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The Problems of a Dinosaur Stan Ulam BOOK REVIEWS evidence cited, however, predator-prey might well have been spectacular. The problems of ratios as preserved in the fossil record are Many fascinating problems suggest said to be probably the most significant. In themselves from a thoughtful perusal of a dinosaur the Cretaceous assemblage from Canada this book. Specialists should read it, (Oldman Formation) that Pierre Beland reflect on it and let Professer Alexander Dale A. Russell and I have examined, the ratio happens have their ideas for further research. to suggest that dinosaurian carnivores Those disparate disciplines, physics and Dynamics of Dinosaurs and Other Extinct had metabolic levels less than those of palaeontology, have much to offer each Giants. By R. McNeill Alexander. Colum­ mammals. I would agree, though, with other. D bia University Press: 1989. Pp . 167. the suggestion that, in the case of the $30. Date A. Russett is in the National Museum of 'cold-blooded' alternative, the standing Natural Sciences, PO Box 3443, Station D, crop of large dinosaurian herbivores Ottawa, Ontario K1P6P4, Canada. IT rs not easy to write simply, clearly and concisely. R. McNeill Alexander is a master of the art, as he shows in this alongside other large-format, glossy charmingly quantitative volume which Stan Ulam volumes. Yet a glance at the index shows deals primarily with the biology of David K. Arrowsmith that it contains plenty of mathematical dinosaurs. detail and the contents are much more Many of those interested in dinosaurs demanding than the initial appearance (including myself) lack an adequate From Cardinals to Chaos: Reflections on suggests. background in the principles of physics the Life and Legacy of Stanislaw Ulam. The overwhelming scientific impression and engineering as they apply to verte­ Edited by Necia Grant Cooper. Cambridge is of a strong cross-fertilization between University Press: 1989. Pp.320. Hbk brate morphology. Those principles are the various strands of Ulam's interests in £40, $75; pbk£15, $24.95. demonstrated in a sampling of topics science, particularly physics, and mathe­ including assessments of the weights of matics. Some of the titles of the papers­ dinosaurs, their motion as revealed by I susPEcr that, like me, most mathemati­ "Strange Attractors and Number Theory", trackways, their 'athletic' ability, the cians have heard of Stanislaw Ulam but "Ergodicity and Biomathematics", "Non­ structure and function of the backbone, have come across his name in connection linear Sciences", "Molecular Genetics" reproductive competition and metabol­ with no more than one or two mathe­ and "Turbulence" - testify to his wide­ ism. Flight in pterosaurs and swimming in matical disciplines. With this prejudice, I ranging vistas. giant marine reptiles are also considered, felt that Ulam's contributions to mathe­ The last part, entitled "The Ulam as is the controversy surrounding the matics were not great enough to warrant Touch", is short but highly entertaining, extinction of the dinosaurs and subse­ such a weighty, large-format book as this. and consists of hitherto unpublished items. quent giantism in mammals and birds. The I was wrong - the number of areas in It says much about Ulam the man. We text is all the more valuable for its open­ which Ulam produced original work is should be grateful that Rota has transcribed minded and non-polemical tone. quite surprising, and it would take a some of his conversations with Ulam on Many stimulating insights emerge from person with very wide interests fully to general philosophical points as well as the book. Among those I particularly appreciate the range of his endeavours. discussions about some of his most famous appreciated are the comments on the There are three parts to the book. In the acquaintances such as von Neumann, ability of sand and wet clay soils to support introductory section, Ulam is known to Erdos, Teller and Gamow. There are also weight; the apparent lack of athleticism in everyone as Stan and the reader gets on touches of hilarity, with a "memorable brontosaurs and in Tyrannosaurus ; the first-name terms with him too- appro­ memo", and a "Trialogue" written by use of the tail in kangaroos to offset priately so, for it is always good to know Ulam which parodies the arguments of angular momentum generated by the legs what drives the leaders and visionaries in both the pro- and anti-nuclear lobbies in hopping; the small size of the horns in any academic subject and how they go around him during his time at Los Alamos. Triceratops relative to horn-body-weight about their lives away from the formality The "Trialogue" was described by Ulam trends in antelopes (were Triceratops of the written paper. Fellow mathematician as a "top-secret skit", not meant for public jousts correspondingly less energetic?); Gian-Carlo Rota, Ulam's close friend, is consumption, and that "posterity should the prediction of a neck 'crumple zone' to responsible for much intimate insight and decide" . absorb the shock of head-to-head impact sets the informal tone with an anecdotal Anyone who reads this attractive and between two colliding dome-headed dino­ article which gives an appreciation of highly informative book is likely to con­ saurs; the suggestion that duck-billed Ulam's personal and scientific qualities. clude that Ulam was a scientist of great dinosaur females (like human females?) After several other revealing and fond originality, and that posterity will acknowl­ tended to prefer mates with deeper voices; tributes, part two gives an appreciation of edge his many seminal contributions. D and the physical reasons for the import­ his scientific legacy. The layout is attractive David K. Arrowsmith is in the School of ance of aspect ratio to fluid dynamics. and the articles are littered with sketches Mathematical Sciences, Queen Mary College, There are, however, points to disagree and pictures as well as reproductions Mile End Road, London £1 4NS, UK. with. For example, the vertebrae in the of letters from von Neumann to Ulam, brontosaur neck are extraordinarily his colleague. The unpredictable, even New In paperback pneumatic, and the specific gravity of the chaotic, bitty format makes for enjoyable • The A ge of Gaia by James Lovelock. Pub­ neck may well have been less than that of reading. lished by Oxford University Press, £4.95. the body, contrary to what Alexander The scientific articles are well written in See review in Nature 336, 270 (1988) . implies. Indeed, the neck was often partly accessible style. They testify to Ulam's • The Mathematical Tourist by Ivars Peterson. or completely separated from the body crucial and often early intervention in Published by W. H. Freeman, £9.95, $10.95 . many key research areas, after which he Reviewed in Nature 336, 292 (1988) . upon burial, possibly because of its rela­ • Th e Purpose of Forests by Jack Westoby. tive buoyancy (and, perhaps, because of generally left others to flesh out the ideas. Published by Basil Blackwell, £12.95, $25.95. the absence of a single, powerful neck Several papers contain beautiful colour Reviewed in Nature 330, 286 (1987). tendon). In the book, no conclusions are plates. Together with the book's great • Racial Hygiene: Medicine Under the Nazis by drawn with respect to 'hot-bloodedness' in bulk, these suggest that From Cardinals to Robert N. Proctor. Published by Harvard dinosaurs; among the various kinds of Chaos should be put out for browsing University Press, $14.95, £11.95. NATURE · VOL 342 · 9 NOVEMBER 1989 137 © 1989 Nature Publishing Group.
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