5 comments about Einstein's German World.

1. 
   Fritz Stern has filled an important void around those times in which the promising figure of Albert Einstein has to face against that opprobrious regime; through a progressive cracking of the noble values which reigned in Germany, as well as all that state of things that surrounded, permeated and allowed the unthinkable happened.
   
   A revealing, poignant and incisive portrait.



2. The book's cover shows a photo of a happy Albert Einstein on board the German ship Deutschland, as he heads home for Germany from a trip abroad. On the back cover it is entitled "Heimreise nach Deutschland," meaning the journey home to Germany. The last essay of the book concludes with Professor Stern--who is German by birth--explaining how it feels to be "heimatlos," meaning to be without a home. The word "Heimat," carries a special meaning of warmth and comfort associated with one's homeland. It requires a good insight into German culture to understand the emotions it evokes for Germans who find themselves away from home.

   Between "Heimreise" and "heimatlos," lies the book's theme that recounts the poignant experiences of several world renown German scientists, who were Jews. This is not a book about scientists and their accomplishments, but about accomplished Germans who were ostracized by their country for being Jews.

   Contrary to some recent writings, these men and their families were well integrated and accepted by their colleagues and German society. They were Germans who could trace their ancestry in Germany for many generations. They were patriots just as any other German. Like any other German they contributed to the war effort during WW1. They distinguished themselves as soldiers. They prospered and enjoyed their German culture and lifestyle. They commanded respect and were held in esteem for their accomplishments. Then came the Nazis.

   The common theme of the biographical sketches of each of the personalities is a reflection on the sense of loss, the profound disillusionment, which these men felt as they came to accept the stark reality that their country of birth, their beloved fatherland, was turning against them. It is hard to imagine the deep sense of betrayal these men, and others like them, must have felt when the Nazis deprived them of their citizenship and drove them out of their "Heimat." The book tells a sad story, not of death and destruction, not of material dispossession, but of the loss of civil rights, disillusionment, and of the bitter sense of rejection felt by some of Germany's best and finest.

   Other than that, Fritz Stern's style makes the book a real joy to read.




3. This book commands interest at several points, but in the end doesn't come together as an integrated whole. It is a collection of former essays loosely linked by overlapping content, specifically the experience and achievement of German Jewish intellectuals and scientists during the first part of the century. The centerpiece is a description of the friendship between Albert Einstein and Fritz Haber, and the manner in which each attempted to come to terms with the rise of fascism in Germany. Also interesting are Stern's essay on the experience since reunification of former residents of East Germany, and the fate of Max Planck under the Nazis. Worth reading if you're a specialist, but in the end not biographical or focused enough.



4. The title of the review applies more clearly to the first part of the book: chapters 1-4 and, especially, chapter 3--the centerpiece and gem of the book--where the fascinating discussion of Einstein is central. The essays in the second part of the book are well done but less interesting. The book's title says a great deal about what one finds in the first four chapters, and one learns a lot about Germany in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, whether the focus is on science, culture, religion, the politics and economics of science, or the intricate ties that bound government, business, the universities, and both the applied and theoretical scientists. All of these strands are discussed in a writing style that can only be described as masterful. I remember a class wth Fritz Stern many years ago where, among many things, two virtues in particular stood out: clarity and honesty. Some things do not change.



5. This book provides some good background information on some of the key people who went into making modern chemistry and physics from the 1870 German unification to just before WWII. It is similar (although much weaker than) the background provided by Michael White in "Issac Newton, the Last Sorcerer" - for the times in which Newton lived. While Fritz Stern is well qualified to comment on how German scientists conducted themselves in response to WWI and Hitler, (unlike White's treatment of Issac Newton's era) Stern never really seems to impart enough of a multi dimensional background so we can better understand the views and driving forces of "Einsteins German World".

   Max Planck comes out as a decent German, doing the best for his Jewish colleagues -- but upon reading Stern's account you get the impression that the whole Hitler atmosphere can be explained by anti-semitism leveraged to advance Dilbert-style rampant careerism.

   Stern takes pains to state that Goldhagen's book (on ordinary Germans under Hitler, which covers much the same era) is a gross simplification, and he advances high level arguments against Goldhagen's view that there was a ubiquitous inherent German anti-semitism at work. While Stern mentions (things such as) German Catholic-Protestant disharmony being equal German Jewish-Christian disharmony around WWI, he does not elaborate.

   Stern was there (or at least knew the people personally) -- and given this, he could have done a better job describing "Einstein's German World". You never come to understand anything beyond top German Jewish scientists working hard, struggling against a view of their work as being somehow Jewish (Stern never mentions how Freud was viewed in this regard - which was too bad), and that eliminating Jewish colleagues was a way of advancing one's career up a competitive government scientist ladder under Hitler.

5 comments about Iron Fist: The Lives of Carl Kiekhaefer.

1. ... especially considering the mountain of paid-for corporate propaganda, 'legends of ...', put out by the same author.
   
   I really enjoyed this book, knowing very little about Kiekhaefer before, although my parents were a Mercury dealer 1957-'61. An unforgetable moment was when a Mark 55H was unpacked at our store, ordered by a lawyer with a Class D Speedliner. I got to take it out of mothballs and air it out once in the 1980s. Amazing motor. And the story is about an amazing man who lived and breathed: compete and win.
   
   Really interesting that the man who built the world's fastest outboards in the era 1949-'64 grew up on a farm repairing heavy machinery, had never set foot in a boat (the author points out that Robert McCulloch raced outboards in college), and whose aim was to build magnetic separators for livestock feedlots when he fell by accident into the defunct Thor outboard factory. The author apparently tells the whole tale of E.C.K. as he knows it, girlfriends, awful temper, paranoia and all, which makes for a first rate biography. That is, Kiekhaefer (whon some local yokels persisted in calling Kefauver) was a ---, but as one said of others like Patton, he was a magnificient ---.
   
   I remember the photo of my Dad standing by the first (red) Mark 75 that arrived in our store in spring, '57, and the twice around the world endurance run at Lake X with two Raveau powered Mark 75s (I also recall reading the factory bulletins). Rodengen tells the tale of cheating and manipulation, how key parts and even powerheads were illegally changed while someone took the auto club observers out to eat. However, his statement that they 'pulled the heads' to clean the carbon from the exhaust ports is technically wrong, they perhaps pulled the exhaust water jacket to clean the ports. Every inline Mercury had a 1-piece block, there was no cylinder head. I liked very much the descriptions of Strang and Rose (both MIT engineers) and Jost. I knew and liked Edgar Rose and Jim Jost during my OPC racing 1977-'85 (although Edgar Rose was widely disliked with respect, he was in charge of motor inspection for APBA), and recall how Charlie Strang appeard at APBA National Championships with his mother. Wonderful story how, while Kiekhaefer was squandering money and engineering effort on car racing, Strang secretly created the first 6 cyl. prototype by cutting and welding 2 4 cyl. blocks and 3 2-cyl. cranks! But that was anyway how Kiekhaefer made the first 4 cyl. prototype from two 2 cyl. blocks and cranks. My father, who was very active in NOA racing, complained to Kiekhaefer Corp. about the enormous size and low gearing of the Mark 75,78, and Merc 800 gearcases. The results, nearly too late in 1960, were the speedmaster and sportsmaster gearcases. The NOA unlimited record was held in 1960 by a John-Rude 75 at about 57 mph on a wooden Allison runabout. The production John-Rude had a high geared stock gearcase that resembled a Quicksilver lower unit. I held the 70-80 cu. in. record at 51 mph with a clubfoot Merc 800 on an Allison. with the sportsmaster gearcase, about the size of a 1975 Evinrude 75 shortshaft but geared higher, I ran nearly 57 mph in 70-80, and both Paul Allison and we broke 60 mph in unlimited (Paul ran over 61, I managed about 60.5). We have the NOA record certificates to prove it, but the records never went into the books because the other drivers voted to outlaw the Allison boats after the fact (this is analogous to Kiekhaefer's persistent NASCAR problems described by Rodengen). In any case Kiekhaefer coundn't stand losing, and neither could we. From 1977-1985 I won 3 APBA National Championships in EP, was US 1 twice, held 2 speed records, and won (with George Laycock driving) the NOA 40-70 Championship in 1981.
   
   On the sob side of the coin, in 1961 after my Dad had gone into debt putting Mercury on the map locally and also in NOA racing, a lethargic but longer established dealer in Knoxville (who left it to Scott and the OMC dominate NOA) took him to court (we sold some motors outside our region), Kiekhaefer corp. supported the dealer and my parents lost the dealership. My Dad was not a Kiekhaefer fan after that.
   
   The book is sadly incomplete: who designed the Mark 78 and Mark 58? Who designed the Merc 800? In particular, who designed the Merc 500, the first production outboard with exhaust tuning? Was it Strang, Rose, Strang and Rose? I think that while Edgar was head of engineering at OMC, Jim Nerstrom actually designed the motors. Or, as is speculated on an outboard website, did O.F. Christner (Qunicy Welding) play a role in designing the 50 cu. in. OMC 3 cyl. looper that I raced 1977-'85?
   
   What I also liked very much: the description of the Mercury-OMC battle to set the world outboard speed record from 1957-about 1990. the last record mentioned is 176+mph on a 3-point hydro powered by an Evinrude V-8 ca. 1990 by Bob Wartinger. Our two young sons sat in the cockpit briefly last summer, the boat is alledgedly headed to a museum in Seattle.
   
   If anyone knows how to contact either Edgar Rose or Jim Jost, if they're still with us, I'd appreciate being contacted (jmccauley@uh.edu).
   
   Suggestions to Rodengen: a biography, maybe combined, of Dieter König and Robert McCulloch. McCulloch is described in Iron Fist, but not König.



2. I have collected outboards for years. I have always been a collector of Scott-Atwater outboards and Evinrude's. I have always liked Mercury's, but have never really collected them. I bought this book just to learn a little about the man and the company. Of all the books I have ever read, about outboards, this is the best one. Not just a great outboard book but a great book on the early years of outboards. You would have to put Carl Kiekhaefer in the same category as a Henry Ford and a Bill Gates. He built a company and didn't settle for just being in business, he strived for perfection and dominance. When it was all over he had accomplished both



3. As anyone reading this review will know, Cark Kiekhaefer was one of the godfathers of the racing world. His Kiekhaefer 625 motors and Don Aronow's cigarette designs, decimated the competition for many years. The book made me appreciate just how hard he strived for success. It also brings to light a softer, more vulnerable side to Kiekhaefer that is endearing. I'm sure he probably would have been highly embarrassed. The book is a great account of a life that I believe would make a great movie. If you liked the offshore world of the 70's and 80's where monohulls and KAM power ruled - you should enjoy the book. The only drawback for me personally was that there weren't more pictures.



4. This book is full of details few imagined about Kiekhaeffer and Mercury Outboards. Many of his personal triumphs and disasters are explained. Mr. Rodengen has done a very through job of researching the story of a very secretative and often confusing character. Serendipity often followed this gentleman through his amazing career. From early on when outboard motors were not his intended focus, to when he sold Mercury to Brunswick (for what turned out to be a less than favorable deal for him, though he remained well off by average standards) to his last adventure with the rejuvenated Kiekhaeffer Aeromarine as an Offshore racing engine and outdrive maker making him another fortune in boating. The story is very interesting, but the source material for the book is Mr. Rodengen's anthology of of his own magazine articles about Mercury and Kiekhaeffer. While background information was necessary in each magazine installment a little too much remains in each chapter and story for best clarity. I recommend perservering with the writing style to learn this interesting story that is told no where else.



5. As one who grew up on a marina in central Ky., the outboard "wars" of the 1960-70's were a major part of my life. We were Mercury fanatics in Evinrude country. Rodengen's work on the life of Carl Kiekhaefer is mandatory reading for anyone who worshipped at the Mercury altar. It confirms the genius of Kiekhaefer, and the superiority of his product, while at the same time making clear the weaknesses that ultimately led to the loss of his company to Brunswick, and with it the unique "personality" that made Kiekhaefer Mercury the beloved company of its time.

   The most amazing thing to me was the number of engineering accomplishments and the ultimate dominance of the marine industry by the men in black. For any Mercury devotee, this book will literally cause tears in your eyes. I'm glad it was written.

4 comments about Great Physicists: The Life and Times of Leading Physicists from Galileo to Hawking.

1. this book has the perfect mixture of science and personal details, i am doing an assignment on history of science and it provided exactly what i was looking for. i would definitely recommend it for someone who wants to know not just the progress of physics and thermodynamics but also all the background controversies and the personal triumphs and tragedies that went along with it. in the end you'll feel a lot more familiar with all those great names that people usually just associate with a theorem.



2. This is an excellent book. Cropper must have put an enormous effort into researching and writing this 500 page, large format paperback, which has been nicely printed on white paper. At its current price of $12.97 an incredible bargain.
   
   At first glance this book appears to be sort of a strange hybrid of biography and science, but the combo works. Cropper generally starts a chapter on a scientist with a few page biographical sketch followed by a longer, clearly written, physics section. I would estimate that the book is about 70% physics and about 30% biographical. The biographical sections are well done and interesting, but the book really shines in its overview of the physics.
   
   Cropper covers 30 scientists with many of them in thermodynamics and atomic physics. Reading these sections you not only get a good overview of the science at a moderate technical level (a notch or two above the usual popular science writing level since Cropper is not afraid of using equations), but also you get an historical understanding of who did what and how their contributions fit together. Another plus is that Cropper will often describe in some detail how a key experiment has been done.
   
   As a technical person (like a previous reviewer, I am an engineer), not only did I learn a lot from this book about how many of the secrets of this world have been discovered, but some of the gaps in my physics knowledge were filled in. Cropper set himself a big task to write an overview of much of physics, but he has pulled it off with style.



3. This is the best book I have read about the human side of physicists. Although, I have a Masters degree in physics, you don't need to be a practicing scientist to throughly enjoy the contents of this wonderful work. Cropper did an outstanding writing job.



4. I've picked up many books over the years telling the stories of great scientists, but this is the only book of this type that I couldn't put down. I am a degreed engineer, now working in computers, with physics as a hobby. The coverage of Thermodynamics, which I have studied extensively, was fascinatingly rich and accessible. The complexity of other topics, such as nuclear physics, of which I know little, was surprizingly clear.

   My curiosity attracts me to picking up compilations such as this, but I usually find them disjunct and uninteresting. Mr. Cooper has done an amazing job of weaving a coherent story of the lives of these fascinating characters spanning a history of 400 years.

5 comments about Brother Astronomer: Adventures of a Vatican Scientist.

1. I had the pleasure of meeting Brother Guy in the summer of 2001 during a visit to Castel Gandolfo where he was kind enough to take us on a guided tour of the observatories on the roof of the Papal residence. He is as entertaining and fascinating "in real life" as his books amply demonstrate to a reader.
   
   "Science makes lousy religion and religion makes lousy science." What a great attitude!
   
   Bottom line: "Brother Astronomer" is a well-crafted, entertaining book that may even teach you things about yourself.



2. Many of you have read - or have a copy of - Turn Left at Orion by Guy Consolmagno, an entertaining and instructive guide for amateur astronomers with small telescopes. No less entertaining is his book, Brother Astronomer: Adventures of a Vatican Scientist, in which Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno tells his life story in brief, and in more detail discusses Mars rocks, Antarctica adventures, and science/religion issues.
   
   With grace and good humor he tells of his becoming curator of the Vatican's collection of meteorites, one of the oldest collections in the world, mostly amassed in the nineteenth century by French nobleman Marquis de Mauroy. Consolmagno and his associates devised a method to determine the mass, the density, and the porosity of meteorites, which lead to theories on where meteorites come from - asteroids and other planets. He calls them his outer space "aliens" at the Vatican.
   
   His real adventures are recounted with good-natured wit in the section titled "Wide Wild Whiteness", a meteorite-hunting expedition with other scientists on the bottom of the world in Antarctica. He makes the vast, cold continent seem to come alive in its bleak expanse and extremes of cold and wind. The personal interaction among the small group of individuals forced to spend six weeks together in that harsh frigid environment is insightful, at times poignant and other times hilarious. Everyone on the team has a specialty, and he often wonders, "Why am I here?" They bring home a treasure trove of 390 meteorites. It is fascinating to learn how they go to great pains to preserve the pristine condition of the space rocks. To collect them without contaminating them is a real challenge, especially under subzero temperatures, where the cold dulls the mind and freezes the fingers.
   
   Perhaps most enlightening and enjoyable are Consolmagno's discourses on science and religion. He reminds us that only recently, in our popular culture, has there been an apparent schism between science and religion; that indeed, the great thinkers of ages gone by were men of renown in the church, men of great religious faith. The search for truth is and always has been the goal of both good religion and good science. "God gave us brains; He expects us to use them," he says.
   
   "To understand why" science and religion are thought to be opposed, says Consolmagno, "we need to look not at science, nor at religion, but at the popular culture." He explains that science in school is often a turn-off for kids, and many leave the church as teenagers, "before they are old enough to appreciate it." The result is a childish view of both science and religion.
   
   The popular media - news, TV, movies - present a distorted view of both science and religion as well, he contends. If there is no action, no drama, no conflict, it doesn't make good copy or good video. Scientists are often portrayed as "mad", and preachers are stereotyped as extremists. Fear and confusion of the roles and relationships of science and faith are the result. "It's a fundamental misconception of how both science and religion work." He goes on to say that Christianity does not start with faith, it starts with experience; and that science does not begin with experiment or logic, it begins with intuition.
   
   He recounts the timeworn story of Galileo and the Church, and contends that that situation was largely a matter of pride and politics, not strictly religion and science. The ill-feeling produced by Galileo's trial set back science for years, and sparked the thinking that the church was anti-science, though the Church has since repeatedly admitted the mistakes it made there almost 400 years ago.
   
   In his "Confession of a Vatican Scientist" section of the book, Consolmagno presents many wise arguments explaining the deep connections between science and religion. You'll have to read it to appreciate it. He says, "Good science is a very religious act. The search for Truth is the same as the search for God." Of the "unexplainable", he says, "Our theology prepared science to accept the seeming contradictions of quantum theory, for instance; just because something doesn't seem to make sense, is no proof that it must be false."
   
   He sums it up by saying, "The desire for truth and understanding, including understanding the truth of the natural world, was given to us by God, in order to lead us to God. It is the desire for God. It is why I am a scientist; it is why the Vatican supports me."



3. Brother Astronomer is a delightful romp into the life of a joyful and spirit-filled man. Brother Guy exemplifies the bridging of the purported gap between faith and science; in his writing and his life and his combination of these two vocations he belies the simplistic and all-too glib pronouncements so many trot out about the rift between science and religion. Whether you come to this book from the religous or scientific side, read it with an open mind and heart, the way it was written.

   Brother Guy writes with considerable insight and frankness, and will certainly make some people most uncomfortable as he demonstrates some convincing parallels betweeen science and religion. Those who quickly dismiss his comments on this similarity simply reveal that they were ready to do so a priori, even before opening the pages of this book. He handles science and religion in an even-handed, balanced and refreshingly gentle manner, and I admire his intellectual and spiritual integrity, how he never forgets there is one truth underlying everything, and that this truth will be what it is, and not simply what we want it to be.

   His book is undoubted going to be equally unacceptable to both scientific as well as religious fundamentalists, two groups which possess in common a remarkable ignorance of both religion and science.

   As a professional academic scientist and believer in God who has never had any problem reconciling the two equally profound sides of my life, I may be prejudiced in my approach to this book. But I don't think so. So set your judgementalness aside when you pick up Brother Astronomer. Read it, enjoy it, go with the flow of the book and take delight in the time you spend with this delightful man.




4. In "Brother Astronomer", Br. Guy Consolmagno describes his life and views as a Jesuit brother who is also a professional astronomer. In this book, the author (who is also the author of "Turn Left at Orion", a highly regarded handbook for amateur astronomers) covers a number of topics: how science is done, the interaction between science and religion, the often-positive role the Cathollic Church has played in the history of science, and an expedition the author made to Antarctics to gather meteriorites. The parts do not always mesh well, which is why I gave it only four of five stars; however, individual chapters are quite good. For example, the opening chapter, which traces a problem in planetary science as a case study of how science is done, would be well worth showing to any teenager who is interested in science; while the chapter on religion and science will be of interest to anyone who has an open mind on the issue of whether "Jerusalem" can have anything to do with "Athens". Well worth reading; highly recommended.

   By the way, my wife and I have had the pleasure of hearing Br. Guy speak at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago on several occasions; if you get a chance to hear him speak in person, you won't be disappointed.




5. Uno pensaría que la Iglesia y principalmente sus más cercanos servidores, los sacerdotes, solo se dedican a los aspectos meramentame espirituales, que si bién son grandiosos, no debmos olvidar que tambien son seres humanos como cualquiera de nosotros y el abrirnos las puertas a estudio de las Ciencias en el enterno de la Iglesia, no unicamente nos permite conocer mejor a sus servidores sino que, sin duda alguna nos acerca más a la espiritualidad, a la contenplación y a la Divinidad. Es por ello que este texto es en mi opinion una puerta mas que para la ciencia para la espiritualidad.

1 comments about The Great Scientists.

1. This book is richly illustrated and puts the life and times of great scientists into historical perspective and context. It is an enjoyable read for anyone interested in learning about the major scientific figures of our history.
   
   However, the author seems to push, very subtley I might add, for Christianity. In one instance he says that the existence of God has been proven (150). On numerous pages he makes errant claims, such as the one that Christianity has been science-friendly thoughout history (163). It seems that the author has some conflict between his faith and his science and takes it out on his readers. I don't think this is wrong, but it would be better left out of encyclopedic material.
   
   Don't let that turn you off: the pro-religious propaganda is in very small amounts. Aside from that, this book is superb and should make a welcome addition to your bookshelf!

5 comments about Gerald Durrell.

1. Douglas Botting's new biography of Gerald Durrell, a charming man whose unique Zoo, Wild Life Preservation Trust and deeply touching , hilarious stories have saved many an animal from extinction and moved people around the world to join the conservation effort, is an "xtrordenry" tale of one man's dream come true. Botting's obvious fascination with Durrell's personality and mission, good grasp of the world of nature and travel, as well as his humorous streak, are an ideal mix of credentials for someone attempting to recount a story of this supreme "raconteur."
   
   After a vivid depiction of Durrell's colorful early childhood in colonial India, Botting perceptively discerns and fits together all the pieces of Gerald's adolescent years that made him into a shy but passionate and original man with a unique vision. It was in the enchanted atmosphere of pre-war Corfu, with its unspoilt fauna and picturesque dwellers, that Durrell's free spirit and sense of wonder first blossomed, enhanced by the lack of stiflingly uniform influence of formal schooling. His widowed mother's warm devotion and faith in Gerald's endeavors, creative encouragement from his older brother and budding writer Lawrence, coupled with his tutors' idiosyncratic influences and the island's offer of the freedom to explore the natural world, all combined to account for the very unconventionality of Durrell's upbringing and personality that would later make people yield to his charisma and daring.
   
   Botting manages to stay true to the spirit of Gerald Durrell, as if the magic firefly of the epilogue lights up his way throughout the book. I also liked Botting's impartiality in dealing with such complicated emotional roller-coasters as Gerald's relationship with his first wife Jacquie and his alcohol problem, which he never downplays, at the same time managing to convey Durrell's intrinsic honesty and charm. The only regret that will forever haunt this biography is that Durrell unfortunately didn't have time to pen it himself.



2. A mammoth book for an equally large individual, in bulk and spirit. Having read Durrell's first books, was equally curious about the author and was not disappointed..looked forward to each page, particularly his expeditions if not his highly personal life with his two wives. His alcohol consumption was simply sad, and even though the author states it may not have affected his work, I wonder what he would have achieved if he had not been looking forward to each drink, beginning in the morning. But he is a hero to me, and has opened up the wonders of Madagascar, and hopefully to the continuing need to perserve its fauna and flora.



3. Douglas Botting makes a fairly good job of Durrell's biography. Lavishly illustrated with rare photographs, with numerous quotations from Durrell's personal notebooks thrown in for good measure,this book sheds a new light on the life of one of the most amazing men of the 20th century. However, this book is recommended for Durrell fans, and not for the plain inquisitive who want to bone up on the life and times of Gerald Durrell.They would do better to stick to the Gerald Durrell accounts .The author has a tendency of repeating parts of the Durrell accounts in his own words,and relying too much on the Durrell works as his guide( but then again it is difficult to pick up the thread of people and events as many as 50 years later, with a world war inbetween ). All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable 600-pager that Durrell fans will devour in no time at all. Judging by this one,the Gavin Maxwell biography should be well worth reading ..



4. This must be one of the best biographies I have read about anyone. Douglas Botting is to be congratulated on his meticulous research and unbiased approach. He gives us a wonderful insight into this complex man's extraordinary life. All 607 pages are highly readable and I found it hard to put the book down. I particularly enjoyed the account of Durrell's happy go lucky, unconventional childhood in Greece surrounded by his mad mad family. As Gerald Durrell would have wanted, there is a lively quality about the telling of his story. There were so many facets to this man's character and Botting has been at pains to dig deep to bring these to the fore. Having read Durrell's books many years ago I found myself enjoying the adventures of his life all over again, but in a different way, now that I understand more about the man and his background. I feel this is a 'must' read for anyone who has enjoyed Gerald Durrell's books



5. I always thought of Gerry Durrell as my own secret discovery, and gave copies of his books to all my friends. Also visited the Jersey Trust twice....well worth it. This book reads like the diary of an old and dear friend, sharing much and explaining a lot. He was ahead of us all in his love for the endangered earth and its living creatures.

1 comments about Dame Kathleen Kenyon: Digging Up the Holy Land (Ucl Institute of Archaeology Publications).

1. I have to admit that I approached Dame Kathleen Kenyon: Digging Up the Holy Land with trepidation. I am no Ph.D. and can't even rank myself as even a rank amateur in the field of archeology. Further, I feared I would be inundated with unknown jargon, unknowable theories and actors I had never heard of. Instead, Davis' book took me step by step into a useful and pertinent knowledge of Dame Kenyon - both who she was and what she did. I never felt out of place and now know more about archeology and the excavation of the Holy Land than I had ever hoped. And that knowledge is there for the barest tyro to the most expert in the field. Dame Kathleen Kenyon: Digging Up the Holy Land is well written, well researched, entertaining and informative. Instead of just technical work, you are also able to learn about Dame Kenyon the person. At the same time, this book provides enough inside information and advanced knowledge that professionals in the field will find it helpful, interesting, informative and must read material. Dig on Davis' Dame Kathleen Kenyon: Digging Up the Holy Land and find yourself in a holistic reading and learning experience!

5 comments about The Curious Life of Robert Hooke: The Man Who Measured London.

1. I was looking for a good introduction to Hooke and his contributions, and got part of that. Lisa Jardine shows us a man of great energy, great diversity, great precision and artistry. Yet as she tells the story she writes out of a background of knowledge of Hooke which she doesn't detail for us. For example: apparently Hooke had a long-standing interest in a universal language - but we only notice this at the end of the book; apparently he had a pattern of contesting prior discoveries, but she doesn't exhibit this pattern for us; the zenith telescope seems to be very important for Hooke - it's not shown why here.
   Coupled with the fact that her plan is not chronologically structured, the timeline is not all that clear to me as a reader, but rather I have a cloudy impression of Hooke's life read out of the largely inimical view of Newton and the self-obsessed Royal Society with their treatment of Hooke as a rather difficult servant, toally at their beck and call.
   I'm glad to have read the book - but I'm keen to read a better one.



2. Definitely not for the casual reader or the faint-hearted but an excellent read all the same. You will need to be pretty curious about Mr. Hooke and his cantankerous personality to navigate this book. The extensive use of quotes from original texts and letters provides the story with authenticity that is admirable but sometimes, makes it a little laborious read. I suspect it is important to understand how Hooke was hooked on patent medicines and opiates, not to say the odd heavy metal, but constantly reading about his vomiting habits is not for the squeamish, particularly at the breakfast table. However this is a great read and I came out of it feeling more sympathetic about Hooke who accomplished more in each month of his life than most of us do in a lifetime. Certainly Lisa Jardine made a comprehensive effort to capture the whole man and succeeded perhaps a little too much.



3. 
   This book is an interesting read, though it is sort of dry. My interest did not really get aroused by the book until the Great Fire and the rebuilding. Maybe I know too much about Robert Hook and the first part of the book was only a rehash of what I was already familiar with. I have always known about the Great Fire and the damage to the city, but had no idea of what went on in the effort to rebuild. Of course Sir Christopher Wren has always been "the man who built London after the fire" and this book does give a little more realistic description of how the interests of the various groups (the Royals, the Corporation of London, the Royal Society and the average citizen) were accomodated in the rebuilding.



4. I've been fascinated by Robert Hooke since studying science in the 1970s. Less well known than Newton or Wren but arguably at least as influential today, even if that influence is less obvious.
   
   Who is Robert Hooke? Lisa Jardine does a great job of breathing life into a man whose greatest misfortune, perhaps, is contributing so much across so many fields. A true polymath, with a brilliant mind.
   
   Highly recommended to those who want to know more about the development of science in the 17th century. The man himself may not be especially endearing, but his scientific learning is particularly enduring.



5. Robert Hooke's life was curious, a neglected topic that makes good reading, although a full, living sense of this man is missing from the book.
   
   He was an ingenious, creative man, abounding with energy and interests in his younger years, whose acquaintances and friends included Boyle, Pepys, and Wren. He was widely recognized as a physics and general science experimenter of exceptional ability - a designer of both accurate instruments and experiments in which to employ them - almost certainly the greatest of his day. He might be viewed from today's perspective as something of the Ernest Lawrence of his day versus the great theorists.
   
   Hooke's interests included astronomical measurements, microscopy, fossils, watches, the behavior of gases, and more. He was also interested in theoretical concepts although his mathematical abilities fell far short of people like Newton or Leibniz. Still, he came up with the hypothesis of the inverse-square law for gravity which he sent to Newton, asking him to prove mathematically whether it was valid. Newton never gave Hooke appropriate credit for Hooke's early insight, and it is not clear whether this was owing to Hooke's annoying carping or Newton's own very unpleasant temperament.
   
   Hooke's early musings on the layers of fossils found on his native Isle of Wight demonstrate a remarkable analytical and creative mind at work. He got the process of their formation pretty close to right lifetimes before the meaning of fossils was widely recognized in science.
   
   Ms. Jardine made the happy discovery of what is likely Hooke's portrait (no known one survives), a picture that had long been identified as being of John Ray. The circumstances of her discovery make a wonderful little tale early in the book.
   
   What comes through so strongly from some of Jardine's anecdotes is how the basic philosophy of science had advanced by the second half of the 17th century, Hooke's time. This was, after all, only a few decades after Francis Bacon, yet the main points of modern science seem to be assumed by Europe's leading tinkerers and scientists.
   
   Hooke's story is not a happy one, but I will leave that for readers to discover. Ms. Jardine is at times a slightly awkward writer, but she has an interesting story to tell and, on the whole, she tells it well. Ms. Jardine also wrote On a Grander Scale, a biography of the wonderful Christopher Wren. The book on Hooke she regards as a companion volume to the one on Wren. Do read both.

5 comments about Geons, Black Holes, and Quantum Foam: A Life in Physics.

1. This book is a kind of autobiography concentrating in the scientific career of J.A. Wheeler. Wheeler has devoted his scientific life to Quantum Theory,General Relativity (he has a very famous co-authored monograph, Gravitation) and has tried to bridge the gap between these two key physics theories, specially studying black holes, term that he coined.
   
   He also devised the delayed choice experiment that is a refinement of the double slit experiment and shows how quirky is Quantum Mechanics, i.e. Nature, at its fundamental level. In his last years he has also reflected on the big "philosophical" questions:How come existence? How come the quantum? He has ventured that information is the fundamental ingredient of everything: It from bit (or rather It from qubit).
   
   The book starts with the very interesting history of the Manhattan project, although perhaps it is the last chapter that I most enjoyed. Wheeler is a great teacher and he can explain difficult matters in a very clear way. This last chapter deals with time. He sets a sci-fi scenario (fiction only from a technical point of view) in which people travel at near light speed. Of course, when they come back to Earth, parents are younger than children that stayed at home and all the clocks have different hours. Can you image what would the chaos be in a society like ours where universal time is so important in our daily lives? For Wheeler, time is an emergent property, such as temperature or entropy.
   
   Another thing he explains well is the reality of virtual particles. Without them we could not reconcile the predicted and the observed value of the electron's magnetic moment. The book is only outdated in his belief in the Big Crunch.
   
   Wheeler was a student of Bohr and has had a lot of famous students, most notably Dick Feynman.
   
   This highly readable book is a history of XXth century physics full of anecdotes, such as the French not liking the name meson which would be pronounced like "maison" (house)in French.



2. Physicists often compare themselves to blind men feeling an elephant -- each guessing at the nature of the beast by describing the small part that they can touch. If true, then no man has come closer to feeling the Whole Elephant than John Archibald Wheeler. Wheeler's energetic career touched virtually every significant modern physicist -- Bohr, Fermi, Einstein, Teller, Oppenheimer, Feynman and many others -- a dazzling list that includes the most luminous minds of the last century. Wheeler may have missed winning a Nobel prize only because he was willing to sacrifice the best slice of his career to secretly help develop the fission and later fusion bombs for America. After leaving what he calls the "everything is particles" phase of his career, Wheeler entered "everything is fields" -- inventing the term "black hole" and describing the properties of these amazing objects long before anybody else ever took them seriously. Some ideas such as "geons" -- self sustained loops of light held together by their own gravitational attraction -- may still await discovery. Finally, in "everything is information" he explores ways in which information theory may be the most underlying unifying principle of reality. Part biography, part history and part speculation, this rambling story portrays a uniquely American explorer on a voyage through the amazing landscape of 20th century physics. The book is packed with photographs and profiles of the world's smartest men, fascinating anecdotes and meticulous historical details -- and shows that even at the age of 87, John Wheeler can still get excited talking about the unsolved mysteries that pervade our universe.
   
   --Auralgo



3. This is really a wonderful scientific biography. Wheeler has an engaging, easy-going style that doesn't sacrifice detail and scholarly accuracy for readibility. It's almost like having a fireside chat with the great physicist about the entire history of 20th century physics. Wheeler's career spanned almost the entire 20th century and he worked in many areas, from atomic and radiation physics to nuclear physics, quantum theory, black holes and gravitation. He even made a brief foray into sociology when he attended a conference and spoke on "National Survival and Human Development," in which he emphasized the importance of a country developing the full capabilities of all citizens.

   In addition to learning about his own distinguished career, you meet just about every other important physicist and/or mathematician or had anything to do with physics (such as Carson Mark, who I didn't know about before, who Wheeler spoke highly of), and his account is full of interesting personal details about famous and non-famous physicists alike. Wheeler met or knew other great scientists like Einstein, Niels Bohr, Richard Feynman, Hans Bethe, Oppenheimer, Stanislaw Ulam, John von Neumann, Enrico Fermi, Ernest Lawrence, Isidore Rabi, Leo Szilard, Carl Bohm, and many others too numerous to mention.

   In addition to the above famous names, I also learned something about many other names, both famous and not so famous, that I didn't know much about before, and Wheeler often briefly mentions what each scientist's contribution was about, especially when it influenced his own thinking.

   Wheeler provides some important insights about himself. For example, he commented on how much of his own productivity was due to the deadlines and time pressure he was under most of his career. Many of us have the impression that brilliant minds like Wheeler (much of it fostered by the public's stereotype of Einstein) create their amazing intellectual achievements in a world divorced from reality and the mundane aspects of everyday life, but Wheeler says that it was often all the deadlines he had to meet that was responsible for much of his best work. He was always having to meet deadlines for papers, class lectures, various reports, talks he was invited to give, and so on throughout the course of his career, and he said he was often spurred to work harder because of them, and often did his best work under the pressure of having to prepare a lecture or talk at the last minute.

   Overall, this is a very enjoyable, readable, and interesting biography about one of the great scientists of our time.

   By the way, just a personal note here. I'm not a physicist myself (actually, I'm a neurobiologist by training), but I'm the grand-nephew of physicist Ernest Lawrence, who won the 1939 Nobel prize for his invention of the first atom smasher or cyclotron, and who Wheeler met briefly when he was considering a move from Princeton to U.C. Berkeley.




4. The physics is fine but this is an autobiography. What kind of a man is Wheeler? I got the impression he spent as much time avoiding offending anybody important as he did on physics. He sounds like an amiable sycophant.



5. Having noticed over the years that Prof. John Archibald Wheeler's name turns up in an amazing variety of physics-related articles and anecdotes, I was particularly primed to read his autobiography. The book doesn't follow a simple from-birth chronology, but rather begins with Wheeler teaching at Princeton and volunteering to meet the ship carrying his mentor, Niels Bohr, at a New York City dock in January of 1939. From that pivotal moment at the brink of World War II, Wheeler fills out his story by reaching back to childhood and forward to his long career in teaching, research, and national service. We learn of his brother Joe, whose body lay in a foxhole on an Italian hillside until it was reduced to bones. Wheeler reminds us that if the Manhattan Project had geared up one year earlier, the lives of his brother and many others might have been spared.

   Wheeler's remarkable character pervades the book and helps make it unique and interesting. In a profession legendary for strong intellects and egos, he has achieved and maintained a pomposity coefficient of zero. His judgments of other people are unfailingly generous, but also astute enough to be interesting and revealing. He provides candid firsthand impressions of legendary figures such as Bohr, Einstein, Oppenheimer, Teller, Ulam, Heisenberg, Fermi, Szilard and Feynman . We also learn about many less well-known colleagues, friends and students whom he finds memorable for various reasons. In contrast to the eminent-scientist stereotype, Wheeler has always enjoyed teaching undergraduates and is genuinely interested in the problems and aspirations of the young people entrusted to his care.

   Like the brilliant George Gamow, Wheeler has a talent for explaining difficult concepts and illustrating them with whimsically inventive diagrams. The book's autobiographical threads are interwoven with a rich tapestry of subtle but plainly-spoken physical insights on dozens of topics, some arcane enough to leave even the author slightly bemused. I believe anyone interested in physics will find a personal revelation or two among Wheeler's lucid, informal scientific explanations. There are touches of Gamowesque humor too, such as his theory that the fates somehow conspired to entangle him with a string of Hungarian emigres.

   The title concepts of the book -- Geons, Black Holes and Quantum Foam -- were all named by Wheeler himself. He began his career at the minute scale of particle physics, moved on to the grand sweep of relativistic cosmology, and finally circled back to the hyperminuteness of quantum foam. Of course there is nothing really disjointed about such a journey, since connections among the nested scales of nature constitute one of the grand unifying themes of physics.

No comments about Herbert A. Simon: The Bounds of Reason in Modern America.