1 comments about The Einstein Almanac.

1. This fine book is essentially a chronological bibliography of Einstein's writings. While not exhaustive (Calaprice uses the word "selected"), this book provides a good real glimpse into what Einstein actually thought and researched and wrote as a scientist, philosopher and humanist from 1901-1955. Serious fans of Einstein (like myself) who don't have the multi-volume Collected Papers of Albert Einstein at arm's length will find this little book quite useful. Here you find the titles of articles, papers, essays, and even interviews accompanied by the originals in German (where appropriate). Descriptive or explanatory comments follow most of them. Did you know that Einstein studied the meandering of rivers? He wrote some illuminating papers on this geological question. Or that he and Leo Szilard patented home refrigeration by the "Einstein-Szilard pump"? Most standard biographies wouldn't mention these. But an Einstein almanac might. This one does. (The important scientific papers are of course not neglected.)
   
   To place Einstein's life in context, Calaprice includes many historical and scientific events - some of which bear only a remote relevance to Einstein. I personally think these can be replaced by more biographical info. For example, what James Watson and Murray Gell-Mann did, while interesting and important, hardly merit entry into an Einstein Almanac. What Otto Hahn did is more relevant and may be included. There are other books on the history of science in the twentieth century and even more on the history of historical events. My idea of an Einstein almanac would exclude anything not directly related or relevant to Einstein. If it were up to me, any event not directly involving Einstein I would ruthlesssly exclude.
   
   This is my main humble criticism (and my own opinion). One other shortcoming is that few personal letters are included. But this is quite understandable because letters don't usually carry titles. Also, Einstein wrote so many letters in his lifetime that to list them all and summarize them with comments would be a herculean task. For letters, interested students should refer to the CPAE. But I think a separate chapter on the most important letters Einstein wrote might be a good idea for the next edition (if any). Some of Einstein's most incisive thoughts are found in his letters (such as those to Max Born) and a brief overview of these may be useful.
   
   One more suggestion for improvement (bear with me) might be a detailed timeline of Einstein's life. Timelines differ in details. Very extensive and all-inclusive timelines provide a virtually day-by-day chronology. One outstanding example of these would be University of Delaware professor Leo Lemay's Documentary History of Benjamin Franklin, which is an on-going project available on the Web. It gives impressive details of what Franklin was doing and where he was doing it on numerous specific dates. Calaprice's other books about Einstein already have brief timelines. An Einstein Almanac could use a very detailed one. (This book also has a brief timeline of Einstein's early years - but then again not all the details seem to me relevant. A lot of things happened in 1895 for Einstein, but I see no point in mentioning the invention of the Gillette razor, for instance, because this has nothing to do with Einstein, whether or not he used one.) Just listing all of Einstein's personal and scientific activities, rather than non-Einstein events, can be a worthwhile if lengthy task. But an almanac is designed to be full of dates.
   
   Leave out the fat of irrelevant non-Einstein stuff, and build more muscle of Einstein-exclusive matters, and this book could be even better and more useful than it already is. If this book is also an on-going project, then there is room for growth on what is in my view an excellent basis.
   

1 comments about A Short History of Western Legal Theory.

1. This is a fabulous book. It begins with early concepts from ancient Greece, lays out the fundamental differences between "natural law" and "the law of the real world," then extends the history of legalistic ideas through the Roman epoc, middle ages, etc. The book identifies the bases of difference between the legal systems of the west and those of communist states, e.g., common law and code law vs. Marxist law. It fully describes the influence of Christianity on western legal thinking. There are "plots" and "sub-plots" in this book that are absolutely fascinating. Finally, it is deliciously written; for those who truely appreciate the english language.

5 comments about Honest Dogs: A Story of Triumph and Regret from the World's Toughest Sled Dog Race.

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

   .




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



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



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



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

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

3 comments about Discoveries: Einstein: Decoding the Universe (Discoveries (Abrams)).

1. The Abrams Discoveries series delivers another gorgeous book, with slick paper and beautiful photos and illustrations on every page. From drawings, graphs and pictures to Einstein's own scribblings-- even a Magritte painting and newspaper comics of the day-- the publishers have pulled out all the stops, giving the reader a kaleidoscopic visual treat. All of this brings to life the concepts in a punchy and and intriguing way. However, the text itself, translated from French physics professor Francoise Balibar's original, is insubstantial and only valuable as an overview and survey of Einstein's life and thought. While the author explores the political and scientific climate with sureness and ease, and illustrates particularly well Einstein's unique contributions-- vast as they are-- to 20th Century physics, the text never goes too deep into its subject.

   I'd recommend this book to someone wanting a painless summation, introductory or otherwise, of Einstein. For someone wanting to get deep into the ramifications of relativity theory or the disharmony between it and quantum physics, I'd recommend another book-- perhaps Brian Greene's _The Elegant Universe_ or a book by Einstein himself.




2. Einstein: Decoding the Universe is a short,nice little book about Einstein that can be read in a matter of hours. I found the book quite interesting but I admit that I have never read a book on Einstein prior to this one. Thus, I cannot accurately compare this book to another on him. Main details about his life are covered without going into an intricate life story. Over 20 pages in the back were devoted to letters he had written or others had written about him. I gave the book only 4 stars because I thought there could have been a little more mathematical jargon included. But, for the price and the brevity, I recommend this book as one to take and read while at an airport or what not.



3. Reading this book is a bit like feasting on potato chips rather than brussel's sprouts. Certainly there are many avenues to learning about Einstein the man and his scientific theories. One could choose from the 20-odd published books and collections of writings by Einstein himself or from the many dense works written by scholars. Any of these choices would likely prove edifying but would come at the cost of a serious investment of time and thought. On the other hand, the Discoveries series offers this fast-food alternative, quick and easy-to-digest but leaving the reader with a pang of guilt over the indulgence.

   The book is 136 pages long, but this is a misleading indicator of depth, as the pages of this slim volume are perhaps 4x6 inches and 126 of them include copious pictures and/or illustrations. While this does limit the word count and the depth of coverage, it does make for a visual treat. The pictures include, as one would expect, many of Einstein throughout his lifetime but also include some fascinating snippets such as a portion of his birth certificate, a newspaper advertisement placed by Einstein offering private tutoring and a page from his manuscript demonstrating through equations the general theory of relativity.

   The text moves chronologically from his childhood through his schooling, marriage, work at the Swiss Patent office, flurry of fame-producing discoveries, pacifism, long fruitless struggle for a unifying "theory of everything" and his death at the age of 76. The coverage of the science is fairly high level and certainly understandable without any physics or higher mathematics experience. Particularly interesting is a series of Einstein letters, including several to and from his wife that reveal a playful, tender side and an exchange with Sigmund Freud regarding the problem of war.

   This is not the choice if you're looking for the definitive account of Einstein's life or an in-depth discussion of his scientific genius. However, if you're looking for an entertaining and easy overview of the man, you will find this a very good option.

4 comments about Ludwig Boltzmann: The Man Who Trusted Atoms.

1. Cercignani provides a stimulating biography of a great scientist. Boltzmann's greatness is difficult to state, but the fact that the author is still actively engaged in research into some of the finer, as yet unresolved issues provoked by Boltzmann's work is a measure of just how far ahead of his time Boltzmann was. It is also tragic to read of Boltzmann's persecution by his contemporaries, the energeticists, who regarded atoms as a convenient hypothesis, but not as having a definite existence. Boltzmann felt that atoms were real and this motivated much of his research. How Boltzmann would have laughed if he could have seen present-day scanning tunnelling microscopy images, which resolve the atomic structure at surfaces! If only all scientists would learn from Boltzmann's life story that it is bad for science to persecute someone whose views you do not share but cannot disprove. One surprising fact I learned from this book was how research into thermodynamics and statistical mechanics led to the beginnings of quantum theory (such as Planck's distribution law, and Einstein's theory of specific heat). Lecture notes by Boltzmann also seem to have influenced Einstein's construction of special relativity. Cercignani's familiarity with Boltzmann's work at the research level will probably set this above other biographies of Boltzmann for a very long time to come.



2. In the last half of the 1800's there was a lot of ferment in the world of physics. The basic descriptions of how the world worked was put together by Newton was being challenged by new discoveries such as the Michelson-Morley experiment that proved Newton's wave theory of light was incorrect, or at best incomplete. Other experiments were identifying other problems. This was a time when the world of physics was about to undergo massive changes, but of course that was still in the future.
   
   Ludwig Boltzmann was working during this time. He was formulating theories that explained some of these problems. Some of his work was later to become part of the underlying basis for Einstein's famous papers of 1905. There were unfortunately a number of physicists in this same category. They provided a basis for Einstein but never quite had the spark of understanding that carried it to the next step.
   
   During his time Boltzmann was ahead of many of his contemporaries, many of whom disputed his theories. Time has shown that his work on atomic theory were fundamentally correct but only as a first step. Atoms, matter, and energy are now viewed as being much more complex than his first theories.
   
   As the author points out in his closing paragraph, there are indications now that we are headed for a 'great change' in theoretical physics as something new comes to explain some of the problems identified in quantum mechanics. But, of course, that's predicting the future.



3. Why are you here? Why are you looking for a biography about Boltzmann? If you are looking for a strong science biography with a lot of mathematical detail, then you'll want this book. The book is not just a historical biography but a mathematical one. For this purpose I would have given it 5 stars.
   
   However, I was looking for a biography in the same category as Lindley's "Degrees Kelvin" (William Thomson aka Lord Kelvin) or Mahon's "The Man Who Changed Everything" (James Clerk Maxwell). While much of the math is placed into appendices, chapters 4, 5, and 6 will be difficult for the typical science history reader. The first three chapters were wonderful and detailed the life of Ludwig Boltzmann. Before this book he was simply the guy who's name was attached to a constant (which is why I want to read more about him!).
   
   The back cover praise is extremely misleading-
   
   "...accessible to all..."
   
   "Much of the book will be interesting to the general reader."
   
   "I can warmly recommend the book to everybody who is interested in the history of science."
   
   Umm... no. If the second paragraph of my review is what you are looking for then I would suggest you try Lindley's "Boltzmann's Atom". While I have yet to read it, I did read his book about William Thomson/Lord Kelvin, "Degrees Kelvin", and really enjoyed it.



4. I purchased this book with the intent of learning something significant about Boltzmann's personal life, about the context in which he made his discoveries. I found the prose to be cumbersome and the structure of the chapters to be poorly thought out.
   
   the author repeatedly falls into the trap of including too much information, while failing to succinctly capture the big idea - which remains obscured. while the book is technically adept, it adds little to the overall presentation, as the mathematics is wrapped with poorly edited and badly structured prose. the technical portions of the text are then insufficient to serve as a complete technical explanation on boltzmann's ideas while distracting from the point of the biography.
   
   with so much great writing out there it is hard to justify time and money spent on a book so poorly written.

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

5 comments about Woman in the Mists.

1. This Book contains the interisting life of Dian Fossey from her bith to her dearh



2. Read this book, and you will feel like you know the real Dian Fossey. Personal letters, journal entries all give insight to her life as a living, breathing human being who had many friends (human and non-human). Her passion for life is inspirational! This is a must read, and also an excellent book to read for school projects!



3. Farley Mowat performed an excellent service when he wrote this book. Dian Fossey was a woman of great character, confidence, courage, determination, and conviction. Her life was lived for what she found to be a greater cause and the world is that much worse off without her. This book did an excellent job of showing the reader who Dian Fossey really was and what she really went through. I recommend it to anyone. It is well worth reading.



4. Another engrossing and fascinating Mowat title, another Mowat "must read", "Woman in the Mists" is the sympathetic biography of a woman whose work gave us a window into the world of the mountain gorilla, a species to whose protection and conservation she was devoted. By alternating excerpts from her diary entries and personal letters with his own descriptive text, Mowat brings Dian Fossey, a powerfully willed and often abrasive woman, to life. Her youthful years, young adulthood, her fateful meeting with Louis Leakey, her romantic involvements and disappointments, her first contacts with the gorillas and the years of her work and struggle are portrayed with humanity and affection. The tale is enormously enriched by her own words. She struggled indomitably against self-serving African bureaucrats, indigenous herdsmen and hunter-gatherers, antagonistic forces that gained strength against her in the fields of primatology and philanthropy, and her own gradually deteriorating health largely the result of a powerful smoking addiction.

   But her work and her happiness were plagued by male academics and agents of philanthropic organizations who got caught up in a web of calumny and distrust motivated by primatologists who were seriously bent out of shape by her abrasiveness and who felt they could avenge themselves by vilifying her, possibly abetted by society's undercurrent of misogyny. Had there been no vilification, she may never have been killed, as her fatal enemy, probably an African, no doubt took strength from knowing how much she was hated by, for example, the American and European agents of the Mountain Gorilla Project. Mowat provides the reader a chilling view of Fossey's victimization, but never identifies the sexist element which seems apparent to this male reviewer.

   Fossey survived all the victimization because of her extraordinary strength and a powerfully motivating love for the gorillas and the entire eden-like natural world in which she lived. She had serious blind spots: her obliviousness to her abrasiveness, her hatred for the National Park's Tutsi herders and pygmy hunter-gatherers, even before the latter began killing her beloved gorillas (whole gorilla family groups, in order to capture a single infant for the zoo trade and skulls for the tourist souvenir trade), and her (and Mowat's) use of the racist epithet "wog" with impunity toward Africans who she hated, though she shared genuine bonds of love with the Africans who worked with her as trackers and poaching patrollers, and evidenced no other racist feeling. Mowat's record of Fossey's life is a powerful, shocking, revealing and loving account.




5. When it came to dealing with people, Dian Fossey was sometimes her own worst enemy, but her dedication to saving the African mountain gorilla and its habitat in Rwanda is indisputable. Describing himself as an "editorial collaborator," rather than as a biographer, Farley Mowat assembles Fossey's story from her never-before-printed journals and private papers, inserting them directly into the book in boldface so she can tell her own story. From her founding of the Karisoke Research Center in Rwanda in 1967, until her murder there in December, 1985, Fossey battled to save "those she loved" from poaching, abduction, and dismemberment.
   
   Throughout her eighteen years at Karisoke, Fossey studied organized groups of gorillas to whom she became so familiar that they would even touch her. As fierce and protective of her own "turf" as a silverback, however, she refused to bend to the exigencies of the political climate and funding requirements and made innumerable enemies. When local herdsmen exerted their age-old rights to graze cattle on "her" mountain, Fossey shot the cattle. When poachers hurt her gorillas, she pursued them, even kidnapping the four-year-old son of one of them to force his surrender. When students at her own Center disagreed with her, she could be brutal.
   
   Fossey also fought local officials, park guards, and conservators who took bribes and staged events in order to protect their payoffs. She battled conservation organizations which wanted to get her funds, rival researchers who wanted to take over her project, and governmental officials who saw tourism in the park as a source of wealth and graft. Always fighting with ferocity, she made no effort to see another point of view or compromise. Her unsolved murder in 1985, by someone who knew the layout of her cabin, could have been by someone from any of these alienated groups.
   
   Mowat presents Fossey as a lonely warrior who never found personal peace, a woman who was instrumental in drawing pubic attention to the plight of the mountain gorilla but who was less sucessful than she had hoped. As he points out in his Epilogue, her cause has been continued by some of the researchers who studied with her. Two of those, Amy Vedder and Bill Weber, continue the story of the gorillas from the death of Fossey through 1993's disastrous Rwandan Civil War. Their book, In the Kingdom of Gorillas: Fragile Species in a Dangerous Land, reflects a more conciliatory viewpoint than that of Fossey. Mary Whipple

5 comments about Edward Teller: The Real Dr. Strangelove.

1. I will be brief as others have written very good reviews. The authors start off well connecting with those interested in Edward Teller or the "Atomic Era coming of Age". The book does justice and provides insight until the later third, begining with the Oppenheimer security issues. From there it declines into an obsession with political correctness....conservatives are right-wing and liberals have no slur attached to them. The book ends with less and less of Teller as the object but more as a useful tool for the authors spin on history.



2. Whether or not Edward Teller was the model for Dr. Strangelove in the movie of the same name [my pick for #1 movie ever], he was still one of the most controversial and enigmatic scientists of the 20th Century. Peter Goodchild does an excellent job laying out Dr. Teller's life in the book Edward Teller, The Real Dr. Strangelove. Having read Goodchild's J. Robert Oppenheimer: Shatterer Of Worlds while still in college [and having watched the BBC show by Goodchild on PBS with my Dad - a favorite memory], I trusted that Goodchild would write a book that was neither hagiography nor hatchet job, and Edward Teller did not disappoint. Goodchild gives us Teller's life as a witty and brilliant scientist [which I have personal experience with - I had the good fortune of hearing Dr. Teller speak] and as a troubled and extremely political human being. Being a fan of Oppenheimer and a partisan against the Star Wars nuclear defense, I expected that the book would support, and perhaps intensify, my negative feelings towards Teller, but reading the book has made me more sympathetic towards Teller the human being [while still vehemently disagreeing with his treatment of Oppenheimer and his support of the scientifically ridiculous Star Wars plan]. Their may be some people that are purely heroic or villainous, but most people are like J. Robert Oppenheimer or Edward Teller, flawed human beings. I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in science and scientists, the ethical conflicts of certain kinds of scientific research, biography, the bomb, and the history of the 20th Century. An endnote: when I was in the 1st and 2nd grades in Berkeley, California, I lived on Scenic Avenue and went to Hillside Elementary School. One of my routes to or from school took me along Hawthorne Terrace past Dr. Teller's house. I was a precocious kid and knew the "Father of the H-Bomb" lived in my neighborhood. He drove a beat-up old car, which confirms Teller's frugality as reported by Goodchild.



3. In terms of pure cognitive exuberance, Teller is a hard act to follow. Reading this book on the heels of Teller's "Memoirs," I sometimes felt as if I were reading a condensed version of "Memoirs" (Goodchild quotes from it so heavily) into which someone had inserted occasional prosaic objections or asides--Rose Bethe remembers blah, blah, etc.
   
   Which is another way of saying I found the first 300 pages redundant. At that point, with the discussion of testing in Amchitka, Goodchild's version of events differs so greatly from Teller's that I was appreciative of the divergent and perhaps corrective account.
   
   The thematic heart of the book, the tragic hero's hubris, is interesting and deserved tighter focus. I found quotes like this one by George Cowan provacative: "People do betray themselves...potentially Edward was a great man in the highest sense, but he was betrayed by his obsession for power. Early on he was ambitious, which led to frustration, and then with success came the hubris and the power. And then he was lost. He made a mistake. He knows." But I never saw this adequately substantiated in what followed. Ultimately, I felt Goodchild presented the paradox of Teller but did not understand it.
   
   Am I the only one who finds the title a bit cheap, a bit of a marketing ploy?



4. After reading about Oppenheimer, I became interested in Teller and his role in the development of nuclear weapons and the Oppenheimer/Los Alamos saga. Though billed as a biography, this tome offers little in the way of insight into who Teller was. Instead, it is a very matter-of-fact depiction of events in his life and the development of nuclear and weapons science during the cold war. His scientific explanations are excellent and clear; his insight into his subject is sadly lacking.



5. Peter Goodchild, otherwise a documentary maker for the BBC, has written a biography of Edward Teller that I found to be disappointing.
   
   As someone very interested by the era and its scientists, I was surprised that he omits John von Neuman from his "suspects list" of possible inspirations for Dr. Strangelove. There is a strong case for this: like Dr. Strangelove, von Neuman was wheelchair-bound, consulted for the Rand Corporation, spoke German as a native speaker, was very knowledgeable about game theory (he co-invented it), and at times advocated a preemptive war against the Soviet Union.
   
   In reading this book, I did not feel that I came to know Edward Teller, who was a very interesting, if controversial, man. I learned a little about his origins, his studies, his projects, and the controversies that he was embroiled in. But only in a few events did I feel that Goodchild got to the bottom of what happened. This book reads more like a Life magazine article, or a description of a new wondersoap than like a work of history.
   
   I disliked that Goodchild makes interesting points, but then doesn't provide sources to support them. An example: Goodchild quotes an American soldier to the effect that the US military knew and tolerated that top secret information about the work at Los Alamos was being flown to the Soviet Union by the planeload, and names the air field where this is said to have happened. This is a spectacular allegation, if true. Unfortunately the sources he offers to substantiate this claim were a Soviet code clerk who worked at the Soviet embassy in Ottawa, and an American soldier who sold his story at the height of the Red Scare. Both wrote books that needed spectacular stories to sell well. Neither the Venona decrypts nor the Mitrokhin archive, both of which have provided us with a good understanding of how the Soviets exported technology from Los Alamos allude even remotely to these clandestine flights. This is not to claim with certainty that these flights never happened, but rather to say that by not credibly substantiating his claims, Goodchild makes it clear that his work is not serious. Was there no FOIA or other source to substantiate this spectacular claim?
   
   Teller was involved in Operation Chariot, a project to use H-bombs to dig a harbor that nobody wanted on Alaska's ice-bound northern coast. In the end the opposition of the indigenous population led to the operation being cancelled. This entire episode, which I think should have led to a lot of soul-searching, and led an insightful biographer to ask and answer many probing questions, is more or less described in the sterile prose otherwise used to describe a fender-bender. I was also quite disappointed by his treatment of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Goodchild makes so many subtle and sometimes unfair digs that his book seems to be more a political tract than a serious and factual biography.
   
   A further annoyance is that Goodchild doesn't include footnotes, but rather has quotes for some sources at the back of the book. This is infuriating, as some of his ideas are interesting, and it is only when you flip to the back of the book that you learn whether this is or isn't one of the ideas for which he provides corroboration. This is one of the few books I have ever read that doesn't have a single positive review of itself on its back cover. To end this review on a positive note, it is one of the few biographies of Dr. Teller, so you may have to read it for what information it offers, and perhaps to use it as a doorstop. I anxiously await a book that does justice to Edward Teller's genius, life, and times.

3 comments about Einstein's Brainchild: Relativity Made Relatively Easy!.

1. Relativity is made easier in Einstein's Brainchild which brings Albert Einstein's theories to life with bright, involving writing. This traces both the story of his life and the theories he envisioned, blending cartoons and illustrations with a lively discourse on the meaning of Einstein's insights, applicable to the modern world. Highly recommended.



2. This book is great! It answers every question you've ever had about the universe, plus tons more. Not only does it tell you about Einstein's theories, it tells you about his life, friends, competitors, everything! I have learned so much from this book! Don't think it is written for children, because it is most certainly not. I got confused sometimes, but not too much. I recommend this to anyone with an interest in space or anything to do with it, it is really quite fascinating, especially because I want to be an astrological physicist when I'm older!



3. This book gives a great intro to Einstein, that's understandable and lends to the appreciation as to what a great thinker Einstein truly was.
   
   Other great books along this same vein are E=MC2, and Fermats Enigma, the latter gets a bit deeps towards the end but the beginning chapters really flesh out number theory in a historical context that really freshens the mathematic atmosphere.
   
   Will aspiring mathematics majors appreciate Einstein's Brainchild? If you involve yourself with the process of introduction and discourse, they probably would!
   
   Enjoy!

5 comments about The Crocodile Hunter: The Incredible Life and Adventures of Steve and Terri Irwin.

1. "Hold onto their heads while I get their jaws apart." Steve Irwin grew up with his parents and sisters in Australia. His parents started the Beerwah Reptile Park, which later grew into Australia Zoo. Ever since he was a young boy, Steve has helped his dad capture and relocate crocodiles. In September of 1991, Terri and a friend went to Australia for vacation. Terri was introduced to Steve and four months later they were engaged. Immediately after their wedding in June in Terri's hometown in Oregon, they went back to Australia to begin filming the hit TV series "The Crocodile Hunter." They had many adventures all over the world and were running the zoo. On July 24, 1998 their daughter Bindi Sue Irwin was born. They continue to help injured and orphaned animals and teach people to conserve wild life. I really enjoyed reading this book.
   
   I liked that the book told of some of their adventures. One of the trips they went on was to drive along the longest manmade structure, Australia's Dingo Fence. Another was when they had to free climb to a lower edge of a cliff and Terri nearly fell. One of their adventures with a crocodile was when they were trying to move Charlie from a cement enclosure to the zoo.
   
   I also liked that they put animal facts and survival tips in the book without being a distraction. They said that the perentie was the largest lizard in Australia. They also said that ninety percent of fatal snake bites in Australia happen when a person is trying to kill or catch the snake. They said you shouldn't cut, lick, or wash a snake bite so that a doctor can swab the bite to find out if the serpent is venomous and what species it is.
   
   I liked that they gave several descriptive facts about Steve's parents. Steve's dad, Bob, and his mom, Lyn, were both great naturalists and herpetologists. Bob was raised in the state of Victoria by his mom and grand mother during the depression. His father and grandfather both died while fighting the Japanese in the specific. Lyn worked very hard to learn better techniques for rehabilitating marsupials. Lyn and Bob knew each other since they were kids.
   
   Another thing I compliment the book on was that it told of times when they made mistakes or felt embarrassed. When Steve was very young his dad had to push him out of the way because he was stepping on brown snake, one of the most venomous snakes in the world. Another time, Steve caught several red-bellied black snakes and brought them on the bus. His dad was furious and yelled at him right in front of his friends. When Steve and Terri were out catching crocs Terri couldn't keep the spotlight still, resulting in Steve missing the little crocodiles. The lives of Steve and Terri Irwin are never dull and are full of adventure. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in adventure and wildlife.



2. "Hold onto their heads while I get their jaws apart." Steve Irwin grew up with his parents and sisters in Australia. His parents started the Beerwah Reptile Park, which later grew into Australia Zoo. Ever since he was a young boy, Steve has helped his dad capture and relocate crocodiles. In September of 1991, Terri and a friend went to Australia for vacation. Terri was introduced to Steve and four months later they were engaged. Immediately after their wedding in June in Terri's hometown in Oregon, they went back to Australia to begin filming the hit TV series "The Crocodile Hunter." They had many adventures all over the world and were running the zoo. On July 24, 1998 their daughter Bindi Sue Irwin was born. They continue to help injured and orphaned animals and teach people to conserve wild life. I really enjoyed reading this book.
   
   I liked that the book told of some of their adventures. One of the trips they went on was to drive along the longest manmade structure, Australia's Dingo Fence. Another was when they had to free climb to a lower edge of a cliff and Terri nearly fell. One of their adventures with a crocodile was when they were trying to move Charlie from a cement enclosure to the zoo.
   
   I also liked that they put animal facts and survival tips in the book without being a distraction. They said that the perentie was the largest lizard in Australia. They also said that ninety percent of fatal snake bites in Australia happen when a person is trying to kill or catch the snake. They said you shouldn't cut, lick, or wash a snake bite so that a doctor can swab the bite to find out if the serpent is venomous and what species it is.
   
   I liked that they gave several descriptive facts about Steve's parents. Steve's dad, Bob, and his mom, Lyn, were both great naturalists and herpetologists. Bob was raised in the state of Victoria by his mom and grandmother during the depression. His father and grandfather both died while fighting the Japanese in the specific. Lyn worked very hard to learn better techniques for rehabilitating marsupials. Lyn and Bob knew each other since they were kids.
   
   Another thing I compliment the book on was that it told of times when they made mistakes or felt embarrassed. When Steve was very young his dad had to push him out of the way because he was stepping on brown snake, one of the most venomous snakes in the world. Another time, Steve caught several red-bellied black snakes and brought them on the bus. His dad was furious and yelled at him right in front of his friends. When Steve and Terri were out catching crocs Terri couldn't keep the spotlight still, resulting in Steve missing the little crocodiles. The lives of Steve and Terri Irwin are never dull and are full of adventure. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in adventure and wildlife.
   
   
   By K. Lissner



3. This book is a treasure, for those who loved Steve and Terri Irwin. It is filled with wonderful photos of their lives together, and written in an easy to read style. I love having it on my coffee table as a reference book, and it helps to keep Steve's memory alive.



4. Great book for a great man.



5. This book reveils the true story of how a man and his family are saving Australian animals. You will read about the true love of a person who entertained and educated the world. Any one who heard Steve torments or harms animals to do a show will read the truth. He will say why he captures an animal and what he learns from the animal and what happens after he releases the animal or takes it to his zoo..The book is told by Steve and Terry Irwin. It includeds stories from his mom and dad and Wes, the zoo director. It reveals Steve Irwins real story, from a child through the birth of his daughter and more.. Junior High school kids and older will love the story and the photos are amazing.. You should read this book.. Then visit his web site.