Publisher Description

For the last twenty years, Alan Lightman has been writing essays that display his genius for bringing literary and scientific concerns into harmony. Dance for Two gathers the best of Lightman's work.

Here are pieces that touch on both the ethereal and the corporeal; the dependence of a ballerina on the laws of physics, the choice of every scientist makes between tinkering and theorizing, the unscientific nature of discovery, the impulse behind an unprompted smile. Dance for Two is an intimate and fascinating look into the creative compulsions shared by the artist and the scientist.

Author Biography

ALAN LIGHTMAN is the author of seven novels, including the international best seller Einstein's Dreams and The Diagnosis, a finalist for the National Book Award. He has taught at Harvard and at MIT, where he was the first person to receive a dual faculty appointment in science and the humanities. He is the host of the public television series Searching: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science. He is a professor of the practice of the humanities at MIT.

Table of Contents

Foreword ix

Pas de Deux 3

A Flash of Light 6

Smile 12

Is the Earth Round or Flat? 17

If Birds Can Fly, Why, Oh Why, Can't I? 22

Students and Teachers 29

Time Travel and Papa Joe's Pipe 39

In His Image 45

Mirage 54

To Cleave an Atom 58

Elapsed Expectations 68

A Visit by Mr. Newton 73

Origins 79

A Day in December 84

Progress 87

I=V/R 94

Nothing but the Truth 100

Time for the Stars 107

A Modern-Day Yankee in a Connecticut Court 117

The Origin of the Universe 133

How the Camel Got His Hump 142

Ironland 145

Other Rooms 151

Seasons 159

Review

"Alan Lightman is one of our most consistently fascinating writers."
—Annie Dillard
 
"Lightman has an uncanny way of presenting complex concepts with familiar examples and analogies—so that readers will both deepen their appreciation of science and their love of fine literature."
—Stephen Jay Gould
 
"Novelist, essayist, physicist, and master of prose style, Alan Lightman continues his extraordinary voyage into unexplored regions of life, time, and the imagination. Dance for Two is a compelling book of flawless prose from a unique mind."
—Richard Preston

Review Quote

"Alan Lightman is one of our most consistently fascinating writers." --Annie Dillard "Lightman has an uncanny way of presenting complex concepts with familiar examples and analogies--so that readers will both deepen their appreciation of science and their love of fine literature." --Stephen Jay Gould "Novelist, essayist, physicist, and master of prose style, Alan Lightman continues his extraordinary voyage into unexplored regions of life, time, and the imagination. Dance for Two is a compelling book of flawless prose from a unique mind." --Richard Preston

Excerpt from Book

Pas de Deux In the soft blue light, the ballerina glides across the stage and takes to the air, her toes touching Earth imperceptibly. Saut

Details