by Isaac Asimov
The nearest thing on earth to a perpetual motion machine is Asimov's typewriter. He's past the 250-book mark, and here he has taken on a subject worthy of his cerebrum: all human knowledge, from alpha to omega to zirconium carbide. Want to know about the subatomic particle called the neutrino? Curious about the pygmy shrew, the bee hummingbird or the giant sequoia? Asimov has facts on each, plus thoughts on how they interrelate in size, e.g., a neutrino is to a grove of 30 giant sequoias as the sequoias are to the universe. Probably all this information is in the Britannica, but who else would take the time to find out? Carl Sagan? He may be a TV series up on Isaac, but his published works are to Asimov's as, well, five or six neutrinos are to a moose. (Crown, $13.95)
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