Rating: 
Summary: Explains the personalities, not the science
Review: For a book with this much detail about such a complex topic not to have a single illustration, diagram, or equation cannot be an oversight. I'm not sure if the author really wants to give you the illusion that he is allowing you to understand the relevant physics or not. He delves endlessly into the upbringing of the various scientists, and fails miseraby at making lay people understand what it is they dicovered. Many times he mentions scienfic findings in a context that makes one wonder if the equation or experiment turned out to be a cornerstone of later discovery or a red herring. I therefore conjecture that this book was meant to be primarily a history of competition and petty bickering among academics, and the title refers to how much you will learn about the physical forces responsible for low temperatures. The comparisons to "Longitude", (an excellent book), are apt in that both books focus on the egos and disputes involved, but "Longitude" traces the fight over the lifespan of one man, who ultimately triumphs despite long odds. If that book had been carried through with the same tone until it became a breathless account of how Bullova can outsell Rolex in 1992, I would also have given it 2 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Beach Reading
Review: I don't normally rate books here but was recommending this oneto a friend and checked to see if Amazon had it in stock. When I sawit only had one review, I decided to add my own. This is a good book. Anyone with a general interest in science or science history should enjoy it. It's easy reading, but perhaps too light on the actual science for the average reader. As the above reviewer notes, the author may not have a strong background in the subject, which shows at times. For example, I'm certainly not a chemist but I also thought the author confused Carbonic Acid (IIRC H2CO3, the stuff in soft drinks from dissolved CO2) with dry ice, unless that's a historical term for it? I also felt the last chapter was a bit rushed to bring the story up to present day. That last chapter should be expanded in to several chapters to present a better view on what has been accomplished in this field in the last few decades. But nitpicking aside, I enjoyed this book and recommend it. I hope this author writes more books like this one.
Rating:
Summary: Absolute Zero is a good book
Review: I don't normally rate books here but was recommending this oneto a friend and checked to see if Amazon had it in stock. When I sawit only had one review, I decided to add my own. This is a good book. Anyone with a general interest in science or science history should enjoy it. It's easy reading, but perhaps too light on the actual science for the average reader. As the above reviewer notes, the author may not have a strong background in the subject, which shows at times. For example, I'm certainly not a chemist but I also thought the author confused Carbonic Acid (IIRC H2CO3, the stuff in soft drinks from dissolved CO2) with dry ice, unless that's a historical term for it? I also felt the last chapter was a bit rushed to bring the story up to present day. That last chapter should be expanded in to several chapters to present a better view on what has been accomplished in this field in the last few decades. But nitpicking aside, I enjoyed this book and recommend it. I hope this author writes more books like this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Utterly annoying and scientifically misleading
Review: I got the distinct impression that the author lost interest in his own work somewhere after the third chapter, but had already spent his advance and was forced to finish writing it. The science is misleading (I think he mentioned "vaccuming off lighter molecules" of the same gas in the Kammerleigh Onnes section, maybe forgetting that identical molecules all have the same molecular weight unless we are talking isotopes, but hey, who wants to bother getting the scientific fundamentals straight when we can gossip about Tydall and Dewar's little falling out...). This book is a exaggerated People magazine retelling of the search to attain Absolute Zero. The author would have been wise to try speaking to a few living scientists to get a feel for the real challenges, frustrations, and joys of doing research rather than investing so much energy in "he said, she said" stories. I think the telling of this story would best have been left to someone with a better understanding of physics and the art of doing scientific research. From my own experience, research is no more a "wild ride" than gardening, or a long hike. It's joys are subtle but persistent, not a point this author ever seems to have understood.
Rating: 
Summary: A FREEZING Good Yarn !
Review: I got this book as a gift and thought...oh well. BUT I really enjoyed it very much. I loved the writing style, and the chronological summary of the quest for absolute zero. I worked for a time with low temperature physicists in applied research unrelated to cold, and WISH I had read this book before that happened...there are many questions I would have asked. I really liked the conciseness of the book as well as the 'human' perspectives of each of the giants in the field. This was a very FUN read.
Rating:
Summary: THIS WAS GOOD.
Review: I LIKED THIS BOOK. IT WAS GOOD. YOU SHOULD READ IT TOO.
Rating:
Summary: some digressions, but much great stuff
Review: I love this book as history of science -- the development of thermometers, then the redefinition of "heat" in a way that didn't require a hypothetical "caloric fluid," then the conception of entropy -- the movement of the universe toward a "heat death" and so forth. All great stuff, grippingly told.The only parts I didn't like were digressions into the history of business and industry. There is nothing wrong with telling the history of business (air conditioning, frozen foods, etc.), but that's not why one buys this book. Taking the digressions out would have let TS beef up the more fascinating stories, and perhaps add diagrams.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: If you are interested in science, scientists and its history; If all you remember from your science classes are the names of scientists like Boyle, Van der waals and Joule; if you are ready to be taken on a fantastic ride into the realms of the cold and the story of its conquest.... This is the book for you. I really enjoyed it very much. Not only did I get a better perspective of physics and chemistry but I was surprised at the amount of work that had gone into the construction of the common refrigerator or the air conditioner, to which we never pay any attention. And the personal touch the author added really helped me feel like I was with the scientists when each discovery was being made. Now, I feel like I know Dewar and Joule well enough to call them by their first names!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: If you are interested in science, scientists and its history; If all you remember from your science classes are the names of scientists like Boyle, Van der waals and Joule; if you are ready to be taken on a fantastic ride into the realms of the cold and the story of its conquest.... This is the book for you. I really enjoyed it very much. Not only did I get a better perspective of physics and chemistry but I was surprised at the amount of work that had gone into the construction of the common refrigerator or the air conditioner, to which we never pay any attention. And the personal touch the author added really helped me feel like I was with the scientists when each discovery was being made. Now, I feel like I know Dewar and Joule well enough to call them by their first names!
Rating: 
Summary: Suffers from lack of diagrams and technical errors
Review: No figures? No diagrams? How can you tell an interesting story about the physics of low temperature without showing even simple line diagrams of some of the revolutionary apparatus used to reach such low temperatures? You'll find no photos of the main researchers, either, so you end up with names instead of personalities. Characters pop in and out with confusing frequency, and I never got the feeling that some of them completely connect to the web of the story. Pioneer Carl Linde drops out on page 110 to reappear on page 153. Technical errors, such as calling solid carbon dioxide "carbonic acid" (it's dry ice), and describing helium II, a low-temperature liquid, and then talking about helium-3, an isotope of helium, will confuse many readers. Esaki diodes haven't been called that in years--they're tunnel diodes. The errors don't detract from the main story, but technical people will find they get annoying. An interesting story, but told in the form of "light" science. Was the author rushing to meet a deadline? Check it out of your library.
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