1 comments about The Tree Collector: The Life and Explorations of David Douglas.

1. This is a page-turner for gardener and non-gardener alike. It includes many of the journal entries and letters that survive David Douglas' incredible travels, particularly in the Pacific Northwest in the early 19th century. His experiences on a 10,000 mile walk between the Pacific coast and Hudson Bay are unimaginable today. He collected over 200 species -- important sources today of timber as well as ornamental garden plants. This biography suggests that his death at age 35 by falling into a wild-animal trap in Hawaii may have been murder and not an accident as commonly thought.

1 comments about The Book of My Life (New York Review Books Classics).

1. Girolamo Cardano's THE BOOK OF MY LIFE is a very typical entry into the lists of the New York Review of Books Classics: fairly obscure except to Renaissance historians, Cardano was an enormously important Italian mathemetician, scientist, and astrologer who also wrote an account of himself, his nature, and his life. Cardano's experiences in 16th-century Italy are extremely complex and colorful, and he recounts not only his problems with his children and his many enemies, but also his birthsign, his experiments, and his encounters with supernatural beings. The book isn't quite as enthralling as you hope it might be, and in the foreword Anthony Grafton comments on the limitations of this translation (which hearkens back to the 1920s)--given this, you wonder why NYRB didn't commission a new and more faithful translation. The book is intriguing enough but doesn't exactly pass the time quite in the enjoyable way the NYRB Classics seem to be intended to do.

No comments about Alchemical Laboratory Notebooks and Correspondence.

4 comments about Bold Science: Seven Scientists Who Are Changing Our World.

1. I picked up this book based on Ted Anton's reputation, but concerned that it might be one of those "great people in science" type books that are foisted on junior high students as Bar Mitzvah presents. I needn't have worried. Anton makes the personal details vivid (cold winter hours in the observatory, the struggles to write computer code) but spends equal time making sure we understand the science involved. I just wish there were an update so I could find out how these discoveries have held up.



2. Bold Science, a hegegraphy of profiles about seven famous scientists and how they work,reads like vinettes from a Coppola film. I am surprised that Hollywood has missed this riveting view into the world of the technical, political, and social worlds of the sciences. After all, they made a film of Susan Orlean's The Orchard Thief. Anton, a professor who has taught me much about writing at DePaul University, builds a strong narrative by weaving character details with facts about hard core scientific discovery and tales of the political struggle to obtain grant funding in the latter part of the 20th Century. This should be a must read on every intro to science course list. Anton interviews Craig Venter, the geneticist, Susan Greenfield, the neuroscientist, Geoff Marcy, the astronomer, Polly Matzinger, the immunologist, Saul Perlmutter, the cosmologist, Gretchen Daily, and Carl Woese. Like Tom Wolfe, Norman Mailer, Truman Capote, and Hunter Thompson before him, Anton follows these seven characters until he is able to weave a compelling narrative around the science they do. The result: he shows seven people who love science and defy the mysterious nature of the scientist documenting their humanity.



3. The seven scientists profiled here are

   Craig Venter in genomics

   Susan Greenfield in neuroscience

   Geoffrey Marcy in astronomy

   Polly Matzinger in immunology

   Saul Perlmutter in cosmology

   Gretchen Daily in ecology

   Carl Woese in mircobiology.

   Ted Anton, who is a professor of English at DePaul, interviewed all the subjects with the possible exception of Carl Woese--at least his name alone is conspicuously absent from the acknowledgments pages. (Perhaps they had a falling out.) The result is a somewhat breezy, understandably limited, People-like introduction to their work, personalities and lifestyle. There is an introduction and a concluding chapter.

   What we can learn from this book is that science as it is practiced today is a highly social and political enterprise where those who would make it big must learn to toot their horn. Indeed, what these seven scientists have in common, aside from their great energy, is a gift for public relations. Some, like Susan Greenfield and Gretchen Daily, have a brash, aggressive style more often seen in the world of business than in the world of science. Venter, the founder of Celera, a company with a lot of venture capital behind it as it sequences the human genome, has meshed the two worlds so completely that he is as much an entrepreneur as he is a scientist. We see here too that success in science today requires an inter- and multi-disciplinary approach as envisioned by E.O. Wilson in Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge, a book twice cited by Anton. We can also see that a successful scientist has to be an effective communicator, almost an administrator, in this age of surplus information.

   Anton's style is occasionally vivid, sometimes careless and all too quickly done. It appears that he had some sort of deadline to meet along with length restrictions. In some cases he may not have followed up properly. I was annoyed at some points with partial information. For example, on page 84 he is telling the story of Polly Matzinger's accidental involvement with a Private or Sergeant Duffy, a police officer who borrows her car to do some police work. But Anton never makes it clear what happened to Duffy or whether he was a detective or not. Or, on page 85 where Matzinger, in her cocktail waitressing days, tells UC animal behaviorist Robert Schwab that she "never understood why a raccoon did not impersonate a skunk to scare off predators." I didn't get that one. (How?) And Anton doesn't explain. Also, on page 136 Anton recalls a bet between Paul Ehrlich of The Population Bomb fame and economist Julian Simon, Simon betting that the prices of five commodities would not rise over a ten year period. Simon wins the bet, but Anton does not tell us what the commodities were!

   I was also displeased by some of the carelessness. Ernest Rutherford is "Earnest" Rutherford in the index and on page 150. Paul Ehrlich becomes Paul "Erlich" on page 137. On page 144 the bacterium tuberculosis is described as a virus! And on page 145 Anton is summing up Gretchen Daily's work in Costa Rica: "They were getting good results, finding that even a small amount of preserved forest...will preserve significantly greater species diversity that would have been expected. The possibility of maximizing tradeoffs was there, if only one knew where to look." After I got past the typo "that" for "than" I still did not know what "tradeoffs" Anton was talking about. Tradeoffs between what and what? I suspect some text was cut and the remaining wording not adjusted.

   On the plus side, Anton has the ability to bring his characters to life with concrete details about their habits and their struggles, Geoff Marcy seeing a therapist for depression, Susan Greenfield giving up smoking as a marriage agreement, Polly Matzinger as a Playboy bunny who amassed $500 in parking tickets while sporting a bumper sticker reading "Commit Random Acts of Kindness." He can also be effective with figures of speech, as on page 134 where he is talking about "the vagaries of global warming": "If done improperly, the simplest climate forecasts spaghettied into infinite complexity." Or on page 132 where he is making the point that most microbes don't culture well or easily, so that most "biological work concentrated on the few weeds, like Escherichia coli, that could be studied in pure culture." Occasionally, Anton is able to catch the essence of an idea in a short expression, as on page 173 where he sums up one of Gretchen Daily's ideas: "the predators of insects will count for you the number of insects in an ecosystem."

   I wonder if Anton had planned a larger book, perhaps one with photographs of the scientists in the field or in their lab, but for some reason a book that had to be abandoned. At any rate this book could have been outstanding had it been better edited and copyread, had it included photographs of the scientists (one picture here would indeed be worth a thousand words) and had Anton included short bibliographies of the published work of his seven scientists. As is, I think this might be valuable for those people thinking of starting a career in science, or for those just beginning their careers. Anton makes it clear that the talents required to rise to the top are often extraneous to the day-to-day work of the scientist, and that would be a good thing for someone just starting out to know.




4. This is the best collection of its kind I've ever read, and one of the 10 best non-fiction books I've ever read on any topic. I ran across this book as part of my research on creative organizations and people, and was stunned by the quality. The scientists are quirky and fascinating, and Anton's writing and editing is as good as it gets. Anton is the Red Smith of science writers.

No comments about Chance and Design: Reminiscences of Science in Peace and War.

1 comments about The Black Digital Elite: African American Leaders of the Information Revolution.

1. John T. Barber profiles "26 outstanding African American cyberelites." Black Digital Elite is divided into six parts, each of which addresses a different aspect of what he calls the Information Revolution.
   
   Part I: Scientists and Innovator, introduces four visionaries whose work with computers revolutionized the way we use computers and the internet. Part II: Policy Makers and Power Brokers presents eight forward thinkers who developed plans, policies and programs that made access to new technologies in computing and communication easier for African Americans. Part III: Educators and Professionals features three people in academia who have taught and encouraged African American students to pursue degrees and careers in high tech industries. Part IV: Cybercommunity Developers discusses three Information Technology (IT) professionals who have focused on digital access and computer literacy in the African American community. Part V: Masters of the World Wide Web examines four masters of the internet who have created web sites and web portals geared towards African Americans. Part VI: Chief Executive Officers, Entrepreneurs and Big Money Makers, profiles four leaders in Corporate America who are using their money and businesses to introduce and/or upgrade communication and computer technologies in the African American community and under-served communities around the world.
   
   This was a very informative read. I was unaware of the number of prominent African Americans who have been on the leading edge of the Information Revolution, inventors, educators, politicians, and business leaders who have worked tirelessly to bridge the digital gap that exists between the African American community and the rest of the world. As an IT professional, I am thrilled to learn of the accomplishments of my elders and contemporaries in the high tech arena. I encourage young people to use this book as both a reference book for writing about innovative elders and as a career planning manual.

5 comments about Paul Wilbur Klipsch the Life...the Legend.

1. The authors of this poorly written biography may have met the man in his twilight years and obviously garnered their information from very limited resources. Therfore only a mere part of the real story has been told and indeed a biased one at that. P. Wilbur, as his closest associates knew him, was robbed of his legacy by a bunch of wannabes and they told their side of the story which is now in print for their own benefit. I gave it one star for the fact that it does document some of his achievements.



2. This is one of the worst biographies I have ever read. In fact is it not a biography of Paul Klipsch at all. It is a tribute to him by his second wife, ghost written by the authors. Paul's life before his second wife hardly exists. We learn almost nothing of his life with his first wife. Worse, the technical aspects of Paul's life are almost ignored. Paul W. Klipsch was a great engineer, an entrepreneur, and a great man for what he did with his money (an Engineering school is named after him for his extensive support). But what made all this possible were the technical innovations which he brought to the audio industry, and these nontechnical authors don't have a clue what that is all about. So this is not a biography of Paul W. Klipsch. A better title would be "My Life with Paul W. Klipsch" by his Second Wife.



3. This is the clumsiest, most poorly written hardcover I have ever read. The last chapter, amazingly worst than the others, is totally incoherent. I have no idea how this could have gotten published. From what I know of Paul Klipsch and his personality, having only spent one evening with him, I believe he would find this book an utter embarrassment,

   That said, if you're interested in some tidbits about the life of Paul Klipsch there are a lot of them here. But be forewarned, it reads exactly like sorting through a shoebox full of miscellaneous notes and scraps of paper.




4. If you want to read a biography about a great american hero and visionary this is it. Complete with his patents, original letters and humor. I never new the total story about this wonderful man but I do now. Does not bog down with alot of nothing information but rather keeps a good pace and has so much information in these 200 plus pages you have to read it like I have, 3 times already!!! I keep picking up new things all of the time. I especially liked the old vintage Klipsch ads which were so much a look-see into Paul's personality. A must read for anyone not just audiophiles.



5. I bought this book intending to dislpay it near my vintage stereo system that features a pair of Klipsch La Scala speakers. That will not be happening. This book is amateurishly written and poorly edited. Stories are told and then repeated again at length only pages later. The authors set up each chapter by describing some virtuous attribute of this man they so obviously adore and then proceed to describe someone quite the opposite (for example, they report that the "extremely open minded" Mr. Klipsch impulsively ripped the radio out of his car to avoid listening to music that was not to his tastes). Remove the "filler" - pages of patent specifications, pictures, lists of awards - and there remains precious little content, far less than one would expect in summarizing the life of such a legendary personality.

4 comments about Hypatia's Heritage: A History of Women in Science from Antiquity Through the Nineteenth Century (Beacon Paperback).

1. The author has put together a comprehensive review of women, more or less lost from history, who participated in the sciences. The book is loosely structured around time periods, covering antiquity through the 18th century. The book contains many references and she clearly states her sources. Some of the more questionable (rabbinical tradition) were probably better left out. In any case, since she states the source, the reader can decide for herself.



2. If you are a woman with any interest at all in the sciences (mathematics and philosophy included), then please read this book. I expected a strongly feministic "the man is holding me down" revision of history. I found a well-balanced and well-documented account of the content and context of the science and scientific lives of women who history has forgotten. I am a 36 year old female scientist, who for the first time has found a source of inspirational female role models in this book. Look, things weren't so good in the past for women. But let's not remain in denial and let's not rewrite the past. Let's read even-handed historical accounts, such as the one presented in this book, and then let's make healthy, well-balanced decisions about how society should best move forward.



3. I rated this book at one star only because amazon.com doesn't allow a reviewer the option of zero stars. The author of this book is a biochemist -- not a trained historian -- and her amateurism certainly shows, particulary in the early chapters where a competent historian would be careful in the assessment of the historicity of sources. So Alic retails a tradition -- presented as though it has a factual basis -- about Moses and his wife operating a medical school in Egypt. Never mind that there is virtually no evidence independent of the Bible that Moses even existed. Perhaps needless to say that the Bible contains no mention of said medical school. Shortly thereafter readers are told that Cleopatra studied human anatomy and physiology by dissecting condemned prisoners alive. The source for this horror story turns out to be a rabbinical tradition -- scarcely an unbiased source when dealing with Greeks or Greek culture. The rest of the book is at best naive hagiography.



4. As with much else of western culture and history, the role and importance of exceptional women in science throughout the ages has been, sadly, under-appreciated. This book seeks to address this point. Their achievements have been even more remarkable when one considers the male-dominated societies in which many of them lived. Hypatia herself was a magnificent scientist, as were many others, sadly under-represented in many historical analyses. Hopefully in the future, with our growing awareness of our societys' inherited irrational and unfair bias towards women, anyones place in the history and future of science will become what it should always have been, as scientists, irrespective of gender.

5 comments about J. Robert Oppenheimer: Shatterer of Worlds.

1. Captivating look at the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the Manhattan Project and other key figures. Full of interesting details that give the reader an inside view of the genesis of the effort and how it proceeded, the personalities involved, daily life at Los Alamos, scientific knowledge of the time and how theory was put into practice, the politics of WWII, etc. Highly recommended!



2. J. Robert Oppenheimer: Shatter of Worlds is a revolutionary biography that details the most important aspects of Robert Oppenheimer's life and accomplishments as a physicist and creator of a key bridge between government and science. Detailing his influences and inspirations such as Max Born and renowned scientist Albert Einstein, Peter Goodchild outlines Oppenheimer's political struggles as a far-leftist and his personal struggles with the aftermath of the creation of the atom bomb and the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II while simultaneously describing the challenges that his theories in physics raised to the prevalent world view of that time. He is exquisite in providing Oppenheimer with a simple but thorough recount of his life that showcases his accomplishments and influences when other biographies focused on his political associations and the charges of treason that arose during the Cold War. This biography is a profound piece of writing that is easy to follow and understand and will touch you personally as you trace the journey of a troubled and intelligent man from his early days to the peak of physics and science.



3. J. Robert Oppenheimer lead the project at Los Alamos to develop the first atomic bomb, struggled through accusations of being a communist sympathizer, and dealt with the guilt of having created such a terrible device. Peter Goodchild, who also wrote a seven part TV miniseries of Oppenheimer for the BBC, uses newly declassified interviews and pictures from the period in the book to offer a look at what Oppenheimer saw, sensed, and said. Not merely a biography of Oppenheimer, the book goes into great detail of the Los Alamos laboratories which developed the atomic bomb. Illustrations teach some of the basic physics that went into the project without any overwhelming equations or math that could have bored some readers. The book also excellently captures the struggle of the trial against Oppenheimer and the mood of the McCarthy red scare. Throughout the book, America clearly progresses as the characters deal with resistance to change and the after effects of Oppenheimer's work. Unlike many biographies where people simply enter and then leave a person's life, people identified in the first chapter keep coming back, creating a fiction-like web that is compelling to read. I couldn't tear myself away from the pages leading up to the first atomic test because Goodchild's suspenseful writing makes plain nonfiction read like a carefully crafted and extremely compelling story.
   The book tells of the man, the physics, and the times.



4. I thoroughly enjoyed the original BBC documentary and the book
   is an equally interesting companion. Oppenheimer comes across
   as a fascinating character in the history of science.

   He seems (to me) to be in the process of being written out of
   history or at least reduced to a small footnote as an anonymous
   technician identified as "father of the atomic bomb". This
   very readable biography show he was a complex man and an
   influential figure in twentieth century science and culture.




5. After reading "Robert Oppenheimer and the atomic story" I felt that I knew Mr. Oppenheimer. The author wrote the book so that all the information could be learned and still be interesting. I learned every little fact about Mr. Oppenheimer and came out with a greater appreciation for him and his work.
   
   The reason he is worthy of a book is mostly because he was the man behind the atomic bomb. He is most famous for this but he also accomplished many other great things in nuclear fission and quantum physics.

   I started reading this book because I had to but after reading it I gained an appreciation and a greater understanding for a great man. If you are doing a report or are just interested in Robert Oppenheimer I strongly suggest that you read this book.

5 comments about The Remarkable Life of William Beebe: Explorer And Naturalist.

1. I read the editorial review above for this book and almost didn't read it. I have to say I disagree with it. The biography does not necessarily focus on all his Beebe's personal issues, but it is a vibrant and gripping read about a very unique man. I thought it was extremely well done.
   
   Born in the last quarter of the nineteenth century in Brooklyn, it was still a world of forests and wildlife nearby for him to explore. This love of nature, and comfort away from the trappings of civilisation stayed with him all his life. But he also had this almost supernatural ability to dissociate himself from his possible fate - or even his reality and instead go beyond that to look at what was happening around him. So his observations were extraodinary.
   
   He was the first person to be travel down to 2000ft in the ocean in a small metal capsule. The enormous pressures could have caved in the tiny craft - it did even start leaking at some stage. Yet he broadcast live from it, and managed to make some ground breaking observations about his time there and the strange animals which dwelt there - some of which have never been seen since.
   
   Gould has divided this biography into four distinct sections which followed his life, Naturalist, Ornithologist, Marine Biologist and Tropical Ecologist.
   
   this is illustrated throughout with printed pictures on each page, the only drawback is that these pictures are all of poor to fair quality - a problem of matt paper combined with size of pictures and that they are all in black and white.
   
   Beebe's life is worth reading about and I think Gould's biography is an excellent reference, readable and engaging.



2. This is one of the most remarkable and enticing biographies I've ever read. I am a professional biologist and have always wanted to be able to express my enthusiasm for my work in words than transcend the sterility of "modern" science and politics. This work does this and I could only hope to express my own work in such an elegant way. I think Carol Grant Gould has done an exceptional job. Despite the restictions imposed upon her, I am mystified how she managed to pierce the veil that clouds the achievements of many scientists behind veils of scientific and religious intolerance. A remarkable work.



3. Adventure travelers interested in both nature and action will relish biographer Carol Grant Gould's Remarkable Life Of William Beebe: Explorer And Naturalist, an armchair biography which tells of one William Beebe, who became the first to see the ocean depths in a bathysphere, trekked the Himalayas and Malaysia in the early 1900s to study ecology, and brainstormed with Roosevelt and other naturalists of his times. A remarkable life and a series of remarkable contributions comes vividly to life in this memorable, entertaining, and highly recommended biography.



4. William Beebe was at one time as famous as any naturalist can be, and justly so. Today, few have heard of him. It is no surprise that fame is fickle, and that a latter generation forgets the heroes of the former, but Beebe's is an extreme example. In _The Remarkable Life of William Beebe, Explorer and Naturalist_ (Island Press), Carol Grant Gould has given a full, big biography of one of the most amazing men who ever lived. Beebe worked in zoos. He took expeditions to identify and capture specimens from Indonesia, South America, and China. He broke records in deep sea diving in the bathysphere that was designed for him. He wrote two dozen books that were best sellers, widely appreciated by the public and by professional scientists who shared his realm of study. He was so famous that in the original play of _The Man Who Came to Dinner_, the hot-tempered protagonist receives an octopus shipped from Beebe, and audiences immediately understood the joke, as they do not, now, when they see the play in revival. If time has passed Beebe by, his influence is still substantial, and Gould has performed a useful service in bringing him back for us to wonder at.
   
   Beebe was born in Brooklyn in 1877, when his neighborhood had wild woods that he could explore. He was a prodigy. Many kids set out to collect things, but the young Beebe kept snakes, learned taxidermy to keep snake and bird specimens, bought or traded for exotic specimens, and camped and hiked to get more. School was a breeze for him, but he loved being out in the field. In a final entry in an 1893 journal, he wrote, "To be a Naturalist is better than to be a King." The exuberance which this youthful manifesto exemplifies never left him. He became Assistant Curator of Birds at the new Bronx Zoological Park, but his career of exploring for the sake of discoveries in natural history took off when he left with his wife for an official exploit to Mexico. The press and public were enthusiastic about his account of the trip, the first of his bestsellers. Sometimes being a popularizer detracted from appreciation of his scientific work, but there was plenty of both. His voyages made him fascinated with sea life, and he became an adept diver, applying the same principles of studying a broad, three dimensional swath rather than individual inhabitants. In 1930, he and his engineer were "sealed in a spherical steel coffin and thrown into the ocean." Especially on initial dives, as the readings approached 800 feet, he had to be scared; he wrote, "Only dead men have sunk below this." Eventually, he was to broadcast his observations live from such a descent, a radio event that caused a sensation.
   
   Beebe died in 1962, always grabbing as much of life and learning as he could. He was an entertaining friend, and among the visitors to these pages are Noël Coward, Gertrude Lawrence, Rebecca West, and especially Teddy Roosevelt. More important, he inspired biologists such as Rachel Carson, Ernst Mayr, and Edward O. Wilson. His emphasis on studying an ecosystem as a whole was original and vastly influential. Gould obviously admires his popular writings, many of which are quoted here, but shows that his scientific work is monumental. Calling his a remarkable life is indeed an understatement.



5. This is a wonderful book - a really engrossing story about an amazing man who was both an explorer and a scientist during the last century. If they made a movie about him, he'd probably be styled as an Indiana Jones type character, as he really did look death in the eye a few times in his lifetime - particularly during the dives he made in `the bathysphere' off Bermuda in the 1930s (the bathysphere being a sort of cast iron bubble with tiny windows, which was winched off the side of a boat, and dropped down to a depth of half a mile underwater). But in my mind's eye Beebe was more like a David Niven sort of person, because as well as having a passionate interest in exploring the natural world, he was a really gifted writer, had an enormous sense of humour, and was quite dapper and a great believer in cocktails all round in the late afternoon! And when he wasn't travelling the world, he was feted in New York society circles by people like Katherine Hepburn, Noel Coward and Rudyard Kipling. The book is really enjoyable and easy to read, and quite inspiring too - transporting you back to a bygone age. And it has LOADS of pictures, which bring it to life all the more. Lovely - good antidote to grim winter weather!