Book Review: The Only Words That Are Worth Remembering
Books and recommendations from Scientific American
By David Biello
On supporting science journalism
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The Only Words That Are Worth Remembering
by Jeffrey Rotter
Metropolitan Books, 2015 (($26))
There is no evolution, or climate change, or even astronomy in the curriculum. In fact, there is no curriculum, because schools have become merely training grounds that educate the young in mining and other trades. In such a world, where the stars are believed to be blemishes in the night glass of the sky, what if you knew some of the secrets of Nicolaus Copernicus? That is the fate Rotter imagines for the beleaguered Van Zandt family, whose members are rescued from penal servitude and forced to become astronauts. Alternately grisly, funny, tragic and thought-provoking, Rotter explores what might happen to people trapped in a postscience world run by libertarian fiat—and what giving in to their own impulses might cost them.
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