<p>Just as Henry David Thoreau &ldquo;traveled a great deal in Concord,&rdquo; Nobel Prize&ndash;winning physicist Steven Weinberg sees much of the world from the window of his study overlooking Lake Austin. In <i>Lake Views</i> Weinberg, considered by many to be the preeminent theoretical physicist alive today, continues the wide-ranging reflections that have also earned him a reputation as, in the words of <i>New York Times</i> reporter James Glanz, &ldquo;a powerful writer of prose that can illuminate&mdash;and sting.&rdquo;</p><p>This collection presents Weinberg&rsquo;s views on topics ranging from problems of cosmology to assorted world issues&mdash;military, political, and religious. Even as he moves beyond the bounds of science, each essay reflects his experience as a theoretical physicist. And as in the celebrated <i>Facing Up</i>, the essays express a viewpoint that is rationalist, reductionist, realist, and secular. A new introduction precedes each essay, explaining how it came to be written and bringing it up to date where necessary.</p><p>As an essayist, Weinberg insists on seeing things as they are, without despair and with good humor. Sure to provoke his readers&mdash;postmodern cultural critics, enthusiasts for manned space flight or missile defense, economic conservatives, sociologists of science, anti-Zionists, and religious zealots&mdash;this book nonetheless offers the pleasure of a sustained encounter with one of the most interesting scientific minds of our time.</p>