3 comments about The Father of Forensics: The Groundbreaking Cases of Sir Bernard Spilsbury, and the Beginnings of ModernCSI.

1. Evans' writing is very compelling and pushes you easily along the dateline of modern forensic techniques. His storytelling skills are marvelous and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. I am only part way through and find myself trying to savor every page by reading only a little at a time. I don't want this book to end!



2. Colin Evans has written a number of excellent books on forensics and this one is just as much of an edge-of-your-seat page-turner as the others, if not more so. The book's focus is on a subset of the many cases in which Britain's Sir Bernard Spilsbury was involved as the much revered, indeed legendary, forensic pathologist. The main highlights of Spilsbury's life are also included. The author's writing style is as witty as it is engaging, often tongue-in-cheek. The words that he uses to describing these many cases seem to be very carefully selected and put together. But it is much more likely that this excellent style of writing simply comes naturally to this most gifted author; I cannot praise it enough. This book will be indispensable to anyone who enjoys reading well-crafted true crime stories in which forensics plays an important role. Very highly recommended!



3. I've read accounts of other forensic pathologists at the turn of the century, but this one is easiest to digest. It has a smooth reading style, lays out the crimes in sufficient detail that you can follow the 'plot' and then shows how Spilsbury and his associates helped lay the forensic groundwork for conviction. Cases include such well-known murders as "The Brides in the Bath," among others.
   
   Besides the fascination at watching the growth of forensics at the hands of the pioneers (Spilsbury doesn't get all the kudos in this book) you also catch a glimpse of the personal toll exacted by the long hours and hideous conditions.
   
   For readers keen to see a glimpse of early forensic technique and the men behind the emerging technology, I highly recommend Evan's informative book.

No comments about Riding the Waves: A Life in Sound, Science, and Industry.

4 comments about Dear Professor Einstein: Albert Einstein's Letters to and from Children.

1. The idea conveyed by the title is wonderful, and to some degree the notion is realized. Unfortunately, it doesn't really fly. While there still may be merit in study of Einstein's educational comments to children, this volume doesn't offer much insight.
   
   The book starts with Einstein's grand daughter's recollections of grandpa, then her personal bio of Einstein, then another two mini-bio's by 3rd parties and a bunch of Einstein photos. Finally, we get to the letters, but 'Einstein' only replies to about 1 of 5 letters. Maybe this is enough if Einstein had addressed actually addressed the issues, but they generally offer polite parental advice: study hard and hope for the best.
   
   A few answers might give us a peak into Einstein's metaphysics, but the author doesn't explore them. For example, one child asks if scientists pray. Einstein answers that A) Scientist know prayer cannot influence the laws of physics, so they don't pray. B) But, scientists know their knowledge is limited, so C) they realize God might work in a restricted domain. D) This means scientists have a very special relationship with God. Left unsaid was the less than politically correct D) So, scientists still pray.



2. I had been looking forward to this book's release for some time. As yet another self-confessed Einstein fan, the idea of a collection of correspondences between the greatest scientific mind in the history of human endeavour, and curious children from around the world, was irresistable. So, when I finally got my hands on it, I wanted to enjoy it very much. However, in the end, I felt a bit cheated and misled.

   First of all, virtually the entire first half of the book (the first 110 pages!) contains no letters whatsoever. Instead it covers a biography of the scientist, discussions on his education, a photo gallery etc... While these were reasonably interesting, you can find similar material elsewhere, and was not the reason why I purchased the book.

   And the letters themselves were a bit disappointing. While I enjoyed reading the funny and childish letters written to Einstein, the questions and comments they included whet my appetite for how Einstein might respond (are you going to go insane because all geniuses are said to go insane? Did Houdini discover the 4th dimension, allowing him to walk through walls? etc...). However, there were very few actual replies from Einstein (though the few there were were fascinating to read). Furthermore, many of the letters by Einstein included those to his own relatives or to grown ups - which I felt was not in keeping with the promise of the book.

   This book reminded me of those music albums you buy because you hear one or two songs that you really like, only to discover that the remaining eight songs are just fillers to make up the space. Similarly, this book took a few gems and then made a book of it by adding a lot of extra stuff.

   This book, titled "Dear Professor Einstein - Albert Einstein's Letters to and From Children" is misleading. I would have felt less cheated if it read something like "Dear Professor - a Biography of Einstein, including letters written to him (mainly from children) and the very few responses we could find that he made". However, that is a bit of a mouthful and probably less appealing from a marketing point of view.

   I still gave it a 3 because it's about Einstein... did I mention I was an Einstein fan?




3. A good book, but it was not what I expected. Only half the book is actual letters. There are very few with responses from Einstein. There are more letters from children than to children.



4. This is a beautiful and touching book. The letters from children are printed exactly as they are written, spelling errors and all--some letters are even printed in their handwritten form. It is amazing how insightful some of the questions from the children are. Einstein's responses are written on the level of the original letter-writer, and are always well thought-out. I'm a big Einstein fan, and this was a gift that I greatly enjoyed. There were also some very interesting pictures of Einstein included in this book.

5 comments about Moondust: In Search of the Men Who Fell to Earth.

1. The NASA version of the Apollo moon landings is one thing (see the 5 DVD compilation: NASA The Story of America's Courageous Space Explorers!). 'Moondust: In Search of the Men Who Fell to Earth' is another. The cover says a lot. It shows Gene Cernan, Buzz Aldrin, John Young, Neil Armstrong, Charlie Duke, James Irwin, Alan Bean, and Jack Schmitt as heros worthy of being on collectible bubble gum cards. The author Andrew Smith was the perfect age when Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the moon. He was a kid. The moonwalkers are his heros. I was born later and equivalent heros for me are Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Yoda. The amazing thing about Andrew Smith's story is that he's able to actually meet those space-men and to come face to face with the realities of their lives after having walked on the moon. How much was an astronaught's salary? If I were standing on the face of the moon looking up at Earth, what effect would that have on my sense of God? What does a landscape devoid of atmosphere really look like? How does it feel to be alone inside the vehicle in orbit around the moon waiting for your colleagues to return from the moon surface? Especially when you're on the back side of the moon and you have no radio contact with Earth and you're more alone than any other human being in the history of our existence? What do you do with yourself after you return to Earth, after you retire from NASA, after your fame begins to fade away? Maybe you go into liquor sales, start your own religion or maybe you take up a career as a painter obsessively painting scenes from your lunar memories. Andrew Smith is a down to Earth writer who infuses wit, humor, and astute observation into this amazing book that I couldn't put down. Moondust ranks high among my favorite true account books which would also include Al Santoli's 'Everything We Had' and Joannis van Loon's 'The Life & Times of Rembrandt van Rijn'.



2. This book was very disappointing for all the reasons already stated, factually inaccurate, rambling, author being self absorbed, etc. The title is misleading and should have been "Andrew Smith: My thoughts on the Apollo Program (With an a few astronaut interviews thrown in)".
   
   I give it two stars because some of the interviews were interesting.
   
   Thankfully I borrowed this book from the library and didn't pay for it. I suggest if you're really interested in reading this book that you do the same...



3. This book turned out to be more about the author than about the astronauts. It was disappointing. The book was also hard to finish. It was uninteresting in most parts. Not recommended if you are looking for insight on the astronauts.



4. This particular book does a great job of getting into the insights of the astronauts when they were front page news. Apollo was truly the pinnacle of NASA and Andrew Smith does a great job of creating the aura that still surrounds the 9 men still living, that walked on another world.
   
   I could've done without some of his personal musings, as he paints a picture that you would rather he keep to himself. I have my own personal perspectives and if you didn't grow up in U.K. or CA, you'll probably agree that Andrew should've kept some of his memories out of the pages.
   
   Even with the author's anecdotes, the book is 5 stars and worthy reading for any space history buff.



5. It's hard to review this book. Everyone agrees that it offers a fascinating insight into the astronauts who walked on the moon. This book isn't really asking "what was it like?" because that's been done too many times. Instead, it asked "what was it like for you?" to each astronaut, and got some interesting answers.
   The remainder of the book is mostly about the journey of discovery that the author takes as he realizes that it had a relatively profound effect on his own life. Some reviewers (myself included) buy into this concept and found it made the whole package very engaging. Others (including some of my friends) found it annoying and distracting.
   So, if you would rather just read biographies of astronauts, try the book about Pete Conrad. If you ever wondered, "gosh, whatever happened to those guys?" or "well, what did it mean for the US to go to the moon anyway?" I think this is an entertaining, engrossing and ultimately enlightening read.
   I only gave it four and a half stars because it's not the best book I've ever read, merely one of the most memorable.

5 comments about Pendulum: Leon Foucault and the Triumph of Science.

1. Years ago when I lived in California, my father used to take me to San Francisco, and one of the things we loved to see was the Foucault Pendulum in the Golden Gate Park. I didn't realize until I read this book the real significance of what the inventor had done. Prior to this invention, there was doubt in the religious world that the earth turned on its axis and there was a belief that the Universe moved around the earth. He showed by the use of a pendulum that hung from the ceiling and made marks in sand that the earth was indeed moving. Anyone who is interested in science, and even those who are not, should enjoy the story of this very inventive man.



2. That a biography of L?on Foucault would be named after his legendary pendulum experiment is only appropriate. Proving the rotation of the earth and confirming the Copernican view of the solar system had vexed many of history's greatest minds for centuries. The author does an excellent job of explaining the evolution of the heliocentric view and of describing the efforts of many notable scientists to prove a theory that sharply contrasted with the church doctrine of the time.
   
   However, this was only one of many contributions Foucault would make to science. In addition to advances in photography, lighting, and telescope optics, Foucault invented the gyroscope, a device used in modern times to allow spacecraft to keep their bearings. Remarkably, Foucault accomplished so much despite a complete lack of formal scientific training. Sadly, one of the book's constant themes is how difficult it was for Foucault to receive proper recognition from his colleagues simply because they did not consider him to be a proper man of science.
   
   I have read several of Amir Aczel's books, and Pendulum is by far my favorite. L?on Foucault is an appealing subject, and Aczel has a knack for explaining scientific concepts in a clear and concise manner. Despite having relatively little knowledge of physics I always found the book to be easy to follow.



3. Written in an easy to read prose, this book makes a strong case for the importance of Foucault's work to our modern world, both in terms of scientific theory and in terms of applied technology. The author does a good job of explaining the historical context for Foucault's pendulum experiment, showing why it was so revolutionary. But this is more than just the story of a man who provided the definitive proof that the earth revolves on its axis. Foucault was largely self taught, and his story is equally about his struggles to find acceptance within the scientific establishment of his time, in spite of his clear contributions to the body of scientific knowledge. Thus this book also serves as a cautionary tale of the dangers of prejudice in any form.



4. This is an excellent treatment on the life and science of Leon Focault, the self-taught man who changed the mind of the Catholic Church rather than be persecuted like so many other scientist were for exposing scientific evidence that ran afoul of the repressive dogma of church doctrine and in that alone, it was a monumental achievement.
   
   Using his pendulum, Foucault conclusively proved that the earth rotated on it's axis and around the sun- NOT the Catholic Church. In October of 1992, Pope John Paul II made a public apology to Galileo and in this, [the apology] "...owes everything to the work of Leon Focault almost a century and a half earlier."- p 239.
   
   Of course, the apology should have been given directly to Galileo, but hey, better late than never and another feather in the cap of the recently passed John Paul II.
   
   Aczel writes with a flowing narrative- "like a novelist", as one reviewer states, and invites people from all backgrounds to understand the life and accomplishments of Focault and to give due recognition and honor to such a dedicated scientist. Well researched with easy to understand science, including illustrations, photos and drawings, one will come to know the man and his genius.
   
   Chief amongst Foucault's many discoveries were the modern electric compass, an electric microscope, photographic technology, insights into color theory, heat waves, and the speed of light. And there was so much more!
   
   Before the Preface is a quote from Focault that wisely sums up the import of his pendulum and it's proof of the earth's rotation:
   
   "The phenomenon develops calmly, but it is invisible, unstoppable. One feels, one sees it born and grow steadily; and it is not in one's power to either hasten or slow it down. Any person, brought into the presence of this fact, stops for a few moments and remains pensive and silent; and then generally leaves, carrying with him forever a sharper, keener sense of our incessant motion through space."- Leon Foucault, 1851.



5. I really liked the book. It covered a lot of interesting historical material as well as the main topic. Two items stand out in my mind, but there are many others: 1. the Foucault pendulum discovery severed the ties between science and church. It overturned the Aristolean view the church held that the earth did not move. This is a very important historic event. 2. The event that happened on Dec. 2, 1851. Louis-Napoleon, the elected president of France, overthrew the government and declared himself ruler as Napoleon III. It may seem a stretch, but this may have parallels in our political future of this country. Napoleon III had a strong desire to make France over in the manner he desired. Can we think of someone in our country (U.S.) who might want a make over? Hmmm. Although my background is in mathematics, I liked the historic interplay between the physcists and mathematicians who were essentially insulted and embarrassed by the Foucault discovery.
   
   Another reviewer above was not happy with the book and remarked that the science was wrong. It would have been good if he gave some references or other details why he felt that way. If one is bent on a scientific treatise about this, perhaps a book like Waves, Vol. 3, of the Berkeley series on physics would fill the needs the reviewer and others. It might be a worthwhile to pass his claims by a newsgroup such as sci.physics.

5 comments about Homage to Gaia: The Life of an Independent Scientist.

1. "Homage to Gaia" provided interesting autobiographical background on Lovelock's life and times as he criss-crosses the atlantic and around the world pursuing a life of science. I found the book reminiscent of Richard Feynman's autobiographical stories about bouncing around doing science, which I also recommend.
   
   "Homage to Gaia" is big on the stories, and lighter on the science, which is only touched on. But the stories are a humorous, personal accounting of a 70 year span and were fun and interesting to read.



2. ______________________________________________
   This is his autobiography, written at age 80. Lovelock is best-known for formulating the Gaia hypothesis, that the Earth is, metaphorically, a global superorganism: life regulates its environment to be more favorable for life, by the familiar and everyday process of natural selection. For example, a higher CO2 level in the atmosphere will result in more luxuriant plant growth, which will lower the CO2 content [1].
   
   Lovelock, who has a Ph.D in medicine, had a long career as a working scientist and inventor. He invented the exquisitely-sensitive electron-capture detector, and used it to pioneer measuurements of fluorocarbons in the atmosphere, work which led to the banning of Freon as a hazard to the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere.
   Lovelock is appropriately skeptical about the rhetorical excesses in the "Ozone Wars", and deplores the continued misuse of science in environmemtalism-as-religion. He's well-aware of the misuse of his Gaia "earth-mother" metaphor by muddle-headed New Agers, but gave numerous lectures to religious groups at the time the Gaia hypothesis was struggling for scientific respectability, which couldn't have helped his case. Lovelock himself is an agnostic, a fiercely-independent iconoclast, and an old-fashioned, very British eccentric scholar.
   
   Lovelock spent most of his career as an independent scientist and consultant, a difficult path for a research scientist but one which suited his personality -- and his desire to live and work in a rural setting. He's an interesting man and an influential scientist. His memoir is somewhat repetitive and overlong, and he sometimes sounds like a querulous old fart -- but if you have admired Lovelock's scientific work, you will enjoy reading about his life.
   
   Lovelock himself is a science-fiction fan -- as was William Golding, a neighbor who named the Gaia hypothesis. Lovelock co-wrote one science-fiction (sort-of) novel, _The Greening of Mars_ -- and his critics gleefully (and unfairly) labelled his Gaia work as science-fantasy. His work has held up pretty well, and his ideas are becoming mainstream in the earth and life-sciences -- though many of his successors avoid the "tainted" Gaia label.
   
   Lovelock's memoir has an interesting account of his progress from an unquestioning young Socialist in the 1930's to an admirer of Lady Thatcher. His uncritical admiration for the British National Health Service continues, even after a disastrous operation that permanently damaged his urethra, apparently due to a 'labour action' by the union at his hospital. Oddly enough.
   
   Lovelock is currently campaigning for nuclear power, as a way out of global-warming. His book has kind words for the industries he's worked in, especially Shell Oil. My kind of Green.
   
   Lovelock's official website: http://www.ecolo.org/lovelock/lovebioen.htm
   _____________________
   [1] --eventually. This feedback mechanism clearly doesn't operate quickly enough to control fossil-fuel CO2 emissions.
   
   Review copyright 2006 by Peter D. Tillman



3. At once an autobiography and the biography of Gaia Theory. The concept that has defined the life of the author is that the world is a complex living organism, this means that the life story of this very interesting and brilliant man shares also the development of his controversial theory. Written in a very human and honest style, with only general scientific information which makes the book perfect for all readers.



4. This book is a brilliant illustration of George Bernard Shaw's philosophy: "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." As a professional scientist struggling to reconcile the freedom of thought required to produce truly innovative research and the constraints of institutional science, I found this book very stimulating. Lovelock's depiction of a bright, adventurous, and independent scientific path will be a wonderful inspiration to all vocational scientists.



5. This is a remarkable book by and about a remarkable man. Big science is now the norm so that few working scientists manage to survive on their own. But Jim Lovelock not only survived but was responsible for a number of outstanding scientific achievements.
   I met Jim when he was a consultant to Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in the 1970's. I was a physicist with an intense interest in all things biological, and in charge of the scientists and engineers devising instruments to try to detect life on Mars. Jim immediately impressed me with his quiet manner and understanding of the problems. A year later, I visited his laboratory in his cottage at Bowerchalke, near Salisbury, England and met his first wife, Helen.
   This book is autobiographical, discussing in depth his early life and how he gradually became so well regarded in the scientific community that he was sought after as a consultant around the world. I can hear Jim's voice in this book. Peter Simmonds, who worked with Jim in Britain and at JPL once said, "Jim carries a little bird on his shoulder who tells him exactly what to say." It seemed like that when he was able to make a pungent comment clearing up a difficulty that had plagued us for days.
   This is a remarkable book as it tells with great clarity what Jim thought of many of the people he worked with. The names include many of the great scientists working on the environment and other problems of the age. He's kind in his assessment of some of them, I think.
   Read this book if you want to understand what makes a great scientist: ability, knowledge, study, intuition and imagination. Read it as a gripping story of one man's life as an independent scientist. Read it, also, to learn how much Jim contributed to our understanding of the world's environment as we know it today.

   Dennis Le Croissette, Ph.D.

5 comments about Master Mind: The Rise and Fall of Fritz Haber, the Nobel Laureate Who Launched the Age of Chemical Warfare.

1. In mid-March, while nearing the end of the writing of my Master's Thesis on Kaiser Wilhelm II and the Outbreak of World War I, perusing the shelves at a local Borders, the spine of this book caught my eye. After reading the dust jacket, and thinking that perhaps this could be interesting - I had not studied the beginnings of chemical weaponry before - I decided to buy the book and proceeded to sit a Starbucks, sip a mocha, and read the first pages.
   
   ...
   
   I could barely put this book down, and wound up sitting at said Starbucks for nearly two hours, nearly missing a movie showing I had intended to see (it may have been "The Counterfeiters" - a great movie if one has not seen it yet). Still recovering from the last Potter book (and Pottermania), I found that I was reading this biography as eagerly as I was reading the Deathly Hallows during the twilight hours of July 22nd.
   
   Daniel Charles has written a fascinating study of Fritz Haber. I have noted that another reviewer has not written so kindly of this book and I am inclined to reading another account (for another perspective), but no matter. That reviewer and I can agree on one thing: in Charles' work, Haber devotes his life to becoming as German as any other German, to live for his duty to country, and ultimately, his country spits back at him, he suffers, and he dies, his own creations becoming the tools of his own betrayal. At the end of the day, the book is a morality story, and a tragic one at that. But that is what lends it its vitality as a biography - it is a story, and not just pictures of a man as viewed from afar, somewhere in the not too distant past.
   
   The other intriguing part is its relevance to the modern day - the book questions progress, scientific and technical progress at that, and what it specifically asks are questions of conscience - just because we can do something does not necessarily mean that we should. Perhaps in the fictional world, Tolkien (having lived through World War I, the same world as Haber) can be seen as asking very similar questions. "I shall be great and powerful, and all will love me and despair," says Galadriel to Frodo when he attempts to give her the ring of power. Haber was great and powerful, he commanded the respect of all who knew him, even if those men did not like him, but they despaired. Einstein, a close friend, despaired.
   
   Charles makes a claim about two-thirds of the way through that if Haber had not opened the beast of gas warfare, the war may have ended in 1915, instead of 1918, preventing the Bolshevik Revolution and crises that plagued Germany at its conclusion, preventing thus the rises of men like Stalin and Hitler. The underlying assumption here is that gas warfare had such an effect in the war, that had this phase not begun, the war could have ended earlier. I am unsure as to whether this was the case, as when the first gas attack at Ypres in April 1915 was conducted, the trenches in Europe had already been dug out. Furthermore, I am unconvinced that revolution in Russia was not inevitable, as well as many other factors. Charles here moves through a series of "what if's..." that lead to an interesting conclusion - without Haber, could we have been without Stalin or Hitler? Objectively, history should not look at "what if" ideas, because then it wouldn't really be history, but it is interesting to consider Charles' ideas, as far-fetched this one really is, if only for a moment. Fortunately, he doesn't do this all the time.
   
   All in all, this is an excellent read, and should raise questions on mankind, science and technical progress in the minds of many. Remember - just because we can do something, doesn't mean we should do it. Perhaps this is the greatest warning in Charles' book - a book I have recommended and continue to recommend to many of my close friends.



2. It is often said the four people who had the most effect on the twentieth century were Einstein, Marx, Freud, and Darwin. Fritz Haber has to be close to number five.
   Mankind's food production, yield per acre, has always been limited to the amount of nitrogen that becomes "fixed" into the soil as nitrates. Historically crops were rotated; fields were alternately planted with nitrogen fixing plants to improve yields. In 1909, Fritz Haber's invention showed that man could fix nitrogen, and when teamed up with Carl Bosch, the process could yield ammonia on an industrial scale. Large quantities of nitrogen fertlizer and gunpowder was the result. Thus German manufacture of gunpowder extended Germany's resistance in World War I for years because of this crucial process.
   The Author shows the sad irony of war, ideology, and hate. Fritz Haber, a German Jew converted to Christianity to better blend in with the higher echelons of German industrialists as he became very wealthy. He Invented various gases used in gas attacks and one insecticide gas called Zyklon-B, which would be used in the death camps for the extermination of in-mates years later.
   A fun loving gregarious Nobel Prize winning industrialist that was a failure as a father and husband, also misread the significance of the Nazis coming to power in Germany. He could not comprehend being robbed on his possessions, business agreements, and professional positions and finally fleeing to Switzerland where he died a broken man in 1934. The book is well written and researched. The last few chapters after Haber's death are a nice touch to the book, It traces Fritz Haber's family after the war and some of the Haber-Bosch machinery used in World War I then again in WWII and finally to help the East German Government make ends meet as late as the 1980's.



3. The world would be a different place were it not for Fritz Haber. It is a must read for anyone that would like to get a feeling of what Germany and the pre-WWI world was like. We may not have had a WWI and consequently a WWII without great men like Alfred Nobel and Fritz Haber, and yet great scientists cure diseases in the pursuit of Nobel approval and the world eats by the grace of Fritz Haber.



4. Daniel Charles, otherwise a reporter with NPR, has written this relatively short biography of Fritz Haber, which I found to be a disappointment. Fritz Haber was by all accounts an extraordinary chemist, a Nobel Laureate, a German patriot, and a tragic figure in twentieth-century Germany's tragic history. One of Haber's greatest technical accomplishments was to devise a method of extracting nitrogen from the air, without which Germany would have folded within 6 months of entering the First World War for lack of gunpowder, though one wonders if Haber, Germany, and Europe wouldn't have fared better without his invention. On the other hand, today this invention allows more than a billion people have food to eat thanks to fertilizer made with the same method.
   
   This biography was a disappointment; some of the facts he offers are demonstrably incorrect, some of the facts he offers are, to be polite, wildly exaggerated, and informed voices that strongly dispute the opinions he cites go unmentioned.
   
   To wit: Charles writes that Lunge had a position, and Haber was offered a position at the University of Zurich. These positions were at Zurich's Polytechnic, a totally different institution and arguably the finest Polytech in the German-speaking world.
   
   Charles writes that "Haber was a founder of the military-industrial complex." This amazes me since the Krupp Steel Works, which made Germany's artillery, had for years been so important to Germany that the Kaiser himself busied himself with finding a suitable husband for Bertha Krupp.
   
   Charles writes: "John Dewey's prophecy of 1918 has been proven correct; the marriage of science and military power has endured. And its spiritual heritage leads back to Dahlem," (where Haber had his lab.) He wrote this more than two millenia after Archimedes, the precocious Greek physicist and mathematician, invented ingenious weapons with which his fellow Syracusans fended the Romans off during the Second Punic War...
   
   Charles quotes a source that "apparently it was a common view among scientists at Haber's Institute" that his wife committed suicide to protest his work developing chemical weapons, but omits to mention that one of Haber's other biographers, the son of friend of Haber's, has written that there were those who claim that her suicide was a political statement, but that the family rejects these theories as a politically convenient myths. Haber's son deemed this other biography as the best one yet. Charles himself writes that the family had a history of suicides and that Clara Haber had had serious emotional problems for a long time. Incidentally, the symptoms of her emotional problems are indistinguishable from those of a heavy metal intoxication; Clara Haber's doctoral thesis was on her experimental work with heavy metals and their salts. I believe that basic human decency would have obliged Charles to either mention all the relevant facts and extant opinions surrounding Clara Haber and her tragic death, or else leave her to her well-deserved rest. This is why I give this book one star, and not two.
   
   Make no mistake about it, Fritz Haber was a brilliant scientist, whose life is profoundly interesting. The one motif in Haber's life that Charles largely does justice, and which is moving, is Haber's tragic quest to assimilate himself into German society, only to suffer persecution as a Jew at the hands of the parvenu filth that came to misgovern Germany.



5. I think the real dilemma in science comes when we insert "ego" in the place of morality and use the argument that "If I don't, then someone else will." But what we don't realize is that when we "do"...we ARE that someone else!! I guess in the end we can't be responsible for someone else's misuse of technology...can we?
   
   I'm not done reading the book but so far it's awesome!

2 comments about Don't Throw This Away! The Civil Engineering Life.

1. This is a great book of short stories written by a insightful Engineer and Professor.
   Brian has a way of bringing humor to the daily events we all experience. I especially like the stories about his "Technological Friend", who sounds brilliant.



2. This book is fantastic. The stories are very funny and entertaining for geek and non-geek alike. I highly recommend this book.

1 comments about Women Scientists in America: Struggles and Strategies to 1940.

1. Margaret Rossiter's work clearly outlines the rise in 19th century America of the notion that girls and women ought to be educated, and deftly constructs a gripping read about how this relatively new notion translated itself into women finally attaining access to higher education. She goes in-depth in examining each successive generation, from the 1840s onwards, in showing how, once one generation of women attained a certain level of education in the sciences, they sought to give the same and more opportunities to the next set of young women. Rossiter also clearly delineates part of what is probably at the origin of women's pay imbalance today: once so many women attained higher degrees, there was nowhere else for them to go, including the women's colleges where jobs were scarce. They therefore accepted much lower-paying jobs as "scientists' assistants" in the astronomy, botany, or other laboratory simply to utilize the knowledge they had gained. Rossiter's work gives insights into the hard-won educational rights we now take for granted, but illuminates some situations that have persisted into the present day. My only criticism of the work is that she mentions so many names of women becoming scientists, particularly in the 1880s and 1890s, that it became a bit confusing to keep them all straight. While she has charts showing how many women were attaining degrees at various women's, and finally coed, institutions, it would have been helpful to have a "genealogy" of all of these scientists. All in all one of the most interesting books I have read in months.

3 comments about J. Robert Oppenheimer: A Life.

1. While I generally agree with the authors of the reviews below that this book provides insight into Oppenheimer's character, the development of IAS, and the inner workings of the Manhattan Project, I did not find this biography helpful in understanding either Oppenheimer's scientific work or the wider scientific research in quantum theory in which he played a role. I took to reading the "science" chapters with my laptop, set to Wikipedia, at my side, because -- perhaps because he died before revising or expanding the chapters that he had completed -- Pais does not define, let alone explain, any of the concepts and theories underlying Oppenheimer's research, but merely summarizes those ideas as though he were addressing an audience of science professionals. While no scientist, I'm not a science illiterate. Yet I understood very few of the descriptions in this book of Oppenheimer's actual scientific work. Therefore, I'd recommend this bio to readers interested in learning more about Oppenheimer's life, the history of IAS and the birth of the atomic age, but not to those nonscientists who want to learn more about Oppenheimer's research.



2. A gripping review of the man who really created the atomic bomb and fought to stop the hydrogen bomb. Read this book and find out why



3. There have been several good biographies of Oppenheimer in the past few years. As biographies the others are probably better. This book though has two real advantages over the others:
   
   First, Abraham Pais was a physicist himself. He worked with Oppenheimer and knew all or most of the significant physicists involved with atomic energy during and after the war. His insights on the physics being done at the time is very insightful.
   
   Second, Oppenheimer is most known for Los Alamos and the Manhattan Project. But after that, after he lost his security clearance Oppenheimer was head of the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton. This is where Pais knew him and it is in this part of his life that this book excells.
   
   Oppenheimer was an enigmatic person. He was certainly an accomplished physicist. Not perhaps the equal of the very best, but clearly on the first string. Oppenheimer's work in physics earned him what might be called an honorable mention in the history books. Oppenheimer's work as a manager of the project and as director of the institute required not brilliance in physics but managerial capabilities far beyond those exhibited by other physicists of the time (with the possible exception of Edward Teller).
   
   Oppenheimer's expulsion from Government service over security issues was one of the travesties of the McCarthy era. It seems though that his subsequent work at the IAS gave him enough pleasure that he was not unhappy. He continued to work at the forefront of physics.
   
   If you want to know more about Oppenheimer's life before and during the war, look to other books. If you want some insight into his later life and into the depth of his character, this is the best book I have found.