5 comments about Feynman's Rainbow: A Search for Beauty in Physics and in Life.

1. I would only read it if you want another view at Feynman's life. Keep in mind that half the book is autobiographical and not too interesting



2. Mlodinow's book is more about himself than about Feynman, whom he admits he hardly knew. There are no insights here into Feynman's character, or his personality, or the incredible story of his marriage to Arline. Nope, this book is mostly the author boasting about graduating early, writing a well-respected thesis, and being expected to excel. It should have been called "Mlodinow's Rainbow" but I guess that wouldn't have sold as many copies, would it?
   
   Don't get me wrong. The book is entertaining enough, and short enough (171 pages of large type) to be quickly devoured in a single sitting. Just don't expect there to be anything of substance about the name in the title, which is obviously a marketing ploy.



3. The book jacket made me worry that the book was going to be a namby pamby "Tuesdays With Morrie" affair :-) because the jacket said something about "a young physicist [author Mlodinow] trying to find his place in the world, and .. the famous, old, and dying colleague whose wisdom helped him". Luckily, "Feynman's Rainbow" turns out to be more fun and light and memorable and show-don't-tell than the Morrie book, although there is a slight resemblance.
   
   The best feature of the book is that it lets the reader feel what it's like for an "ordinary" person to be around greatness and around history. There are plenty of serious books about the giants, and they might even include a few quotes from neighbors or secretaries about the giants, but this book actually lets the reader *feel* what it's like to live with the great, day after day, in an interesting Rosencrantz-and-Guildenstern way as described below in (1). In that sense, the fact that the book is actually about the author and only peripherally about Feynman is part of it's charm. So, the main character's (author's) "I'm finding myself" phase of life is slightly tedious in the book, true, but the tedium actually works to give a being-there/slice-of-life appeal, and I wouldn't complain about it. For example, the slumping main character's (author's) slight confusedness and whininess makes a context that allows Feynman to be impatient with him in (a more gentle version of) Don-Corleone's ", what's the matter with you?" way.
   
   (1) My favorite parts of the book are actually the stuff in the background of the book's story--e.g., backdrop stuff like the sad-sack string-theory nutjob (!) Schwarz who was pitied and ridiculed by everyone (even grad students) at Caltech and who was allowed to remain on the faculty (but with no tenure) only due to the support of his single high-profile supporter in the Physics faculty. Such backdrop parts of the book have a lovely Rosencrantz & Guildenstern feel to them because they invert the usual ordering of the big picture (e.g., string theory) and the little picture (Mlodinow's mundane concerns). Stephen Wolfram also makes a cameo. Such backdrop parts may be especially enjoyable to readers who have some existing knowledge of physics. (Physics = Hamlet, in the analogy.)
   
   (2) Other great not-quite-foreground parts of the book involve Feynman, of course, and/or Murray Gell-Mann. Feynman is familiar to most readers. But what an interesting guy is Gell-Mann! The book made me want to read his books and biography next. His relationship with Feynman is so awesome and is discussed at various points in the book. The single-sentence (or so) description of how Gell-Mann and Feynman spent their time together in Feynman's last months is very touching, like something out of a movie. A great, great movie or book can be made on the yin and yang and the relationship between these two guys. [Maybe one has already been made; I don't know.] The relationship in the hypothetical movie would resemble that portrayed between Salieri and Mozart in the movie "Amadeus", but with Salieri's being just as much of a genius (but of an opposite type) as Mozart, and with Salieri's being mostly not evil. Pitch to the studios: "'Grumpy Old Men', starring Amadeus and a genius version of Salieri". :-)
   
   (3) And what makes the book work, that can keep things light, are the goofy little anecdotes. Not knee-slappingly funny or anything, but nice. Here's an example. Feynman and the author, both hungry and casually-dressed, see a wedding reception at Caltech's Athenaeum and crash in to get fed. When asked whether they are from the bride's side or the groom's side, Feynman replies, "We represent the Physics Department". Ha ha. By the way, the quote evinces a great, jaunty attitude and therefore is a good slogan for life (that anyone can adopt, with appropriate substitution for "Physics Department").
   
   Finally, let's note that the book is breezily good but should not be read with high expectations because it is not and does not try to be the "great" type of book.



4. EXCELLENT!!! Gives the layman a look inside the world of Physics research, while presenting a life-lesson theme that transcends science. A great read for both science and non-science readers. I'm a Physics teacher, and the reason I love this book has absolutely NOTHING to do with science. I'm making it required reading for my Physics classes!!



5. Written by a physicist who spent a year in an office on the same floor as Feynman and Murray Gell-Man, this book provides yet another view of Feynman and the love-hate relationship that existed between him and Gell-Man, two of the finest physicists of the 20th Century. It is interesting to compare this view with the one provided by the letters collected by his daughter, Michelle, Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From The Beaten Track: The Letters Of Richard P. Feynman and the excellent, but hard to find, collection of essays written by other peers."Most of the Good Stuff:" Memories of Richard Feynman.

5 comments about Isaac Newton.

1. How can you sum up the life of Newton in roughly 190 pages. This is nothing but a pamphlet of one of the greatest lives of discovery the world has ever known. If your IQ is below 130 and you are looking for good reading go for it, but if you need meat and deeper substance about Newton, this is not where you look.



2. This book is comprehensive in addressing the themes of Newton's life, though the introversion of the subject limits the detail which the author could provide. More simply stated, this book is well versed and written, so enjoy!



3. I really wish I had liked this book, but I didn't.
   First thing that I noticed is the small volume, I had just read IKE's bio by Ambrose and in comparison this book seemed more like a brochure than an inclusive biographical work.
   What I hated the most was the style. Too pompous for my taste, the author gets in lengthy descriptions on the period and the landscape that surrounded Newton while only giving Isaac himself a mere sentence here and there. I think the author was trying to appeal to a public that doesn't know who Newton was and did, and therefore finds it appropriate to remind us, on multiple occasions that 'yes, Newton is the one that invented calculus and before him there was darkness'. I gave the book away to somebody that could appreciate it, hopefully. Fortunately now I know not to buy "Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman" by the same author, I would have been much more upset to read it instead of this book since I've been a Feynman fan for years.
   Numerous repetition in the descriptions of the era and in the contributions on Newton, I could not force myself to keep on reading. I do not consider this book a serious read, not on the subject Isaac Newton anyway.



4. The shape of the world we live in has been mostly determined by a few hundred people. Newton is one of those. This is a concise, readable, entertaining bio of one of history's really great thinkers. Anyone who uses gravity should read it.



5. Most of the reviews of this book seem to be reviews of Newton, not the book. To be sure, Newton is one of the most influential scientists who ever lived, but that is not the point. Rather, the point is how good is this book? I liked the book, but not as much as I had hoped to. I found the book to be somewhat flat and un-exciting, the same impression it gives of Newton's life. There are areas of Newton's life that could have been presented more dramatically, most specifically his conflict with Robert Hooke. The author paints Hooke as one of those people who claim to have done everything before anyone else. In this book, he is depicted as a blowhard, but in other accounts his claims are given much more weight. (For instance, see "The Scientists" by John Gribbin.) Another point of contention is exactly how indispensable was Newton. Had he not lived, how long would it have taken for others to discover what he did? Being a biography of Newton, it is not surprising that he is painted as being indispensable. Again, this is a point of contention, not hinted at in this book. Much of what Newton did was also done by others (calculus was developed at the same time by Leibniz and it is his version that we use today, not Newton's). Newton could not have formulated gravity without the work of Kepler, Galileo, and Descartes. Gribbin believes that within a decade of Newton's death others could have used this same background to develop "Newton's laws". The point is not whether Gleick or Gribbin is right, but that Gleick does not even acknowledge that this controversy exists.
   
   All in all, the book lays out the scope of Newton's life (including the fact that he spent much of the latter part of his life as an alchemist), but in a rather unexciting manner. The important areas of controversy, which aim to evaluate Newton's position in the pantheon of great scientists, are not even broached. I think that such a discussion would have enriched the book and broadened the outlook of the reader, so that Newton would not be just "the man", but rather a man among many.

5 comments about Men of Mathematics (Touchstone Book).

1. Its a very good book on review of mathematics. It deals with evolution of mathematics as a whole. It is definitely not for general public.



2. From page 86 of the Touchstone edition: "The PENSEES and the PROVICINCIAL LETTERS, apart from their literary excellences, appeal principally to a type of mind that is rapidly becoming extinct." Even though I am here reading that my mind is rapidly becoming extinct, I still got a huge kick out of Bell's literary caricature of Pascal. Bell treats Pascal and his proponents with a kind of highlander tough love: giving us a dose of what bootcamp with kilts is probably like. lol. So anyway, I don't find Bell's writing in his literary portrait of Pascal at all anti-Christian. On the contrary, I find Bell a breath of fresh air. He obviously far more than means well. For he provides a more or less impartial commentary on Pascal in his curmudgeonly, jocular, celtic way.



3. My family has produced several mathematicians, but I am not one of them. However, this book is extremely interesting- just do as I did and skim right over the math.



4. Apart from the glaring historical inaccuracies (mathematically speaking) with which E. T. Bell embellished his book, I must say that I found the pervasive anti-Christian sarcasm to be very offensive and tiresome. E. T. Bell seems to reserve a special disliking for Blaise Pascal and Augustin-Louis Cauchy... Pascal is made out to be a mentally ill religious lunatic and Cauchy to be an eccentric and bigoted religious fanatic. Bell sacrifices truth on the altar of propaganda especially in the section on Evariste Galois - here he takes particular pains to portay the great mathematician Cauchy to be a fool and a religious bigot while Galois (a very unstable, self-destructive character if there ever was one) is made out to be the martyred hero!



5. Bell's book has been an inspiration to several generations of mathematicians, encouraging them to pursue the creative discipline of mathematics. For that, he has done a great service to mathematics.
   
   Unfortunately, that is the only good thing I can say about this book. E.T. Bell was a respected Caltech mathematician, who dabbled in writing books about mathematical history. He was a great writer with style, which has led many to believe he was also an eminent scholar of history of mathematics. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Bell manages to perpetrate fiction in almost every other line, mangling known facts, making unwarranted judgments and characterizations of personalities and motives. Whatever he needs to do to construct an entertaining story, he does. His name is universally cursed by historians of mathematicians.
   
   Making up stuff for a good story might not ordinarily be bad. After all, a lot of people do it, and certainly encouraging youngsters to study mathematics is not a bad goal. But there are several ways in which this book is insidious. One is the negative potrayal of women mathematicians. As the astute reader will have noted, the title is *Men* of Mathematics. (On my paperpack edition, the word "men" is even set off by a different color than the rest of the title!) The forgiving reader may be willing to forgive this; after all, the book was written in less politically correct times, and certainly most of the famous and well-documented mathematicians are men. Gauss? A man. Euler? A man also. Etc. On the other hand, there are notable examples of great mathematicians who happened to be women. Emmy Noether and Sonja Kowalewski, for example. Women who are mentioned in Bell's book, but are either paid little attention to or treated rather badly, in a way that clearly highlights Bell's own prejudices. Some readers will be struck by sentences like "Sonja's sex had got the better of her ambitions and she had been living happily with her husband." Rather than list more examples, let me stop by adding that this kind of sentence is typical of Bell, and doesn't stand out much. What is perhaps the most revealing is that Chapter 22, "Master and Pupil", which is about Weierstrass and Kowalewski, spends undue amount of time discussing Kowalewski's sexual attributes and their effect on her mathematical colleagues and teachers, and little explaining her contributions to mathematics.
   
   Bell also shows prejudice when he explains that the dispute between Cantor and Kronecker was due, in part, because:
   
   "Rightly or wrongly, Cantor blamed Kronecker for his failure to obtain the coveted position at Berlin. The aggressive clannishness of Jews has often been remarked, sometimes as an argument against employing them in academic work, but it has not been so generally observed that there is no more vicious academic hatred than that of one Jew for another when they disagree on purely scientific matters or when one is jealous or afraid of another. Gentiles either laugh these hatreds off or go at them in an efficient, underhand way which often enables them to accomplish their spiteful ends under the guise of sincere friendship. When two intellectual Jews fall out they disagree all over, throw reserve to the dogs, and do everything in their power to cut one anothers' throats or stab one another in the back."
   
   This quote was later modified (I think it might have been after Bell's death) to be about styles of academic infighting, rather than a commentary about Jews and Gentiles.
   
   Bell typically exaggerates or just plain makes things up in order to make for a better story, but I think such a false potrayal of mathematicians cannot be good. The chapter on Galois, the most famous part of the book, is replete with historical errors and omissions, including rearranging order of events, leaving out the less savory aspects of Galois' personality, and basically saying Galois invented Galois theory the night before the duel, even though parts of his work were published and known by that time to other mathematicians.
   
   Bell consistently paints Galois as misunderstood and his older mathematical colleagues as buffoons. This is a seductive thought to some, but the reality is that great mathematical ideas don't have to be suppressed in order to be dormant. Truly great ideas can sometimes take years to sink in. Not a romantic viewpoint perhaps, but I think Galois' greatness is enhanced, not diminished, by this realization. (Of course, Galois's inability/unwillingness to better communicate his ideas didn't help!)
   
   This book is certainly inspirational for some, but especially for today's audience, I think it'll be glaringly biased and I doubt very inspiring for young girls in particular. The worst thing you can do is give this book to your child to read. There have been many books since then that are more accurate and less prejudiced in flavor.

5 comments about The Fantastic Inventions of Nikola Tesla (The Lost Science Series).

1. This book is meant for the reader who himself possess some knowledge on electrical theory, mechanical ability and the desire to further his knowledge about Nikola Tesla's inventions. Even tough the book addresses some events about the scientist life the narrative is very concise with a quick overview on these occurrences which have been covered extensibly and in detail in other books about Nikola Tesla. I recommend this book to those readers interested in the classical turn of century approach to electrical devices and their applications. Diagrams, plans and the accompanying legends and information abound for those with this interest in mind.



2. The author gives a decent overview of some of the most interesting inventions made by Tesla. Sadly, it only shows patent diagrams, and no other pictures of Tesla's inventions.
   
   Chapter 9 seems pretty fanciful. In it he references about three other books for his evidence, but the books he cites are not scholarly sounding. I've come across them before in book stores and quickly skimmed them, which is why I have that impression.



3. This book by Nikola Tesla is a good recount of all of his inventions and an overview of them, however the detail is somewhat lacking. It has almost all of his inventions and ideas in it, but there is very little explanation and detail describing them. This can be good when trying to get a good overview of what Tesla accomplished, however if you are trying to get detailed and informative information about these I recommend going and getting a better source after this book because it is nothing more than a good introduction to the nature of his inventions and patents. If you have any background in the field of electricity than these sketches and brief overviews will be no problem to you and you will understand them, but if you have no background than understanding the nature of these will be quite difficult. Nonetheless, this book was still really fun to read and study, the relaxed nature of it allows it to be a fun book to read and learn from without reminding you that it is still a book. Overall, I would say this is a good book to have, especially for the price, the overview it provides is incomparable and it serves as a great introduction to Tesla's life.



4. Please do not waste your time with this book.
   
   Yes, it does have many of the "Fantastic Inventions" of Nikola Tesla in it, but there are only pictures of the patent drawings with no explanations offered.
   
   Some facts are present. Some outright fables are present also.
   
   In summary, Mr. Childress cobbled together this book and seeks only to divest you of your money. You won't learn anything of substance.
   
   Instead, purchase and treasure, "Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla" by Marc Seifer. See my review for this book.



5. i was given this book read it and was sad telling my best friend who understands my fascenation with tesla how bad this book is do not buy this book. if you have access to a collection of patents by tesla so much the better.

2 comments about Along Came Galileo.

1. 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.



2. 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 Quantum Ten: A Story of Passion, Tragedy, Ambition, and Science.

1. This interesting book provides a special view of quantum theory.
   It provides an insight into the origins of the theory based on the personal
   lives of its creators.
   
   The book treats scientific activity as any other cultural activity
   making clear that even the most "objective" of our mathematical theories
   (like the theories of mathematical physics) ought to be seen as cultural
   products within the social and political frame of their conception and
   (perhaps more importantly) within the professional and financial strains
   and aspirations of their creators. This is indeed the case from the beginning
   of abstract mathematical thought in ancient Greece to this day.
   
   There is no deep discussion of the mathematics/concepts of the theory and
   an expert in the theory would certainly not become any wiser as to its
   meaning. However, the greatest service provided by the text is a better
   understanding of the shaky foundations of the theory that was conceived
   as an effective model of reality as allowed by the mathematical capabilities
   of that time and not at all as a "fundamental" theory as understood today.
   The theory emerged as a recipe for understanding experiments with no
   intrinsic limits on its applicability or relevance to other situations.
   
   Young people interested in a realistic view of how real science is done
   rather than idealized, fairy-tale treatments would find this text interesting.
   Interesting but not captivating so four stars.

5 comments about Deke!: An Autobiography.

1. I would have to say that this book, more than any other, is one I have read and referred to many times over. Covering the most astonishing era of science and exploration in our history, this is the story of the man who was not only a superb pilot and astronaut, but as their influential superior forged the careers of others, by determining who would crew crucial missions. It might have been a difficult thing to have said to Deke's face, but if he hadn't been grounded with a minor heart aliment in the early 1960s, he might only be remembered today as a fellow who flew the Delta 7 Mercury mission after John Glenn's unforgettable flight, and perhaps another one or two missions. But he was forced into taking the responsible position of Chief Astronaut, and in doing so became the perfect person for the job, and today we celebrate that accidental irony. Of course he finally got to make a space flight in 1975, so his NASA astronaut career had a happy ending after all.
   
   Deke knew all of the other astronauts well, and understood better than most who would form the most compatible and best-performing crews for a particular flight. Put two guys together in a VW bug-sized spacecraft and whirl them around the world with little to do for two weeks and see them want to kill each other by mission's end. But that didn't happen on Deke's watch - he matched people and personalities perfectly, and the crux of this, his legacy, are the many highly successful space missions that operated under his pragmatic management.
   
   It is a cracking good book as well, and Michael Cassutt managed to get the most he could from a gravely ill Deke Slayton, who sadly passed away before this book could be published. On behalf of all spaceflight enthusiasts and historians, however, thanks heavens for Michael's foresight in conceiving and carrying through with this book; for without it a veritable raft of questions about the space program and the astronauts will forever have remained unanswered. It is certainly a definitive and reliable source of information for me, and I am delighted that the story of a great man has been so eloquently and thoroughly told.



2. If you want to know how the first person to set foot on the moon was chosen, or any of the other why's that were previously unknown and hidden to outside knowledge, then this is the book that you'll want to read.
   
   Deke Slayton was an astronaut himself with one of the most fascinating personal stories (which we learn in this book). But he was also deeply involved, perhaps more than anyone, in choosing who flew and on which flights.
   
   Before Slayton died at a relatively young age, his name was added to a book called "Moon Shot," which was shallow and disappointing. The stories I knew he must have were not in there. With his death, I assumed that we'd lost any opportunity to know how the astronaut selection process had worked, something which had decided which spacefarer would be a name to be remembered for all time in the history books, and who would be obscure, even forgotten.
   
   But then I found that he hadn't written "Moonshot" - he'd actually been working on this second, much better, much deeper book. And here are all the stories. For the first time, we learned how some of the most historic and momentous decisions were made. It makes for fascinating reading, and I am thankful that Slayton took the time to get it all down on paper before he passed away.
   
   Possibly the best recommendation for this book is that many astronauts have commented that they did not know why they had been picked for certain flights (or passed over) until, decades after retirement, they read this book.
   
   An essential read for anyone with the slightest interest in some of the most important historical events of our age.



3. The book arrived within the scheduled delivery time in excellent condition.
   
   Thank you,
   
   Mark & Francine Keehnel



4. There is no question about it, Deke Slayton was one of the people
   most responsible for the amazing success of the American Space
   Program in the 1960's. As Director of Flight Crew Operations, he
   chose the astronaut crews that flew the missions. When looking
   back at the flights, there is no question that Slayton knew
   who to put where in order to get the job done. However, to this
   day, there are still a lot of questions in the air which Slayton
   did not really address in his otherwise outstanding book. For example, in
   Andrew Chaikin's book "A Man On the Moon", or Apollo 7 astronaut
   Walt Cunningham's book, many astronauts say that they never got
   a handle on how Slayton made his choices. Astronauts, particularly those chosen
   in later groups, even though they were fine pilots, highly educated
   and hard workers, would seemingly be passed over for flights by more veteran
   astronauts that didn't seem to be as well qualified. This was
   due to what Cunningham called "the pecking order" and a prime
   qualification of that pecking order was to be a personal pal of Slayton's.
   One example of this was Slayton's choice of Alan Shepard to be commander
   of Apollo 13, later switched to 14, even though Shepard had only his single 15-minute Mercury flight 10 years earlier (Shepard had been grounded due to an inner-ear problem). Many thought that Shepard
   should be required to do duty on a back-up crew prior to his being
   given command, and that otherwise he would have a lot of problems getting
   up to speed with the complex Apollo and Lunar Module (LM) spacecraft. In the end, Shepard did a fine job piloting the LM to a pinpoint touchdown in the Fra Mauro region of the Moon, but he, like many of the original Mercury astronauts, had little interest in the scientific aspects of space exploration, and as a result, the scientific yield of the mission was very disappointing. Another example was Gene Cernan who was chosen to command the final Apollo 17 mission in spite of reservations from important people in the program like Jim McDivitt, former astronaut and later head of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office. Cernan crashed his helicopter while he was ogling sunbathing girls. Something like this is usually unforgiveable, but Slayton covered up for him.
   Slayton does not really clarify questions like these. He states that he originally chose the crew of Grissom, Eisele and Chaffee to fly the first Apollo mission (Eisele was replaced by Ed White-and it was they who perished in the Apollo 1 fire). Slayton states directly that since there would be no rendezvous and docking with a LM in this mission, it wouldn't be as difficult as later ones so he could use astronauts who were "weaker". He does not explain why he felt they were weaker.
   Slayton also states that he was prepared for scientist-astronaut Harrison Schmitt (the only professional geologist to qualify as an astronaut) to fly as LM Pilot in Apollo 18 (giving him a chance to walk on the Moon), but he strongly objected to moving him up to fly Apollo 17 after it became clear that Apollo 17 would be the last mission. In the end, he capitulated to the political pressure from the scientific community and Congress, but it is hard for me to see why someone qualified for Apollo 18 should not fly Apollo 17 if he was able to handle the LM Pilot duties in addition to the scientific work he was best qualified to handle.
   
   In summary, this is a very good book with a lot of information, and it is clear that Slayton knew what he was doing, but he doesn't really
   clarify how he ultimately evaluated the abilities of the astronauts who worked for him which would have really made the book that much more interesting.



5. The best insiders book about the early astronaut office. It has so much good stuff about which astronaut was assigned what duties and a good behind the scenes view of each spaceflight. There are also good stories about some of the lesser known astronauts who never flew in space. A great book!

3 comments about Newton: Ackroyd's Brief Lives.

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



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



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

5 comments about Prodigal Genius: The Life of Nikola Tesla.

1. Tesla was not prodigal by any definition of the term. He was a genius-fool with severe neurological problems. Omitting the real Tesla makes any biography of less worth than it could be.



2. Once I got by the romantic flair of the first pages, I really enjoyed O'Neill's biography of Tesla. The subject of Tesla's life is certainly fascinating. He was a true visionary and a man well before his time.
   
   Minus one star for the romance (Is this typical of biographies of the era? I don't know.), for some circular logic (punishing Marconi for not seeing the potential of wireless transmission but lauding Tesla generating the first X-rays even though he did not grasp their potential).
   
   Over all, an informative and enjoyable read.
   
   P.S. I recommend Googling up Tesla's patents while progressing through the book.



3. This book tells the fascinating story of an amazing Serbian boy, Nikola Tesla, who was born in 1856, in the area we now call Bosnia. The author explains how Tesla's accomplishments brought forth our modern electrical power era and provide the foundation for the industrial system on which the entire world is built.
   
   Tesla's mother could repeat, without error or omission, thousands of verses of the national poetry of her country. Tesla shared her retentive memory. He had another ability that he only revealed to his mother. If Tesla thought of an object, it would appear before him exhibiting the appearance of solidity and massiveness. He used this ability to visualize the solution to creating the first alternating current generator.
   
   The first time Tesla's ability to visualize helped him in his quest to develop an alternating current generator, occurred when he suggested to a college professor that alternating current would solve some of the problems with a piece of electrical equipment that could be used either to generate electricity or if supplied energy could operate as a motor. As his professor demonstrated the machine, the solution to the problem came to Tesla in such a vivid, illuminating flash of understanding that he knew his visualization contained the correct and practical answer. He saw both the equipment operating without the problems and doing so efficiently, however, he could not see the essential details of how this could be accomplished.
   
   In Feb of 1882, Tesla took a walk in the city of Budapest with a former classmate. While a glorious sunset overspread the sky, Tesla engaged in one of his favorite hobbies-reciting poetry. The setting sun reminded Tesla of some of Goethe's beautiful lines:
   
   The glow retreats, done is the day of toil;
   It yonder hastes, new fields of life exploring;
   Ah, that no wing can lift me from the soil,
   Upon its track to follow, follow soaring...
   
   Suddenly, Tesla snapped into a rigid pose as if he had fallen into a trance. "Watch me!" he said, "Watch me reverse it!"
   
   Tesla's friend said, "I see nothing, are you ill?"
   
   "You do not understand," said Tesla, "It is my alternating-current motor I am talking about. Can't you see it right here in front of me, running almost silently? It is the rotating magnetic field that does it. See how the magnetic field rotates and drags the armature around with it? Isn't it beautiful? I have solved the problem."
   
   Tesla now had an electrical system utilizing alternating current, which was much more flexible and vastly more efficient than the direct-current system then being used. But now Tesla had another problem, convincing the rest of the world that his alternating-current power system was simpler, flexible and freed electricity to be sent long distances. The direct-current systems being used at that time were not able to send electricity long distances without major problems. The fact that our power system today uses alternating-current shows that Tesla was finally successful. The book, Prodigal Genius, provides all the fascinating details of this story



4. Here is a story of a man born in the glorious womb of science, a man who so completely understood the laws of nature and the scientific method that he commanded total dominion over the physical universe.

   Once you read this book you will find it difficult to name an aspect of modern life that hasn't been affected by the hand of Nikola Tesla.

   Some of Tesla's ideas were so far ahead of his time that to the people of his day, they were considered impossible; his vision of the world of the future was mocked and laughed at even by other scientists. Over time scepticism about the possibilities of science and technology has waned. Unfortunately for us the world was not yet ready for Tesla, this man out of time, and he died with his greatest achievments alive only in his mind.




5. The reporting of Tesla's life is biased to report the good, and gloss over the errors. Despite this, it is still a very good book, a great insight to a great inventor. The comparison of methods with Edison is interesting. Tesla's ideas were all his, and Edison use lots more experimentation. According to the book. Treat with an once of salt. Still excellent material though.

5 comments about Never at Rest: A Biography of Isaac Newton (Cambridge Paperback Library).

1. A first rate biography should include a good description of the important achievements of the subject, give a good sense of the subject's personality, provide the appropriate historic context in which to view the subject, be well written, and have good documentation. Westfall's biography of Newton is first-rate in all these dimensions. Newton is arguably the most important person in modern history. His work inaugurates both modern mathematics and modern physics. His achievements as a physicist set the pattern not only for physics but also for the other natural sciences. Newton's impact in larger culture extended also beyond the world of sciences. The historian of religion George Marsden wrote that Newton was the most important individual in the founding of the 18th century Enlightenment. Though Newton cannot be considered a member of that movement, his example of demonstrating universal natural laws understandable by human reason was immensely influential in European intellectual culture.
   Westfall provides a detailed chronological account of Newton's life that covers all his major (and minor) achievements and is simply excellent at integrating the relevant historical background information. As Westfall writes, we regard Newton as a scientist and the emphasis in on Newton's career as a working scientist and mathematician. But, this is described very clearly within the context of late 17th century Europe. Westfall, for example, devotes ample pages to Newton's study of alchemy and theology. Since Newton spent a large fraction of his life working in these areas, it would be imposing an anachronistic perspective to minimize attention to these topics. Westfall is excellent at describing both the intellectual and social milieu in which Newton functioned. The sections detailing the history of mathematics and physics of Newton's important predecessors and contemporaries are first-rate, particularly his analysis of the impact of Descartes analytical geometry and mechanistic philosophy. His descriptions of 17th century Cambridge, with its concentration of pseudo-academic placemen, and of the generally patronage driven world of Caroline Britain are excellent. Never at Rest provides a vivid impression of the nature of scientific work in Newton's time. Westfall does not shirk from presenting complex mathematical and physical topics. These sections are tough going for those who don't recall a lot of math and physics but very worthwhile because they give an excellent sense of Newton's transforming effects on these disciplines.
   Westfall delineates Newton's difficult personality very well and is fair in dealing with the numerous conflicts in which Newton became enmeshed, particularly the famous priority dispute with Leibnitz. Some of Newton's behavior is shown also to have stemmed from unexpected sources. Newton's theological researches led him to the conclusion that much accepted Christian theology is wrong and he had to conceal his Arianism and anti-Trinitarianism for much of his life. Some of Newton's achievements are shown as stemming from unexpected sources also. Westfall shows that Newton's alchemical researches, with their rather mystical element, probably contributed to freeing him from dogmatic mechanistic philosophy and facilitated his development of the idea of a universal, intrinsic gravitational force.
   Newton is a fascinating figure and this biography will remain the standard for the foreseeable future.



2. I just finished Westfall's biography of Sir Isaac Newton. The man was way more amazing than I ever expected. For myself, being neither a mathematician nor a physicist, the most fascinating and surprising thing was his in depth and, for the time, out of the box examination of religion.
   
   As with his scientific studies, Newton's religious studies were relentless in the pursuit of Truth. Between the end of the Bible and the nineteen century, I can find no one who concluded more precisely such doctrines as the nature of God, the relationship of the Father and Son, the relationship of God and man, the nature of early Christianity, or the magnitude and meaning of the then extant departure of Christianity from the original. Obviously, this is from an observer who agrees with his conclusions.
   
   Newton's prodigious talent for leaving no stone unturned in his examination of his subject matter, coupled with his utter genius leaves me entirely in awe.
   
   Westfall's 20 year effort in writing this biography has yielded a masterpiece!



3. This is a remarkable biography because it so thoroughly tells the story of Sir Isaac Newton in all its various aspects. Newton's determination to know, his science (breathtaking science, his awesome brilliance), the religious and alchemical investigations, the cranky aloofness, are all carefully and fully drawn; by the end of the book, you feel, along with the author, that you have got to know the subject (at least to the extent one might get to know the great man).
   This is a great biography, because it is so detailed, so in depth and so successful at bringing Newton in view. It is also likely that it will for many years surpass any other biography of Newton because of its thoroughness.
   I think it is worth reading not only because the reader learns so much about the science and life of one of history's great thinkers, and to some extent how he thought, but also because the reader gains an appreciation of the hard work of invention even for one so gifted as Newton, and some insight into the hard work of turning observations into theoretical constructs.
   A magnificent biography.



4. There are a fair number of Newton biographies, this one is the most comprehensive and thorough, with a full treatment of the development of Newton's scientific and mathematical thought. What is remarkable is how rapidly Newton mastered the essentials of the techniques of his contemporaries, quietly reaching the forefront of knowledge, this in a few years, and without much prior training before his arrival in the world of Cambridge, where he flowered at once despite the almost defunct educational status of this university. The myth, however, of the annus mirabilis needs replacement with the reality of the anni mirabili, next to the near abandonment of mathematics for some years as Newton's concerns passed to encompass something broader than pure physics and his deskdrawer 'calculus' still embedded in geometrical formalisms. The final composition of the Principia in the wake of the coaxing forth of De Motu is grounds for thunderous applause for Halley who had the presence of mind to grasp who he was dealing with and the politic manner needed to communicate/negotiate with the reclusive prime mover of theory. His great work complete Newton is off to rescue the coinage at the Royal Mint,thence to the forgettable episodes of the priority quarrel with Leibniz. This work is slow but superb on all aspects of Newton's life.



5. This is the most authorative biograghy of Newton, the greatest genius of all time!! No need to add more words to praise him. Though the book runs over 900 pages, you would be reading the book breathless until the last page!!! ( similar view from other readers. )