The Secret of Life 16
| The Secret of Life | |
| author | Paul McAuley |
| pages | 390 |
| publisher | UK: HarperCollins Voyager |
| rating | 8 |
| reviewer | Duncan Lawie |
| ISBN | 076530080X |
| summary | Summary: A fascinating dissection of the values of science stirred into a near-future peregrination across Mars and America. |
There is considerable potential for hubris in such a title -- and the book itself is something of a chimera, perhaps offering in its own appearance a resonance with the Chi molecule at the centre of its plot.
In the first portion of the book McAuley tempts us to believe that this is his NASA novel -- a common enough route into the near future for authors who wish to discuss conditions off Earth. This section is filled with politicking in the offices and anterooms of Washington, descriptions of NASA facilities around the USA and matter of fact inclusion of astronauts as highly qualified truck drivers.
As the plot heads for Mars the NASA guise morphs and the temptation arises to compare the book with Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy - that icon being almost unavoidable when treating Mars in a near future hard science fiction manner. However, McAuley has been to Mars before (in Red Mars) and on this occasion he sets a slingshot trajectory rather than being trapped by the KSR trilogy's mass. The book re-engineers its characteristics yet again in the final third, careering through a portfolio of political positions and potentials and echoing some of his own earlier works in the process.
Nevertheless, this book is really about science and scientists. It soon becomes apparent that the protagonist, Mariella, is a brilliant scientist but not a dedicated labcoat. Neither is she a forgetful, shock-haired eccentric, though her genius has its fair share of arrogance: her strength of self-belief almost makes the world conform to her expectations. The author's tendency to ineffectual protagonists has been rebuilt slightly closer to the model of American science fiction: Mariella is trapped as much by conspiracy as by co-incidence; by her wilfulness rather than her inaction. Having departed an anti-science Europe, she is constrained by an American model where Big Science is tied to Big Government and Big Money in an unstable bond. The volatility of this instability generates much of the action.
It also leads into arguments that have been rumbling through the research world for years and which have been brought into sharp focus again regarding research on the human genome: how much science belongs in the public domain and what rewards should be available to private research. The more obvious line of reasoning is analogous to the Open Source argument: good science is dependent upon peer review; the constraints of commercial confidentiality act against dissemination of information; compartmentalisation of science reduces the opportunity to see the Big Picture.
The Secret of Life does not go so far as to say that information wants to be free, but it does suggest that (good) scientists want all possible information. This is almost a restatement of the purpose of science -- to learn everything there is to learn. It is this mission of science which many, disparate elements of the modern world object to; though riddled with internal conflict, various Green and radical groups hold to the belief that there are things of which humanity should not wot. This anti-science cant is the subject of McAuley's second line of attack on scientific secrecy: demystification is essential to the public acceptance of the products of science. If the primary perception of scientists involves lab coats, incomprehensible equations and arcane equipment then how do they differ from white-robed druids with their incantations and ritual?
Perhaps sometimes science likes to be seen as being beyond the ken of the average individual, but such an approach can lead to fear as easily as awe. Scientists who fail to interact with such realities are almost as much a subject for Mariella's contempt as are those who allow science to be contained and controlled by commercial and political agendas. She has sympathy with the disenfranchised but she clearly believes that the solution to any practical problem involves more science, not less.
It is tempting to hang much of the thesis of this book on McAuley himself. He was a professional biologist for many years and clearly the almost anthropological insight into this tribe is a product of that time. Whilst the Chi molecule is carefully and intelligently realised, the pacing of the novel has the rhythm of scientific research. Deep discussion and demonstration upon the themes of the book fill out the flat spots in the plot. Mariella is a fascinating character, fully rounded to the degree that she can seem self-contradictory and probably very frustrating for a reader who cannot identify with her -- though such a reader will find much to disagree with in a book so thoroughly embedded in the 21st century world view. On the whole, the book does not quite manage all it sets out to achieve. Given the height at which McAuley aims, this is hardly an extreme criticism. It is a well written and engaging book with considerable food for thought.
You can purchase this book at FatBrain.
Spork, why are you so threatened by Open Source? (Score:1)
Please, not like Red Mars (Score:2)
Peregrination? Wot? (Score:1)
But...
I'm relieved they're writing reviews rather than books. This one reads like a book report on the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act. A novel-length work in this style would have me reaching for a double-strength can of Red Bull (and a thesaurus as well, I'm afraid).
Smilodon
V V
And the answer is ... (Score:1)
Finally the time has come to stop debugging that Ultimate Computer thingie, it was right after all.
I fitted McAuley's living room carpet! (Score:1)
http://www.blitzbasic.com/
Dr. Neulhammer on combining scientific disciplines (Score:3)
A bit of a misfit, few people took his early papers on the subject seriously. In fact, the idea of fully-grounded, horizontally-formatted scientific study has yet to gain acceptance.
Dr. Hans Neulhammer's bio can be found HERE [ridiculopathy.com].
answer vs secret vs meaning (Score:1)
The "secret of life" referred to may be different from the "answer". Maybe it's the same as the "meaning of life", which is twofold:
Does the "secrets" book talk about the hats thing?
P.S. In replies, please change the subject line to specify what aspect of hats you want to discuss.
Just in time (Score:3)
Murphy's Law of Copiers
Re:Please, not like Red Mars (Score:2)
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Just a few little points... (Score:1)
It is a worrying trend that large groups of people will turn to superstition and "here be Dragons" over the actual facts. In this case I mean actual bona fide facts that are there, not just theory. A prime example would be the terrible Fox show on the Moon Landings recently that went in just to try and prove that they never occured. It was blatantly biased to the opinion that NASA had engineered the whole thing here on Earth, but they neglected to even mention Moon Rocks, nor the fact that thousands of HAM Radio operators could follow the progress through the atmosphere and onwards towards the moon.
Seems like he is trying to reach a wide audience via Sci-Fi, not sure that this is the best route. Would it not be better to become a screen writer and get some "entertainment" shows published?
Re:Old News! (Score:1)
Re:Dr. Neulhammer on combining scientific discipli (Score:1)
Nitpicking (Score:2)
Actually, the title is: Red Dust in case any feels confused.
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Re:the answer (Score:1)
Re:the answer (Score:1)
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"Fuck your mama."
hey (Score:2)