1 comments about Motherhood, the Elephant in the Laboratory: Women Scientists Speak Out.

1. I'm sorry, but this book was so disappointing. Not what I was hoping for at all. I feel very bad giving this book a negative review, because the intention behind it is SO good. And I do not mean to criticize the editor or the women's stories. Some stories were engaging, but not all. I think perhaps these mother scientists weren't given enough direction for their essays.
   
   I am a mother scientist. I graduated with a PhD from MIT Biology (and a 1 and a half year old), and I am now doing post-doctoral research at Harvard. I am well-familiar with the struggles of being a mother in the laboratory. And I was looking for shared understanding and some stories of women who have done it as I am doing so. I recently read the book, Mama PhD, and THAT book was WONDERFUL!! I would highly recommend it to all looking at this book. That book had meaning and inspiration. This book was just discouraging and disappointing. It needed more "traditionally" successful mother scientists sharing their stories to help even it out. Almost none of the stories were women who maintained full-time academic work after maternity leave (which is what I intend to do, and which will help bring more policy changes from inside the system). While non-traditional paths are great and important to discuss, there should at least have been inclusion of some other more traditional stories. This book leaves the reader with the impression that it is impossible to be a successful full-time academic with children, or, if there is career success, the woman is tired and stressed and unhealthy much of the time. Too many of these stories were of incredibly disgruntled women with negative experiences. Those stories SHOULD be shared, but in combination with POSITIVE stories as well, which I know exist out there.
   
   But where are the role models I have known? For example, my PhD advisor is one of them, a successful mother of FOUR children, at a prestigious institution. When I looked for PhD advisors (and post-doc advisors), I made sure to find the ones who were family-friendly. We have SO many choices in academia- it is important to find those who will help you in your path.
   
   If you are a mother scientist in academia and you want to hear about other women in the same situation, I would not recommend this book to you, UNLESS you are looking for validation for leaving academia. If that is the case, then perhaps this book would be helpful in demonstrating that you can leave academia but still be a scientist. But this book is NOT for those who want to stay in academia, in my opinion.
   
   I sincerely hope I do not offend any contributor to this book with my comments. I know you all had the best of intentions- it just didn't come through the way the book was compiled.

5 comments about Einstein's Mistakes: The Human Failings of Genius.

1. The first of Einstein's "mistakes" discussed in this book is his stipulation that the speed of light is the same in all inertial frames. Ohanion is indignant about this because he thinks that this principle is a fact about the world and not an assumption. The author is very insistant about this but he doesn't really give an argument. Now, I am a bit embarrassed to admit that, until now, I've been one of those people who goes through life not worrying very much about the speed of light being the same to all observers. This is supposed to be counterintuitive, but is it really? I mean, a light signal is not the same kind of object as a train or a plane. In fact its very different and it would be surprising if the speed of light meant the same thing as the speed of a train. I think it was Lewis Fry Richardson who pointed out that we mean different things by speed when we talk about different things. He was talking about the speed of the wind but the argument applies to other things as well.
   Light is defined as something that satisfies Maxwell's equations. These equations are structured in such a way that the speed of anything that is described by them will be the same when measured in any inertial framework. Einstein obviously understood this. Now, Maxwell's equations are not facts. They agree with the facts of electricity and magnetism but so would any number of alternative theories. Most scientists prefer Maxwell's equations because they seem them as better than the alternatives but this judgment goes beyond the facts to include some assumptions about what reality is like.
   So certain assumptions in conjunction with the bare facts about electricity and magnetism lead to the choice of Maxwell's theoretical framework which implies that the speed of light is the same for all observers. Einstein is right that an assumption is involved here. But I wouldn't even be thinking about these things if I hadn't started reading this book so I guess I owe a debt of gratitude to the author. I gave the book only one star because I found something else in it that I think is unforgivably stupid. The author presents the cracked idea that Jews have a different style of doing physics than other people and leaves the reader the impression that there might be something to it.
   Since writing this review, I have gotten deeper into the book which is, I have to admit, compulsively diverting and readable. It hasn't gotten any worse and it continues to be stimulating in an annoying way.



2. When asked by his student how he'd respond to evidence against his famous theory of relativity, Einstein maintained his belief in it against all possible empirical evidence - seemingly. His sense of humor may have outsmarted him but it also reflected his singular mind and stubborn purpose - and his reliance on intuition and inspiration over all. EINSTEIN'S MISTAKES comes from a physicist who offers a biography of Einstein by way of analyzing his failures and mistakes: as such it provides an involving survey which considers the history of physics and Einstein's mistakes as well as those of other leading scientists over the decades. An involving, moving survey.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



3. The text presents a mix of light biography, theory explanation, and analysis of errors in a blend appropriate to support the major thesis--that Einstein made mistakes. The text is well written, generally balanced in structure, and enjoyable. Early chapters develop Einstein's career in the greater field of physics, first presenting the advances of Galileo, Newton, Lorentz, and others. Einstein is then presented as a young man working as a patent clerk and desiring a university posting--a posting beyond his grasp due to mediocre grades, poor personal hygiene, and challenged interpersonal skills. The book then follows his entire career. The included biography however is spotty and highlights anecdotes, but does not attempt to explain the man in notable detail--though the text is not intended as a comprehensive biography. Throughout, Einstein is presented as self-promoting, prone to foibles, a lousy mathematician, excessively proud, human--and also intelligent in the arena of physics. The author clearly does not hold Einstein in the same fabled light favored by conventional wisdom, for example presenting Einstein's initial forays into general relatively as "a performance worthy of Elmer Fudd" (p. 196) and suggesting that many of Einstein's theoretical advances were either proposed earlier by others, co-discovered but not co-attributed, or were invalid in detail while only accidentally correct in the general case. These various issues form the bulk of what the text terms Einstein's mistakes, noting "Einstein made so many mistakes in his scientific work that it is hard to keep track of them" (p. 327). The text does not claim to discover any mistakes--they are all attributed to other sources in the two-dozen pages of endnotes. The text argues that Einstein's reputation remains untarnished not for lack of faults but because of professional courtesy: "...he did not label Einstein's mistake as such. This restraint has also been observed by later writers..." (p. 96).
   
   The text presents most material in a roughly chronological order, considering theories and papers in the order they were published. It is apparent from the material included that Einstein's interests were wide and that he had a fundamental grasp on the significant questions of physics during his lifetime. However, Einstein is presented as, at best, a bumbling mathematician. Most of the chronicled mistakes are mathematical errors. Much of science typically works in a stepwise fashion, with theories being offered and then either modified or withdrawn. Einstein was no exception to this and many of his published theories were later modified, either by himself or others. These early theoretical excursions, when not substantively correct on the first presentation, are considered serious mistakes. When Einstein did not know of significant contemporaneous developments, his ignorance is also termed a mistake. Some of Einstein's personal foibles and some of his career moves are considered mistakes.
   
   In all, Einstein's collected papers are said to comprise "about 180 original items. Of these, about 50 contain mistakes...It's a bad scorecard" (p. 327). While the close examination of Einstein's productivity makes fascinating reading, the text's unfortunate tone borders on gloating and is not consistently objective; Einstein's mistakes "were perfectly mundane, careless, and sometimes stupid lapses in logic and mathematics" (p. 332). And in fact, the tone of the title itself captures entirely the tone of the text. The text's greatest disappointment, however, lies in the conclusion "[w]hat lessons can we extract from Einstein's mistakes? Not many" (p. 332). Surely this is wrong--studying the failings of genius, after all, helps us understand our own average failings in an entirely different light. And even if the conclusion is after all correct, that nothing can be learned by examining Einstein's mistakes, then why write the book in the first place?



4. I was worried that I'd need to brush up on my long-forgotten college math and physics to understand this book, but the book is itself a bit of a brush-up course. And what's especially remarkable is that it's understandable, at different levels, by people with almost any scientific background, or none at all. People who understand tensor calculus (or who know what it is!) would, I'm sure, get more out of the book than I did, but with only a layman's concept of relativity, I was able to follow a good many of the points he makes about Einstein's mistakes (such as his failure to consider tidal effects in the Equivalence Principle).
   
   Except for E=mc squared (and Newton's F=ma), there's hardly an equation in sight. And a lot of the book is totally non-technical: many of Einstein's mistakes involved women, rather than math or physics, and this aspect of his life is not slighted. The book examines the "Einstein phenomenon" and how Einstein managed his well-deserved reputation as the scientist of the century. And (unless it's a hat) the author has the most marvelous haircut I've ever seen on a physicist!



5. First, I confess that I haven't read most of the book. However, I
   have read enough of it to decide that I don't want to waste any more
   of my time by reading the rest of it.
   
   Einstein, being human, undoubtedly made mistakes. However, in the
   portions of the book that I have read, most of the alleged mistakes
   actually are cases where Einstein merely made the sort of
   approximations that physicists often make in order to simplify a
   problem, or the author Ohanian misunderstood what Einstein said, or
   the mistake in physics was made by Ohanian, not Einstein.
   
   For brevity, I will discuss only one example, chosen because Ohanian
   mentions it first and emphasizes it in several places as supposedly
   driving Donald Crowhurst into madness. Ohanian objects to the
   stipulation that light travels (in a vacuum) at the same speed in
   opposite directions. However, it is necessary to stipulate something
   about the equivalence of opposite directions (for the speed of signals
   or the effect of motion on clocks) in order to define simultaneity.
   Otherwise, the statement that two events at different locations are
   simultaneous would be meaningless, and the one-way speed of light
   would be undefined. (The round-trip speed of light is well defined.
   Ohanian ignores the distinction here.) Ohanian claims that
   simultaneity can be determined unambiguously by transporting clocks,
   but he ignores the fact that one of the results of relativity is that
   any measurement of time is affected by motion.
   
   In the above case, Einstein was proposing a method of defining
   simultaneity. He then showed that it did not produce a definition of
   absolute simultaneity, but one that depended on the relative motion of
   observers, if the speed of light is the same for all observers. This
   relativity of simultaneity is an important part of special relativity.
   It's amazing that Ohanian ignores it.

5 comments about Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love.

1. I had expected a fictionalized narrative following the daughter of the famous astronomer. What I got was a detailed biography of Galileo himself. However, I still continued reading to the end.
   With more warmth and humanity than your average historical account, Sobel's story weaves the life and family of its subject in among the facts of his life. Such things as his recurring illnesses and his struggles with the church authorities are brought to life and made more interesting.
   I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the life of Galileo, or anyone who is interested in the day-to-day activities of Italy in the 17th Century.



2. Galileo is known both as a scientist and a symbol. As a scientist, he overtuerned almost all of the then-commonplace notions of physics and cosmology: heavy objects DO NOT fall faster than light ones; celestial bodies DO NOT consist of different materials than earth; most importantly, the sun DOES NOT revolve around a stationary earth. Dava Sobel's book focuses the majority of its attention on the controversy surrounding this last discovery of Galileo's, which put him in conflict with the teachings of the Catholic Church and for which Galileo avoided being hanged.
   
   To dispel possible misunderstandings up front, this book is not so much about Galileo's daughter, Suour Maria Celeste, as it is about Galileo himself. (Several of the two- and one-star reviewers must have missed the introduction, where Sobel herself states this.) Thus, the book really contains two stories: the first about Galileo's attempts to publish a heliocentric theory of the universe in a censorious Rome, and the second, exploring the loving relationship between father and daughter.
   
   For this book, Dava Sobel has amassed an impressive amount of research. For the story focusing on Galileo's scientific journey, Sobel quotes from a large amount of letters from and to Galileo, and from Galileo's published works. For the latter story, dealing with Galileo and his daughter's relationships, Sobel quotes generously from the letters of Sister Maria Celeste to her father (his letters to her do not survive, likely burned by the convent upon Maria Celeste's death).
   
   Another thing this book does very well is to put the reader in the mindset of a world where the Earth stands still and the sun revolves around it. We tend to think of Galileo's trial as a comedy/tragedy of errors, and something of a no-brainer. We forget that, at the time, the default position was towards an Earth-centered universe, and the idea of heliocentrism was the controversial opinion. This book accomplishes the very difficult feat of putting us into a landscape where the Copernican Sun-centered world was a radical and still debatable idea.
   
   As one fascinated by the history of science, and Galileo's firm place in its beginning, I found much of this book very engrossing. Sobel does a great job making this story accessible and even adventurous. I must confess, though, to having been quite bored by the chapters devoted to the father-daugher relationship and the several-page-long letters of Maria Celeste. Most of the latters say the same things as the ones before and after (exprssing her love for her father, asking about his health, and talking about the day-to-day in the convent). AFter a while, these became repetitive and I found myself several times questioning why this story was included at all. (The story of Galileo is fasciniating enough for a book to have it blunted by a very mundane side story.)
   
   All in all, though, this book is a fun read. It is not too difficult but very informative and entertaining.



3. If there is one book I would highly recommend from my recent reading list, this would be it. Talk about history coming alive - the story is based on letters his daughter wrote - and though you think you know the ending, there is a delicious twist. The book reads like a thriller and I simply loved it.



4. I was totally impressed with the way this book was written. I learned so much about Galileo and his life in this book. It is amazing how the author took actual letters from his daughter and created a fascinating book that tells of his life, all revolving around the letters. What a great way to combine his life and his family, his professional and personal life.
   I also find it amazing how far we have come from the times of Galileo. He was imprisoned and banned from returning home, by orders of the church, because he published a book on the dialogue regarding the earth moving around the sun vs. the sun moving around the earth (the church's belief). Yet, he was given permission by the church, even given edits for his book, yet, the church changes their mind when people start complaining about Galileo's book. The church, having to 'set an example' use Galileo to show they are superior.
   Galileo was a fascinating person, a man ahead of his time. I loved this book.



5. This remarkable book compactly and comprehensively ties together many threads: Galileo's life, Galileo's scientific breakthroughs, Catholic Church theology and superstition, life in Italy, and the relationship of Galileo to his favorite child. The author weaves these together through the device of the 124 surviving letters that Galileo's eldest daughter Virginia sent to him from the convent near Florence where she lived from the age of 15 to her early death.
   
   It's a singular story, starting with the man who revolutionized scientific inquiry by emphasizing observable experience to support theory. That this principle was developed by a person who believed unquestioningly in all of the superstitions of the Catholic Church of his time makes it even more remarkable. The author takes the reader into both the church and scientific worlds, showing when they collided, as well as the mental gymnastics that Galileo and others engaged in to try to reconcile irreconcilable views of nature and the physical world.
   
   As Galileo's fame peaks and then was shattered by the Church's censure, his relationship with Virginia was a source of comfort and practical support. The letters from Virginia (Galileo's letters were burned at the convent) show her intellect, love for her father, and religious fervor. The letters read almost as parodies of religious belief -- though, apparently, it's how people thought at the time.
   
   Example: Virginia lived in an exceedingly strict convent near Florence. She entered the convent as a teenager and literally never left the property ever again. One of the convent's proud principles was that its claustrophic stone walls were the equivalent of Jesus' tomb. The girls entering the convent were told: "You are, therefore, already now in your sepulchre of stone, that is, your vowed enclosure."
   
   One can only shake one's head and say, "What might have been..." if people such as Galileo and his daughter were able to pursue their visions more fully.

5 comments about My Life as a Quant: Reflections on Physics and Finance.

1. Very (very) shallow on technical content. Bizarre and boring anecdotes about the politics of the big investment banks. Detailed stories about uninteresting aspects of the author's life. I kept looking for some real beef, but gave up at some point.



2. I enjoyed this book very much. It's like a memoir, but focuses on his professional life. He talks about his training in physics, and how hard it is to get satisfactory (to him) employment. He switched to being a quantitative analyst on Wall Street. He talks a lot about what that really means, how the quants fit into the structure of Wall Street, and he even gets into some of the technical detail (I would have liked a bit more of that). It's well written and fun.



3. Though I barely have a clue about the models presented in the book, the author provided a very informative and descriptive view of life as a Quant. It even gives a picture of working in Wall Street. I thank the author for his effort.



4. I wanted to get a better picture on how it is to work as a "quant" on Wall Street, not knowing much to start out with. The book certainly met my expectations. I was a bit surprised that most of the research effort goes into financial engineering (developing and analyzing new products) as opposed to trying to better understand/predict how already existing products will do. It was interesting to understand the relationship between "quants" and traders. Finally, a bit surprising that so little from physics was applicable.



5. Well written book for people who would like to become Quant while their major is not finance.

4 comments about The Alchemy of Air: A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific Discovery That Fed the World but Fueled the Rise of Hitler.

1. The author has written a well researched and readable account of the
   early 20th century work of Carl Bosch and Fritz Haber, who set in place
   modern nitrogen fixation methods. The author has done a good job of simplifying the technical details for the average reader.
   As an academic chemist, I feel compelled to quibble a little with some of the details, none of which should bother most readers.
   The author states(chapter 12) that nitric acid could not be made from ammonia, but could be made from cyanamide( this is in 1914). He goes on to say that Bosch built a factory to produce sodium nitrate from ammonia. This is confusing on several grounds. The presently used production of nitric acid proceeds through the catalytic oxidation of ammonia. The book mentions Bosch having a catalyst.Synthetic sodium nitrate would be produced from nitric acid. As for cyanamide, it is a source of ammonia-
   therefore it is hard to understand how nitric acid could be prepared from
   cyanamide, but not from ammonia, as the author suggests.
   The book has a very extensive bibliography, and perhaps I can solve all these questions by recourse to the original sources. None of this makes much difference for the main points of the book.
   I have read quite a bit on this general area, and this is one of the best books I have found on Haber and Bosch, and I found it interesting and provocative.
   I found one puzzling entry in the bibliography which may have been included in error : a biography of Whistler, which as far as I can tell is not referenced anywhere else in the book.



2. This is a fabulous true tale exceptionally well told by Thomas Hager. History changing events in Latin America and Europe are made palpable, interesting, and are told in a way that makes you care very intensely about the protagonists involved. Especially fascinating is the telling of the history of contesting in Peru and Chile over the raw materials for nitrogen fertilizer. Get this book now and I guarantee you won't put it down and will learn much about world history and how it could have been quite different. I can't say enough good things. Just get the book now. Gee, it almost sounds like I know the author, or stand to gain somehow. I don't and just want to share this book with the world.
   
   John Lavender



3. This book is an excellent history of the people and times surrounding one of the greatest inventions of mankind, artificial nitrogen fixation. Mr Hager makes the events and personalities come alive. He writes a lucid and penetrating account of the Haber Bosch process, which stands as almost the single force which has prevented mass starvation in the 20th and 21st centuries. This book would make an excellent holiday gift for that hard to buy for techie on your list.



4. This centers on the Haber-Bosch process which has so much influence to the current day.
   Super relevant.

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

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



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



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



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



5. I read through most of the reviews of this book, and find them, for the most part, dead on.
   
   I did not buy it via Amazon (the horror!), but actually went to a bookstore looking for a book on Nikola Tesla, wanting to learn more about the fascinating individual.
   
   After going through about 10 books by different authors, what made me choose this one was the sheer number of references the author used, including face to face interviews with people who knew Tesla.
   
   The author uses a distinct timeline, which is a change from the other books I observed (such as Cheney's book), and also only used corroborative sources for his details, such as personal notes from Tesla, coorespondence, and so on.
   
   If you are looking for a book on detailed explainations on his experiments, this is not the book for you. It is a highly detailed, personalized look at the man's life, mainly how someone so influential could be erased from common knowledge of history so effectively.
   
   If you want details on his experiments, I recommend the book "The Fanastic Inventions of Nikola Tesla" : The Fantastic Inventions of Nikola Tesla (The Lost Science Series)
   
   
   As a side note, I checked out the reviewers who gave this book one star and disparaged it. They tend to have only written one star reviews for everything. Don't let the one stars discourage you from reading this book and separating the myth from history.

5 comments about My Family and Other Animals.

1. Not many adults ever reminisce about their childhood dreams. Those who do, generally label these as wishful thinking and sigh them away. Rarer are those who live lives of fulfilled dreams. Gerald Durrell, an eminent author, naturalist and expeditionist, was one of those uncommon individuals whose life's entirety was one long childhood dream come true. "My Family & Other Animals" is his most famous work, and is the first of his Corfu Trilogy.
   
   The kid Gerald Durrell, or Gerry, was eight years old when his family moved from England to the Greek island of Corfu. Through the eyes of the young, fauna-loving and ever-inquisitive Gerry, Corfu seems to be the strangest place on Earth, and all humans, whether inhabitants of Corfu or not, appear to be strange people. The book describes Gerry's meticulous observations and detailed experiences in Corfu amongst dogs, cats, toads, snakes, scorpions, owls, magpies, gulls and other creatures he keeps as pets in his house, and his family members who are bemused as well as troubled by Gerry's love for these animals and insects. Young Gerry's mother and siblings stay engrossed in their own worlds, leaving Gerry alone to spend his days as he wishes, free from burdens such as going to school and being nagged by elders. Thus begins Gerry's exploration of Corfu, starting with the garden in his villa, and eventually his domain of knowledge crosses over to the neighboring islands.
   
   The book will make you roar with laughter right from the preface itself. Descriptions of animals are unconventionally funny. Humans also are not spared. Imagine an entire family changing residence from one villa to another, just because one of them foolishly invited his friends so many that they would not fit in the current villa. After animals and humans, the third elaborately portrayed element is nature. Detailed descriptions of fig trees and setting suns create a Wordsworthian aura. Once Gerry sets on describing some of these, he can be drawn back only by some exquisitely crafted squirrel or a raucously howling dog.
   
   The best way to savor the book is to read it over several sittings, by allowing the excessive laughter to brighten many a dull day. An enlightening perspective of the work can be seen through Gerry's eyes. Animals, unlike humans, know exactly what they want. They are easier to please and easier to be understood. Most importantly, animals are easily befriended and are almost always loyal. When the book ends, it feels as if an intimate and jocular friend has left you forever.
   
   "My Family & Other Animals" is a beautiful comedy, and is highly recommendable for reading by people of all ages.
   
   http://readsafe.blogspot.com



2. This book, ironically, was on one of those horrible "summer reading" lists so many of us are forced to do in high school. It's the only one I was ever forced to read that I truly, genuinely loved. I laughed out loud literally every two or three pages, and though I have no natural interest in animals (especially insects), Durell makes his descriptions of the nature on Corfu as gripping and as touching as his descriptions of his family.
   
   It's been ten years since I first read this book, and when I get together with my old friends, we STILL argue about our favorite scenes, the best character, the most troublesome pet. This is a book you won't be able to put down the first time you read it, and will want to re-read the moment you finish it.



3. Ever wonder what kind of person takes such an interest in every form of flora or fauna there is? One who is hyperobservant, apparently. And when Gerald Durrell turns that eye on the eccentric characters in his family and around him on the island of Corfu, you'll absolutely love reading his words.



4. All of Gerald Durell's writings are terrific, but the ones about his family are truly laugh-out-loud wonderful! This is a book I have enjoyed over and over, and have given as a gift many times.



5. I have never written a book review, and I am hesitant to do so now as whatever I say will certainly be redundant. But I am so enthralled with this little book that I can't contain my enthusiasm.
   
   This is a quick read, but that is not to indicate any superficiality in the story or story telling. The author reveals a world of discovery in his life on Corfu. Far from dull, his time there is filled with small adventures and big lessons. There is nothing the least preachy or even "teachy" in the story line, but the learning for the reader takes place in such a pleasant fashion that you don't realize until the end how much knowledge you have gained.
   
   His eccentric family provides light and very humorous moments, but, for the most part, I found them and the stories about them quite unnecessary.
   
   The author's curiosity about the animals, amphibians, birds and world around him drive the story. His observations of human kind, especially the island people he meets, are equally compelling.
   
   I could not put this book down and, as it was lent to me, I am now on a quest to purchase my own copy.
   
   It only makes me wonder why children in modern day society need the enormous amount of stimulus and involvement to be content. Young Gerald Durrell spent much of his time alone, save the companionship of his "zoo", and was quite happy. No soccer games, no little league baseball, no hang-outs at the mall necessary. Oh, for the simple life.

5 comments about Rocket Boys (The Coalwood Series #1).

1. Homer Hickam grew up in a rural isolated mountain town but went on to win the National Science Fair.
   
   This book is his story and how he was successful.
   
   I bought 24 copies of this book to inspire my advanced 6th grade Reading class. They loved the book. In our discussions they mentioned never giving up. Homer and his friends kept trying until they had success.
   
   Thank you for sharing your life with us, Mr. Hickam.



2. Was purchased due to a requirement by my childs school. He has informed me it is a good book.



3. Loved this book. Was on the last chapter when I threw October Sky into my Netflix queue; Hoping I'd have it in hand when the book was finished. Timing was perfect. As usual, the book eclipses the movie, but both are great. Passing it onto my 10 year old son who already has aspirations of going into the sciences. Enjoy!



4. escape via rocket, October 6, 2008
   By V. N. Dvornychenko (Rockville, MD) - See all my reviews
   
   
   Part "Angela's Ashes" (Frank McCourt) and part "I Aim for the Stars" (Werner von Braun), this book chronicles the efforts of a teenage boy to escape the confines of his West Virginia coal-mining milieu. Fourteen-year-old Homer/Sonny Hickam (the protagonist and author) is determined not to follow in the footsteps of his coalminer father - who is already showing signs of black-lung disease, a disease which will eventually kill him.
   
   Homer/Sonny has an older brother, of whom he is very resentful. Among his brother's "sins" are ease with the girls, success at high school football - and most of all - favor with the parents. Normally there are only two paths for escape from Coalwood: the military, or a football scholarship.
   The brother, Jim, holds a strong suit in the football option. Homer, slightly built and very nearsighted, knows he has no chance at footfall - and, so it would appear, with the girls. Then a miracle happens.
   
   The "miracle" that provides a third avenue of escape is the launching of Sputnik by the USSR. The shockwaves produced by this event change American values almost overnight. Intellectual "nerds" suddenly become fashionable. Homer hatches a plan which he hopes will eventually land a job designing rockets for Werner von Braun. The plan is to design, build and launch model rockets. Homer collects a circle of followers - mainly other "nerds" -- and together they put the plan into action.
   
   Besides the shockwaves produced by Sputnik, another kind of fault line runs right through the Hickam household. On one side stand Homer with his mother, on the other his father and brother. A major reason for the fault line is that the mother does not wish to see her sons follow the fate of her husband. But that is not all; it appears the mother has certain misgivings about her marriage. With her artistic bent, and something of a free-spirit, she harbors feelings that perhaps -- just perhaps -- she married beneath her station. A consequence of her frustration is that she succeeds in pulling Homer/Sonny over to her side, resulting in a more-or-less permanent rift with the father. It is also interesting to speculate what other personality traits may have resulted from Homer's closeness to his mother. Homer appears to have a penchant for being attracted to girls that give him conflicting signals - somewhat in the manner of Lucy of the famous comic strip, they entice him, only to pull the ball away at the very last second. Homer is also attracted to an "older" woman (though she is only in her early twenties), his science teacher, Freida Riley.
   
   Although Homer appears to fear and hate everything about mining, some of the most spellbinding moments are excursions into the mine. His favorite science teacher would not, however, approve of the chemistry in the book, which contains several mistakes.
   
   I began by characterizing "Rocket Boys" as part "Angela's Ashes" and part "I Aim for the Stars". In retrospect, is little doubt that "I Aim for the Stars" constitutes the minor component. Although much of the book details the design and building of rockets, Homer's fascination with rocketry and Werner von Braun appears to be mostly motivated by this "ticket out of Coalwood." The epilogue to the book reinforces this. After some delays, Homer Hickam does indeed go to work for NASA, and enjoys a successful career. But sadly, no speculations appear in the book regarding man's role in the cosmos - the "extraterrestrial imperative" Krafft Ehricke called it - nor did any subsequent books on astrodynamics or space theory emerge.
   
   The author produced a sequel "Coalwood Ways." Published only two years later, it covers much the same territory, but has a very different flavor. It concentrates on interpersonal relations, and is much "sweeter" in its outlook than its precursor. It gives the appearance that the author underwent some personal event between the two books which changed his outlook. A film, titled "October Sky," was made based on "Rocket Boys." It has a different flavor yet. "Rocket Boys" is a fine book, and after all is said and done, it would appear that Homer Hickam's true calling is writer.
   
   THE EXPERIMENTS DESCRIBED IN THE BOOK ARE VERY DANGEROUS AND SHOULD NOT BE ATTEMPTED.



5. If you were born in the 40s as I was, in New York, reading this book will take you back to the time you 'heard' about the coaltowns in West Virginia. This story will match your memories ... not to mention your memories of the era it represents. I LOVED it!

5 comments about American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.

1. Just imagine, an American kid, rich for the times, with a saintly brother, the mind of a polymath, and a knack for atomic physics. Sounds like trouble? It wouldn't have been if he had proceeded down the Nobelist path making his name a household word in thirty other academic households. Fortune would have it that he be associated with an Army General from the Corps of Engineers who had just constructed the Pentagon. This unlikely pair were charged with creating a nuclear bomb. (Thank God Hitler didn't couple Klaus Werner Heisenberg with Albert Speer giving the Germans a bomb in 1941) Oppenheimer and Groves got together the world's best talent in a pasture in New Mexico and with branches all over the place and made the bomb. It worked!
   What a nice story. One would hope that Oppenheimer would find a sinecure and while away the rest of his life teaching, further extending his education, and becoming a scientist statesman. An immortal victory.
   But there was a problem. In the thirties both brothers had feelings about social justice for the working class in California. Neither of them seriously considered armed overthrow of the government, direct action, sabotage or traitorous conspiracies. They were simply parlor pink in the midst of the depression. Sadly, J. Edgar Hoover (in addition to his other activities with the ubiquitous Clyde) took on the issue of spying on American citizens whom he thought were security risks. Worse still, Oppenheimer's wife had lost a previous husband in the Spanish Civil War and both she and he had been dues paying members of the Communist Party. Since Hoover's illegal spying efforts were in no way conclusive, he bided his time. After the war, the government was replete with advisory groups divided between the grossly incompetent political favorites and a minority of real experts. The age of Joseph McCarthy and Roy Cohn. One of the Republican forms was a financial type far better known as a fund raiser than a nuclear physicist. Lewis Strauss, a close friend of the advertising executive (Lasker) who named Kotex and Kleenex. Strauss developed a real hate for Oppenheimer and set out to destroy him by removing all of his security clearances.
   Strauss was remarkable in that he never finished college or university but convinced Eisenhower he would be a good member of the Atomic Energy Commission.
   Oppenheimer, Director of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study, looked on this insult to him as a deeply personal wound that never healed. Strauss was later rejected as Secretary of Commerce in part because of his own little scandals and in part because of the injustice delt to J. Robert.
   This story would be sad and humiliating to any American Scientist. Coming as it does, in the midst of an administration so studiously ignorant of personal justice with abundant evidence that it could be repeated at any time will not inhibit the courage and steadfastness that scientists must also have.



2. I cannot find this book. It came with one other book that I am now reading. I can't remember if this book was actually including in the package (as indicating by the packing statement)and it got immediately misplaced or accidentally thrown out with the package or if it was inadvertently not included in the package when it was sent to me.



3. The wife purchased this book for me as a Christmas present. What she didn't know is it is arguably one of the finest examples of biography, writing, and history. This book delivers. It is the type of work most historians wish they were capable of writing.
   
   It has taken years to research and write. In many cases first-hand accounts and personal interviews with some of the keenest minds of the time were used to present Oppenheimer's story in a clear and fascinating way.
   
   This work starts with the early life of Oppenhemier and chronicles his parents desire to make his life better than theirs. It shows how they struggled to provide him with an education and helped cultivate a keen mind. The book continues to show his early life, choice in collegiate education, and an impressive foundation in academia. It obviously follows his time in service to our nation and his post war activities.
   
   Interestingly enough, a reader will find his work to be contemporary to the finest minds in the study of cosmology and physics at the time.
   
   Oppenheimer was a man of brilliance. He was also a man plagued by rights and wrongs he struggled with his entire life. His bomb saved thousands of lives by killing thousands. His science changed the world and we live with the ramifications of the post atomic age today.
   
   His name remains inescapably associated with these conundrums and puzzles that have plagued 20th century history ever since. Some of the most interesting reading consisted of information regarding his affiliations with known communists and socialist organizers before and after the war. Especially, interesting information on how he was treated in the McCarthy era.
   
   I think in a way, the authors point out Oppenheimer's own personal failures and faults, as duplication of the historical record. As much of a place he holds as critical mind of the 20th century...he was a hard drinker, a smoker, and eventually the reader can develop a sense that he was a flawed and challenged person much like the rest of us. I would, however, say he was a far more tortured soul than most of us ever know.
   
   A review of this book simply doesn't do it justice. This is awesome work worthy of the awards it has received and more. It is truly a magnum opus in the area of history. It is easy to read and hard to put down. This book is arguably one of the finest books I've ever read.



4. This is an excellent biography of Oppenheimer.While it seems likely the authors started out sympathetic towards their subject it seems to be a fairly well balanced book which tends to focus on his associations and his friends and whether he could be considered a national security threat as he was eventually found to be. In that sense the book can be considered to be political in nature. However it is very well researched and written and the authours conclusions seem reasonable. From its first pages the book makes clear that the ultimate issue the book will consider is the reasonableness of the governments decision to pull Oppenheimers security clearance. The actions of the goverment seem almost ridiculous now but a weakness of the book is the failure to consider the "tenor of the times". It is always easy to Monday morning quarterback. Even given this the conclusions of the authors that pulling Oppenheimers clearance was unsupported by the facts should have been obvious even under the then existing political climate. All in all a very good book.



5. November 18, 2008
   
   Ardsley, PA
   
   I don't know how a biography of Oppenheimer can be written without any real discussion of Physics or the engineering achievements of the Manhattan Project, but that's what this did. I assume the authors decided technical discussions would not appeal to readers. I found this omission disappointing.
   
   I saw the book quite differently than most of the other reviewers. The man revealed in this biography is hardly a man I would label great or near great. Shockingly, over the course of his life Oppenheimer attempted to murder one of his teachers, was at least an enthusiastic near communist, encouraged his troubled wife's alcoholism, was a serial liar, was a multiple adulterer, had an affair with the wife of a close friend, offered his infant daughter to a friend for adoption because he was too busy with work and more. Call me old fashion, but this was too much for me.
   
   The authors repeatedly point out Oppenheimer's sense of social justice, often equating communism with the fight for social justice. (It is curious that I never got that social justice = communism formula when reading "Gulag Archipelago.") Do 1930 American supporters of communism bear any responsibility for the atrocities of Stalinist Russia? Didn't all those great minds of the 1930's have some responsibility to investigate the reality of life in the Soviet Union?
   
   Oppenheimer is lauded in the book for his depth of knowledge. In the 1930's and 1940's he supported the communists in the Spanish Civil War and regaled those veterans. Did he never read Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia?" It was released soon after Orwell's return from Spain.
   
   Multiple times in this biography the question is asked: Why did we drop the bomb on an essentially defeated enemy?" Have the authors not read Eugene Sledge's gripping autobiography "With the Old Breed" about his nightmarish experiences on Okinawa with the USMC? If you have the courage, read of this Alabaman's experiences fighting that same "defeated" Japanese foe.
   
   I believe the authors allowed their sympathy for Oppenheimer to cloud their vision. They excused horrible behavior and judgment. They were quick to slander General Groves, President Truman and others. These men were unjustly represented and given a one dimensional mention, all negative.
   
   There is much to learn of the tragic figure of Oppenheimer in this book. It is a worthwhile book, but I do not believe worthy of either a Pulitzer prize or space on your bookshelf.
   
   Semper Fi,
   Joe Rooney

5 comments about Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time.

1. John Harrison completes his first pendulum clock in 1713 before the age of 20. He made the gears for this out of wood which was radical for such a use, but as a carpenter, perhaps not to him---which is a mark of genius, I'd say; to reach beyond accepted norms in this manner. This he did after borrowing a book on math and the laws of motion; which he copied word for word, making his own copy. He incorporated different varieties of wood into his clock for strength and later invented a bi-metal pendulum to counteract the expansion and compression of various individual metals. He also employed friction-free movements so as to do away with problematic lubricants. When intrigued by the puzzle of time at sea and the issue of longitude he contemplated substituting something not prone to gravity, as a pendulum of course is, to track times passing. In 1737 he creates a cantilevered clock 4 foot square. This the longitude board (which had offered a cash bonus to anyone who could devise a method in which time at sea could be kept) admired. Four years later he returns with an improved model; then starts on a 3rd model, like the previous two, also a fairly large sized clock.But there exists a problem within this book: An artisan freemason by the name of John Jefferys at the Worshipful Company of clockmakers befriends Harrison and then later presents to him a pocket watch in 1753. Then in 1755, while still working on his 3rd model, Harrison says this to the Longitude board: I have..."good reason to think" on the basis of a watch "already executed that such small machines[he's referring to pocket watches] may be of great service with respect to longitude." He then completes version 3 in 1759. His fourth version appears just a year later, however, and is a 5 inch wide pocket watch! The obvious inference made by the author is that after he received the pocket watch from Jeffreys he seemingly put his version #3 on the back burner and soon started on the pocket watch 4th version. The author does not claim Harrison copied anything from the Jeffreys model, but she certainly phrases this section so as to lend one to believe that this may have been the case; that Jefferys had a hand in the masterstroke invention Harrison eventually produced in version #4. This is not true. Harrison commissioned the watch he received from Jeffreys and was based on Harrison's specifications. It seems that Harrison simply asked Jeffreys to test an idea which he himself hadn't the time to attack just then; as he was still working on his 3rd version of a table-top prototype clock. Hence Harrison's above statement to the board in 1755 whence his ideas were validated by Jeffreys. In addition, the author plays up the part of the Astronomer Royal's part in attempting to impede Harrison from convincing the longitude board of the efficacy of a time-piece solution to this problem over a celestial answer to this conundrum. The author also jazzes up the issue of whether Harrison received the prize the board promised to pay for a successful solution herein; even though the board supported him for upwards of 20 years as he pursued this quest. It's as if the author intentionally omitted some facts (that the Jefferys was a Harrison commission), and pumped up others (of a rival/foil on the board trying to impede Harrison and the compensation issue; implying that Harrison was jipped) just to make the story more compelling. John Harrison's story, however, is extremely compelling as it is and didn't need this extra spice served up by the author.Do read this (very short) book on how this Mr. Harrison solved the problem of knowing where one is when at sea; and if you're in London, visit the Old Royal Observatory and the Clockmakers museum (in the Guildhall) where you can see Harrison's wonderful creations in person. Enjoy!



2. A short but well written book that sheds light on an almost forgotten man who changed the world. Interesting and fun to read, worth checking out.



3. My husband (a scientist) loves books on exploration and discovery. When he finished this book - surprisingly quickly - he said "you'll love this." Sure, I'll read anything once so I gave it a try. The author has such a knack with prose that this book basically read itself! Time flew when I picked it up and I was done in no time. What a fantastic surprise! When I finished it, I mailed it to my brother who read it & sent it to a friend; it;s that good....



4. This book is a well-written story about how scientists and engineers figured out how to navigate the globe. It is a story that was well known in its day and forgotten within 50 years.



5. I bought this for my visiting grandson. We had a fine time reading it together and discussing what a great invention longitude was, how many sailors' lives it saved, and the way the inventor had to fight to get the prize offered by the government for finding a way for sailors to know their exact location. I finally know why Greenwich is the "center" of time measurement. Easy to understand and yet very comprehensive on this fundamental subject.