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

5 comments about The Watchman: The Twisted Life and Crimes of Serial Hacker Kevin Poulsen.

1. Computer security is not only part of my job, but a bit of a hobby of mine, so I love reading books like this. This book was fun to read and I read it in pretty much one night. This is a rare feat for me... I barely ever read books in one night, much less a few nights. So that should tell you how much fun the book was to read.
   
   The reason for 4 stars instead of 5? 1) It only comes in a hard cover instead of a paper back? At least, I couldn't find a paper back anywhere! 2) It's obvious (and Poulsen has commented on this) that the author has made up some things that Kevin said or did. However, this is obviously to keep the book interesting and make for a better read... So, don't take everything that the author says to heart, but the underlying story is still pretty much what happened from what I understand and have found to be true, anyway.
   
   Great read, thrilling, exciting and fun. If you like stories about computers, security and hackers.



2. I had Kevin for dinner on 1 July 1999. It seems he was about to marry my wife's first cousin, who--at the time--was an attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Neither was I impressed by Kevin's putative depth of knowledge, nor did he indicate that this book bore the least relationship to his exploits. I was just disappointed all around. I believe my wife made her Polynesian meatballs.



3. Jonathan Littman's The Watchman is well written and engaged me enough to read it in one sitting. I wanted for some time to learn more about Kevin Poulsen having heard about some of the exploits attributed to him. This story accomplishes that in a compelling way and manages to be pertinent years later. This is required reading for anyone wishing to know the darker side of the hacker sub-culture, about Kevin Poulsen, Ron Austin or Justin Petersen and some of their creative mischief and crimes.



4. If you like true crime stories, this one is for you. I wont try and debate the truth of the book, (it's a controversial subject)because I dont know the truth. But I know this is a good story, even if there are a few fabrications here and there.
   
   I am a computer geek at heart, so I especially loved this book. But even my non-technical girlfriend loved it, it's a great story.
   
   The storytelling in this book is magnificent, you really get a feel for his personality right off the bat, and the story is filled with excitement and suspense, and pardon the cliche, is impossible to put down. The first time I picked up the book, I sat and read it to the end, despite my best efforts to walk away from it.
   
   The imagery is great, and you start to feel a closeness and sympathy for Kevin, and you forget at the time he was a criminal. You hope he doesn't get caught, and cringe when he does. You watch him do well, and slip, like an addict who can't take control, and you start to feel an understanding of what it was like for him.
   
   Overall, I would say from a technical standpoint, it's a great read. From a true crime perspective, great read as well. Good all around book that's entertaining from start to finish.



5. I had no idea who Kevin Poulson was when I picked up this book. All I knew was that I wanted to read a book which dealt with computer hackers and this book had been recommended to me by a friend of mine. Suffice to say I was not disappointed.

   Littman writes a compelling story about Kevin Poulson, who is perhaps the second best known hacker in North America best Kevin Mitnick. And what makes this book such an interesting read is that it is a modern day, and real life, version of the Fugitive. But unlike the Fugitive, Kevin is hunted to tapping in to phone systems and learning much more about the telephone networks than the average, non-telco employee, should be allowed to.

   The book is filled with first hand accounts and funny anecdotes of the escapades that Kevin and some of his company managed to pull off. After reading the book, I was left scratching my head in disbelief. It was almost as if the feats Kevin was able to accomplish were too good to be true. But in the end, that's what makes this book so great.

1 comments about Beyond Innocence: An Autobiography in Letters: The Later Years.

1. Jane Goodall is one of my personal heroines. Any time I might think that one person cannot make a difference and that I should just continue to sit and do nothing, I can read about Goodall and her singular and single-minded vision of changing the world.
   
   This volume of Goodall's autobiography consists of hundreds of her personal letters, adroitly gathered together and explained by the editor so that there is a cohesive whole. We follow her through years of expanding her work with chimpanzees at her original research facilities in Gombe (where, as a very young woman, she worked ALONE), to her expanding environmental empire, to her ceaseless lobbying, traveling, letter-writing, speech-making, and appeals to leaders throughout the world to help in her efforts to save her beloved chimps (our closest primate cousins), baboons, other wildlife, and especially the rain forests upon which these animals depend for life.
   
   Her letters show the private Jane, full of the joy of motherhood (she raised her only son, Hugo Jr., or "Grublin," in the wild in a childhood that had to be spectacular beyond belief, but was like any other mother worried about teething, late talking, naughtiness and refusal to do his math!), battling bouts of malaria while writing endless (it seems) books, proposals, thank-yous, acknowledgements, and so forth.
   
   We see her through the pain of divorce, a happy remarriage, and the horror of seeing her new husband die of inoperable cancer. We see her renewed efforts to save her beloved chimpanzees, and her first horrified visit to a lab, where she was reduced to kneeling in tears at the plight of captive apes treated like things rather than the sensitive creatures they are.
   
   The book ends in the late 90s, with Jane's latest conservation efforts still going strong. I was so intent and so wound up in her story that I immediately went to the Jane Goodall Institute Website to see what I could do in some small way to further her cause. But you don't have to be a conservationist to admire this strong, brilliant, single-minded and fabulous woman. This is a book for everyone, and I recommend it highly and unequivocally.

3 comments about Discoveries: Einstein: Decoding the Universe (Discoveries (Abrams)).

1. Reading this book is a bit like feasting on potato chips rather than brussel's sprouts. Certainly there are many avenues to learning about Einstein the man and his scientific theories. One could choose from the 20-odd published books and collections of writings by Einstein himself or from the many dense works written by scholars. Any of these choices would likely prove edifying but would come at the cost of a serious investment of time and thought. On the other hand, the Discoveries series offers this fast-food alternative, quick and easy-to-digest but leaving the reader with a pang of guilt over the indulgence.

   The book is 136 pages long, but this is a misleading indicator of depth, as the pages of this slim volume are perhaps 4x6 inches and 126 of them include copious pictures and/or illustrations. While this does limit the word count and the depth of coverage, it does make for a visual treat. The pictures include, as one would expect, many of Einstein throughout his lifetime but also include some fascinating snippets such as a portion of his birth certificate, a newspaper advertisement placed by Einstein offering private tutoring and a page from his manuscript demonstrating through equations the general theory of relativity.

   The text moves chronologically from his childhood through his schooling, marriage, work at the Swiss Patent office, flurry of fame-producing discoveries, pacifism, long fruitless struggle for a unifying "theory of everything" and his death at the age of 76. The coverage of the science is fairly high level and certainly understandable without any physics or higher mathematics experience. Particularly interesting is a series of Einstein letters, including several to and from his wife that reveal a playful, tender side and an exchange with Sigmund Freud regarding the problem of war.

   This is not the choice if you're looking for the definitive account of Einstein's life or an in-depth discussion of his scientific genius. However, if you're looking for an entertaining and easy overview of the man, you will find this a very good option.




2. Einstein: Decoding the Universe is a short,nice little book about Einstein that can be read in a matter of hours. I found the book quite interesting but I admit that I have never read a book on Einstein prior to this one. Thus, I cannot accurately compare this book to another on him. Main details about his life are covered without going into an intricate life story. Over 20 pages in the back were devoted to letters he had written or others had written about him. I gave the book only 4 stars because I thought there could have been a little more mathematical jargon included. But, for the price and the brevity, I recommend this book as one to take and read while at an airport or what not.



3. The Abrams Discoveries series delivers another gorgeous book, with slick paper and beautiful photos and illustrations on every page. From drawings, graphs and pictures to Einstein's own scribblings-- even a Magritte painting and newspaper comics of the day-- the publishers have pulled out all the stops, giving the reader a kaleidoscopic visual treat. All of this brings to life the concepts in a punchy and and intriguing way. However, the text itself, translated from French physics professor Francoise Balibar's original, is insubstantial and only valuable as an overview and survey of Einstein's life and thought. While the author explores the political and scientific climate with sureness and ease, and illustrates particularly well Einstein's unique contributions-- vast as they are-- to 20th Century physics, the text never goes too deep into its subject.

   I'd recommend this book to someone wanting a painless summation, introductory or otherwise, of Einstein. For someone wanting to get deep into the ramifications of relativity theory or the disharmony between it and quantum physics, I'd recommend another book-- perhaps Brian Greene's _The Elegant Universe_ or a book by Einstein himself.

1 comments about The Zookeeper's Daughter.

1. I thought "The Zookeeper's Daughter" was is a refreshing tale of the real life experiences of a strong woman. It was a book that I could relate to. It deals with life and death and the joy of what comes inbetween. It is a must read

1 comments about Linnaeus: The Compleat Naturalist.

1. This book reprints the text of Wilfred Blunt's 1971 biography, "The Compleat Naturalist: A Life of Linnaeus," adding lavish illustrations, a brief bibliography by Gavin Bridson, an explanation of Linnaeus's system of taxonomy by William T. Stearn, and a comment on modern biological systematics by C. J. Humphries. Carl Linnaeus was an egotistical, vain, and sometimes difficult man, but he was also a beloved teacher, and his impact on natural history is undeniable. Blunt is a charming writer, and he skilfully tells the story of Linnaeus's rise from obscure provincial to famous professor, drawing on Linnaeus's own writings and those of his contemporaries. The illustrations bring to life the places Linnaeus lived and traveled and the plants that he observed, described, and named. Blunt has less to say about Linnaeus's science; readers who want to know how Linnaeus's contemporaries reacted to his ideas and what effect they had on biology will have to turn to works by Lisbet Koerner and others. But if you've ever wondered who was responsible for modern scientific nomenclature, and what it was like traveling in Sweden and Europe in the eighteenth century, this book is a fine place to start.

No comments about The Man Who Saved Sea Turtles: Archie Carr and the Origins of Conservation Biology.

No comments about Origins: Selected Letters of Charles Darwin, 1822-1859. Anniversary edition. (Selected Letters of C. Darwin).

No comments about Alfred Nobel: A Biography.

1 comments about Abelard and the Origin and Early History of Universities.

1. This book is a must for anyone interested in the roots of universities. Well documented, with references to a long list of authors through the ages, it tells the story of the very beginning of universities as learned societies which gained public and political support in the era of heavy turbulence. Fascinatuing stuff. I read it in one breath.