In a Flight of Starlings: The Wonders of Complex Systems

Theoretical physicist Parisi, who won the 2021 Nobel Prize in physics for his scholarship on how constituent parts organize themselves within larger wholes, delivers a stimulating debut for general readers that reflects on his work and the scientific method. “It is essential that the public have a fundamental understanding of the practice of science,” Parisi contends, citing climate change and Covid-19 as threats to which understanding science plays a crucial role in preparing the public to mobilize and respond. To illustrate how scientists operate, he recounts episodes from his career, including his studies on spin glasses (metal alloys with spinning particles that cause the metals to behave like molten glass) and the behavior of molecules during phase transitions. Discussing his investigation into how starlings fly in flocks without colliding, the author describes taking 3D images of the birds in flight and discovering that turns are usually initiated by small groups on the side of a flock, with each bird following its immediate neighbors. Parisi also waxes philosophical about how scientific innovation happens and suggests that unconscious thinking contributes to breakthroughs. He largely succeeds in making accessible such complicated subjects as particle physics, and the personal anecdotes are revealing. This ode to the scientific process fascinates. (July)