1 comments about In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer: The Security Clearance Hearing (Cornell Paperbacks).

1. This book was originally intended to be a TV drama, I believe. I don't remember if it got made, but it doesn't change the fact that the written work is excellent.
   
   The drama follows the security clearance hearing. Kipphart took the official transcripts and melded some people together into one, rearranged the order, shortened the list of witnesses to produce one work that showed both sides of the argument. Because of the way it was pieced together, I myself couldn't decide if I sympathised with Oppenheimer or believed he was wrongfully accused. The moment one side got the upper hand, it would be the other side's turn to state its case.
   
   Perhaps one negative point is that it's hard to say Kipphart truly "wrote" this, as so much is taken from historical fact. His artistic touch is visible through what exactly is shown, not the content. He chooses to show these arguments, the ones he believes are the most important.
   
   My favorite part is Oppenheimer's monologue at the end, although that was freely invented by Kipphart. It's one of the few things that can be easily attributed to him.
   
   I enjoyed this work, and I would recommend it to everybody.

No comments about The Power To Fly: An Engineer's Life (Library of Flight Series).

No comments about Gregor Mendel: Planting the Seeds of Genetics.

5 comments about On a Grander Scale: The Outstanding Life and Tumultuous Times of Sir Christopher Wren.

1. Christopher Wren was born in 1632 and died in 1723. He was born when Charles I was king, and died during the reign of George I.
   
   'Visitor, if you require a tomb, look down. If you require a monument, look around you.' This was the tombstone inscription proposed by Sir Christopher's son, and it would have indeed distinguished more carefully the man from his work.
   
   Sir Christopher Wren was one of an immensely talented group of Restoration scientists and architects who flourished in the late 17th century. His architectural achievements include St Paul's Cathedral and many of the significant buildings built (or rebuilt) in London after the Great Fire in 1666. Much of his scientific work was done in collaboration with Robert Hooke and while it is perhaps less visible to non-scientists it is highly significant.
   
   This is not a book so much about Sir Christopher himself as it is about the span and influence of his public life. Those with an interest in Restoration science will recognise Boyle, Newton, Hooke, Flamsteed and Halley amongst others. Those with an interest in the Stuart dynasty will recognise some of the dynastic failings which impacted on the execution of some of Sir Christopher's architectural designs.
   
   This is an ambitious book and one which could have benefitted from more careful editing. The first name of the first Earl of Clarendon (Edward rather than Henry) is likely to be known by most interested in this period and is a relatively minor issue but it jars.
   
   I would recommend this book to those with an interest in 17th century science and architecture in its own political setting. Ms Jardine provides extensive notes and a comprehensive bigraphy for those who want to read either more widely or in more detail.
   
   Jennifer Cameron-Smith



2. I admit that I approached this book hoping for more info about his architecture and scientific thinking. And also admittedly, the author straight off the bat says that if you are looking for pure architecture on Wren look at another book, or pure scientific theories of Wren also look at another book. However, I was hoping for a middle ground. The book delves more into the turbulence of the times and how that affected young Wren's monetary standing. Lots of info about minor characters. Lots of overly long and redundant quotes from archaicly written (obviously) source materials that the author has to paraphrase almost word for word after the quote. But very little info about the science or the architecture.



3. the author has obviously researched this great man's life thoroughly. unfortunately, she has so much to say it comes tumbling down onto the pages in the form of a poorly edited - if it was edited at all - work. it is impeded by a maddening amount of sentences aborted by " ( ) " and " - " to the point some sentences are so disjointed it is necessary to re read them to figure out where a sentence was headed before it got short circuited. some additions of this type can be informative, most are not. footnotes could have helped saved what could have been a great work on a great man by a great author. instead, it often reads as a mass of annoying self-interruptions and break up of sentence continuity.



4. "reader if you require a monument, look around you" (inscription of the plaque at Wren's tomb)

   Sir Christopher Wren was born to a life of privilege that evaporated when Charles I was deposed. His father was Order of the Garter. Suddenly his family was in danger of losing life as well as property. These were Wren's student years. During this period Wren became pragmatic, and he survived.

   It was the Restoration of Charles II to the throne of England that restored the fortunes of the Wren family. Too late for the father, but at precisely the right moment for the son. Charles II restored the monarchy, and restored the fortunes of Wren. The Restoration was an extraordinary period.

   Wren was a Renaissance man, best known for his architecture, in particular St. Paul's Cathedral. But Wren also "mapped moons and the trajectories of comets" He "pursued astronomy and medicine during two civil wars."

   This is a scholarly biography, and not light beach reading. Lisa Jardine's 85 pages of notes and an eighteen page bibliography may give some insight into how seriously she has taken her subject. On a Grander Scale is a detailed report on a fascinating time in England's history and one of the men that made it so. It is well done, accurate, and intellectually stimulating.




5. Writer Lisa Jardine has written a very interesting book about Sir Christopher Wren and the extraordinary 91 years of life he lead. Even when you allow for the nearly century long life of this man it is still amazing the scope of what he accomplished, and how much more of his work we would enjoy today if it had been finished. Sir Wren served a variety of Monarchs, all who wanted to place their own mark upon London, and this often lead to his projects being delayed, stopped in the midst of their development or never getting off the pages he created them upon.

   This book is not a traditional biography that focuses exclusively on the primary individual and only touches on his peers when appropriate. Lisa Jardine explores in varying detail, at times very carefully, the lives of the men that were contemporaries of Sir Wren. These detours will be welcome by those who already are well educated as to who Sir Wren was and what he did. If you are picking up this book for an in depth view of this man alone, this book will not satisfy your goal. An example that literally illustrates my point is the 16 color plates that are to be found in the book. Only 3 pages are dedicated to his architectural drawings, as many are dedicated to documents that bear only his signature, and more are dedicated to portraits of the royal heads of state he served together with portraits of their children. The same can be said for many of the black and white reproductions throughout the book, they are primarily of his peers, friends, and at times his adversaries. There are contemporary photographs of some of the churches he reconstructed with mention of the architectural sleights of hand that were used to make the buildings appear to the eye differently than they actually sat on the site. But the details are not shown, simply the building, I wanted the details.

   The author also spends a great deal of time on the order of The Knights of the Garter. This is a fascinating subject and group of people that has catalyzed entire books on its own. In this work it again occupies color plates that I would have like to have seen occupied by Sir Wren's work, I did not need to see the front page of a book about the society that was not even written by Sir Wren. There was also a style employed by the author that at times, while very accurate, was redundant. Lisa Jardine would describe an event, for example between Sir Wren and a friend; she would then place the original letter that would once again explain what she had just told the reader. Now reading the original source material is interesting, but in a 483 page book that purports to cover the 91 year life of one of History's noted personages, once this additional material is subtracted together with all the photos and images that are not of Sir Wren and his work, the amount of the book dedicated to the man and his work is substantially less than the whole.

   I enjoyed the book but it is not a book that after a reader completes it, will set it down and feel they have a good understanding of the marvels he created for London and its Royal Families. His life was too long, too complex, and too varied in its pursuits to crowd his story with so much material on others. There is no reason the 16 pages of color plates could not have been devoted to his work, I did not need to see the children of kings and queens. I wanted to see his buildings and his architectural drawings that are beautiful art by themselves.

   By all means read and enjoy this book, it will certainly cause you too seek out more reading on one of the ore remarkable men to have even inhabited London, and to have placed his mark on History.

3 comments about More with Less: Paul MacCready and the Dream of Efficient Flight.

1. More with Less provides details and picture not included in the book on the Gossamer airplanes. I was especially intrigued by the statement that the plane that made the channel crossing was the 'dirty' airplane'; not the 'clean' one. The Gossamer Albatross hanging at The Museum of Flight (MOF) in Seattle is billed as the backup for the plane that made the successful crossing. Is the MOF plane then the 'clean' version? The book includes interesting items about Paul MacCready that added to my knowledge as a Docent.
   
   MOF Docent



2. I've had the pleasure of hiking into the San Gabriel Mountains with Paul MacCready. I've gone to lectures at Caltech where MacCready was in the audience and I've looked on his [ever present] notebooks with wonder. More With Less is a good read and a quick read, but it left me wanting a full-fledged biography of Paul MacCready AND a more complete volume on efficiency in this high tech world. Despite this, I enjoyed Paul Ciotti's take on both subjects. As an introduction to both subjects, More With Less does a very good job. If you are looking for a more detailed book on either subject, my guess is that you'll be disappointed.



3. I had hoped "More with Less" would be an in-depth biography of Dr. Paul MacCready, former National Soaring Champion, designer of the Gossamer Albatross and Gossamer Condor, and engineer extraordinaire. It's not. The book focusses on MacCready only as a central figure in the evolution of efficient flight. The author spends far more time talking about other people and things (like the southern California hang-gliding scene in the 70s) than he does tracing MacCready's life. There is very little here for hungry little glider pilots like me that want to read in depth about MacCready's adventures in the beautiful Orlik sailplane, his contest successes, etc. That is the bad news. The good news is that the author weaves a fascinating tale of the people and machines (albeit with little technical detail) involved in this corner of the flying world. The author describes the people in the book candidly, warts and all. Not knowing any of these people I can't vouch for his accuracy, but he paints far more interesting portraits than the "hero engineer" so often presented in this kind of book, and it is this aspect that makes the book so interesting to read. The illustrations are terribly reproduced, mislabled in at least one case, and there are far too few of them! I know from seeing two of Paul MacCready's slide shows that there are many great photographs in existence that could have and should have been used in this book. That aside, anyone interested in flying machines that do more with less, and the people who design, build, and fly them, will enjoy reading this book.

2 comments about Downcanyon: A Naturalist Explores the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.

1. As was written by the copy editor to introduce the foreword by Ms. Zwinger to my recently published book "Deep Immersion: Thoreau's Engagement with Water" (Green Frigate Books): "Few have ever been so 'haunted by waters' - to use Norman Maclean's wonderful phrase - as has naturalist and 'water logged' nature writer Ann Haymond Zwinger." This particlar book, like all of her works, very much offers a deep well for thirsty minds.



2. Ann Haymond Zwinger has contributed her scientific expertise to subsidized, multi-week inner-canyon environmental impact expeditions, has run each of the Canyon's rapids countless times (in nearly each month of the year), in every sort of water craft. What her scientific eye takes in, her pen transmutes into its own river of irresistible prose, carrying the reader, willing or not, from one chapter to the next. As a hiker, I expected the vision of a "boat person" to suffer from its constricted horizons. A bottom-up myopia. Instead, we find ourselves soaring with eagles. We climb cliffs, clawing our way through a darkness of thorns and pain. We crawl along brushy beaver tunnels. We ponder the local history and lore...and the primeval past. Our journey evokes visions of thousand foot-high lava dams filling the entire Canyon with water, as well as today's horror of a rapid at Lava Falls. While some of her snippets of local human history are rarely mentioned in other books about the Canyon, Zwinger's forte is in the natural sciences. In that arena, she has no peer among Grand Canyon authors. Since this is not a trail manual, it is not easy to restrict one's reading to a single, specific Canyon location. Rather, the chapters are organized by seasons of the year. No matter. If you start at the beginning, its 220 or so pages of narrative will sweep you into their main current and, well... I'll see you below the rapids.

4 comments about Newton: Ackroyd's Brief Lives.

1. Eventually humans understood that there were physical laws that governed the universe, and that these laws could be made mathematically precise and could be verified. No one person enabled this understanding more than Isaac Newton, who obsessively tracked down laws of motion, gravity, optics, and pure mathematics. Since his death almost three hundred years ago, there have been many biographies attempting the impossible task of explaining Newton's unparalleled genius. In _Newton_ (Nan A. Talese), Peter Ackroyd has made no such attempt. For one thing, his book is part of his "Brief Lives" series (Chaucer and Turner have gone before), and it is a small volume. For another, Ackroyd has not described many of Newton's scientific achievements in detail; the account of his _Principia Mathematica_ is almost cursory. But the brevity of the volume is actually one of its strengths. We aren't going to understand genius, but we can understand some of the personality, and Ackroyd has done a wonderful job in describing what sort of a person Newton was. Of necessity, the portrait is unpleasant. Newton was among the most unlikeable of geniuses, but it might well be that if he had been less arrogant and selfish, he might have accomplished less.
   
   An uncle saved Newton from being a farmer, enabling him to continue schooling and go to Cambridge. Ironically, he became a professor at Trinity College, while his religious studies led him to abhor the concept of the Trinity. He was certain that the priests and bishops who preached a Trinity were practicing idolatry. He was particularly interested in biblical chronology and prophecy, working out a date for creation half a century later than the famous 2004 BC of Bishop Ussher, and attempting precise calculation of the date of Jesus's return to Earth. He knew from his studies of the Book of Revelation that the Catholic Church was the Antichrist therein. Newton's other secret study, also outlasting his physics and mathematics, was his alchemy. He had a huge library of occult alchemical texts and he spent days and nights in his lab, forgetting to sleep or eat as he fired up experiments that had to go for weeks at a time. Ackroyd is surely right, however, when he explains that in his obsessive digging into alchemical or scriptural matters, Newton was using the same frame of mind that stood him in good stead in the research that made him famous. The enormous idea that there were three laws of motion, for instance, and that they were universal and applied, as he wrote in 1687, "everywhere to immense distances" is still breathtaking. Likewise, the idea that an apple falls and that the Moon goes around the Earth, and both are expressions of one universal force, is so counterintuitive that it compels admiration for the mind that could unite the two. By the way, distrust the legend that an apple bonked him on the head and he had an immediate epiphany of how gravity worked. Newton himself instigated the story, but no one knows if it is true, because he told four separate versions to four separate people. It is clear, however, that whatever inspiration the apple gave him, there was a long period of contemplation and calculation before he established the universality of gravity.
   
   It was in only a few years of his mid-twenties that he explained gravity, demonstrated that white light was a blend of rainbow colors, invented the calculus, and made one of the first reflecting telescopes. The rest of his years he was doing his alchemy and scriptural researches, and more practically, he was Warden of the Royal Mint. He was in all his capacities an almost thoroughly dislikeable man. He was uninterested in art, literature, music, or women, and because of our times it must be specified that his sexual interest in men is mere undocumented speculation. As a founder of science, he knew the value of experimentation and was a genius at it, but he was furious if someone implied that another experiment had shown a contrary result. He was petty, ruthless, and vindictive. His famous catfight with Leibnitz over who invented calculus was childish (matched, it must be said, by childishness on Leibnitz's side), but it was representative of how he got along with anyone who crossed him. He had few friends, and when he presided over meetings of the Royal Society, anyone who attempted a witticism or who laughed was asked to leave the room. He seldom laughed himself; an assistant of years said Newton laughed exactly once, when he was asked what the use was of studying Euclid. Perhaps you just had to be there; Ackroyd writes, "The exact meaning of this laugh is not exactly clear." Newton was an astonishing figure, gigantic in his accomplishments and his follies, and Ackroyd's model biography shows both sides well.



2. Isaac Newton is someone I've been curious about since grade school when some teacher gave me the impression that he discovered gravity when an apple fell on his head. Even then, that didn't make much sense to me--people must have been aware of gravity since the first caveman dropped a rock on his foot--and I was pleased to learn through Peter Ackroyd's wonderful book that the apple incident probably never happened. What Newton did do through careful observation and applied mathematics was to prove the existence of universal gravity and show the laws which governed it. There is much more that Newton accomplished of course: His work on optics was seminal. His three laws of motion are still quoted in physics' classes. And his great book on the principles of mathematics was a wonder of his age.
   
   All of this, Ackroyd explains in a conversational style that even someone like myself who has trouble adding up a supermarket bill can understand. But Ackroyd does not neglect Newton's human side. He was not, in many ways, a very nice person: A control freak who was always ready to take disagreement personally, he had few real friends and often broke up with those he did have. His life-long passion for alchemy and his belief in the Arian heresy made this already secretive man even more secretive.
   
   Ackroyd's book is short, sweet and not annotated. It is surely not for scholars. But for those who want to pay a brief visit to a scientific genius in the company of a wise and entertaining guide could do far worse than to read this book.



3. This is a marvelous book. It both explains Newton's development as a human being and as one of the greatest scientific thinkers and experimenters of his or any era. Carefully and clearly written, it is a total success. I enjoyed it far more than James Gleick's NEWTON, perhaps because Ackroyd is so good at explaining what he knows how to explain and avoiding what he does not know how to explain. As he notes, neither Newton nor anyone else in his era could explain gravity -- but Newton was able to explain the laws governing gravity and thus provide a foundation for later scientists, notably Einstein, to go further and explain gravity. Ackroyd is also wonderfully skilled at explaining links between Newton's occult studies and his scientific studies. All in all, a must read for anyone who wants to understand a pivotal thinker.



4. This is the third in the series of "Brief Lives" written by Peter Ackroyd, the distinguished author of "London: The Biography" and "Albion: The Origins of the English Imagination." It is one of the new compact but thorough book treatments that have recently become popular (it runs a mere 170 small pages, not including index). I have marveled in past Amazon reviews at these concise books how much information a skilled and knowledgeable author can pack into a brief space, and this book is no exception. Ackroyd covers all of Newton's life (1642-1727). It is the perfect book for folks like me that have heard a lot about Newton, but are not inclined to want to read one of the longer biographies now available (e.g., that by James Gleick). The author wisely chooses not to probe too deeply into Sir Isaac's mathematical and scientific accomplishments, which is perfect for the general reader, but he offers enough insight so that the reader is aware generally of what Newton is up to and why he is such a giant in the history of science and enlightenment. His invention of calculus, study of optics, celestial mechanics, gravity and so much more are all concisely covered. One learns all sorts of interesting things about Newton, who certainly was not a conventional academic: his interests in alchemy; astrology; and arcane religious concepts to name just a few. Interestingly, Newton spent the bulk of his career not as an academic but as Warden of the Mint, which allowed him to amass quite an estate. If this be an example of "knowledge in a nutshell," let it be: it accomplishes it purpose superbly.

5 comments about Richard Dawkins: How a Scientist Changed the Way We Think: Reflections by Scientists, Writers, and Philosophers.

1. I can't help but feel that the reviews thus far for this book have only been favorable due to the contributions that Dawkins himself has made to the field of evolutionary biology.
   
   What was most troubling about this book was the contradictions which the editors themselves (Grafen and Ridley) managed to incorporate. They say that Dawkins uses "impeccable logic" and yet they also claim that he's "often misunderstood". Grafen claims that The Selfish Gene caused an "immediate revolution in biology". Yet, Andrew Read, one of the contributors, said he didn't encounter the book until after he completed his four year zoology degree (and yes, it had been published before that time). One also gets to read about, from the accounts of several scientists, how The Selfish Gene "taught me to think" (from Read's essay, but this is only an example). Grafen then tells us that it is noteworthy that Dawkins was elected to the Royal Society for his "contributions to the public understanding of science, not for his contribution to science itself."
   
   The Selfish Gene is a masterful book and it's certainly worthy of praise, but 283 pages of praise with intercalary superfluous biographic accounts by the authors makes this book one for the trash bin.
   
   It is nothing but an academic circle jerk. Very disappointing.



2. If you have read Richard's books over the years, you will enjoy reading some other prominent peoples' opinions. I am now re-reading "The selfish gene"



3. The subtitle, after the title naming the subject of the tributes, says: "HOW A SCIENTIST CHANGED THE WAY WE THINK". Who is "WE"? Certainly not anyone. Rather, it may apply to the contributors to the book, and more widely to Darwinians. My drift is that if that scientist, Richard Dawkins, indeed changed the way someone thinks, it concerns those who accept Darwinism as axiomatic, the change concerning how they think Darwinism can be detailed.
   
   To me this is like thinking how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. Despite the authors' absolute certainty that Darwinism is true, it is, as I have tried to show elsewhere, not only a theory, but a false one. Its refutation is in fact quite simple, but it resides in what has been a blind spot on both sides of the dispute for or against the theory.
   
   One of the authors in the book quotes Dawkins in matters that highlight the essence of the dispute (p.233): "Darwin made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist." (As an aside: What about spiritually, emotionally, fulfilled?) And "The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference."
   
   Ironically, the just spoken "blind" indicates the blind spot mentioned above. The dire views expressed in the preceding quotations are belied by an overwhelming phenomenon completely overlooked. It is the activities characterizing every live organism. Their directions toward its preservation display the opposite of "blind pitiless indifference", of "no good", of "no purpose".
   
   I shall not go further here into the questions of theism or atheism; it should, however, be clear from the aforesaid that the presence of directedness in nature, contrary to the claim of its absence, is, in the functionings of organisms, very much part of science, as exemplified by medicine.
   
   It is instead Darwinian aimlessness which contradicts these observations. In this respect one may take a look at a prevalent theme in the reviewed book, regarding what "changed the way we think". Dawkins proposed (p.55) that the gene, "defined as any portion of chromosomal material that potentially lasts for enough generations to serve as a unit of natural selection", must be recognized as "the fundamental unit of natural selection, and therefore the fundamental unit of self-interest."
   
   This has to do with the microscopic unit transmitting hereditary characters and which Dawkins for the preceding reason called "the selfish gene". Of interest now is of course that the gene or anything else in organisms is called without hesitation a unit of, aimless, "natural selection". As seen above, organismic parts do act with aims and are correspondingly replicated through generations with aims.
   
   Dawkins called the gene "the fundamental unit of self-interest" because it is so replicated, and as known, "natural selection" is to favor that which survives, and the gene appears to survive longer than other units of organisms. But in the organism's activities aimed at its survival the genes are merely instruments by which organisms propagate for that survival. In other words, genes do not act in self-interest but in the interest of organisms.
   
   More importantly, as here again called attention to, the living do not adapt as a result of undirected effects of natural selection, but as a result of their directed activities toward self-preservation.



4. Richard Dawkins is brilliant. Because he writes so clearly, his colleagues and students learn from him with ease; because he writes so entertainingly, they thoroughly enjoy the learning process. In Grafen and Ridley's compendium, other scientists who have benefited from Dawkins' brilliance build on his work, and provide important commentary and instruction on how to think and reason.



5. As usual I found myself wondering around the science section of a local bookstore. I tried to convince myself that I should finish reading one of the seven books by my bed before spending anymore of my, rent, money. After browsing the covers of numerous books, I was just `looking', one caught my eye. A very visible font read: "Richard Dawkins". I picked it up assuming, wrongly so, that this was Dawkins biography. I usually have a habit of reading the preface of the book I have my eye on, this time I went straight to the register. I started reading the book in the car when I walked out of the bookstore. Two days after, of non-stop reading, I have just put it down.
   
   The book is a collection of essays from a wide range of fields including biologists, writers and philosophers. They all describe the ways in which Dawkins has affected their academic life, field of study or the effects of his books, mostly the selfish gene, on the way we think of evolution. The first section, titled `Biology', is a collection of essays describing how the genes eye view of evolution is sculpturing their research and how Dawkins's explanation had shed a new light on evolution that continues to this day.
   The sections titled `The Selfish Gene" addresses this now infamous book and its impact on humanity, the view of culture (through Memes) and arguments for a reductionism approach when dealing with human behavior. The next three sections (Logic, Antiphonal Voices and Humans) contain essays that continue the Selfish gene theme and address the impact of Dawkins writing on some fundamental human questions. The sections titled `Controversy' reviews the most controversial side of Dawkins, the Dawkins that is never afraid to be straight forward when attacking religious dogma and promoting atheism. Finally the section on `Writing' sums up this book perfectly. In the midst of all the controversy and scientific arguments it is not difficult to forget that Dawkins is truly mesmerizing with words. The two essays in this section sum up his writing technique and perhaps clarify why even those who don't agree with his views are so captivated by his books.
   
   If you are a fan of Dawkins, or even if you are not, this is a must have.

5 comments about Linus Pauling in His Own Words: Selections From his Writings, Speeches and Interviews.

1. Linus Carl Pauling is regarded by many as the premier chemist of the twentieth century. Pauling received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962 for his campaign against above-ground nuclear testing, and is the only person to win two Nobel prizes that were not shared with another recipient. The other people who have received two Nobel prizes are Marie Curie (physics and chemistry), John Bardeen (both in physics) and Frederick Sanger (both in chemistry). Later in life, he became an advocate for greatly increased consumption of vitamin C and other nutrients. He generalized his ideas to define orthomolecular medicine, which is still regarded as unorthodox by conventional medicine. He popularized his concepts, analyses, research and insights in several successful but controversial books centered around vitamin C and orthomolecular medicine



2. This book is a good introduction into the world of Linus Pauling, a most fascinating person; rather than tell his story for him, Barbara Marinacci allows him to tell his own story. For those, who have already read a good biography or good biographies of him, this book contains no surprises.
   
   All the same, it certainly is inspirational and worth reading.



3. Linus Pauling is the only person to date to win two unshared Nobel Prizes in science. His researches were in a wide variety of areas including nuclear science, genetics, molecular biology , X-ray chrystallography, mineralogy, physical chemistry.
   The most valuable parts of his memoirs are his descriptions of his own scientific work and discoveries.
   Pauling's motto was " Never put your trust in anything but your own intellect" and he was a tremendously independent researcher, and thinker.
   His reputation and his great work were in science, but he also thought out loud and independently on political and health subjects.
   I remember hearing him talk years ago at Harpur College in Binghamton New York. I was expecting to hear him talk about his scientific work and discoveries. Instead he went on endlessly about Vitamin C as a cure to all our health problems. Yes, Pauling along with being a pioneering intellect and scientist was a crank also.
   His crankiness had its political side in his Pacifism , a pacificism which led to his being accused of being a fellow traveler.(i.e.Communist ).
   In fact the idea that nuclear war is insane is one of the most sane ideas imaginable. But equating the US and the late Soviet Union as Pauling often did was mistaken and wrongheaded.
   Above all it is best to think of Pauling as a scientist. The enthusiasm he had in exploring nature is felt throughout this work.
   He believed himself and other scientists fortunate in that he thought scientists could appreciate and enjoy so much more of the world than others.
   He was a true American original , a pioneer researcher at the highest level, and not without a certain sense of humor.
   This book may not bear a cover- to - cover reading but whoever looks and searches in it will find much material for the investigating human soul.



4. Book is about more his professional life more than his private life. After very short introduction his scientific life story is told through abbreviated sayings, speeches of his own. Since most of the text is from his speeches and abstracts you get a lot of his opinions and comments on various subjects including use of atomic power.



5. i hope that everybody who read this book realy deeply,could understand the true meaning of the two times noble price winner wich is gathered and explained in a very easy to follow,and the real messages that he explined in this super-book!this book reflects his total life-history, philosophy,orthomolecularly,and the real man as a human.very interesting book, and highly recommanded.

1 comments about Linus Pauling, Scientist and Peacemaker.

1. +++++
   
   This is a centenary biography that commemorates the hundredth birthday of Dr. Linus Carl Pauling (February 1901 to August 1994). He was the only person to win two unshared Nobel Prizes.
   
   This book has a number of good features:
   
   (1) THE EDITORS' HONESTY. This slim book, as the editors state in the preface, does not do "complete justice to Linus Pauling's enormous life work" but is intended to give readers an "intriguing taste of his interests and accomplishments."
   
   (2) THE GOOD AND BAD. Be aware that this book not only has contributions from Pauling's friends, colleagues, and former students but also has contributions from his detractors and those who thought he was over-stepping his scientific boundaries.
   
   (3) ARTICLES. This is not your typical narrative biography! It is divided into four parts and the first three parts is a series of articles. (I use the word "article" loosely to mean an essay, a chronology, diary excerpts, interview transcript, public speech transcript, letter, Nobel lecture transcript, book excerpt, journal excerpt, or television transcript.)
   
   Articles are written in the first person by Pauling himself or in the third person by others. Before each article is a small italicized paragraph written by the editors. The purpose of this is to put each article into proper context with respect to time, place, and importance.
   
   (4) THE BOOK'S STRUCTURE. This book has four parts titled as follows:
   
   (i) "The Man." It presents the personal side and overall personality of Pauling. It consists of nine articles, five of which were written by Pauling at various times in his life. Note that Pauling had a wife named Ava Helen and four children.
   
   (ii) "The Science." It details the scientific genius of Pauling. It consists of twelve articles, six written by Pauling. These science articles are not difficult to follow. Pauling won the 1954 Nobel Prize in chemistry. Specifically he won it "for his research into the nature of the chemical bond and its application to the elucidation of the structure of complex substances."
   
   (iii) "The Peace Work." It discusses Pauling's anti-nuclear peace work. It consists of six articles, all of them written by Pauling. Pauling won the 1962 Nobel Peace Prize "for his efforts to end open-air testing of nuclear weapons."
   
   (iv) "Facets." It gives us various brief snippets of Pauling in the form of historical reminiscences or short anecdotes not only written by Pauling but by others (such as family members, friends, and colleagues). There are over forty of these that were written or said during his lifetime or after his death.
   
   (5) PICTURES. Over eighty are peppered throughout the book. When I say pictures, I mean black-and-white photographs; sketches; and reproduced, readable notes, manuscripts, letters, and textbook covers. There's even a reproduction of the Paulings' famous and controversial nuclear weapon's petition!
   
   (6) MARGINALIA. In the margins of the book, there are short anecdotes (shorter than those mentioned in the "Facets" section above). These are based on taped interviews with colleagues and contemporaries. There are over thirty of these scattered throughout the book.
   
   (7) BIBLIOGRAPHY. Finally there is a useful selected bibliography. It consists of a significant list of articles written by Pauling and important books written by him. (My favorite book written by him is entitled "How to Live Longer and Feel Better" (1986).) There is also a list of books and articles written about Pauling.
   
   One of my favorite articles was in the science part. This article details the race to find the structure of DNA. According to Pauling, Dr. Rosalind Franklin's scientific work and X-ray photographs (which he never had access too) were the key that unlocked DNA's double helix structure.
   
   In conclusion, if you want a multi-dimensional portrait of a two-time Nobel Prize winner who was the recipient of numerous awards and medals and, as well, for those who want a unique reading experience where you can form your OWN picture of this brilliant man, then peruse this fascinating book.
   
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