4 comments about Joseph Banks: A Life.

1. This biography is obviously a collection of study material for Aubrey & Maturin. Sea travel combined with geographical exploration as well as botanizing and zoologizing, plus English society bickering is what the series is about just like this book on Banks. The whole O'Brian is there in the material.
   Unfortunately only in the material. The flow of the prose is sadly lacking. The wit and humour comes through occasionally, but not the brillant dialogues, nor the elegant story telling, nor the gripping passages on nature and human encounters with it.
   This is far too lean, relying on the accumulation of facts. Too much of the narrative is told in Banks' own stunted language. I have a hard time going through these condensed and stumbling diary entries. This is mostly a probem in the first half of the book. It gets much better at the time after Banks' travels, when he becomes a 'barnacle' and presides over the Royal Society.
   A good biography ought to be more than material and information. It ought to tell us a story. The story is visible, but not fully told.
   A good biography, on the positive side now, is always also a history of something larger than the main hero. This is a history of science and exploration in the 18th century, with some noteable supporting cast like James Cook and Linnaeus, with King George III and Benjamin Franklin. And awful Captain Bligh of Bounty fame, later Governor of Ossiland. And Jane Austen, but she more by association and less by personal appearance.
   All that is fine.
   But what about poor Solander? The man is there for much of the narrative, but does he ever get a chance to become a person? I don't think so, only in wee little asides. Just a tertiary cast member. Does Solander deserve that? Possibly not, but since O'Brian treats him with scarce attention, I may never know.
   Disappointing.



2. Joseph Banks served forty years as president of the Royal Academy, Britain's oldest scientific institution. His legacy survives as a result of his scientific enterprise; he helped to transform an "insular" monarchy to an "industrial powerhouse."
   
   He sailed on expeditions to North America and Iceland as well as the Pacific, and established Kew Gardens as one of the world's greatest botanical centers. His 'Florilogium' about his botanical studies in the South Seas is there in the library.
   
   He was a naturalist, a young botanist, in addition to being an explorer. He was one of Australia's founding fathers. He accompanied Captain Cook as he circumnavigated the globe to discover that country.
   
   His Last Will & Testament requested no monument, but forty-seven years after his death in 1820 at the age of 77 years, a tablet was erected showing his grave. He was portrayed as forthright, cheerful and a hospitable man, an intrepid explorer abroad who investigated all he encountered as a genius journalist. He left all of his possessions to wife, Dorothea, with his library at Kew under the direction of Robert Brown, who would have the leasehold house after her death.
   
   Jason Wilson wrote in 'London Magazine' that "this leisurely and witty biography brings the 'genuine' Englishman fully to life." P. O'Brian used Banks' letters to such luminaries as Edward Gibbon, Samuel Johnson, Cuvier and Watt -- and his journals. He wrote a biography of Picasso and resided in southern France.



3. I, on the other hand, have never read any of the Aubrey & Maturin books, but I'm extremely interested in the Cook expeditions of which Banks played so much a part. I think it must be because I can see Banks Island right outside my window. Anyway, I must say that, after reading this book, I was prepared to believe Banks walked on water. Founder of modern botany (and modern science generally), explorer, developer of Kew and on and on. Certainly one of the giants of British naval exploration.

   Alas! Cook biographers have been a little less kind to Banks. While often portrayed as a hard driving scientist, he has also been portrayed as a bit of an upper-class twit, always petulent and silly. Which is it? Probably somewhere in the middle. Read this book, but keep an open mind about the hagiography!




4. Having read every one -- all 18, I think -- of the wonderful Aubrey & Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian, coming across O'Brian's earlier "Joseph Banks" is a special pleasure. The same wonderful O'Brian dry wit is there, the same fascinated and fascinating focus on the late 18th century, British politics and society, and the sea. O'Brian's "Banks" is an easy read, compared with many scholarly biographies. That is because, actually, it doesn't really qualify as a "scholarly" effort. It is more discursive, easy-going, unpretentious. Delightful is the word that most aptly describes O'Brian's writing in general, and that applies here. Of special interest, though, is that the character of Jack Aubrey is prefigured, very briefly, in the description of a sea-captain acquaintance of Banks's, and Stephen Maturin himself, while not found in person here, is prefigured by the career of Banks himself: explorer, biologist, botanist, collector, and man of the world. O'Brian's "Joseph Banks" is not for everyone, but is certainly for any one of the thousands of O'Brian addicts. Which makes one muse and wonder: when, oh when is "The Hundred Days" coming out in paperback so I can line it up with the other eighteen volumes?

1 comments about Scientists of Faith: 48 Biographies of Historic Scientists and Their Christian Faith.

1. This book is a good place to begin research of the topic of scientists of faith. The religious views of each scientist are summerized over several pages. The writing style is clear and concise. There are references given for more detailed information. Overall, it is an interesting read.

3 comments about Every Other Thursday: Stories and Strategies from Successful Women Scientists.

1. "...Thursday" is a very useful, encouraging and illuminating book for women pursuing non-traditional career goals, particularly in science. The experience of the Berkeley group shows what can happen when women come together, share their progress and their frustrations and build strong supportive bonds with and for each other. Bonds that became even stronger through one group member's traumatic experience of being turned down for tenure.
   In short, creating a mentoring environment for all group members. Congratulations, Berkeley women!
   Lu Ann W. Darling, author of DISCOVER YOUR MENTORING MOSAIC, A GUIDE TO ENHANCED MENTORING



2. Let's say you have problems at work. You have an unreasonable deadline. You're up for promotion. Your boss seems intent on attacking you. You are going to have a baby and that's not welcome news at work. You feel excluded from important conversations. No one will go to lunch with you. Ellen Daniell tells us all a great way to handle these work-related emergencies and bad vibes: form a weekly discussion group focused on professional issues.
   In addition to providing friendships, now at a premium in this society, the group can say how strategies worked (or didn't work) for them, support the stressed worker, and keep her/him from giving in to the pressures of work. Daniell's own group includes members of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers and professors and industry scientists. Most have been women historically (over the 25 years this group has functioned). She was invited to join by a prominent male molecular biologist 25 years ago. She gives us the history of the group, lots of detailed anecdotes of its functioning, and then turns to how to form and run such a group for your own sanity.
   I found this book both inspiring and disquieting: Daniell herself describes how she was denied tenure at a prestigious university, fought the decision, and was denied anyway. Then she became an administrator in the biotech industry, and today she's a full time writer. Her self esteem came through thanks to the group process. But as a woman in science, who took the trouble to read Daniell's pre tenure publications, I am appalled that she was denied. What were they thinking? But don't get the idea that this book is full of rage. That's my own, not Ellen Daniell's. Through her group, she has dealt successfully with the decision and put it behind her comfortably.
   I recommend this book very highly; get it for your mental health and well being. I agree with Rita Colwell (former director of the National Science Foundation) who is quoted on the back cover saying that she wished she could have read it back at the start of her career.



3. Life is tough. Scientist or nonscientist, man or woman, we go up against great odds to make progress, teach and inspire others, and pave the way for the future. So why does the world make this process so hard? In this book, Ellen Daniell describes the support network of young scientists, mostly women, that helped its Bay Area members overcome family troubles, deal with the whims of fate, and face despair in academic and institutional settings. Along the way she describes the psychological approach to success that we can provide for one another. Read this book, and make friends, and be happy that we get this great chance in life!

4 comments about Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature.

1. An absolutely fabulous book on an environmental pioneer, "Witness for Nature" offers up three very important reminders: (1) We must never forget the prophetic contribution of Rachel Carson; (2) we must carry on her bold and visionary mission, never backing down from, as the book described them, the "powerful adversaries" of the chemical industry, corporate agriculture and others that seek to impose their technological will on the rest of us; and (3) we must treasure every day we have left and take the time to cherish our gifts in the natural world. I only wish Rachel Carson had lived to be 100 so she could have carried on her ecological vision for many more decades.



2. How many people today remember Rachel Carson? When you see an eagle or a falcon or a hawk, you can than k Rachel Carson. Her book "Silent Spring" incited action almost immediately against irresponsible pesticide use, including DDT, and launched an ecology movement that led to the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act. This is quite an accomplishment for an author of natural history books; Rachel Carson must have been larger than life, practically immortal, in order to have pulled this off.
   
   But...as Linda Lear documents in extraordinary detail, Rachel Carson was entirely mortal, and all too human, and was not lacking in the faults most of us possess. Success came to Carson late (almost too late), but Carson's love of nature and her dogged determination allowed her to complete what is, perhaps, the most important book of the 20th Century before she succumbed to breast cancer. Lear's detail is incredibly deep; over and again she recounts instances from Carson's life that seem trivial and mundane until the reader feels bogged down in the excess of it. But this detail is critical, because Carson's life itself seemed mundane and trivial, that is until the last decade of it. Carson was a regular person-she was no superstar-and Lear's depth of detail is necessary in order to explain Carson's journey from a less-than-middle-class upbringing to government functionary to the preeminent nature writer of her time. Carson's life evolves slowly and ends tragically; she never married and she never had children-it is almost as if she was born to deliver "Silent Spring" at exactly the right moment in history, when it was needed the most, and then pass on.
   
   In "Witness for Nature", Linda Lear does not allow Rachel Carson to become a cardboard icon of an earlier time; Lear recreates Carson as a complete person with loves and fears and faults. Carson's greatness rises on its own from Lear's writing.



3. The first reviewer, Shari Just, has captured perfectly the quality, scope and value of Lear's biography. If you have ever wondered "can one person make a difference" this is the proof. A readable blend of history, place, people and events describing a modest scientist that loved to communicate scientific findings to a wider audience.



4. Lear's detailed biography offers an unmatched look at Carson's personal and professional life. This book takes the reader behind the scenes of Rachel Carson's brilliant works in order to demonstrate the difficulties that dogged her every day existance. Lear chronicles Carson's personal perservance and dedication to the environmental cause in an immensely readable format. A wonderful and inspiring book to read!

5 comments about Wildlife Wars: The Life and Times of a Fish and Game Warden.

1. I first picked up this book not knowing what to expect, I thought if it was bad, I would throw it in the corner. Little did I know, how much I'd love this book and actually all of them in the series. From the first page, I was not able to put the book down. I think I read Wildlife Wars in about 3 days and quickly started ordering all the books. Mr. Grosz is a bear of a man with a heart as big as he is! He spent 25+ years defending wildlife so that the next generation would have something left. Some of the stories are exciting, others comical and some just amazing, but in the end I was sad finish the book. When reading his adventures, its easy to close your eyes and picture what he saw so many years ago. If you are looking for an adventurous book that leaves an impression on you, then this is book for you.



2. I bought this book back when I was a junior in high school, in 2002. At the time I was considering where I wanted to go to school and what I wanted to major in. This book, and others by Terry, helped me decide that wildlife conservation was my path. I've since graduated from Humboldt State with my BS in Wildlife Management and Conservation and will be applying this fall as a Conservation Officer in Idaho. Wildlife management takes many forms, from academia to habitat management, but I've decided I can best protect "America's wildlife heritage" by being part of the first line of defense against their destruction thanks in large part to getting a idea of the field from Terry's first hand experiences. Terry also stresses the importance of community support and education if we are to have a hope of winning the wildlife wars. The field of wildlife is my passion, and Terry's books helped put me on that path.



3. This is a fun, easy to read book. I hate to think that all of the incidents of this book occured, but at least there are some out there willing to fight for those who can't fight for themselves. Love the way Grosz lays down the law.



4. Game wardens go out alone into the wilderness at night to arrest groups of people carrying guns. If you think about that, it's amazing that any of them survive, much less arrest people. It's not surprising that they suffer much higher injury and death rates than any other kind of law enforcement officer. Grosz gets shot once in this book, and has several more close calls.
   
   The book consists of a a bunch of stories from Grosz's early days as a game warden in California in the late 1960s. Grosz is a born story-teller, and each chapter is engaging. However, each story seems to have been written to stand alone, so that some facts are repeated pointlessly (especially his size but also the names of his partners, the fact that his wife is a schoolteacher).
   
   Gross is also an old-school law enforcement officer. You won't find him reading anyone their Miranda rights. In several cases he and some partners take the law into their own hands, harassing "lads" who might otherwise be difficult to prosecute.
   
   You can read this book as the memoirs of a cop who happens to be on the poacher beat. But I suspect that most people who pick it up will be interested in wildlife more than law enforcement per se. You won't be disappointed, and you're likely to be shocked by how many people violate every wildlife law in the book. In one chapter, Grosz performs routine checks on two dozen people during deer season, and every single one of them ends up with a citation for one thing or another.
   
   The most memorable chapter tells the story of a lifelong duck "dragger," who might kill hundreds of ducks a night for sale to the market in San Francisco. This poacher has decided that his profession is no longer sustainable, and he decides to teach Grosz the ways of duck dragging so that he will be a more effective game warden. It's a nice story of an unlikely friendship during the passing of an era.



5. The book provides some very interesting insight into a side of wildlife and its management not seen by the public. Everything generally looks so peaceful and calm in wildlife areas, but there's poaching, crookedness, thievery and associated danger to animals and game wardens not often heard. These are not simple stories of a warden just ticketing offenders for catching more than their limit. Each chapter is a different story, so one can read whatever story has appeal. This simple organization can wear thin after awhile. It seems like good material for a TV series on his life. Could have used some pictures. Maybe the hardback (if there is one) had them. Often they are omitted from paperbacks.

4 comments about Reluctant Genius: Alexander Graham Bell and the Passion for Invention.

1. A very well written book about Alexander Graham Bell from early years to adulthood and the inventions in between. I wish more of the inventions were shown in this book though.



2. This was a great read and a finely illustrated history of Alec Bell's life. I appreciated the author's weaving in of Alec's wife, Mabel, throughout the book and how she was an integral part of his life in many ways.
   
   The book occasionally repeats itself and gets a little tedious, mainly in the way it paints Alec as the constant tinkerer and you as a reader get frustrated in the way he wastes so much time on certain pursuits (the sheep raising being one), but this really in no way detracts from the enjoyment of reading this book.
   
   Wonderfully detailed and very entertaining, this is a terrific read and comes highly recommended.



3. Both general-interest libraries strong in biographical representation and college-level science collections where inventor biographies are strong will want Reluctant Genius: Alexander Graham Bell and the Passion for Invention. It represents the first major biography on Bell in thirty years and probes the life of a man whose inventions changed the world. Born of a deaf mother, Bell developed a passion for sound at an early age, investigating the science of sound and joining the race to invent the first 'speaking telegraph'. While he's best known for inventing the telephone, he also participated in the race to develop the airplane, and invented the hydrofoil - as well as investigated a president's murder. A complex individual emerges from these pages, making for a satisfying read indeed.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



4. It is common knowledge that Bell invented the telephone. (Although as many times as I got called during this last election I'm not so sure it was a good idea.) But it was a time when great advances were being made in such devices. There were other inventors such as Meucci in Europe and Oki in Japan who were doing the same thing.
   
   What is less known is that Bell was an inventor in many areas, rather like Edison or Tesla, he worked in many areas: sonar, ultra sound, iron lung, electric heating, and many more.
   
   Perhaps as outstanding was his subsequent creation of The Bell Telephone Company. He had the ability to make the fundamental invention and then to capitalize on it to create a giant company where there had been nothing before, rather like Bill Gates was able to do in our time.
   
   This is a major biography, it contains original research and understanding into his life combined with an excellent writing style that brings his life to life.

5 comments about Men of Science Men of God: Great Scientists of the Past Who Believed the Bible.

1. The late Henry Morris, a creationist with no background in biology or history (his degree is in hydraulic engineering), levels false implications of evolution with evils (or Morris's preceived evils). This book is nothing more than a thinly veiled attack on the science of evolutionary biology using long dead mens' faith as some kind of attempt to place Christianity on a pedestal (funny how he didn't get into other faiths, as if science cares if someone is Christian, Hindu, Muslim, or what have you). The bulk of it is something a middle school student could have done as a report; as for accuracy I would suggest reading biographies by actual historians. Someone who is willing to lie about evolution (e.g., Henry Morris) should not be taken seriously in any scholarly field that he is not formally trained in.



2. Wonderful, fascinating, little-known information lies in this book! Evolutionists would have society think religion (and Christianity specifically) has only ever hindered science, yet this book shows that the best founders of our modern scientific disciplines were motivated to explore the world explicitly because of their faith in God.
   
   These men were not Christian out of the cultural norms of their respective societies, these men sincerely had a zealous faith that far exceeded their peers in their day.
   
   This books forever terminates the image of anti-scientific, Christian knuckle-draggers; a must-read.



3. Some qualifications for opining to start. I have read this book and I am a public school teacher with 9 years of teaching elementary school. I have a BA in Psychology and a M Ed.
   
   This is a great little book. It is important that we understand the beliefs of the scientists as well as their backgrounds. Contrary to popular opinion, scientists aren't devoid of beliefs and everyone's beliefs influence their perspectives. This can be readily seen by perusing these reviews. Our beliefs also determine our actions which makes being certain of their veracity all the more important as they will dictate the course of our lives and our destiny.
   
   These scientists stand head and shoulders above many of their peers. It is important for all of us to understand what they believed and why they chose those beliefs.
   
   I highly recommend this book and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did, and do every time I read it. It is a short, interesting, and fun read. Bon appetit!



4. This book, written by Henry Morris and Chuckie Darwin, gives new perspective of creationism. The science of intelligent design shows the blueprint used by an "intelligent designer" to create the universe. Periodically, the creatures designed, both evolved and changed. Monkey may or may not have evolved into man. But various creatures have changed as God planned they would. God can make these plans, because ... well, ... He is God!



5. This is a good book if you want "just the facts". If you're searching for intimate details about the lives of these scientists or discussions about parallel universes, then this isn't the reading selection. Yes, written from a decidedly christian viewpoint ...so, what's the problem? If you are afraid or refuse to give God credit for creating the universe, then, again, this is not the selection for you. I like this author and publisher because we can present God and science to our children and not treat them as mutually exclusive.

5 comments about Broken Genius: The Rise and Fall of William Shockley, Creator of the Electronic Age.

1. The winners write the history, and the history of Silicon Valley is no exception. Until this book William Shockley, if he was known at all, was thought of as the eccentric Nobel Prize winner who became an intellectual outcast because of his eugenics beliefs and as the bad manager whose employees quit and founded Fairchild and Intel.
   
   For those who know a bit more about the history of Silicon Valley technology, William Shockley is known as the founder of the Valley's first semiconductor company. Shockley recruited and assembled the seminal team that was the progenitor of every other semiconductor company in Silicon Valley. His instincts for talent-spotting were phenomenal, but they were matched by a massive lack of judgment about how to build products customers would buy and a complete lack of the insights necessary to motivate and manage an entrepreneurial company.
   
   Joel Shurkin does a good job in telling the story of not just Schokley Semiconductor, but the interesting life surrounding it all- the rise and fall - of William Schockley. A great read.



2. Broken Genius: The Rise and Fall of William Shockley, Creator of the Electronic Age
   
   Compliment to the writer who made the life of William Shockley so much more interesting than it really was. Shockley's inventions in technology is profound however, Shockley's life is really not that interesting. In essence, Shockley was a smart man, went to top schools, recruited by top people and top corporations, invented a lot to help our country (during the wars) and invented a lot to help the world (especially in his transistor and silicon invention), married twice, made some babies, toward the later part of his life, he got into study of genes and racial profiling in IQ and then he died at 80. If you are curios about what Shockley's inventions were, you would be fascinated by this documentation and litany of items listed. If you want to know the history of IQ controversy or whether blacks' IQ are truly inferior to whites, you will see lurid details on this. However, if you are like me, reading this book looking for fascinating human stories (ala Huge Hefner of the Playboy enterprise or Rupert Murdoch of the News Corps or even Mao Tze Tung of Communist China), you may be disappointed. In reality, Shockley lived a typical American suburbia life (the most exciting part of his life may be going to Norway to obtain his Nobel). You don't see him hanging out at the Playboy mansion at 70s with the hottest super models like Huge Hefner or flying to China to close a major media deal like Rupert Murdoch. Shockley's life was boring. May be he had bad relations with his kids (but then who does not?) and he was also not good at being nice in dealing with people but most engineers are like that, nothing new here. So, full credit to the writer who successfully made William Shockley's life so much more interesting than it really was - by applying an approach of story telling to add context and flavor - for example, in the story of his first company and the departure of the 11 original scientists Shockley hired, the writer discussed how Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore left and started their own company. This made the whole story more interesting. Now we know Gordon Moore was rated by Shockley's IQ tests as "not a good manager". Making dull topic interesting, one win for the author.
   
   Five Stars to the author for making a dull topic interesting.
   Three Stars to the content (the life of William Shockley - boring stuff). A reminder that we should go out and truly have fun in life. Go to a night club, fool around with some girls, go to a foreign country and do some bumgy jumping. Don't live life like Shockley.



3. William Shockley generated some mild controversy as a co-winner of the Nobel Prize for the transistor, and a firestorm of controversy as an investigator of supposed linkages between race and intelligence. Mr. Shurkin sheds considerable light on both disputes, as well as on those facets of Shockley's personality which occasionally drifted from merely difficult into the scarier modes of overbearing and compulsive. The author's own attitude toward his subject leans, quite understandably, toward an uneasy blend of admiration and exasperation.
   
   The transistor Nobel was awarded in 1954 to Shockley and his Bell Labs colleagues John Bardeen and Walter Brattain. A problematic aspect of the choice to honor all three was that although Shockley nominally led the research group, his direct involvement in the original (point contact) transistor invention was minimal. He did, however, have a legitimate conceptual claim to the later junction-type device, which became the practical transistor we know today. Shurkin's description of the contentious priority issues involved, and the human interactions among the principals, is fascinating.
   
   One might say it's ironically fitting that a self-assured, iconoclastic, socially tone-deaf character like Shockley would blunder into the potential minefield of race/intelligence studies. On top of that, he chose the most politically radioactive combination possible -- white vs. black. The spectrum of opinion on that topic was (and is) bracketed at one end by bigots who just knew there must be an intelligence gap, and at the other end by knee-jerk egalitarians who just knew there couldn't possibly be one. The bigots embarrassed Shockley with unwanted support, and the egalitarians excoriated him for even looking at the question. The most recent and reasonable consensus seems to be that racial differences, genomically speaking, are too trivial to account for intelligence variations beyond the normal and expected spread due to both intra- and interracial gene mixing.
   
   The biography is well-written and consistently interesting, but there are too many glitches to ignore. For example, "Schrodinger's atoms" on page 25 should be electrons, and the claim that Shockley wrote "the first textbook of the electronic age" (p.122) sounds preposterous to anyone who remembers vacuum tubes. Perhaps the author meant solid-state electronic age. For a similar reason, the book's subtitle needs revision. On page 105, the translation of 0.04 centimeter to 0.16 inch is too high by a factor of 10. The name of the strength program a youthful Shockley modeled for is spelled "Trelor" three times on page 18, but the ad reproduced on the same page conspicuously says "Treloar."



4. I am an engineer with particular interest in William Shockley because I was once barred from hearing him speak. This book presents an excellent recap of Shockley's entire life, concluding with the events that led to his downfall among the general public. I found the coverage to be generally fair and unbiased. Although the book provides the expected analysis of Shockley's later years, ample coverage is provided of his most productive years which, even under close scrutiny, show him to have indeed been a genius in several technical fields.



5. Shockley worked at Bell Labs for many years. I, too, worked there and had no idea why we did what we did, why we had the philosophies we did, etc... Almost 35 years later, I still saw the footprints of Shockley's world. That, to me, was very interesting. His life was extraordinary and a huge lesson in something. I'm not sure what that something is yet but after this all soaks in, maybe I can make heads or tails of it. It was all so strange. A brilliant mind is all so strange and the author did such a superb job of letting us into the secret. Thanks Joel!

3 comments about The Merchant of Power: Sam Insull, Thomas Edison, and the Creation of the Modern Metropolis.

1. Subtitled: "The more you know, the more you know you don't know."
   Coming across "The Merchant Of Power" by John Wasik, I was intrigued by the title and book jacket, but I half expected this book to be a clever spoof, like a book-bound Zelig. It was hard to believe that one person could have had such an effect on the history of the United States, indeed living a substantial part of his life in New York City, but had been almost erased from history less than a century later. In fact, I Googled Mr. Insull, and found that yes, he did exist, and yes, he was that influential in the modern industrialized America of the late 19th- and early 20th-century.
   Insull was the business "brain" behind the eccentric tinkerer, Thomas Edison, who comes across as something of an old fool, and in the New York years, Insull was deeply involved in the Edison/Westinghouse/Tesla/AC/DC controversy, and the bitter J.P. Morgan takeover of Edison Electric (which became General Electric). Getting the heck out of Dodge before things got too dicey, he headed west to a primitive outpost on the edge of the American frontier, Chicago. Finally he was able to work his magic without running up against adversaries like Morgan or George Westinghouse; he bought and consolidated several small electric companies that were serving the city and created the complex electric grid that we know today.
   Part biography, part history, part science (or, electrical engineering, at least) and part gossip, the book illuminates a forgotten man, and a never-to-be-forgotten period of the American story.



2. Everyone knows the inspired inventor Thomas Edison. Edison was a classic rumpled genius, driven in his eagerness to invent but sloppy in his other habits. He was devoted to the technical aspects of his gadgets, but he had little head for business or making those gadgets pay. The business of his endeavors was as unkempt as his clothing, but lucky for him, he had a young ally to help get his books in order. Samuel Insull, in contrast to Edison, is barely remembered today, but he had a huge role in making the modern world through the electrical inventions that Edison churned out. He was driven to make electricity pay, and he did so in millions of dollars, using all the dubious financial levers through the 1920's until it all went wrong. In _The Merchant of Power: Sam Insull, Thomas Edison, and the Creation of the Modern Metropolis_ (Palgrave), John F. Wasik, a journalist in business and finance, has told Insull's story, one full of ambition and financial spectacle, and leading to the sort of ruin contemporary readers will recognize in, say, the Enron scandal.
   
   Insull was born in London in 1859. He scrambled to improve himself as ever any Horatio Alger hero did, and won his way to New York as Edison's private secretary. His ability to work right through the night and get by on catnaps ingratiated himself to his new boss. As Insull took a firmer grasp of Edison's technological advances, he centered on one in particular, the distribution of electricity that could power the lights and other inventions that Edison had produced. He went on literally to electrify Chicago, using huge generators never imagined before. He initiated the metering of power and other financial innovations, not all of them strictly on the up and up. He actually fled America when the bust of the Depression came, tooling around Europe to avoid extradition. Eventually, he could not avoid coming back and facing trial for fraud. A brilliant defense expounded on his rags-to-riches life story and made credible the idea that although he had brought down thousands of investors, no one had fallen as low as he had himself, and that his financial machinations had been for the purpose of preserving his stockholders' fortunes, failing merely because everything was failing. He was acquitted, but he remained a useful enemy for Franklin Delano Roosevelt's campaign against "big power".
   
   Insull may be forgotten, but the foresight of his role in the electrification of America deserves recognition. He was a major influence in the arts, too, but not in the way he would have wanted in promoting the Grand Opera that was fashionable for patronage in his day. Insull did promote the dramatic career of his wife, well beyond her years or capacity. Herman Mankiewicz had started a venomous review of one of her performances in New York, got drunk, passed out on his typewriter, and couldn't finish the review. When it came time to write the script of _Citizen Kane_, Mankiewicz included the incident as part of Kane's sad advocacy for his wife's opera career. Insull served physically as well, as one of the models for Kane; Orson Welles handed his makeup man a picture of Insull, with his brush mustache, and wanted to look as much like him as possible. It's quite the legacy, but Wasik's book presents a memorable picture of the original, as well as the technological and social life of Chicago in his times.



3. This is a rags-to-riches-to-rags story. Sam Insull came to the US with $200, got a job with Thomas Edison. Then he basically designed and set up the electric power grid as we know it today.
   
   Then through a series of misadventures that he couldn't have forseen he was wiped out. He was tried in court because there was at least a hint of fraud. He was found not-guilty on all charges.
   
   Why do we care about such a man -- two reasons:
   
   First, he is the one that made it possible that when we turn on the light switch, the overhead light comes on. This convenience is a major part of the reasons for the advances in the world. Not only light, but medical equipment, tools, motors of all types.
   
   Second, the collapse of his company attracted the attention of the Federal Government. Because of the way his company collapsed the Government passed all kinds of laws forming the Securities and Exchance Commission, requiring quarterly reports of the financial condition of the company and so on.
   
   It's also interesting that this book came out now in the aftermath of all the recent corporate scandals. I guess that there is little that changes in the world.

5 comments about No Ordinary Genius: The Illustrated Richard Feynman.

1. Don't be iontimidated by thinking there may be too much math or physics in this book. This is not a scientific biography as much as it is a fun trip through some of the things that made Richard Feynman so loved by all who knew him.
   
   I admire the author's choice to have Feynman's colleagues contribute their knowledge of the incidents discussed. In many cases Feynman himself is cited to help understand the situation extant.
   
   Whether you know Feynman's life well or not, this book is a fun read.



2. If you know of Richard Feynman's life and work, this is a great book, full of pictures and anecdotes from other emminent physicist w/ whom he worked (and sometimes clashed).
   
   Very easy and pleasing to read. Nothing too in-depth e.g. Feynman's disdain for written fiction, "...I read 'Madame Bovary' once and it was NIFTY!". No more analysis beyond that. Enough said if you know something of the person.



3. Excellent book for anyone looking for a pictorial representation of Feynman.



4. My reading of "Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman" was surely "forced" me to read the life of Richard Feynman furthermore: NO ORDINARY GENIUS is a GREAT BOOK. Family, friends and colleagues of Feynman share their views regarding the genius (with bump's-language-style) Feynman. The photos are great and can make a good spot on his life. Truly inspiring especially when he stated that he's an irresponsible man! And also, he couldnt stop to do physics until several days before his death: he's still doing the physics in 70. Feynman also brought the tiny-state named TOUVA to the world: even a geographic teacher wouldn't know bout this region! Buy this book, okay?



5. This book made me laughed and it made me cry but most importantly it taught me a lot, not just about feynman but a lot more other stuff like science, life, having fun and reminded me why I got into science in the first place. It was very inpirational as well as fun.

   If you want to know a little about what feynman was like, then you must read this book. I said
   "little" because there is no way you will ever get to know this man just by reading a book. This book was really good at taking out the really good stuff from other books and integrating it.

   I like what his friends and family had to say about him and adventures they had, as much as when Feynman was quoted. It is
   really interesting and gives you a really deep insight on stuff he may not had put into his other books.

   Even if you don't like to read biographies, or care about feynman, you could read this book like a novel. Its little
   stories are so interesting funny (sometimes sad) that you forget that you are reading a biography. I say this because
   reading biogrphies usually gets me bored. Not this one however, its and adventure!

   After I read this book I felt like I lost a friend and mentor--it was that good or perhaps feyman's life was that interesting--I actually missed a guy I never met before! It sounds flaky, but I guessed Feynman would had liked it that way!

   Alex Lee
   ...