I flew through this book, enjoying it all the way. It had a little bit of physics, a little bit of philosophy, romance, travel, it was great! It is the story of a physics professor, Gunnar, who decides he is ready to marry and starts a search for love. He tries to go about it scientifically, with mixed results.

I loved his attempts at speed dating. The women he meets are so over the top. His awkward attempts at casual talk are funny too. This is a man who initially finds it hard to talk to women, but by the end of the book, he doesn't seem to have any problem with this.

Halfway through the book, Gunnar travels to Denmark, both for his work and for a woman. His adventures in Denmark are hilarious. I especially liked his trip to Christiania. I had never heard of this place, and it was very interesting. His relationship with Kara was a bit depressing, but helped him on his journey to love.

The ending left me feeling a little mixed. Happy from the romantic in me, but the practical side of me was appalled. Love at Absolute Zero was a fun read, and I would recommend it to my friends.


I received this book for free from the goodreads first reads program. ( )

In Love At Absolute Zero by Christopher Meeks the plot is really quite simple: boy wants to meet girl. In this case the boy is 32 year old Wisconsin physicist Gunnar Gunderson. Gunnar gets tenure and decides he needs a wife. He consults with his research partners and they chart a course of action for him to find his soul mate in three days - which is all the time they are able to devote to the search while keeping to their research schedule.

The premise behind Christopher Meeks's novel Love At Absolute Zero intrigued me right from the start. I know scientifically inclined geeks rather well and will admit that I could totally see one of them seriously consider using the scientific method to find a mate. Their seriousness and ability to immerse themselves in their research combined with taking a similar approach to finding a wife is where I imagined the hilarity would ensue. I was not disappointed.

Since readers of She Treads Softly know I like science in my science fiction, you will understand my curiosity when I wondered how would Meeks approach incorporating science in an purely entertaining novel. (Be sure to come back tomorrow for a guest post by Christopher Meeks where he addresses my question about the research he did to get the scientific details down pat in the novel.) I applaud Meeks for doing an admirable job keeping the science real while at the same time not bogging down the entertaining aspects of the novel with too much information about the science.

At the opening of each chapter is a quote or law that relates to physics or science in some manner. Pay attention to them because they enhance the humor in Gunnar's search. Chapter Five opens with: "If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?" -Albert Einstein. Chapter Seven: "The great tragedy of science: the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact." -English Biologist Thomas H. Huxley. Chapter Twenty-one: "An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field." -Neils Bohr. (As many of you know, I love good quotes!)

I found Love at Absolute Zero a very quick, entertaining, and enjoyable novel. He's also quite grounded in the real world, for example mentioning the RateMyProfessor.com site, and, of course speed dating. While I will admit to one minor quibble with the novel, the sheer humor and originality more than made up for it. My minor criticism is that the scientific geeks I know also all have very well developed vocabularies that they use without hesitation. As a character Gunnar was rather plain spoken in comparison to some real life counterparts.

However, my minor complaint was all but erased when yet another funny scene occurred. My absolute favorite is in the quotes below and concerns the physicists visiting the Humanities department. Not that the novel is all humor. It is actually quite serious at times, but Meeks is a clever writer and has prefect timing - he knows when the reader needs a bit of levity to lighten up the mood. Actually, Love At Absolute Zero should be adapted to a screen play. The timing in the novel would perfectly suit a romantic comedy.
Highly Recommended; http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/


Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for review purposes.
( )

Gunnar Gunderson is having his midlife crisis a little early. He’s just gotten tenure and suddenly he decides he needs a wife. Gunnar’s a scientist, not a romantic, so he decides to play to his strengths: he’s going to use the scientific method to help him find a wife. Even better, he’s going to find her in three days.

What follows is a little over-the-top but definitely funny. If Gunnar and his wingmen can find a study or a research paper on what attracts women, Gunnar is going to try it out. Braces, eye surgery, speed dating — he’ll even talk to someone in the theater department.

He’s got just a short time to devote to his hunt for love. Gunnar and his colleagues are involved in very competitive research on Bose-Einstein condensates, which exist only at temperatures near absolute zero. Due to some logistical issues at the university, they have this little window of opportunity and they are determined to take advantage of it. Imagine a couple of the geeks you went to high school with, hanging out in the basement rec room, plotting ways to get girls to make out with them. Age them about 15 years, give them a couple of advanced degrees (but no advanced social skills) and you have Gunnar and his friends. They try to help, in their own way, but Gunnar is determined to make every step in the book.

I loved the speed-dating part of the book. The urgency, trying to make an instant good impression, reading all the scientific studies to wear the right colors and say the right things…and still managing to say the wrong thing, every time. Dating is horrible! No wonder he wants to get it over with in three days.

I could also relate to his experiences in Denmark. I’ve talked about my travels here before, and while I love seeing new places, it can be mentally and emotionally exhausting. Trying to deal with a simple thing like ordering dinner when you aren’t 100% positive you know what you’re ordering? Scary stuff. But he digs right in and gives it a try, instead of slinking home a failure.

All in all, it’s a fun book about the crazy stuff we do to find love. I could applaud Gunnar’s efforts even as I was thinking “this is never gonna work!” It’s tough to try and connect with someone and it’s scary to put yourself out there, so you can’t help but root for him, even when you think he’s nuts. Using the scientific method isn’t any crazier than buying cologne with pheromones or counting on your zodiac sign to determine your compatibility. Gunnar should give hope to geeks everywhere. ( )

A 32-year old physicist who studies the behavior of atoms at absolute zero degrees, Gunner Gunderson decides it's time to find a wife. Ever the scientist, he approaches the task of finding love using the scientific method and giving himself a deadline: 3 days. Although the premise is rather contrived, Love at Absolute Zero is an engaging story. Just as atoms become increasingly unpredictable near absolute zero, Gunner finds that the pursuit of romance can lead to unpredictable choices and outcomes. I thought the story's pace was good. The description of Gunner's first trip abroad captured an American's first taste of Europe very well. I would have liked to have more insight into the female characters' thoughts and feelings, but overall found it an entertaining read. ( )

Gunnar Gunderson is thirty-two years old and has just made tenure. His entire focus has been on researching the ultracold and finding a way to achieve absolute zero – a concept that is inherently impossible. Love, it seems, has also been impossible for Gunnar, a man who is brilliant when it comes to physics, but lacks a certain social awareness when it comes to people. True to his personality and belief in science, Gunnar develops a plan to find love over a three day period using the scientific method.

Others talk about destiny. Still others argue free will. Gunnar didn’t particularly like philosophy. It was too imprecise. Science was better, and he was happy with his science. – from Love at Absolute Zero, page 6 -

Love at Absolute Zero is a comic look at love from the point of view of a man completely dependent on science to view the world. Gunnar follows the play book for love: getting braces to fix the gap in his teeth, dying and cutting his hair, getting laser surgery to fix his nearsightedness, and joining a speed dating program…all within three days. But even Gunnar cannot control all the variables and when he steps on a woman’s toes, his science begins to fail him.

“I’m trying to understand the design of the smallest thing, the atom, and perhaps if I can understand that, then I can understand ordinary things like why every pen in my jar on my desk doesn’t write. Why do I keep misplacing my cell phone yet I know the integer spin of strontium atoms. Why do I know that falling in love is fun but keeping it something else.” – from Love at Absolute Zero, page 242 -

Christopher Meeks takes his readers from Wisconsin to Denmark as Gunnar navigates the unfamiliar path to love. Gunnar’s naivety and awkwardness make him a sympathetic character, although at times I wondered could anyone really be this out of touch? Readers familiar with Meeks’ work will recognize the quirky nature of his characters who stumble through life uncovering the answers to the most basic of human questions.

In many ways, Love at Absolute Zero is perhaps the most “male” of Meeks’ work (this is his second novel after his two collections of short stories). Gunnar’s character has almost zero understanding of women and he is very focused on the sexual part of his relationship with them. I actually squirmed in my seat reading the “romantic” parts of this novel because Gunnar felt to me more on the emotional level of a teenager than a thirty-two year old man. I think it was this aspect of the novel that left me unable to fully relate to Gunnar and his dilemmas.

Readers who want a light, entertaining read along the rocky road to love, will find much to like about Meeks’ latest work. Although I think there may be women, like myself, who want to shake some sense into Gunnar’s muddled mind, I believe there will be many men who will find they are able to connect with Gunnar’s confusion about the opposite sex. ( )