5 comments about iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It.

1. Growing up a Mac nerd I have to say this book is a must read! I found it fascinating and I have to respect the kind of person that Steve Wozniak is. Highly recommend this book.



2. Total pile of hog..
   
   They Say history is written by the winners... Unfortunately the wrong guys won..
   
   Wanna know the truth?
   
   Then Read "On the Edge: the spectacular rise and fall of commodore"
   
   Read that then see if you think "Woz" really invented the whole thing..
   
   On the edge is an awsome book that dosnt treat its readers like a bunch of idiots and gives a balanced account; finally giveing credit to the forgotten heros of the era..



3. I had fun reading "iWoz" as it was both educational and entertaining.
   
   A must-read for all apple lovers.
   
   It tells you the story of the man behind it all...



4. Wozniak gives us a book written for the juvenile mind but marketed to adults, recalling the glory days of his youth and telling us almost nothing about Apple after it grew beyond a home-based business. The presentation is avuncular, excessively colloquial, clownish and shallow. It is fundamentally an incoherent and dishonest book.



5. It's Woz, how can you go wrong? I really enjoyed this book, although I would have enjoyed it a little more if Woz told more up-to-date stories. I know he has a ton, and I was really hoping to learn much more about Woz TODAY. Still, if you want to read about one of the most important people in Computer history, this is a good start.

5 comments about Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey.

1. I enjoyed Jane's conversational style and the vivid descriptions of the scenic landscapes which highlighted important spiritual moments and exciting discoveries in her life. A nice parallel forms between the scientific and the spiritual when she begins to makes her revolutionary behavioral studies on chimps in Gombe. What should strike any reader is the opportunity that Jane was able to access through hard work and determination. Jane was without a college degree when she began her work with the chimps supported by Dr. Leaky. It was her character that mattered. The book can ramble or become tedious but Janes work is clearly so brilliant as is her knowledge of philosophy and evolution that it kept me pasted. She forms a positive outlook based on the hope that humans will evolve morally before they destroy themselves and countless other life forms.



2. This is a very good book. It is a good description on the life of Jane Goodall. Very easy read.



3. I have read REASON FOR HOPE and find that Jane Goodall did an excellent job in describing her life in a way that gives reason for hope in life, especially in difficult times. I was very touched by her description of her relationship with her second husband, Derek, her life with him, and her feelings after his death. It brought back feelings I had after the death of my wife. Jane Goodall is an excellent humanist. Also, she merits the Nobel Peace Prize.



4. Jane Goodall is just a wise old soul...no matter what
   her age or yours. She brings good wisdom that is
   understandable and applicable for each one of us to
   be better stewards of the earth and ourselves.



5. I loan this book, give copies as gifts, and read it at least once a year. Dr. Jane Goodall's life, from her days as a young British girl with a love of animals and nature to her present incarnation as a world-renowned conservationist, advocate for threatened and endangered animals - particularly primates - and UN Messenger of Peace, is exemplary. In Dr. Goodall's own words, "We have a choice to use the gift of our lives to make the world a better place." Through this book, we may learn how Dr. Goodall has done just that.

3 comments about My Life and Work - An Autobiography of Henry Ford.

1. A great insight into Henry Fords' way of doing business. Of course hindsight is 20-20 and Ford tells of his secrets to success with the Model T. A good reference for the automotive historian or budding entrepeneur.



2. Anyone who has read "My Life and Work" will understand exactly what is wrong with our country today. There are three ways to create wealth--grow it, mine it, or make it--and activities like flipping houses or trading carbon credits do not qualify.
   
   Ford developed what is now known as the Toyota production system, and readers will see a very explicit description of just in time manufacturing (and its benefits) in "My Life and Work."
   
   Ford also summarized effective labor relations in one sentence: "It ought to be the employer's ambition, as leader, to pay better wages than any similar line of business, and it ought to be the workman's ambition to make this possible."



3. I'll just say this about Ford. He was absolutely the greatest industrial mind off ALL TIMES.

5 comments about Steve and Me: Life with the Crocodile Hunter.

1. Incredibly insightful, informative, and fascinating. Terry Irwin turns out to be a fabulous author who truly writes from the heart. You can hear her telling the stories of her and Steve's adventures. A love story for the ages. Of course, we all know the incredibly sad way the story has to end, but their story is definitely worth reading. Would recommend it to anyone who loves "The Crocodile Hunter", Steve Irwin, wildlife, love stories or believes in soul mates. Didn't want it to end. Loved it!!



2. I had always been a fan of Steve Irwin, but this touching tribute by his wife, not only showed how deeply they were in love but what a family man and true Wildlife Warrior he was. Excellent read.



3. This book is a wonderful glimpse into the personal life of the Irwin family. It shows the passion and drive of not only Steve, but of his wonderful wife, Terri. It also shows the strength he instilled in her, and her amazing ability to cope with this tragedy, for herself, and her two young children.
   I feel honored to have read it, and to have been invited into this very personal and loving family.



4. Anyone that loved Steve Irwin will love this book. Terri did a great job writing this and I could actually feel her emotion for this man. We miss you Steve. Cricky!!!



5. This is truly a beautiful modern day love story about not only the love of two people with the same passion combined with the love of family and friends. But also, the love of nature and all its diversity.

No comments about The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.

5 comments about Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla : Biography of a Genius (Citadel Press Book).

1. In my opinion this was a very good book about Tesla, but I must confess, I have not read any other biographies on him so I have nothing to compare it to. As others have stated, the book has lots of details about Tesla's personal life and his relationships with business associates like J.P. Morgan, Westinghouse, Edison, etc.
   
   Tesla was clearly a genius and anyone who says otherwise knows nothing about his accomplishments. Titans like J.P. Morgan became concerned about Tesla's intentions regarding the use of his wireless power transmisson, and other inventions. These corporate puppet masters don't want anything in the marketplace that they cannot wield complete control over. Free, wireless power transmission fell into this category. Tesla wanted to elevate humanity with his inventions, whereas Morgan (and others) wanted to gain greater control over humanity through technology. This is the same plight we are in today, in 2008, a hundred years later.
   
   Tesla's work was by no means the only target for suppression. Those of you fascinated with Tesla will surely be fascinated with the discoveries of Albert Roy Davis and Walter C. Rawls. Tesla's emphasis was on electricity, while Davis and Rawls' was/is on magnetism.
   
   Davis was the first scientist in the world to discover, in 1936, that magnetism consists of two separate and distinct energies, not one as it is still taught in colleges today. Each pole affects all matter in two different ways, so the physics books need to be re-written. Davis and Rawls found that North pole magnetism can not only eliminate diseases like cancer, it can be used to increase the intelligence of animals/people, extend the lifespans of animals/people, increase the growth of plants, make stronger metals/plastics and much more. Read "Magnetism and Its Effects on the Living System", and "The Magnetic Blueprint of Life", by Davis and Rawls. All of their books are great reading, but those two will likely interest Tesla fans the most. Read "The Scope of Biomagnetism", by Walter Rawls, on the Teslatech website too.
   
   I've been told by a credible source that Tesla was involved in the Philedelphia Experiment and that he left it because he knew there were going to be problems. He was also working for RCA laboratories at the time of his death, not just feeding pigeons on a bench waiting for the big sleep.



2. If you want to read a good biography of Nikola Tesla I would recommend you two books: Man out of Time or Nikola Tesla: A spark of genius...



3. This is by all means the worst book on Nikola Tesla ever! This book portrays Tesla in a way that he never was, a confused lunatic with confused visions and a hard line nationalist attitude. It is no wonder that one reader nicknamed huh concluded that Tesla was stupid and was not able to finish most of his inventions (by the way, this guy sounds like someone from Edison's camp). Tesla was born in an environment of constant clashes between Croats and Serbs, and Ottoman empire (not "Asian barbarians" as this author constantly portrays this great Empire) had nothing to do with Tesla's departure to US. Teslas's father was orthodox priest (a hardliner) who wanted to see his son in the Serbian army (it is the same army who completely escaped into Greece which is unknown example of cowardice in the history and whose king also escaped to England leaving his nation to German mercy, thus Tesla did not see anything great in this "great army"). Tesla refused going to Serbian army and he refused being hard-line nationalist. Tesla once said:" I am proud of my country Croatia and my Serbian nationality". This indicates best that he was not hard-line nationalist (keep in mind that Serbian nationalist even today claim that Croatia is occupied Serbian territory and that it will be wiped off the map). This author actually invented many stories of Tesla's life and even more of them are from second or third hand, totally untrue.
   On the technical aspect of this book it is not even worth any comments. Someone who does not know anything about electrical tech must be wondering, what the heck did this guy Tesla invent anyway (hence huh reader again)? I would describe the technical portion of this book as a good joke; even Mr. Bean would do it better. Author just could not sustain a certain hatred for Ottoman empire, which by the way was not much different then eg. Roman empire. Stay away from this book, you will not learn anything from it and could be infected with serious hate.
   This book is a zero mark!



4. Without a doubt the most comprehensive book I have read on Mr. Tesla's life. This edition is meant for that reader who wants very detailed events and accomplishments about the scientist life. Mr. Seifer's research about Nikola Tesla's early life, his early school years, formal education and subsequent acquaintances establishes an overall base on which the reader can reference easily as the book progresses into Mr. Tesla's later years. The author brings to the reader's mind the fact that Nikola Tesla called his "close friends" the most amazing scientists at the turn of the 19th century who themselves became icons in the scientific community. However, Mr.Seifer, illustrates as well the human side of Nikola Tesla thereby keeping in focus the frail aspect of this incredible scientist and those devils his amazing intellect had to fight. I strongly recommend this book to those who wish to literaly know about Nikola Tesla's life. It is truly a manificent tome.



5. As you'd expect from a psychology professor, this biography is an extremely good biography of Tesla as a person, and a very good biography of his life and times. As with most scientific prodigies, the biographers are not equal to their subjects' scientific accomplishments, which leads to a certain amount of benign neglect. The book would not suffer under a few more historical mises en scène. All in all though, it is an extremely good book.

5 comments about The Wizard of Menlo Park: How Thomas Alva Edison Invented the Modern World.

1. I did not realize how little I knew about Thomas Alva Edison - until reading this book. This is a good biography of Edison, but deals more about his rise to fame and how that whole process happened. The author weaved in and out of a good biography with some editorial tangents, but overall this is a good book.
   
   Coming out of reading this book I really appreciate Edison, and realize that he should have stuck to inventing and left the leadership and management of his companies to people who were good and leadership and management. Classic micromanager who was not good at leading and managing. But, one heck of an inventor.
   
   JVD



2. This enjoyable biography focuses on:
   1.) Thomas Edison's various achievements as an inventor.
   2.) How Edison's inventions led to an ostensible raise in the standard of living in the United States and eventually Europe.
   3.) How Edison became and lived as a celebrity because of his achievements.
   
   If you like reading about heroic producers of the industrial revolution, then I highly recommend adding this book to your reading list.
   
   Even the anecdotes about Thomas Edison's (initial) failures are fun to read. For example, I particularly liked the story of how J.P. Morgan volunteered to have his study be one of the first rooms to be wired with electricity. Eager to bask in his latest highly anticipated investment, Morgan turned on the incandescent light next to his desk to do a little evening reading. Unfortunately for him, as he began to read, his study caught fire, eventually leading to his house suffering substantial damage.
   
   Did J.P. Morgan divest himself of Thomas Edison? Absolutely not! He merely invited Thomas Edison over to witness the charred remains of his study and firmly inquired if he could install the wiring correctly the second time. Such was the earned reputation of Thomas Edison. J.P. Morgan knew he was investing in something big. Also, this story also revealed a great deal about his character. Instead of dwelling on his serious mistake, Thomas Edison focused on how he could rectify the situation and improve his invention. But I digress.
   
   A great read!



3. We all heard about Edison's story. However, most of them are probably more colorful version from the media. This book provides a more complete view.
   
   Author Randall has done a thorough study from the preserved documents of Edison's lab as well as archived newspapers. The book is full of annotations with references at the end of the book. If there is any bias in this book, most likely it is because our minds have long been receiving Edison's prettier' side rather than all aspects of his life. We should welcome and applaud for any whisle blower and fact digger when media is trying to beautify his lesser admirable side.
   
   Edison is an very good inventor, there is no need to model or sculpture him into a saint or an all time sage. He said it himself (hopefully, not another write up from the media) : "Invention is 1 percent of inspiration and 99 percent of perspiration".
   
   Regardless of Edison's personality (if someone happens dislike it) or his serious misjudgement on business or other subject matters, he is, by all accounts, a very important figure in late 19th and early 20th century. While he is not the first person to invent light bulb, he is however, the person to light up the world.
   
   I believe we all appreciate him one hundred percent. :-)



4. I totally enjoyed this book. The author keeps you turning pages as he provides interesting fact after fact about Thomas Edison and his life as the world's most famous inventor. Inside you will learn what made Edison tick and how he impacted the world around him including his family, employees and close friends. As a phonograph buff I particularly enjoyed reading about Edison's beliefs regarding musicians, music and the promotion and sale of phonographs and cylinders (records). The Wizard of Menlo Park is well researched and well written. The author obviously has experience taking readers on enlightening journeys. This book will find a permanent place on my home bookshelf.



5. I've read a number of biographies and biographical sketches of Thomas A. Edison. Most of these concentrate on the man's inventive genius and often provide many interesting technical details on his inventions and on the related technical problems. However, this biography has a rather different twist: it focuses mainly on Edison the businessman and his many shortcomings in this aspect of his life. He is portrayed as a genius with an insatiable passion for laboratory work but desperately lacking the necessary flair for how to succeed in the business world. Edison's private life is briefly discussed, including his relationships with his wives and his sons. The writing style is clear, friendly and engaging, thus making this book difficult to put down. This book is quite successful in depicting the ways in which Edison's instincts were often seriously at odds with the public's way of thinking during these times of mind-boggling new technological innovations. This book can be enjoyed by anyone. But those with a passionate fascination for this period and its greater-than-life figures are in for a particular treat.

5 comments about Prime Obsession: Bernhard Riemann and the Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics.

1. The Prime Number Theorem and its related consequences is a fascinating subject. This book however is a long winded, very poorly written attempt. The author never seems to be able to make a point clearly and succinctly. Instead we are treated to a ramble that confuses more than elaborates. For example the presentation on functions is very poorly done. I have seen basic algebra texts explain the idea of functions far better than in this book. To make matters worse the author takes about ten pages to explain the beautiful idea of a function thus killing a sublime truth.
   
   Sorry to say but far better general math books abound. Take a look at Journey Through Genius.



2. Wauw, never thought the prime principles and theories behind it could be explained so well and most of all so easy to understand.
   With this book, the writer makes one of the most mysterious and complex theories in mathematics easy to understand for the common man.
   Simply great!



3. John Derbyshire's "Prime Obsession: Bernhard Riemannand the Greatest Unsolved Problem in Mathematics" has two parts. Part I is about The Prime Number Theorem and has ten chapters (Ch1-10). Part II is about The Riemann Hypothesis and has twelve chapters (Ch11-22). "The odd-numbered chapters...contain mathematical exposition...The even-numbered chapters offer historical and biographical background matter." One of the aims of the book is to explain the Riemann Hypothesis through elementary high school math. "...so if you don't understand the Hypothesis after finishing my book, you can be pretty sure you will never understand it."
   
   Right at the first page of the book, the author introduced the origin of the Riemann Hypothesis. The hypothesis was first introduced by Bernhard Riemann's paper "On the Number of Prime Numbers Less Than a Given Quantity" in August 1859. The paper leads to the proof of the Prime Number Theorem (PNT) in 1896. PNT states that the number of prime numbers less than a given number x is approximated by x/ln(x). "If either...or...could have proved the truth of the [Riemann] Hypothesis, the PNT would have followed at once...They couldn't of course...The PNT [could] follows from a much weaker result...: All non-trivial zeros of the zeta function have real part less than one." Riemann Hypothesis is similar to the above weaker result: all non-trivial zeros of the zeta function have real part one-half. In 1914, Hardy proved that "there is infinity of non-trivial zeros...infinitely many of them have real part one-half." But "this did not settle the Hypothesis." Since then, mathematicians discovered or conjectured that the zeta function has relationships with the Mobius function, the J step function, the Li function, field theory, and with some Hermitian operator. The zeta function is also related to quantum mechanics through the Montgomery-Odlyzko Law (GUE operator). However, nobody is able to prove or disprove the hypothesis yet.



4. Really good book for beginners,it explains basic concepts for all audiences, the way of mixing history and concepts is original (i prefer The Music of the Primes: Searching to Solve the Greatest Mystery in Mathematics) , but sometimes slow for advanced readers.
   ugly/strange typography of ecuations and errors.



5. For the person with an interest in mathematics this book is a wonderful read. It is written for the general lay person, but I would generally recommend the book to someone who has already completed high school level calculus. The author does a wonderful job of breaking down the Riemann Hypothesis and presenting it in the easiest way possible. I preferred the actual math explanations more than the math history sections myself. The only real complaint I can make are the poorly presented graphs, which are often so small to make the axis or values unreadable.

3 comments about Along Came Galileo.

1. This book was purchased for my 6th grade son. He read it in less than a week. These books are fun and easy to read. They give a background of the actual person and how they came to discover or invent something. We have several of the Jeanne Bendick books and now my 5th grade daughter is reading them. Unlike typical school science books spurting dates and names, we appreciate getting to know these inventors in this lighthearted manner.



2. This excellent biography of Galileo effectively relates the cultural view toward science at the time. While the church then had staunchly supported preconceived notions regarding astronomy (despite Biblical references that did not concur with those thoughts), Galileo persevered in pursuing truth based on factual observations. Galileo was a role model for our present youth to continue to test scientific observations and draw conclusions based upon factual data rather than the reputation and popularity of other scientists and their views, however long-standing those theories may have existed.



3. This book was a fun and informative read. The author, Jeanne Bendick, included much about the times and way of life. She clearly explains and illustrates the thoughts of the day about the universe as well as the differences between the thinking of the ancient Greeks and Galileo, who did not blindly accept the ancient teachings.

   The middle to upper elementary student will gain insight into science, other famous astronomers/scientists from that era, geography, and history through this book. Each chapter concludes with a quote from Galileo that is perfect for copy work.

1 comments about The Tragic Sense of Life: Ernst Haeckel and the Struggle over Evolutionary Thought.

1. (This review is an expanded version of my review in "Choice", the review magazine of the American Library Association).
   
   This is an extraordinarily thorough investigation into the life of a great (and greatly maligned) scientist. It is exhaustively researched and the bibliography is extremely thorough. But it is much more than a scholarly tome. It is a portrait of a man driven by science and romanticism, as well as a window into the scientific enterprise during a different era.
   
   Haeckel was an incredibly productive and insightful scientist; he was often mentioned as a likely recipient for the Nobel Prize in his later years. He coined many words still in use today, including "ecology", named thousands of species of marine animals, and mentored many students who became famous in their own right. His artistic talents were also prodigious, and his illustrations in his monographs describing new marine organisms are still used today as exemplars of scientific illustration. He was, to use a word that is commonly overused, a genius.
   
   More importantly for the overall theme of this book, Richards also points out that Haeckel's publications promoting evolutionary theory, both popular and scientific, were much more widely read than Darwin's "Origin of Species". They were translated into more languages, and sold many more copies during his lifetime. Furthermore, Haeckel's blunt criticisms of religiously-motivated critics of Darwin set the stage for the current political struggles between evolution and religion in modern America. Even T.H. Huxley, no stranger to the barbed insult, is quoted in this book as telling Haeckel that he needs to rein in the polemics in his popular writings! Indeed, a good case can be made that without Haeckel's antagonism toward muddled theological criticism of science in general and evolution in particular, religion and science might have come to a better understanding than we seem to observe today. This is another, less benign, legacy of a man whose zealotry extended to all things.
   
   Finally, Richards thoroughly debunks the thesis that Darwin's ideas, via Haeckel, were an important source for Nazi political or scientific thinkers, and thus a root cause of the Holocaust. In that regard, it is worth quoting his concluding statement, on the last page of the book. "It can only be a tendentious and dogmatically driven assessment that would condemn Darwin for the crimes of the Nazis. And while some of Haeckel's conceptions were recruited by a few Nazi biologists, he hardly differed in that respect from Christian writers, whose disdain for Jews gave considerably more support to those dark forces. One might thus recognize in Haeckel a causal source for a few lines deployed by National Socialists, but hardly any moral connection exists by which to indict him." Richards documents that the spurious Darwin-Haeckel-Hitler connection has its ultimate roots, unsurprisingly, in the religious objections to evolution that Haeckel fought against throughout his scientific career.
   
   The tragedies in Haeckel's life, and the influence of these tragedies on his zealous scientific and political activities, add a poignant touch to the work. Haeckel's scientific output, and his championing of Darwin's theory, were driven by a tragedy of coincidence that happened early in his career, just after he read Darwin's "Origin of Species" and decided to search for experimental evidence for evolution. On his thirtieth birthday, it was announced that he had won a prestigious prize, and his wife of eighteen months passed away. His grief drove him throughout his career, and it was a powerful grief.
   
   Beyond the narrative that gives us insight into the man and his times, and in addition to the excruciatingly well-documented historical facts, the book has one other illuminating attraction. The appendices, found both at the end of several chapters and also at the end of the work, not only enhance the reader's understanding of this specific history, but also are extremely valuable guides to reading other histories. This is a master work, and belongs in the library of anyone who has an interest in the history of evolutionary science.