No comments about Runner Of The Mountain Tops: The Life Of Louis Agassiz.

No comments about Luther Burbank.

No comments about Behind the Scenes at Galileo's Trial: Including the First English Translation of Melchior Inchofer's Tractatus syllepticus.

No comments about Miracle At Kitty Hawk: The Letters Of Wilbur and Orville Wright.

No comments about Mary Douglas: An Intellectual Biography.

3 comments about The Tale of the Scale: An Odyssey of Invention.

1. Author Solly Angel envisioned a travel scale weighing a pound back in the mid-1980s - and decided to bring it to market as a reality. His evolution from idea to invention to marketing and design follows his thought processes in an unusual series of insights into the inventor's mind and achievements. Angel had no mechanical skills to aid him in realizing his vision, which makes his story of an inventor's achievement truly a remarkable series of insights. The Tale Of The Scale: An Odyssey Of Invention is unique and rewarding reading -- especially for anyone who has ever wondered about taking their own ideas, concepts and inventions into the marketplace.



2. I picked up this book because I was interested in the trials and tribulations of product development. It turns out that half the book is about Solly Angel's life, which I had no interest in spending time with. Regarding the product development portion of the book....I am astounded that anybody with a degree in architecture design would make the lame brain mistakes that Angel makes from the get-go. I only read half the book, but my advice to those whose interest is in product design is to flip through and read a bunch of pages to get a feel for it before buying it.



3. I read this book awhile ago, and have since come to realize that he should have written a different book.
   
   In one chapter he talks about how he is sidetracked into doing some Contract work for the United Nations to make some money. He is running low on funds while trying to design this new bathroom scale, and returns to his previous job with the United Nations. He goes to work defining the Low-income housing policy for a single African country. In a matter of months he went in and discarded the existing housing policy, (which was huge, bureaucratic, and ineffective), and put into its place a simple policy that moved most of this effort into the private sector. It defined the government's role to support the private sector such as protecting private ownership, enforcing contracts, subsidizing rent, all to support the private sector.
   
   The end result was the United Nations accepted the proposal, not only for that country, but as its world wide policy for government assisted housing!
   
   In a few months Solly Angel had crafted a policy that will (most likely) positively affect millions of lives all around the world. Instead of horrible government tenements (of the sort that large American cities are tearing down because they are so awful for the poor that live in them), the private sector would be encouraged to provide affordable and quality housing for the world's poor because experience has shown that the private sector is better at providing housing than the government.
   
   That should have been the topic for this book.
   
   Amazing how he had world wide influence and he wrote a book about trying to build a bathroom scale!!!
   
   I still enjoyed the book.....
   
   Pat Robinson

1 comments about Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen.

1. XXXXX
   
   "While everyone else was praising his [Dr. Stephen Hawking's] courage [since S. Hawking is seriously disabled by a motor neuron disease called ALS, commonly labeled Lou Gehrig's disease] and brilliance [in theoretical physics]...she [the organizer of this event honoring S. Hawking] had said to herself that there must be someone equally courageous behind him or he simply would not be here."
   
   The above is found in this interesting, extremely well written and sometimes humorous book authored by Dr. Jane Hawking who was Stephen Hawking's wife for more than twenty-five years.
   
   Be aware that this book "is a heavily revised version (with new material) of [J. Hawking's 1999 book or memoir called] `Music to the Stars.'" Hawking herself calls this book "the abridged version of the original memoir."
   
   I chose the quotation that begins this review because it's absolutely true! She saw S. Hawking progress from a person that could walk with a cane and talk to a person that became wheelchair bound and eventually could not talk. (He now uses a speech synthesizer.) Through this period of time, she had to oversee and arrange for his 24/7, 365 days a year care that, as chronicled in this book, was an enormous task fraught with hardship and economic difficulty. This was made even more difficult when the Hawking children eventually came along since she was stretched to the limit. At one point, she even had to make a life and death decision! Despite the hardships, she was no slouch. She earned a Ph.D. in Spanish medieval linguistics!
   
   She also saw his meteoric rise to fame after the publication of his 1988 book "A Brief History of Time." Even though there was no financial difficulty now, she still had to be concerned with his care.
   
   This book, to be sure, eloquently describes the hardships and details J. Hawking's impressions. But the book also delves into such things as the following:
   
   British life in general and academic life in particular, history, politics, disability issues, music, the Hawking travels to other countries, personalities of others especially scientists, and science.
   
   This book (excluding the epilogue or "postlude") covers the period before the Hawkings were married in July 1965 to July 1993. The very informative but brief postlude was written in February 2007 where we are told that the author is presented with another "demanding challenge." This postlude includes a May 2007 Post Script.
   
   I should say that at no point in this book is Jane Hawking vindictive toward her former husband.
   
   Finally, roughly in the book's center are almost 30 black and white photographs. My favorite is the very last one showing the author and two of her grown children with Stephen after the presentation of yet another award in November 2006.
   
   In conclusion, in Stephen Hawking's book "A Brief History of Time" he tells us, "I was...fortunate in that I chose theoretical physics, because that is all in the mind. So my disability has not been a serious handicap." This inspiring book by Jane Hawking shows how Stephen Hawking was fortunate enough to have had a good and dedicated wife to help his genius bloom!!
   
   (first published 2007; 4 parts or 57 chapters; postlude; main narrative 405 pages; acknowledgements)
   
   <>
   
   XXXXX

No comments about Sir Charles Wheatstone Frs 1802-1875 (I E E History of Technology Series).

1 comments about Had I the Wings: The Friendship of Bachman and Audubon.

1. I like not only the story of Audubon and Bachmann's friendship but the associated information concerning Audubon's working relationship with my ancestor Maria Martin who was a naturalist/artist/scientist and studied under Audubon. She worked in the Bachmann household and when her sister died who was married to Bachmann, Maria became his second wife. Maria is now credited with being one of the most talenetd artists of her day and she painted many plants and animals and birds that are in Audubon's Bird's of America series and The Quadrapeds of North America also. John J Audubon named a woodpecker for her to honor her talent and their relationship and the art is titled "Maria's Woodpecker" or "Picus Martini" is scientific name. Info about Maria Martin can be seen online by searching for her name..
   
   The book is a fine adventure story and well done containing pictures also of Maria and Bachmann and Audubon. I am related to Audubon through his two sons who married into our Martin line. Join the Audubon Society and help our birds survive.. many that are now being threatened by man's actions and environment.
   
   Ed Martin

No comments about Charles Darwin (Grandes biografias series).