and struggled with their misapprehensions, and will doubtless continue to do so.
From the warmth of mammalian bodies to the warmth of the greehouse effect, from the shriek of the first steam engines to the flickering near-nothingness of the neutrino, Segre ties the first to the last to show how an understanding of temperature leads to an understanding of origin. And by that I do not mean the origin of life--I mean the origin of everything.
This book is for people who--
A) Did not take any science courses in college but wish they had;
B) Did take science courses in college but wish they hadn't;
C) Want to see how a master teacher teaches his area of mastery; or
D)Are even passingly curious about How It All Began and How It All Might End.
32 people found this helpful
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Tony
5.0 out of 5 stars Running naked in Antarctica
Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2018
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Sinplicity is reached when u realize something that is so obvious that u cannot help but realize it. I thought about what Segre wrote, about running naked in Antarctica and searched cute harp seals. This biography is a worthy read, even thoug I’m a quick reader it made me slow down
One person found this helpful
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Luis Mansilla
5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating and lucid book!
Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2006
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For me this was an excellent book and recommend it to everyone interested in always learning new things. Segre's easy way of explaining tough matters is admirable. In this book you learn lots of stuff, like the average internal temperature of humans, earth temperature, what is absolute zero and quantum dynamics, all of them sauced with lots of history.
3 people found this helpful
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white gold wielder
2.0 out of 5 stars Basics of evolving universe omitted
Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2017
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The publisher does not really describe what the book is about, as there is almost nothing about the changing universe and temperature - which discussions demand a much more thorough treatment of entropy and complexity. In particular, why is it that local increases in order may occur in spite of the second law?

So much discussion about the author's background as a physicist, but then he omits such a basic physical concept about the changing universe?

A great disappointment,

If you really want to know the basic science of life and its evolution in terms of physical science do NOT get this book.
Instead, look to  Into the Cool: Energy Flow, Thermodynamics, and Life .

If you really want to know the basic science of the universe and its evolution in terms of physicsal science do NOT get this book.
Instead turn to  The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself
3 people found this helpful
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Ray B.
5.0 out of 5 stars Perspective changing book
Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2014
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Fantastic for those with or without scientific backgrounds. Would be a superb text for a liberal arts course in science and science history.
One person found this helpful
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laleph
3.0 out of 5 stars Science for the curious
Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2006
This book is a fantastic read for any of us who has gone through their science courses in school and wondered if there is more to science than the cut and dry information they got from their BORING(!!!!)textbooks.

Who would have ever thought that such a prestigious family of physicists who can pride themselves of a Nobel prize trace back to a enterprising grand-father who built a paper mill on top of Roman temple in Italy?

Science is indeed a human story.
3 people found this helpful
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Susan V. Meschel
5.0 out of 5 stars Segre:Amatter of degrees
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2009
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I was interested in both the topic and the author. The book is excellent, both an entertaining reading for people interested in the relationahip of ScieNce and history and also for teaching purposes.
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Brian Eckerman
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Science history read
Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2013
I really liked this book, it goes into not just how things are discovered/invented;
but the wrong turns they made in getting there. It gives you an idea of why things work the way they do, instead of someway else.
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Top reviews from other countries

Saptarshi Das
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in India on July 15, 2016
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One more way of finding out self- ignorance. Well written and lots of learning.
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Franck Binard
2.0 out of 5 stars It uses Fahrenheits...
Reviewed in Canada on May 23, 2022
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If you live anywhere else than in the US, every point of reference will require additional thoughts and calculations, which gets annoying. When the author says '100 degrees' he doesn't mean boiling hot, just lukewarm....Except sometimes, he does, because he also uses a Celsius scale every once in a while "it takes one calorie to raise one gram of water 1 degree Celsius." However, the temperature of the human body is 98.6, while the Sahara desert temp can reach 130 F...

I wish he had chosen a single scale for the whole book, and I wish that scale had been Celsius
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