The Charm of Physics: Collected Essays of Sheldon Glashow

In these 27 pieces, derived from the Nobel Laureate's speeches, interviews and published papers, Glashow's style is by turns conversational and science-journal stiff. Several articles, especially ``Towards a Unified Theory,'' his 1979 Nobel acceptance speech, that recapitulate the progress of physics are models of organizing difficult concepts for the general reader. Because the collection is assembled from so many sources, however, there is an irritating amount of overlap, and the range of scientific notation puts several pieces out of the reach of lay readers. Still, students of physics can rejoice in having this round view of Glashow's thinking on science, society, grand unified theories, SETI, supercolliders and the like. (Mar . )