1 comments about How to Win the Nobel Prize: An Unexpected Life in Science (The Jerusalem-Harvard Lectures).

1. This is, of course, not a how-to on winning the Nobel Prize. Rather it is Bishop's personal account of what happened when he won the Nobel Prize in "physiology or medicine" in 1989. This is told in a rather light-hearted, self deprecating way that is at once amusing and informative--he provides plenty of background on the prize itself, as well as the logistics of the ceremony of the presentation.
   
   Actually the book is something of a grab-bag of topics. It is partly autobiographical, partly historical accounts of cancer research, and partly a commentary on the issues of the public's perception and misperceptions on science and society. And partly about the discovery that he and Harold Varmus made--the first oncogene.
   
   Although I much enjoyed the other parts, it was to learn something of the discovery itself that brought me to buy the book. And here I must say I was a little disappointed. Basically, they found that one of the four genes carried by the Rous sarcoma virus is also found in the dna of many species of animals, including man. In fact it is found in normal cells, as well as those that are cancerous, and is expressed in both. I found this all a bit confusing. Is it the over-expression of the SRC gene responsible for some cancers, or is it a damaged form of the gene that is responsible? Is it an oncogene or a proto-oncogene? What does it do?
   
   The current paradigm for cancer causation is that one of a few oncogenes and/or tumor supressor genes malfunction to give rise to cancer. I had hoped for a clearer statement of this rather dogmatic idea, and perhaps even some pros and cons for it. What makes a gene qualify for oncogene status? This is never made clear. What has become of SRC? What has been found out in the 30 years since the discovery? Has anyone ever seen a cancer in which only the supposed oncogene is different from that seen in the normal cell? I don't think so.
   
   An opposing theory to this is that the fundamental event in cancer is aneuploidy: the cancer cell contains an abnormal number of chromosomes, thereby over-expressing some thousands of genes at once. Surprisingly, Bishop does not mention this alternative at all. Maybe the oncogene hypothesis is just plain wrong after all. And Peter Duesberg's paradigm is closer to the truth.
   
   Bishop's last chapter covers some of the public controversies: stem cells and cloning, genetic testing and evolution. He gives us his two cents worth on all of them, and I can't help but think he is right on most of what he says. He's got a lot of common sense, and expresses it pretty well.

2 comments about Copies in Seconds: How a Lone Inventor and an Unknown Company Created the Biggest Communication Breakthrough Since Gutenberg--Chester Carlson and the Birth of Xerox.

1. I was fascinated by this book! The subject matter is intriguing on its own, and it's been beautifully enhanced by the presentation. Author knew exactly how to tell the story for best effect--when to give a history lesson, when to introduce characters, and just how much of each was appropriate. Also explained the complicated science behind xerography (the generic term for what a Xerox machine does) in a way a layman can understand. Extremely well done. I'm glad I happened across this book!



2. This book gives an excellent account of the processes and hurdles needed to bring a complex product to the marketplace. It will be especially enjoyable for anyone who was involved in the copying/duplicating business during the 60's and 70's.
   The author mentions many of the early companies -- and many of the current companies -- that are significant "players" in this business. Also, many of the key inventors who are known only as "publication or patent names" are given life by the author. The reader can get behing the scenes and see the victories, struggles, and tensions facing the researchers and their companies.
   This book is a good read -- difficult to put down -- especially for those in corporate research and development.

5 comments about The Angry Genie: One Man's Walk Through the Nuclear Age.

1. This book is not for the recreational reader, indeed it is one of the most depressing and distressing documents I have ever read. Nevertheless, I urge all readers concerned with issues that impact on the survival of humanity to read it thoroughly and absorb the lessons which it so graphically presents. In terms of an indictment of our government and various vested interests, it compares favorably with J'accuse written in 1898 by Emile Zola in response to the corrupt behaivor of the French nation, government and army during the Dreyfus affair. The most horrifying event in the book, and there are many to choice from, is the description of how the Health Physics Division was subdivided after Dr. Morgan's retirement in 1972 and distributed among "other laboratory divisions where radiation protection is not a primary objective". When I read this my immediate thought was of the dismemberment of Lemuel Pitkin so brilliantly described by Nathanael West. One can only be appaled by the many destructive acts which occurred when the Angry Genie left the bottle. It is frightening that those responsible for them have, to my knowledge, never been cited for criminal irresponsibility.



2. This charming memoir starts in 1943, when Dr. Morgan was recruited away from his happy research on cosmic-ray physics to join the atomic-bomb project. He was one of the four or five persons assigned to figure out how to prevent bomb-workers from irradiating themselves to death. In 1943, it was barely known how to measure doses from the various types of radiation, so Dr. Morgan had to invent many a metering device. Additionally, no one knew how to store the radioactive waste which would accumulate at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where Dr. Morgan detected its escape-routes and tried to plug them. He became an internationally honored expert and author on radiation health-effects and protection measures. This is the story of a man of great integrity, who made enormous contributions to protecting health, and yet by his own standards, failed to succeed well enough. His "walk" through the nuclear age helps to illuminate the suppression of scientific dissent in the nuclear enterprises --- and presents an interesting contrast to books by Dr. Glenn Seaborg (Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission) covering many of the same years. The ninth chapter covers Dr. Morgan's expert testimony for the plaintiffs in two landmark trials (the Karen Silkwood Case 1979, and the Utah Bomb-Fallout Case 1982). The memoir provides not only an important record of moral, legal, public health, environmental, and scientific history --- but it also provides a highly engaging personal story of coping with the unexpected.



3. It is commonly understood that only the best books are made into audio tapes. On a whim my family and I put the Angry Genie to the test. We read the book aloud on our annual cross country car trip without one complaint from any family member. The surprize attraction of the Angry Genie is its real appeal to the non scientific person. By just glancing through the book one might assume that he or she could be overwhelmed with scientific material, however, by no means is that the case. In the 180 pages of story, from the amazing experiments under Chicago University Stadium to the many photos of actual players in our history, I was drawn to the personalities and inside details of the developments of a powerful scientific discovery. In fact I most recommend this book because if the surprizing revelations on several fronts. First, the power and importance of science and scientists in this centuary is no more dramatically illustrated than in this story of nuclear power. Not even the terror of 'Outbreak" or the suspence of 'Apallo 13" are equal to the reawakening we get in the Angry Genie. Second, Dr. Morgan was able to input all of the required technical information and formulas in the book without interupting the book's flow. Third, the historical, medical and sociological impact is compelling. There is the letter from Einstein to FDR about the potential of the bomb and the fascinating information about the effects of all the different types of rays on humans. I plan on telling my book club about this wonderful book as well as all my friends who love historical books.



4. I was captivated by Karl Z. Morgan's 50 year battle with powerful elements in the nuclear industrial complex for common sense safety measures. I was appalled to discover the extent of the damage the government inflicted upon our citizens through the abuse of nuclear power and and careless weapons' tests. Even more disturbing is Morgan's summary of numerous radiation experiments our government secretly conducted on innocent Americans. Morgan stands out as a pillar of truth in a desert of deceit. No one can read this without thinking "I had no idea this was going on."



5. I really enjoyed this story about a good human being who descended from a long line of Lutheran ministers going back to Martin Luther. It required considerable courage for Dr. Karl Morgan to publically detail the "biggest mistake" of his life when he reluctantly agreed to censorship by his superiors. This book was clearly written from Morgan's soul and provides valuable perspective from a 91-year-old legend who started the entire field of health physics. This autobiography should be required reading for all Americans.

2 comments about Sex, Botany, and Empire: The Story of Carl Linnaeus and Joseph Banks (Revolutions in Science).

1. May 23rd will be the 300th anniversary of Carl Linnaeus' birth so I purchased this little book to become familiar with him and to honor his memory. However this book is more about Banks than Linnaeus, altho' Banks did much to promote Linnaeus' system of classification not only in England but thru-out the world. In some ways, Banks was to Linnaeus what Huxley was to Darwin and Bateson was to Mendel. Not only did Linnaeus and Banks promote science (and themselves), but they promoted their respective country's agricultural economy before the Industrial Revolution. Yet both men were largely forgotten soon after their deaths.
   
   In large part the successful promotion of Linnaeus' system was due to his use of animal genitalia (in an uptight society) as an analogy to describe the reproductive organs of plants and as the basis for naming and classifying them. Add to that, Banks' well-known promiscuity while in Tahiti on Captain Cook's first voyage there (to record the Transit of Venus) and you have a sure-fire salacious combination (sex sells!).
   
   Fara also describes how the English used scientific exploration as a cover for colonization which they justified in the belief that Europeans were a superior race and must help the other races. Both Linnaeus and Banks brought in non-native plants and tried to adapt them to their countries but Banks was far more successful. Indeed Banks had plants and animals transplanted from one colony to another fairly successfully.
   
   So eventho' I bought the book for Linnaeus, the inclusion of Banks rounds out the story. While Wikipedia has more facts on Linnaeus it has less of the personal. I gave the book only four stars because Fara doesn't include an index, tho' Amazon's `Search Inside' feature provided an alternative.



2. Carl Linnaeus was responsible for revolutionizing the way modern science classifies and organizes all living organisms. His simple system based on the sexual characteristics of plants shocked society and inspired other scientists including Joseph Banks, whose voyages around the world to find and classify new organisms included an interesting array of sexual exploits with the natives he came across. In her novel, Patricia Fara presents a solid and well supported thesis on how botany contributed and was inexplicably tied into the imperialism of European society, most especially the British Empire.
   
   This book is a quick read and not overly bogged down with the intricacies of scientific classification. It presents the story of Carl Linnaeus and Joseph Banks's enormous contributions to the beginnings of modern classification while discussing the political, social, and economic incentives behind their science. Patricia Fara has written several other books concerning Enlightenment era science and this book is a prime example of her ability and specialty in tying in the role of science as a part of society and government in the 18th and 19th centuries. I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in biology or botany as well as anyone interested in the workings of early modern science and their place in the development of modern English society.

4 comments about J. R. Simplot: A billion the hard way.

1. I had thought that Henry Ford was the most egotistical ignoramus
   who ever lived, until I read this book.
   
   J.R. Simplot has made lots of money growing and selling potatoes.
   He ignored his children and wives along the way.
   
   He now tells us that he "did it all for the family".
   
   He believes that he is qualified to lecture us on the future of the universe. He also believes that he can shape that future.
   
   I think I'm going to throw up.



2. 
   What has Mr. Simplot done for veterans, in Idaho, especially, and nationwide?
   
   Surely a man of his reputation, character, and background would want to leave a clear, well-defined legacy of 'giving back' to those tens of thousands of young American soldiers, sailors, and airmen whose blood paved the way for his early fortune and established his company.
   
   Surely his family line will want 'returning a debt to veterans' to be prominent on his historical record?



3. When I first moved to Idaho in 1998 that's all I heard about was J.R. Simplot. He's not only Idaho's wealthiest resident, he also owns more private land in the state than anyone else. And his name is everywhere: There's the Simplot Games, Simplot Stadium, and Simplot Center for Decision Support, and the Esther Simplot Performing Arts Academy, just to name a few.
   
   I write these things to let people unfamiliar with the man know what a giant he is in this state. He's is--and ought to be--an inspiration to many.
   
   But how did he get wealthy? Obviously he set his sights on something and then went out and got it. So, in hopes of learning how J.R. Simplot thought, I bought this book . . I wanted to learn about how he made decisions, how he managed, and how he overcame the obstacles that each of us face.
   
   Sadly, this book offers no such insight. It opens promising enough, with a background on the man's early childhood and humble beginnings. I thought this was going to be an excellent springboard into how Simplot used those difficulties to develop his business principles and decision making processes. Alas -- notta. No such luck.
   
   About midway though I had serious doubts I was going to get what I wanted from this book. Three quarters of the way through I was convinced. It ended up feeling like a collection of inert, generic "I remember when" stories with no meat just to have "x" number of pages in a book. Nothing to chew on. Nothing to digest.
   
   The fact that the book was published here in Idaho is even more of a let down. I would think that an Idaho-based publisher would insist on more 'umph' to ensure that such a handsome, well-bound book about the state's most famous resident would be beefier in its content. Two stars ... but only because it gave an interesting look into Simplot's early years.



4. This books title promises so much more than it delivers....An extremely disappointing bio....lacks detail....we want to know how j.r. does business....this book won't give you any insight...dull reading....one of the first times i've read a book about a business leader that provided no personal insight into how this person does what he does....or thinks the way he does....too bad !! j.r. seems like a cool dude...would have liked to get to know him....!

3 comments about Keeper of the Wild: The Life of Ernest Oberholtzer.

1. In KEEPER OF THE WILD, Joe Paddock tells the story of an early environmental activist.
   When he was a very young man, Ernest Oberholtzer decided that wilderness as wilderness was valuable, and worthy of preservation. Not wilderness as property, not wilderness as real estate, not wilderness as storehouse of natural resources, not even wilderness as scenery and fishing hole. Wilderness as wilderness.
   This belief in the primal importance of wilderness at both the physical and the spiritual level is not a political agenda, though political agendas of various kinds can be derived from it. Oberholtzer devoted a very long lifetime to the defense and protection of wilderness. This in itself would certainly make him a controversial figure, to those who did not and do not share his philosophical conviction.
   In a review posted to this website, Robert Martin speaks of "rewriting history". But, as a first biography of this major figure in the environmental movement, KEEPER OF THE WILD is a first writing of important history. It's therefore particularly important to get that history right.
   Contrary to Mr. Martin's assertion, Joe Paddock does talk at length about Oberholtzer's sexual orientation. If Martin has other evidence (as opposed to conjecture) he should make it public.
   Martin also speaks of "the complete absence of any information on Oberholtzer's politics and those of his supporters." In fact the better part of four chapters of KEEPER OF THE WILD chronicle Oberholtzer's many-year-long battle for the preservation of the Quetico-Superior watershed, activities which eventually led to the establishment of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Voyageurs National Park in the United States, and Quetico-Provincial Park in Canada. If active lobbying for wilderness protection over a period of thirty-plus years does not constitute politics, I don't know what does.
   Mr. Martin's suggestion that "the Oberholtzer papers...had been organized and prepared for this review by Oberholtzer's friends at the Oberholtzer Foundation" posits a spoon-feeding of material to Mr. Paddock which simply never took place. The bulk of the Oberholtzer papers have been under the control of the Minnesota Historical Society for a number of years, where they are accessible to other researchers and the general public. To find the material on which KEEPER OF THE WILD is largely based, Paddock spent five years in those archives, sifting through tens of thousands of letters and other documents.
   Mr. Martin criticizes KEEPER OF THE WILD for not being "the history of the early environmental movement in northern Minnesota", ignoring the fact that KEEPER is a biography, not a general history, like Newell Searle's excellent SAVING QUETICO-SUPERIOR: A LAND SET APART. Any book deserves to be read on its own terms. A book which says "the Life of" on its front cover will certainly be as much concerned with the personal and private as with the political.
   Mr. Martin seems offended that Joe Paddock interviewed a number of Oberholtzer's friends and incorporated their insights into this biography. But any biographer will naturally proceed first from available documents left by his subject (letters, memoirs, interviews) and then proceed to interview those who knew the man longest. Ernest Oberholtzer has been dead since 1977. If those who knew him best remember him with affection, admiration, and respect, is this not an index of character?
   Casual readers may be startled to encounter this level of disagreement over the life and accomplishments of one man. If they wish to find out what all the shouting's over, I recommend they read KEEPER OF THE WILD: THE LIFE OF ERNEST OBERHOLTZER, by Joe Paddock.



2. I was born and grew up on Rainy Lake, a few miles distant from Ernest Oberholtzer's island. (I've modified my original review, in order to respond to some of the criticisms of Edith Rylander, a poet and environmental activist from California.)

   This book is an agenda-driven effort to remove the warts and character flaws in the personal life of Ernest Carl Oberholtzer, one of eight political and environmental activists involved in the founding of The Wilderness Society (TWS) in 1935. This book should have been privately published by the current officers of TWS. They might be excused for attempting to promote a politically-correct and socially-correct biography about one of The Wilderness Society's most controversial founders. Unfortunately, the manuscript was accepted by the Minnesota Historical Society Press, who must now assume some responsibility for this uneven collection of facts and fantasy...

   Joe Paddock's account of the Oberholtzer/Magee canoe trip to Hudson Bay in 1912 mirrors an earlier account by R. Newell Searle, published in a 1972 volume entitled "Saving Quetico-Superior". Both Searle and Paddock overlooked a collection of Indian language tapes, which had languished untranslated in the Oberholtzer Foundation records. The information on these recently translated tapes will certainly challenge the assumptions of earlier investigators, ie, that Oberholtzer could speak the Ojibwe language and had been initiated into the Midewiwin (Grand Medicine Society).

   I am not concerned that "Joe Paddock interviewed a number of Oberholtzer's friends..." I am concerned that author Paddock "incorporated their insights into this biography" without substantiating the validity of their observations.

   To paraphrase one of Ms. Rylander's pronouncements: "In a first writing of important history, it's particularly important to get that history right." I certainly agree...

   If you're looking for an objective biography of Ernest Carl Oberholtzer, this book will not satisfy your needs...




3. A very well and VERY meticulously researched book on Ernest Oberholtzer. If it weren't for Ober, the Boundary Water Canoe Area of Minnesota and the Quetico region of Ontario would not exist as we know of them today. Joe Paddock has gone through an incredible amount of Ober's papers and interviewed many many people for this book. His hard work is obvious.

   The book is essentially written by Ober himself. Paddock put all of Ober's words in a logical manner in print.

   I found myself rooting for Ober throughout the book. Whether if it was while paddling in freezing conditions in Hudson Bay, or while battling with the stubborn politicians. At the end of the book, I had tears in my eyes. . . who would carry on the Ober tradition???

5 comments about Honest Dogs -OS.

1. This book tells the story of one man's first experience of the Yukon Quest, and the problems and triumphs he encountered along the way. Very informative for some-one like myself (an armchair musher!)covering aspects which would never occur to me i.e. arranging food drops in advance!

   A real page turner, i finished reading the book in one day.




2. The real problem with this book lies not in his treatment of his dogs, but in his treatment of other mushers. It is odd that he could be so critical of so many of the other mushers from the back of the pack. While not quite an armchair quarterback, he was definitely throwing some cheap shots from the sled runners. I had a suspicion while reading this book that he was searching for a way to justify his utter lack of speed, instead of just reveling in the moment. While it is nice to hear about a musher that cares deeply about his dogs (as most do), I felt that he simply did not have the rapport with his dogs that most succesful mushers have.



3. In Honest Dogs: A Story Of Triumph And Regret From The World's Toughest Sled Dog Race, journalist and family man Brian O'Donoghue shares the story of his experiences upon entering the Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race at the age of 41. Brian writes with wry humor of sharing the trail with his Alaskan huskies Khan, Hobbes, Scrimshaw, and Cyclone, as well as a diverse collection of rival racers and resident bush rats. Honest Dogs is a candid, vivid account of a punishing personal journey and relates the strategies, dreams, and disappoints of the contestants, the antics of the furry canine athletes, the sheer drama of the race, and the unworldly wilderness setting in which Brian and his dogs found themselves. Honest Dogs is highly recommended reading for armchair adventurers and dog lovers everywhere.



4. This is an amazing book!--I had no idea what it takes to compete in a major sled dog race. All those pictures we see of the "romance" of sled dog competitions don't even begin to cover the fatigue (of dogs and people), the logistics and the problems. It must be an incredible experience to even finish in a race like this. I'm glad the author let me experience a little bit of it through his book.



5. Once in a while you come across a book that you are sorry to see end.Honest dogs was one of those books for me.The chapter on going over american summit was very exciting.When I was in Anchorage for the start of this years Iditarod I got to see and pet O'donogue's lead dog "Khan". in person After reading this fine book I want to move to Two Rivers,Alaska and take up Mushing myself

   .

3 comments about A Passion For Gold: An Autobiography.

1. While doing due diligence on The Cortez Trend in Nevada I came across this wonderful autobiography of the geologist that reinterpreted earlier work in the Nevada basin and range and discovered the Carlin Trend gold belt, also the Battle Mountain Trend and the Cortez Trend. Nevada had been scoured by prospectors since the gold rush of 1849 and the Comstock Lode silver discovery. Virtually all surface deposits had been found and exploited. The Carlin Trend is micro-gold which does not show up when panning, it must be assayed. With the advent of heap leaching Nevada has produced in excess of 600 million ounces of gold and this will continue for quite some time with the prospective development of The Cortez Trend. Dr Roberts tells of his work in the USGS in Central America during WWII, Nevada, Utah and Saudi Arabia. He gives us his reasons for believing the Ophir mine that produced the gold of King Solomon is in Saudi Arabia. It was very interesting to read about the life of a field geologist.



2. Excellent read with good intermix of personal and professional history. It is inspiring to read as well as educational. Thank you Dr. Roberts.



3. Ralph J. Roberts has found that a devotion to family and geology can lead to a life well lived and he relates the story of his life well in A Passion For Gold. Roberts spent 44 years with the United States Geological Survey and after retiring, became a private consultant. His most important discovery was the Carlin-type gold deposit. The reader with a non-geologic background will want access to a copy of the Glossary of Geology to help with the few technical sections included in the book [there is a glossary at the back of the book, but it is not thorough enough]. There are a few awkward sentences and some extraneous commas [I think, being the extra comma and awkward sentece king myself], but this is a suprisingly comfortable read considering that most of Mr. Roberts' earlier writings were technical papers. I trained as a mining/exploration geologist and so it was easy for me to relate to this autobiography, but non-geologists should find much of interest in Ralph Roberts' life story. It was on top of one of the mines near Battle Mountain, Nevada that Mr. Roberts writes about that I found myself deciding to abandon my masters thesis in geochemistry and to devote my life to the education of America's younger citizens [I teach earth science at the high school level]. I knew I couldn't help folks did big holes in the ground just for a little gold. I enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone with an interest in geology, but I can't give A Passion For Gold a full five stars because I think the technical sections could have been handled in a way that would have made this book a little more accessible to a wider audience.

5 comments about A Fascination for Fish: Adventures of an Underwater Pioneer.

1. First let me say that this is overall a very good book, and for anyone who's interested in the history of fish collecting or in the workings of large aquaria, it's a must-read. As a scientist I collect fish for my own research, and I learned a few really fascinating tricks from this book.
   
   That said, it could have really used a more thorough editor. There are some passages that are extremely repetitious, and the reason for their inclusion isn't clear. He also occasionally swerves off into details about trips that have nothing to do with the main focus of the book, and after ten pages you just end up wondering why on earth that passage is even there. There are also these little side stories that are boxed up and independent from what's going on in the rest of the book, and those were mostly unnecessary and always poorly placed. Many of them could have been inserted into the main narrative or removed entirely, and the book would have been better for it. All told, this is a GOOD 320 page book that could have been an EXCELLENT 250 page book.
   
   Still entirely worth a read, though.



2. This is my most loved book I have read in my lifetime. If you are fascinated with fish from diving, aquarium keeping, visiting public aquariums, and/or working in the retail fish field, you too will be completely involved and fascinated as you read David Powell's experiences. You live his experiences with him. I especially enjoyed the lab that rounded up sharks. Thank you Mr. Powell so much for writing this book. I have read it 3 times and will again sometime!



3. Anyone who is curious about sea life or the creation and running of aquariums... and for any scuba diver - you should buy and read this book. David Powell clearly descibes how he became interested in fish and how he managed to get into aquarium displays. He even tells about his dating life in college (loved the octopus pet and dozens of aquariums he kept in his little apartment). And it also satiates the need to understand how Monterey Bay Aquarium came about (as well as many other national and worldwide aquariums were designed and started), the work and dedication to making it happen and run smoothly. Next best thing to being there and doing the hands on behind the scenes tour! Well written, good length, excellent read.



4. This was a truly excellent read - if you are interested in how they make those impressive aquarium displays, how they catch the livestock, overcome the challenges of adapting them to aquarium life and lots of stories along the way, this is the book for you from the man widely acknowledged as being "it" when it comes to designing pioneering public aquaria.

   Highly recommended for anyone out there fascinated by fish and the marvellous public aquariums around the world. Enjoy it!




5. David C. Powell provides the reader with an excellent insight into the life experiences of a dedicated biologist. His detailed descriptions and insights of all the efforts that went into sharing his exciting discoveries is a joy to read. For anyone who visits aquariums this is a must read book. It provides rare, behind the scenes, information about the enormous effort and dedication involved in providing public aquarium exhibits. Dave's style has the flavor of Ricketts and Stienbeck all in one.

5 comments about The Fire of His Genius: Robert Fulton and the American Dream.

1. In the 100 years after Robert Fulton's death in 1815, biographers produced several accounts of his life. All were largely admiring of his far-reaching achievements, mechanical and intellectual, one to the point of obsequiousness (Thurston, 1878). ( See www.history.rochester.edu/steam for two of them, Thurston and Dickinson, 1913.) Then, after a gap of 60 years, Cynthia Philip provided a different picture of Fulton in "Robert Fulton: A Biography" (1985), which dealt in far greater depth and detail with his personal and business life -- and that paints a picture of a promoter who engages in double-dealing, industrial blackmail and even treason. For the thoroughness of its biographical research, Philip's is the essential Fulton biography now extant. It was followed 15 or so years later by Kirkpatrick Sale's shorter and less formal account ("The Fire of His Genius: Robert Fulton and the American Dream," 2001), which sought to put Fulton's accomplishments in a broader perspective and so shifted the balance back somewhat toward the positive. But not a lot, since the narrative essentially reflects Philip's account.
   The evolution of the view of Fulton is understandable: To the 19th Century, his achievements were real and palpable; the use of steam power to move people and goods revolutionized transportation and opened the American West (then comprising the land over the Alleghenies), as Kirkpatrick notes; its impact was as great, if less obviously, in a myriad other applications as well. But to the late 20th Century, all those developments are taken for granted or are long forgotten: Steam locomotives no longer move Americans; airplanes do. So today, there's far more room to examine Fulton's life critically.
   But there's a cost to lost context. The weakness of both Philip's and Sale's accounts is that they are biography, not history: They offer too little perspective to evaluate Fulton personal peccadilloes or intellectual contributions. Was his towering drive to enrich himself and benefit mankind an individual trait, or was it a motivation shared by ambitious men of the age? Were his erratic business relationships a personal fault, or did they reflect the conduct of entrepreneurship of the times? Were his calculations of the benefits of canal construction (an early Fulton passion) a sign of his genius or a common device of canal promoters? Without that kind of background, it's hard for the reader to sort out whether Robert Fulton was really the scoundrel he sometimes seems in the modern biographies or the unequivocal benefactor to mankind of an earlier era that 19th Century biographers depict.



2. It does seem odd that the Secretary of the socialistic and luddite E. F. Schumaker Society would produce the best work to date on one of America's pioneering industrialists, but Kirkpatrick Sale is, first and foremost, and excellent historian. His first work of note, "SDS", was a brilliantly detailed work, and although Sale's sympathies were clearly with the founding members of SDS, he never let that prevent him from telling all the truth as he saw it.

   And so it is with "The Fire of His Genius". Sale goes back to original documents to present the real Fulton, a rich and complex character, and to clear up a number of errors that have crept into the popular histories, such as the claim that Fulton's boat was named the "Claremount". (It was in fact called the North River Boat, after the popular name for the stretch of the Hudson it operated on).

   Sale goes into some detail on Fulton's finacing, his relationships with friends and backers (some real surprises here) and his various dealings with governments. The picture that emerges is of an egocentric, but talented entrepeneur, less engineer than salesman, who nonetheless was instrumental in creating the technology of riverboat navigation that was instrumental in opening up commerce and trade throughout the expanding United States in the Nineteenth Century. All in all, excellent history and entertaining reading.




3. This slim volume (only 250-odd pages) is perhaps more informative than most biographies of Robert Fulton. Author Kirkpatrick Sale has done a marvelous job, in "The Fire of His Genius: Robert Fulton and the American Dream", of capturing the brilliance and the importance of Fulton's vision. Robert Fulton did not invent the steamboat but he did know how to perfect and sell it. This young man led an incredibly full and active life, considering how young he was when he died.

   But "The Fire of His Genius: Robert Fulton and the American Dream" also differs from other works on Fulton because of the second half of the subtitle: Fulton's influence on America. Much has been made of the New York City that Fulton lived in, and how his work would be part of that city's transformation from a major city in America to an international cosmopolis. (The creation of the Erie Canal in 1820 would really propel that metamorphosis.) But Sale's book also looks beyond the borders of the East and North (or Hudson) Rivers. It takes a long hard look at the westward spreading nation that needed new forms of transportation and a new navy. How Fulton was inextricably wrapped in both concerns is a major component of this very readable book. It helps complete the picture of an era of American History--and of a great American like Robert Fulton--that sorely needed investigation. We are all indebted to Kirkpatrick Sale for this scholarly examination.




4. Today with jet passenger aircraft crisscrossing the country, with nuclear powdered naval craft sailing for months without refueling, and with cruise ships carrying more passengers than the populations of some American Colonial villages, Robert Fulton and the first practical steamboat is largely forgotten. However, the author, Kirkpatrick Sale, states "....the steamboat would be the single most important instrument in the transformation of America in the first half of the nineteenth century: it promoted the penetration and settlement of the American interior...." The text narrates Fulton's life placing him in proper historical context.

   Chapter 1 is an account of the very successful August 1807 maiden voyage of the Fulton's steamboat, North River (erroneously called the Claremont in textbooks), from New York to Albany and return. Following this successful trip, Fulton initiated regular steamboat service on the Hudson from New York to Albany which ceased only when the Hudson River froze. While not the inventor of the steamboat, Fulton was successful because he built the North River "on sound engineering principles and scientific techniques."

   The text states that little is known about Fulton's early life, He was born on a farm in 1765 in Pennsylvania to Irish immigrant parents. He developed a strong drive to avoid his father's poverty, and in his mid-teens he moved alone to Philadelphia and was apprenticed to a jeweler. In 1787 he arrived in London (source of funds unknown) for further art study under Benjamin West. It was a difficult time for would-be artists and in 1793 he began devolving into engineering concentrating first on canals. He conceived many inventions such as a marble-cutting saw, a canal-digging engine, prefabricated iron bridges, etc. In 1797 he went to France. Sale gives an intriguing account of Fulton's attempt to sell a submarine and mines (Fulton called them torpedoes) first to Napoleon in France; then later to England when he was rejected by France. Amazingly Fulton tried unsuccessfully to blackmail both countries by threatening to reveal his work to their enemies.

   In Paris in 1802 Fulton met Robert Livingston who wanted to build and operate a steamboat on the Hudson River. A partnership was formed and Fulton was obligated to build a steamboat to ply the Hudson; however, the author notes "Fulton knew from the outset that it would be on the Mississippi and its major tributaries that the steamboat would have its most consequential impact...." In 1803 he conducted a successful trial run of a prototype steamboat on the Seine, and in December 1806 Fulton returned to America where in 1807 Fulton's commercially successful North River began operations. The book gives a good account of how Fulton and Livingston with state granted monopolies developed steamboat traffic on the Hudson and Mississippi Rivers plus steam ferries to New Jersey. Incredibly, in 1808-09, he lobbied for his torpedoes in Washington.

   For the 1808 season, Fulton refurbished the North River "offering accommodations of some taste and luxuriousness" rather than the somewhat spartan 1807 conditions. Later steamboats would continue this luxurious accommodation pattern. By early 1813, he had six steamboats at work and six more ready to launch.
   The author notes "Steamboating was too obviously lucrative an enterprise-everyone of Fulton's boats was making money, some robustly so-not to attract any craftsman or entrepreneur who could find a source of modest capital and a machine shop with a few experience hands. By 1814 at least a dozen other men had launched vessels of their own...." Fulton and Livingston would spend the last years of their lives defending their monopolies with Fulton carrying on alone after Livingston's death in 1813. When Fulton died in 1815 his monopolies were essentially ended. Strangely, until the end of his life, his passion was his weapons of war, none of which were successful, rather than the steamboat.

   The book's last chapter, titled Legacies, is most interesting as it outlines the history of the steamboat after Fulton's death noting that the steamboat was central to drawing people to middle America. Mark Twain wrote "The 19th Century began the most prolific age of invention, bringing into our daily life the convenience of machines which were recently unknown but in our dreams. At the beginning of that period of material progress stands the name of Robert Fulton." The author notes sadly on page 176 "No lasting monuments, not even a gravestone, were erected [to Robert Fulton] until 1901 when the American Society of Mechanical Engineers put up a bronze plaque on a squat column along the south wall of Trinity churchyard."

   The book's closing sentence states "And none who ever rode its throbbing decks, or watched its majestic motility on the water, ever failed to realize that it was this the symbol, as it was for many years the agency, of the American dream."




5. What stands out to me in this biography are his early years as a portrait painter in England; the attempts to sell his inventions, the submarine and his mines, to Napoleon and later to the British, for profit; the erotic tryst he had with his friends the Barlows in Paris; his later attempts to maintain his patents on his steamboats on the Hudson and in New Jersey ,which he operated for his own profit, against competition; and the surrounding American history, which included the Lousiana Purchase and the Lewis & Clark expedition. Fulton was a true American entrepreneur who died at a premature age, burned out by his efforts. The final chapter on his legacy to the commerce of the American heartland, the effects of which took place largely after his death, is also very impressive.