“GEMS OF ASTRONOMICAL INSIGHT AND EXPLANATION”

—Publishers Weekly

What is the Milky Way made of? How are new stars born? Does the moon affect our behavior? When is right wrong…and vice versa? There is no scientific region too remote nor area inaccessible to the probing pen of Isaac Asimov. In this, his remarkable twenty-fourth collection of astonishing real-life wonders, the good doctor carries the reader on a breathtaking roller-coaster ride that races from the center of the human brain to the outer reaches of the universe. Sparkling with charm and the acclaimed Asimov wit, THE RELATIVITY OF WRONG is a delightful potpourri of chemical conundrums, galactic puzzles, and awesome astronomical anomalies, certain to enthrall anyone who has ever longed to comprehend the incomprehensible.

“(ASIMOV IS) AS FORMIDABLE AND READABLE AS EVER.”

—Kirkus Reviews

Although this is a pleasant enough entry in the series of collected essays from F&SF, it is in general not an outstanding one—the essays here are good, are interesting, and are informative. There is, however, one exception, and that’s the title essay, which I think is important both for understanding Asimov’s thinking about science and for arming oneself against the anti-science attack that one often hears—theories are always preliminary and science really doesn’t “know” anything. Asimov tackles the issue directly and handles it well; for this reason if none else, this collection is more than worth having.