It wasn’t until after I purchased the book did I realize that this isn’t a book at all, but a collection of the author’s journalistic writings. That was a little disappointing when I was looking for something in the vein of Carlo Rivelli’s “reality is not what it seems”.
There are a few articles featured that excited me, not because of their direct edification, but because they gave me a glimpse into areas of higher mathematics and logic that I was not aware of and find myself drawn to learn more about.
On the other hand, I found the section of articles on philosophical topics to be full of bull. That is, a lot of noise amounting to little meaning.
The author’s style itself grated on me throughout. He has a propensity to end his articles with punchy half jokes that are clearly meant to say “think more on this” but which come across more like “now here’s a bit of elitist humor I can clue you in on. please, admire my wit”. He also has a tendency to pull historical figures apart seemingly without aim. I don’t mind contrary views on who thought up what first, but it just seemed like a fruitless engagement in drama, amidst otherwise interesting topics.
Regarding the voicing, well that was distractingly dry as well. In places that maybe could have used some emotional expression, we’re left with vacant recitation. Knowing some french, and given the amount of phrases in it that the author uses, the narrator’s awful pronunciation was also a distraction. I don’t know German, but some of the German words and names also came across sounding over emphasized. I’ve heard this narrator before and in combination with some writings he can be tolerable if not appropriate of tone, but definitely not for this writing.
In short, if you’re looking to expand your concepts of reality and gain insight into recent thinking from the scientific community, be prepared to be distracted by a lot of fluff in between a few gems. Hell, even if you’re just looking for historical insights on important figures, there’s scant of worth here.