5 comments about Unlocking the Sky: Glenn Hammond Curtiss and the Race to Invent the Airplane.

1. This book is well researched and lets any objective reader know who really "unlocked the sky" for future generations, and it was not the Wright brothers. They may have flown first (with the help of a major crane machine to get them airborne) but they would rather have put a lock on the sky than share their knowledge. This despite the fact that they asked for and were freely given much knowledge and data by others that enable their success. Glenn Hammond Curtiss kept going, conquering the hurdles the Wright brothers threw his way for years, and in the end was unstoppable. Most veriable firsts are his. And he shared it all. Much of today's aviation success can be traced directly to him. This book was excellent and anyone interested in aviation history should read it. Besides, it is fun to read!



2. Seth Shulman is a writer who specializes in science, technology, and the environment. Orville and Wilbur Wright launched their flying machine in December 1903 and are honored as the inventors of the airplane. There were plenty of rivals at home and abroad. This book provides the reasons to place Glenn Hammond Curtiss of Hammondsport NY as an important inventor in spite of the court decisions that gave rights to the Wright brothers. The 'Prologue' tells of Samuel Pierpont Langley's attempt to launch a flying machine on Dec. 08, 1903. It failed, and the Wright brothers succeeded. Shulman implicitly criticizes Langley's expensive effort.
   
   Chapter 2 explains the reason for a broad patent on airplanes: powerful financiers backed the Wright brothers (p.44). The Wrights had solved the difficult problem of stabilizing the flight of an aircraft ("wing warping"). The Wrights did everything to keep their success secret in order to retain control of their invention (pp.50-51). Sir George Cayley, a British nobleman, was the first to envision a practical airplane design with fixed wings, a tail, and a propulsion system in the early 19th century (pp.95-96). Octave Chanute's 1894 book recorded the state of aviation (p.98). Glenn Curtiss made the first publicly witnessed flight on July 4, 1908 (Chapter 6). Curtiss won the test at Rheims, France (Chapter 7). Politically appointed Judge John Hazel ruled that the Wrights' patent should be "broadly construed" (p.182); this favored the Wall Street investors who owned the Wrights' patent. Curtiss flew from Albany to Manhattan to win a prize (Chapter 9).
   
   Chapter 10 tells of the legal fights between the Wrights' corporation and other pioneers besides Curtiss. Judge Hazel seems to have been in the pocket of the Wrights. Curtiss produced many inventions (p.207). The Curtiss JN was one of the most popular and successful airplanes of that era (p.208). Curtis is credited with 500 aeronautical inventions (p.209), like the aileron (p.210). The 'Epilogue' said Curtiss built the best airplanes of that day (p.224). Curtiss' seaplane 'America' was bought by Britain to patrol the Channel and attack U-boats (p.225).
   
   America could not provide a fighter or pursuit airplane for WW I. The Curtiss company built the P-40 for the Army and the SB2C for the Navy in WW II. The Wrights were first to fly. Langley's mismanagement caused his failure (a defective structure). Langley squandered money on a houseboat for show instead of using flat land (like the Wrights or Curtiss). Curtiss was right to concentrate on a better product (like Henry Ford) rather than legal battles over patents (but patents are important). This book provides an argument against overly broad patent rights. Squashing competition was the aim of the trusts of that day (the Selden patents). This book is well-written and fast paced, but could be better organized. I think this book would be better if it told about the other developers in the early 20th century and did not overemphasize the squabbles over patent rights. It does not cover the decades after WW I.



3. Mr. Shulman's revisionist history presents Glenn Hammond Curtiss, early aviation pioneer and inventor, as a series of opposites. He alternately describes the man as shy, sheepish, and unassuming, and then as a master public relations man, always taking time to entertain the press reporters to keep them hanging around his "shop." He regularly describes him as the beloved son of Hammondsport, NY, while telling how frightened and angered the townsfolk were with his exploits of racing motorcycles around town at breakneck speed or testing noisy contraptions. He describes him as an honest and upstanding citizen who started a commercial company selling airplanes in violation of patent laws for the "greater good" of mankind (ignoring that Curtiss got his information from Augustus Herring, who betrayed the Wrights and first tried unsuccessfully to sell the knowledge to the more ethical Langley). He describes him as an inventor of nearly everything important to modern aviation while explaining that until 1904 he considered anyone attempting flight as a "crank." Yes, the man is a conundrum, a paradox, a riddle.
   
   Unfortunately, he remains so after forcing myself to keep reading this book. If you're looking for an interesting and informative biography, this isn't it. If you're looking for criticism that seldom lets up on attacking the Wright brothers (constantly referring to them as "bicycle mechanics"), or that embarrassingly idolizes Glenn Curtiss, this is the book for you! Other reviews here have documented many of the inaccuracies in this book undermining the author's credibility (I took the time to verify only some of them). Shulman downplays the 64 modifications required to get the Langley machine to fly, describing them as "minor" and "inconsequential," in an obvious and shameful attempt to discredit the Wrights (for which the Smithsonian later apologized). He also ignores that the Curtiss engine used on Baldwin's dirigible at the St. Louis World Fair was far inferior to the one constructed by the Wrights, instead trumpeting it as an enormous accomplishment and victory over the Wrights. And the constant name-dropping of Curtiss' list of associates and acquaintances (no matter how remote) is ridiculous. Also, the lack of any logical timeline is annoying, starting out with Langley's failed 1903 attempt, then bouncing to 1914, then 1906, then 1904, then 1907...
   
   There's no doubt that the Wright Brothers were publicly stiff and perhaps even odd, and that their legal attempts to protect their rights were counter-productive to developing an aviation industry in the US. There's also little doubt that Curtiss was a colorful and interesting personality, even if his personal ethics were a bit wanting. But that's the Curtiss that would have been fun to learn about. Instead of trying to present an objective history or biography and his many contributions to aviation, Shulman's addition is little more than a shrill and error-filled condemnation of the Wrights, seemingly taking it as a personal affront that they tried to profit from their labors. There's little to learn from this book, if you can force yourself through it.



4. This version of the 'history' of the battle between the Wright Brothers and Glenn Curtiss can be summarized as follows:
   The Wright Brothers... (boo, hiss...) were mean and spiteful, but OUR HERO Glenn Curtiss was intelligent and kind... (yay, hurray!)
   
   Yes, the tone and writing style are nearly that simplistic and one-sided.
   
   The author shows a surprising lack of understanding of patent law, and makes a mess of the whole affair. He attacks the Wrights for doing what any patent holder normally does -- defend the patent. He implies that the patent would have somehow been invalid since Curtiss and others would soon have discovered the same knowledge anyway. And he argues that if the matter were decided by public opinion, then Curtiss would have won. All of which are irrelevant. The Wrights were first; they demonstrated a powered flying machine that a man could fly; they documented their discovery, built a machine that worked and described the methods for its use; and, they filed a patent with broad enough claims to protect their ideas from copycats like Curtiss.
   
   The author praises Curtiss for patenting over 500 inventions but never prosecuting anyone over patent infringement. Which begs the question, why even bother filing a patent? It would have been cheaper and more 'altruistic' to publish his ideas in magazines and place them in the public domain.
   
   The author states that none of the Wrights' ideas are still in use. The author should have known that the common air-screw propeller, the wind tunnel, the yaw-pitch-roll control method of flying and the basic plan-form of the airplane were all Wright ideas and inventions and remain as key elements of aeronautics a century after the Wrights first flew.



5. I enjoyed reading about the efforts of Curtiss and colleagues. He was obviously an amazing inventor and did a great deal for the future of aviation. The constant bashing of the Wright Brothers was very tiresome and actually detracted from what was interesting reading about Curtiss. It took Shulman 90% of the book to give the Wright Brothers credit for what they had accomplished. Prior to that, I was waiting for Shulman to suggest that the Wright Brothers were not even present at Kitty Hawk.

5 comments about The Martians of Science: Five Physicists Who Changed the Twentieth Century.

1. "The Martians of Science: Five Physicists Who Changed the Twentieth Century", by Istavan Hargittai, Oxford Univ. Press, NY 2006. ISBN 13 978-0-19-517845-6. HC 314/240 pages includes Preface, Contents, Intro., Appendix 12 pgs., Notes 36 pgs., Biblio. 6 pgs., Chronologies 7 pgs., & Index 12 pgs. 9.5" x 6.5"
   
   A cleverly devised treatise details five of the Worlds' most notable theoretical physicists - all began as Jewish Hungarian citizens of Budapest who, in time, migrated to the U.S., toiled collectively and separately to develop strategic defense systems including the atomic & hydrogen bombs, computers, modernized Airforce, and establishing or working at the AEC, NASA, JPL, Manhattan Project, Livermore, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, etc.
   
   Convenient attribute of this writing is its apportionment into six chapters to reveal their progressive transition from early childhood into figures of greatness and thence onto their waning years. It reflects their family influences, societal environs, politico-economic conditions, scholastic opportunities, and acceptance into American cultural institutions as Princeton, Harvard, Berkeley, Caltech and the U.S. military.
   
   The plethora of B & W photographs contributes enormously to the book's value as does appendix of "Sampler of Quotable Martians". Perhaps most importantly are descriptors of personal interactions amongst the Martians themselves. This book embraces exciting history, racism, psychological ploys of embattled nations & bureaucracies, and the search for peace amidst glorious and sometimes inglorious purlieus. That the author is an acclaimed writer, recognized scientist, Professor of chemistry, authored several dozen books and is personally acquainted with and interviewed several of the 'Martians' is a plus. Its a good read and the price is right.



2. The above for me was the trust of the book with the historical perspective of early 1900 thru early 1980. As we start, we see what a great education can do as the five (5) did receive early intensive training in their outstanding "gymnasiums" of Hungary. Even though the education was so very good and produced many great students, these five still stood out to the point as if they were from Mars as the title depicts. As their academic reputations started to grow and the difficulties of the 1st war, they all had some experience of working or immigrating away from Hungary. As the 2nd war approached, all could see the writing on the wall and it was easier to immigrate a second time of which the US was the lucky recipient.
   
   Upon arrival to the US, it did not take too long as they started to display their political influence since they saw or knew what was going on in Europe and that war was coming and felt that the US needed to wake up and be prepared. This persistance took time but paid off as all were involved in some way with the development of the 1st atomic bomb both technically and politically. This continued on for some time for all of their collective careers, as after WWII, the cold war commenced and new problems were present with the atomic age upon us.
   
   The interactions between each of the Martians and between the people they met makes for some interesting side points which makes for some very good historical and political persectives if your interested in any of the above.



3. As the daughter of the book's author, I bring an unusual perspective to this piece, one that will give you some background on how this book came about and why you will be in for a treat when reading it.
   
   My father knew two of the five Martians discussed in this volume (Wigner and Teller) and had expressed a great interest in the work and lives of all five (Szilard, von Neumann, von Karman in addition to the above two) throughout his life. Curiously, however, despite having written numerous books about scientists, he never intended to write a book about these five until Oxford University Press approached him about it. When he finally took up this project, he threw himself into it with zest. When the book was near completion, he met with almost all of the surviving children of the Martians, not to change anything but to get an additional impression of their personalities. A byproduct of the book was a play he wrote about Teller, which surprised even me despite being used to his occasional unusual ideas.
   
   Looking back, the Martians were always on my father's mind, and he cherished his long-lasting personal acquaintance with Eugene P. Wigner. (Even as a child, I remember seeing the picture of the two of them taken upon their encounter at the University of Texas at Austin in 1969.) The family legend had it that we might be distant relatives, but there was never any hard evidence for that. My father started correspondence with Wigner when he was still a student, well before I was born. Actually, Wigner wrote him first after my father had published an article in a Hungarian literary magazine soon after Wigner's Nobel Prize. My father's acquaintance with Teller came much later, when he and my mother visited the Tellers in their home in Stanford in 1996.
   
   Having read The Martians of Science, I feel as if I had become personally acquainted with all five of the people discussed in the volume. It is fascinating to see that such incredible people emerge from just one country to contribute so much to science and to the defense of the United States. It is sad that they were forced out of Hungary, where even today - while their achievements are being recognized - the reasons of their departures are often covered up. This book puts these things into proper perspective.
   
   For an engaging, detailed, and passionate account of the lives of five incredibly important figures (regarding both science and history), I highly recommend this book.



4. What a great gem for those of us interested in 20th century history and the history of science.
   
   The Jewish-Hungarian Martians represented a well-defined group from turn-of-the-century Budapest who became top scientists in Germany of the 1920s, and made decisive contributions to the defense of the Free World from the menace of totalitarian powers during World War II and the Cold War. The book succeeds admirably in presenting their complex characters and their single-minded determination to achieve their stated goals on the background of the turbulent twentieth century.
   
   This is a book that was hard to put down. I have also returned to it from time to time.



5. This is a very interesting and informative book that I heartily recommend. I was inspired to buy it after reading a review of it in Nature magazine where the reviewer ended on the following helpful note: "This is an important story that needs to be told, and Hargittai tells it well", an assessment with which I concur.
   
   The book is about the lives of five Hungarian Jewish scientists whose work changed the world, not just the world of science, but the world of politics as well due to the circumstances and period in which they lived and thrived.
   
   The author does a very thorough job tracing the history of these important men. We are shown the uniqueness and diversity of the five Martians (Theodore von Karman, John von Neumann, Leo Szilard, Edward Teller and Eugene Wigner) in addition to considering what bound them together. It is interesting to follow their parallel lives throughout exciting periods of the 20th century. Hargittai conveys the flavor of turn-of-the-century Budapest that yielded not only important scientists but also famous and important contributors to other realms of life (e.g. composers such as Bartok).
   
   The author does a very good job of communicating how circumstances and situations evolved. For example, we see a change from the peaceful coexistence and cooperation of Jews and the rest of Hungary's population to a horribly anti-Semitic society. We are also told about transitions such as how the Martians turned from dedicated students into top players in world science; how the initially Ivory-tower scientists became the most practical contributors to the American military might; how esoteric physics became a source of lethal weaponry within a mere few years; and how quiet immigrants became esteemed citizens with a strong political voice.
   
   In addition to telling us about events that happened, an intriguing feature of the book is that Hargittai tries to imagine what might have become of the Martians had they stayed in Hungary or had they lived in the Soviet Union rather than in the United States.
   
   Overall, this is an extremely engaging and informative read. I agree with the Nature reviewer's assessment that this book needed to be written and Hargittai did an excellent job doing so. You will both enjoy this reading and learn a lot from it.

No comments about They Changed the World: People of the Manhattan Project.

5 comments about Beyond the Outer Shores: The Untold Odyssey of Ed Ricketts, the Pioneering Ecologist Who Inspired John Steinbeck and Joseph Campbell.

1. Although I enjoyed the first part of the book and scattered sections throughout, Tamm did not succeed in capturing Rickett's ecological worldview by a kind of non-lineal, disorganized presentation of information. It is also unbalanced by his love 'em/hate 'em view of Steinbeck, and his love 'em like crazy view of Campbell, which in most cases obfuscates the story (except in telling of actual facts, such as Steinbeck's poor judgment in taking Rickett's name off the Viking edition of Sea of Cortez).
   Tamm's inordinate fixation on personality conflicts affected the development of the book most particularly in his not exploring the trip to Baha. It is oddly and disappointingly skipped, and at this point the book becomes centered on Rickett's journeys to the Vancouver Is. area, which, lo and behold, is where Tamm is from.
   There are a lot of interesting spots in this book, but it would have been better served by good editorial direction (much as Rickett's writings were served by Steinbeck's pen).



2. I was drawn to this book by my curiosity regarding the "Doc" character from the Steinbeck novels. I had expected a short biography that would cover most of the facts of his life and perhaps stress some of the more sensational moments that may have been inspirational to Steinbeck. What I found instead was a very finely crafted piece of non-fiction writing.
   
   What sets this book apart from a mere biography is how the author develops many secondary themes that relate to Ed Ricketts and then weaves them together in a rich tapestry of ideas. There are the secondary characters of Steinbeck and Campbell, but there are also other significant themes such as ecology. There are wonderful descriptions of the Pacific Coast, particularly Vancouver Island, which I am sure Ricketts himself would have been very enthusiastic about.
   
   Beyond the Outer Shores is also attractively illustrated and features many interesting photographs. Whether you are a Biologist or a fan of Steinbeck you will find this non-fictional account of a life lived with passion more compelling than any fictional character ever created.



3. My favorite read for 2007 was Beyond The Outer Shores, Eric Enno Tamm's insightful and illuminating biography of ecological pioneer and polymath Ed Ricketts. The book's tagline mentioned Ricketts as an inspiration for John Steinbeck and Joseph Campbell, and this is what initially caught my attention (being a fan of Campbell). Tamm tells the story of how Rickett's personal philosophy and humanist outlook inspired them both. In particular, the "Doc" character of Cannery Row was directly modeled on Ricketts.
   
   A biologist with the outlook of a philosopher and heart of a poet, Ricketts lived a fascinating yet shortened life, never receiving his due recognition as a scientist and thinker until well after his death. His environmental philosophy permeated the works of Steinbeck in the late 1930s. In this way, Tamm shows The Grapes of Wrath can be read as a warning against anthropogenic environmental degradation, and Cannery Row read as a human reflection of the diversity of tidepools. Likewise, his revolutionary work on the western American and Canadian shores remains influential to this day. Tamm's book is a fantastic read that brings to light the life and spirit of a true Renaissance Man.



4. As one only slightly familiar with Steinbeck and Rickets and stories of their friendship, I found Mr. Tamm's book incredibly well researched and full of the stories and details I was hoping to find. I was so intrigued that these major intellectuals, that is Steinbeck and Joseph Campbell, found this much lesser known personality of Ed Rickets as the galvanizing force in their mutual friendships, but more so as a major influence in the shaping of their personal philosophies. I wonder if that is why Steinbeck is so compelling since people know his life was surrounded with people as interesting and elusive as Ed Rickets. This is one of those true stories, it seems, that is larger than fiction. If you, too, are curious, you will not be disappointed in Mr. Tamm's book.



5. I was very much disappointed in this book. The writing seems borderline hyperbolic and lightweight, almost like it's in a travel magazine, or weekly news magazine. The material is largely a rehash of published information, and does not capture the feeling of that time. The work seems padded and lacking in substance as a result. I kept wondering how it could possibly drag on after the first couple chapters. For anyone who has read Steinbeck's books, or Ricketts's books, or the Hedgepeth book on Ed this is unnecessary, but maybe a newbie will be encouraged to go for sterner, more genuine stuff as a result of reading this.

5 comments about Woman in the Mists.

1. When it came to dealing with people, Dian Fossey was sometimes her own worst enemy, but her dedication to saving the African mountain gorilla and its habitat in Rwanda is indisputable. Describing himself as an "editorial collaborator," rather than as a biographer, Farley Mowat assembles Fossey's story from her never-before-printed journals and private papers, inserting them directly into the book in boldface so she can tell her own story. From her founding of the Karisoke Research Center in Rwanda in 1967, until her murder there in December, 1985, Fossey battled to save "those she loved" from poaching, abduction, and dismemberment.
   
   Throughout her eighteen years at Karisoke, Fossey studied organized groups of gorillas to whom she became so familiar that they would even touch her. As fierce and protective of her own "turf" as a silverback, however, she refused to bend to the exigencies of the political climate and funding requirements and made innumerable enemies. When local herdsmen exerted their age-old rights to graze cattle on "her" mountain, Fossey shot the cattle. When poachers hurt her gorillas, she pursued them, even kidnapping the four-year-old son of one of them to force his surrender. When students at her own Center disagreed with her, she could be brutal.
   
   Fossey also fought local officials, park guards, and conservators who took bribes and staged events in order to protect their payoffs. She battled conservation organizations which wanted to get her funds, rival researchers who wanted to take over her project, and governmental officials who saw tourism in the park as a source of wealth and graft. Always fighting with ferocity, she made no effort to see another point of view or compromise. Her unsolved murder in 1985, by someone who knew the layout of her cabin, could have been by someone from any of these alienated groups.
   
   Mowat presents Fossey as a lonely warrior who never found personal peace, a woman who was instrumental in drawing pubic attention to the plight of the mountain gorilla but who was less sucessful than she had hoped. As he points out in his Epilogue, her cause has been continued by some of the researchers who studied with her. Two of those, Amy Vedder and Bill Weber, continue the story of the gorillas from the death of Fossey through 1993's disastrous Rwandan Civil War. Their book, In the Kingdom of Gorillas: Fragile Species in a Dangerous Land, reflects a more conciliatory viewpoint than that of Fossey. Mary Whipple



2. Another engrossing and fascinating Mowat title, another Mowat "must read", "Woman in the Mists" is the sympathetic biography of a woman whose work gave us a window into the world of the mountain gorilla, a species to whose protection and conservation she was devoted. By alternating excerpts from her diary entries and personal letters with his own descriptive text, Mowat brings Dian Fossey, a powerfully willed and often abrasive woman, to life. Her youthful years, young adulthood, her fateful meeting with Louis Leakey, her romantic involvements and disappointments, her first contacts with the gorillas and the years of her work and struggle are portrayed with humanity and affection. The tale is enormously enriched by her own words. She struggled indomitably against self-serving African bureaucrats, indigenous herdsmen and hunter-gatherers, antagonistic forces that gained strength against her in the fields of primatology and philanthropy, and her own gradually deteriorating health largely the result of a powerful smoking addiction.

   But her work and her happiness were plagued by male academics and agents of philanthropic organizations who got caught up in a web of calumny and distrust motivated by primatologists who were seriously bent out of shape by her abrasiveness and who felt they could avenge themselves by vilifying her, possibly abetted by society's undercurrent of misogyny. Had there been no vilification, she may never have been killed, as her fatal enemy, probably an African, no doubt took strength from knowing how much she was hated by, for example, the American and European agents of the Mountain Gorilla Project. Mowat provides the reader a chilling view of Fossey's victimization, but never identifies the sexist element which seems apparent to this male reviewer.

   Fossey survived all the victimization because of her extraordinary strength and a powerfully motivating love for the gorillas and the entire eden-like natural world in which she lived. She had serious blind spots: her obliviousness to her abrasiveness, her hatred for the National Park's Tutsi herders and pygmy hunter-gatherers, even before the latter began killing her beloved gorillas (whole gorilla family groups, in order to capture a single infant for the zoo trade and skulls for the tourist souvenir trade), and her (and Mowat's) use of the racist epithet "wog" with impunity toward Africans who she hated, though she shared genuine bonds of love with the Africans who worked with her as trackers and poaching patrollers, and evidenced no other racist feeling. Mowat's record of Fossey's life is a powerful, shocking, revealing and loving account.




3. Farley Mowat performed an excellent service when he wrote this book. Dian Fossey was a woman of great character, confidence, courage, determination, and conviction. Her life was lived for what she found to be a greater cause and the world is that much worse off without her. This book did an excellent job of showing the reader who Dian Fossey really was and what she really went through. I recommend it to anyone. It is well worth reading.



4. Read this book, and you will feel like you know the real Dian Fossey. Personal letters, journal entries all give insight to her life as a living, breathing human being who had many friends (human and non-human). Her passion for life is inspirational! This is a must read, and also an excellent book to read for school projects!



5. This Book contains the interisting life of Dian Fossey from her bith to her dearh

5 comments about The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Einstein, Second Edition.

1. Einstein was a little boy with a big brain who never quite grew up. Thank gosh! His curiosity never waned and he continued to ask tough Physics questions that many other Physicists wouldn't touch.
   
   Einstein's ability to create "Thought Experiments" set him apart from many others and helped him change the face of Physics. He explored space, time, matter, relativity, quantum particles, the big bang and came up with concepts that Physicists are still scratching their heads over.
   
   The Complete Idiots Guide to Understanding Einstein by Gary Moring is an excellent introduction to this amazing human and his accomplishments. The book also explores many major scientific developments and other prominent Physicists. In the end of each chapter there is a:"The Least You Need to Know" section which is very helpful...especially with this material!
   
   The Re-Discovery of Common Sense: A Guide to: The Lost Art of Critical Thinking



2. Understanding Einstein almost sounds like an oxymoron. Is it really possible to understand one of the most brilliant people of the 20th century? Well, this book goes a long way in trying to provide the reader with an understanding of Einstein and his contributions to science and other areas of human endeavor. The author places Einstein in the context of our unfolding history of ideas as seen from the perspectives of science, psychology and philosophy, just to name a few. Since the "Idiot Guide" series are meant to be introductions to topics and not graduate level thesis', I was amazed at how much material was actually covered in a book of this kind. Being a big fan of Einstein's and having read most books out there about him, this book goes a long way in bringing together a wide diversity of material available on his theories and life. His most important discoveries ae cleary explained and even his shortcomings are touched upon. Like the author's other book on the "Theories of the Universe", he brings an interdisciplinary approach to the material, that always gives you more than just either his theories or biographical material. You will definitely be much closer to "understanding" Einstein after you read this book.



3. "Understanding Einstein" attempts to cover major scientific developments from Aristotle to post-Einstein, as well as details of Einstein's life - all in 432 pages! Clearly anyone but a COMPLETE IDIOT would know this is not possible in any meaningful way - especially one attempting to understand relativity.
   
   Material is mostly presented as givens, with little/no insight as to the "Why?" Further, even the examples used are not necessarily correct.
   
   Example 1: Einstein's conclusion that acceleration and gravity are equivalent is first postulated, and the example utilized (a moving spaceship in which light from outside hits the spaceship's interior at a lower level - ergo it is bent by gravity - is a non sequitur because the spaceship need not be accelerating for this to occur.
   
   Example 2: Moring mentions a glitch in Mercury's orbit that is not explained by Newtonian mechanics, but is by Einstein's gravitational mathematics. That's all - no details, no insight, no understanding, and no value.
   
   Example 3: Moring ends up referencing post-Einstein theories that assert variations in the speed of light, contrary to Einstein. That's all we get - no explanation or resolution. Further, the book doesn't even reference recent experiments that have brought light to a complete stop, or attempt how this meshes with Einstein.
   
   Bottom Line: Read something else if you want to understand much of anything in the physical sciences.



4. I haven't finished the whole book, but it is already my favorite. It is a trip through history. The author builds science theory, and discovery through the ages, social climates, and general thinking in the given era. It's a great quick reference for scientist, and dates of discoveries. I highly recommend this book for anyone interest in digging deeper in to science. It is fascinating.



5. Positive: A fairly easy read, well written.
   Good biographical material dealing with Einstein's work, social, and political views.
   Non-mathematical accounts of general & special theory of relativity, and quantum theory.
   
   Negative: discursive, somewhat superficial accounts of the history of physics.
   The thread of the author's arguments are frequently lost through his excursions into philosophy, religion, and the psychology of the unconscious. Some of this is pretty superficial and the comnnecttions made between these fields and contemporary physics is, in my opinion, a real stretch.
   The discussion of time and relativity is at times confusing because the distinction between the observer and the event is not made clear.

5 comments about Skylark: The Life, Lies, and Inventions of Harry Atwood.

1. I would have given 5 stars if only..........the Author had given us even more details about Atwood's flying, inventions and more documentation (patent records, court records, stock market records, etc.) to support his research. It is anyway a great book considering also how difficult it must have been to find material about such an interesting and "slippery" character. Being an aircraft builder myself, I would have also liked to learn more about the process he used in the construction of his "composite" airplanes and if any artifact has survived the inventor. Buy the book, you won't regret it.



2. Mansfield does a great job on this book and since Harry Atwood was my grandfather I have some knowledge of Harry's background. A well done, informative publication.



3. A tour de force of research and provocative writing. This how history should read and be taught. Among the supposed saints and heroes there is plenty room for the occasional showman and rogue. That's what Harry Atwood was. Thanks Mr. Mansfield for a real pleasure of a biography.



4. The story of Harry Atwood is a fascinating one. Mansfield tells tales of Atwoods adventures during the early days of aviation in a way that really takes you back to a different time. The meticulous research Mansfield did to write this book really shows in his liberal use of reports from local newspapers, living relatives, etc. If you enjoy flying, inventors or learning about interesting and eccentric people, read this book...you won't be disappointed!



5. Harry Atwood is a character for the ages! If you want to see how to push new technology in a technologically naive age, with all of its outrageous successes and failures, this is the book to read. Harry is a consumate inventor along the lines and times of Edison and Ford, inventing some ingeneous laminate materials and an airplane for the rest of us. However he is also hardheaded, an expert in flim-flam, and an absolute failure in business. Yet despite his failures, he is ultimately a success! Good reading--save an afternoon to read it through.

5 comments about The Quark and the Jaguar: Adventures in the Simple and the Complex.

1. This book gives valuable information on how complex systems arise out of a simple, natural ground. Gell-Mann's theories are useful in understanding chaos theory as well as many branches of quantum physics. A description of Gell-Mann's ecological explorations and efforts to maintain the biosphere is also given. The magician and student of physics will be well rewarded for reading Gell-Mann's work. The processes of consciousness and so magical phenomena may be understood in this light.



2. Mr. Gell-Mann won a Nobel Prize for his work in physics, but he will never will a Pulitzer for his writing. It's too tedious to endure.
   
   I love reading books about physics. I tried to read this book -- twice. I wanted to like it. But both times, I got no more than a third of the way through, and couldn't force myself to read another word.
   
   Mr. Gell-Mann's writing is too convoluted and dry, his theories so superficially presented. Unless you're a speed reader, I'd imagine there are very few people who would ever waste the time required to force themselves through this very disappointing book.



3. Gell-Mann went to much effort to weave the diverse topics of this book together under the theme of complex adaptive systems. I found this to be a pointless endeavor. A good theme should provide cohesion or make the subject more approachable. Conceiving of both a single-celled organism and a culture as complex adaptive systems, however, provides little insight into the functioning of either and serves mostly to drive home the point that the notion of a complex adaptive system is so broad that nearly anything worth discussing falls under that heading.
   
   Quantum physics is discussed at length. Unfortunately this section reads more like a catalog of concepts and discoveries than like a good introduction conveying key concepts. Other subjects (biology, evolution, ecosystems, computer learning, economics, public policy) are covered too superficially to yield anything of interest.
   
   The major arguments of _The Quark and the Jaguar_ are as follows:
   
   1) Effective complexity is not the same as algorithmic complexity. Algorithmic complexity is 0 for uniform data and highest for completely random data. (Potential) effective complexity is highest in the middle, where patterns and rules (schema) can be derived and minimal for both uniform data and random data.
   
   2) Classical physics implies a deterministic world. How can anything interesting happen? Because quantum physics offers randomness.
   
   3) Complex adaptive systems create schemas to model the data. This is true for the formation of life, to children learning to speak, to scientific progress, etc. Successful complex adaptive systems are solutions to problems. So the biological and cultural diversity on the planet represents a huge amount of valuable information.
   
   4) We should preserve biological and cultural diversity so we don't lose valuable information.



4. I might also have entitled my review, "See Carlos Camara's review of April 11, 2002." Camara captures my own thoughts to a tee. Where Gell-Mann is strongest, namely, on particle physics, his strengths shine through. Though hardly a rigorous survey of the field, the second section of Q&J is a compelling introduction to it -- and certainly whets one's appetite for further reading. The book's first section (an overview of the notion of complexity) is decent (though far better popular treatments can be found elsewhere). The book's third and fourth sections, however, are pretty much a total wash. I could tolerate them only insofar as they reflected the obvious integrity of the author. He is a political kindred spirit. That said, having purchased Q&J and had high expectations of it, I was surprised and not a little frustrated at how bereft of substance it was on matters "Jaguarian". More than a little disconnected, I found the second half of Q&J rambling, pedestrian, and even sophomoric. Certainly not what one expects of a Nobel prize winning physicist and of one of the founders of the Santa Fe institute. My respect for Gell-Mann, as a scientist and a humanist, is in no way diminished by Q&J, but I cannot help but feel that he (and his publisher) faltered with this effort. My advice: read the first half of Q&J for a cursory -- but well-written -- survey of complexity and particle physics. Skip the second half altogether.



5. The "reductionistic" scientific method, which seeks to reduce phonomena to simpler and more general underlying bludprints, has dominated the last three centuries. It works great in physics, as Newton domonstrated, but less well in other disciplines such as biology and psychology. For example, molecular biologists have isolated DNA, but have yet to adequately explain embroyonic development, protein folding and other riddles. To overcome these shortcomings, many are calling for a theory of complexity, which should focus on systems and the dynamics of development where order appears to organize itself from a bewildering number of interacting factors.
   
   Gell-Mann argues that rather than replacing reductionist methods, complexity theory complements that approach. The quark is the simple and universal, the jaguar the complex. He suggests that between these two exists an unbroken chain.
   
   Gell-Mann attempts to make his contribution with teh "complex adaptive system" that "acquires information about its environment" and indentifies "regularities in that information", which are then condensed into a "schema" or "model"; these latter are "non-static," and unlike a quark can evolve. Each complex adaptive system contains three strands: 1) basic rules; 2) frozen accidents; 3) a selection process. For example, language has genetically inherited cognitive capabilites with certain quirky attributes that persist and yet can change as the individual must describe new phenomena. A lot of the book is devoted to finding and explaining similar examples. It is a panoramic and entertaining excursion through human knowledge, if a bit cursory.
   
   Gell-Mann also hopes to guide scientists into a more holistic and cross-disciplinary approaches. With its focus on historical development and links between the simple and complex, the study of complex adaptive systems, he argues, may be the spur required to stimulate such approaches, briging physics, chemistry, biology and even the social sciences. This is what he is doing at the Santa Fe Institute.
   
   At its best, the book is a window into a great scientific mind, with fascinating mini-essays on state of the art science. Unfortunately, Gell-Mann is an uneven writer. Many passages are impenetrable to lay readers like myself. At a deeper level, he fails to critique the vague research agendas of the complexologists, who have been ridiculously popularised in such enues as Wired. Even the complex adaptive system may say too little about too much. Through it all, Gell-Mann maintains his pose as a total pedant.
   
   REcommended. It is uneven, but this is one of the greatest thinks of the 20C.

5 comments about A Feeling for the Organism: The Life and Work of Barbara McClintock.

1. A very short review of this incontournable book, for all those that want to better know the scientific world or that have interest in the female conditions throughout the 20 century. Those thinking that scientists are a bit "crazy" or mystical will probably find unvaluable arguments in McClintok's personality!
   The book is well writen and easy to read; even for people that do not have a background in genetics. From my point of view, those people will nevertheless have more interest in the aspects of "McClintock's as a female revolutionary scientist" rather than in "the genesis and communication of new ideas in life-science".
   Most of the information provided about McClintok's life and thoughts seem acurate, even if some authors have pointed out several speculations made by Evelyn Fox Keller.



2. Bare in mind as I begin this review that I am not interested in science. I read this book as part of a philosophy course interested in "ways of seeing." We looked at this books to discuss scientific ways of seeing and the fact that McClintock saw scientific things that her colleagues didn't see. The book is very interesting, if a bit wordy, and would probably be fascinating to someone actually interested in the topic. If you need to know about the life and work of Barbara McClintock- then the title does not lie. This book will give you a very in depth look at the woman's life and struggles and triumphs.



3. "A Feeling for the Organism" is much closer to memoir than biography. When McClintock denied Keller access to her letters and notebooks, Keller chose to rely on McClintock's recollections. Consequently, we learn how McClintock wanted others to see her, and perhaps how she wanted to see herself, but not the truth. McClintock is portrayed as a genius struggling against a world too stupid to appreciate her brilliance, but the existence of transposition was never in serious doubt; it was McClintock's theory of genetic control that was controversial, and later discarded as incorrect. For a better understanding of McClintock's work and its reception, read The Tangled Field by Nathaniel Comfort, which manages to tell the real story without diminishing the scientific importance or originality of McClintock.



4. People talk about glass ceilings, but the ceilings Barbara McClintock broke through were much colder than that. Evelyn Fox Keller, one of the most insightful writers who deals with issues of gender in science, conveys both McClintock's solitude and anguish and her passion for analyzing and understanding her organism's genes and how they affected the corn plants. The holistic approach to the organism is possibly a feminine approach to science, but in her day, admitting to female qualities was a no-no of the most chastised form. She never got tenure, never married, and finished her career as an isolated scientist at a research laboratory. But she never lost the passion for science. The Nobel prize was almost an after thought, certainly received for work completed and presented to dead silence much earlier in her career. Fox Keller sensitively conveys both what she thinks is important and what McClintock herself thought was important (just the science, ma'am!).



5. Barbara McClintock was a maverick from the very beginning. Her parents did not consider education as the best option for a woman. Her relationship with her mother was particularly frictitious. She made the decision to study botany at Cornell, and her love of the genetics grew. She worked on maize at a time when most cytogeneticists were working on Drosophila. It can easily be argued that nobody understood the maize plant and its genetics as well as she did at the time.
   
   The book can get quite technical midway, and will be appreciated best by those with a background in genetics. McClintock was a woman way ahead of her time, in fact, decades ahead. She could not be promoted to certain positions at several institutions simply because she is female (despite a superior knowledge in cytogenetics).
   
   It took approximately 5 years for McClintock to finish and publish her results on transposable elements in chromosomes (transposons). She gave numerous presentations on her discoveries and nobody understood - at a time when molecular biology was taking over the field of cytogenetics. This book shows that science is not always objective. It also brings up legitimate points as to whether the prevailing Western view of Science (i.e. the scientific method) is efficient enough in scientific research and discovery.
   
   I highly recommend this book!

1 comments about Stephen Hawking: A Biography.

1. Kristine Larsen's STEPHEN HAWKING: A BIOGRAPHY comes from a physicist and astronomer who examines noted physicist Stephen Hawkins' personal and professional life, emphasizing his contributions, his life, and his special physical challenges. From Hawking's early lack of focus as a college student to the evolution of his groundbreaking work, this biographical coverage is key reading for any interested in correlating his science with his life.