No comments about Desert Days: My Life As a Field Archaeologist.

1 comments about Colonel Cody and the Flying Cathedral: The Adventures of the Cowboy Who Conquered the Sky.

1. This book is really a GREAT read! It tells the story of Samuel Cody from his days as a cowboy out West through his life in England as a "wild west" showman and his improbable role in the history of aviation. The book is fascinating reading both because Jenkins writes so well and also because he has done enough research to fill in the story with lots of detail. By the end of the book you'll be on the edge of your seat following Cody's incredible exploits. You'll also come away with a real feel for the dangerous and exhilirating world of aviation in those first few years of it's existence. It's a shame Cody and the other very early kite-to-airplane pioneers have been so overshadowed by the aviators who survived into the 20's.

2 comments about What Little I Remember.

1. A delightful book!

   Gives a very candid insight into the traits and personal characteristics of some of the scientific greats of the 20th century.




2. "What little I remember" is the story of the nuclear era seen by O.R. Frisch, a physicist that explained the nuclear fission (with his aunt Lise Meitner, Hahn's collaborator). Frisch was involved in the discoveries of the quantum mechanics. He worked in Cambridge with Rutherford, in Copenhagen with Bohr and in Los Alamos with Oppenheimer. Book full of anecdotes about the men that made great the physics.

1 comments about Alexander Graham Bell: The Spirit of Invention (Amazing Stories) (Amazing Stories).

1. I have always been curious about the preposterous stories of the Klondike gold rush. This wild period in history features gold fever lunacy -- a desperate stampede -- boom-town lawlessness -- wilderness hardships -- gambling -- hard work -- hard drinking -- hard women -- and shattered dreams -- all the ingredients for some light adventure reading.
   
   You will be introduced to colorful gang members: Old Man Triplett, Fatty Gray, Canada Bill, Doc Baggs, Slim Jim Foster, Reverend Bowers, and Red Gibbs. Of all the determined characters of that frantic period, their leader, Soapy Smith is the most engrossing.
   
   Stan Sauerwein is the author of Amazing Stories' "Soapy Smith: Skagway's Scourge of the Klondike", the entertaining biography of this legendary boomtown crime boss.
   
   Jefferson Randolph Smith Jr. as a teenager tried his hand in a cattle drive to Abilene, Kansas, where he acquired a life long taste for cards, liquor, and loose women.
   
   Once back in San Antonio, Smith was soon cleaned out by Clubfoot Hall, playing the shell game. Smith was hooked and begged Hall to teach him all he knew. Smith was sent to Leadville, Colorado to learn under the master: V. Bullock "Old Man" Taylor. It was in Leadville, Smith first saw the infamous soap bar game, and fell in love with it.
   
   Soapy moved through the west, building his gang and adding new scams.
   
   Hearing about the gold strikes in the Klondike, Soapy and six members of his gang sailed to Skagway, Alaska -- the jumping off point to the gold fields. Here, Soapy quickly set about fleecing the thousands of stampeders pouring into Skagway.
   
   He first opened a high class bar with gambling in the cozy back room -- customers routinely were robbed on their way to the outhouse, behind the building.
   
   Soapy's gang operated numerous phony businesses such as barber shops, information booths, map sales, a freight line, phony US Army recruiting center, and weather forecasting, all with one purpose -- size up the suckers and rob them blind.
   
   At the height of the gold rush, Soapy hit upon the idea of a phony telegraph station in Skagway. "For only five dollars for 10 words, every stampeder could send home news of this safe arrival." Often the miners received urgent pleas from the miner's families back home for money (actually sent by Soapy's gang). "Soapy's men, of course, accepted the miner's money for transfer -- not back home, but directly to Soapy's strongbox", relates Mr. Sauerwein.
   
   Soapy had always limited his targets to new comers -- never preying on the locals. Soapy explained that robbing newcomers was really a community service by preventing amateurs from being stranded in the wilderness. Soapy sometimes paid their passage back home -- mainly to get rid of complaining victims and to make room for new suckers.
   
   In "One Poke Too Many", the reader will find out the ultimate fate of Soapy Smith.
   
   Mr. Sauerwein tells his story in a clear, informal, entertaining style complete with dialog that brings a stage play feel to his tale.
   
   The book contains ten chapters covering 131 pages and four interesting pictures.

5 comments about Possessing Genius: The Bizarre Odyssey of Einstein's Brain.

1. This is a book with much to recommend it. Kudos to Carolyn Abraham for finding mind-blowing story and for doing such an effective job in teasing our a logical narrative structure. Two small complaints: 1) Abraham has a tendency to try to dramatize events, where it would be much more effective just to give the facts and let the reader draw his/her own conclusion; 2) Abraham seems determined to deify the protagonist, Thomas Hardy, in the eyes of her reader when the facts of his life so obviously undermine this effort. Otherwise, this book is a must read.



2. Like many people, I'd seen the factoid that Einstein's brain was kept in a box in Kansas, and always wondered about the full story. Running across this book I was very happy to finally get that story, told in a way that was engaging and fairly honest about everyone's role in the story (to the extent that's possible).

   The only reason I'm giving the book four stars instead of five is that I found that my interest waned significantly over the last 50 to 75 pages. I think it had to do with the shift towards more science and less biography, though I'm not sure there was a way to write this book without the shift (it isn't huge, but it is noticable).

   I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Einstein, but perhaps even more to anyone who likes quirky history or biography.




3. Like many people, I'd seen the factoid that Einstein's brain was kept in a box in Kansas, and always wondered about the full story. Running across this book I was very happy to finally get that story, told in a way that was engaging and fairly honest about everyone's role in the story (to the extent that's possible).

   The only reason I'm giving the book four stars instead of five is that I found that my interest waned significantly over the last 50 to 75 pages. I think it had to do with the shift towards more science and less biography, though I'm not sure there was a way to write this book without the shift (it isn't huge, but it is noticable).

   I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Einstein, but perhaps even more to anyone who likes quirky history or biography.




4. Possessing Genius: The Bizarre Odyssey of Einstein's Brain by Carolyn Abraham and Driving Mr. Albert by Michael Paterniti both cover the same saga of Einstein's brain after his death. While Driving Mr. Albert is fun, Possessing Genius is fascinating.
   
   Einstein died in a Princeton, NJ hospital in 1955. Pathologist Dr. Thomas Harvey performed the autopsy and took the brain for his own use. For the next 40 plus years, Dr. Harvey went through three wives, a number of jobs and moved to various states. The only constant in his life was Einstein's brain. Abraham writes "even the basic facts of his story were so strange that supermarket tabloids would have been hard-pressed to invent them." While wanting to study this famous specimen, Dr. Harvey wasn't a trained neurologist and spent most of those four decades as a "curator."
   
   Interspersed throughout this story, Abraham delves into the physical side of the brain and the history of neurological research. While this topic might seem very technical, the author explains it in a way that is fascinating and easy to understand. She covers such topics as the debate between nature and nurture, differences in the brain based on age, gender, and sexual orientation, physical dimensions of the brain, the development of the brain and components of the brain (neurons, glial cells, etc.). She also includes lots of trivia. For instance, the US Amy convened a meeting in Washington, DC and invited Dr. Harvey. They presented him with their plans to study Einstein's brain. Harvey refused to hand over the brain of this famous pacifist to the military.
   
   Did any scientist discover the key to Einstein's genius by studying his brain? The jury is still deliberating this question. But no matter what, those who did come in contact with his brain describe the emotional high they experienced by handling "the organ that changed the way we viewed the universe." After reading Possessing Genius, I don't know about gaining a better appreciation for Einstein's brain, but I certainly have a better understanding and respect for the human brain in general.



5. This feels and reads like a book-length magazine article, and depends too much on interviews with Thomas Harvey, the man who 'possessed genius.' I'm not sure if this reliance on interviews with Harvey is because he is the central character of the story, or because the writer is a journalist writing a book-length magazine article!
   
   Not that its a bad book. The interesting thing is that the world has changed so much in just 50 years that such an event (a solitary, almost secret autopsy of such a monumental celebrity) would be impossible now.
   
   Perhaps the disposition of Einstein's brain at the end of Possessing Genius, as unideal as it seems, was the best that could have happened in the real world.

1 comments about Einstein.

1. I ordered this book (which was advertised as being signed by the author) as a gift for a friends birthday which was one month following the date of my order. The book took over 2 weeks to arrive and it was NOT SIGNED. Am frustrated and left without enough time to get the gift I intended to give.

No comments about A Tale of Two Brothers: The Story of the Wright Brothers.

No comments about William and Lawrence Bragg, Father and Son: The Most Extraordinary Collaboration in Science.

5 comments about The Difference Engine: Charles Babbage and the Quest to Build the First Computer.

1. I enjoyed this book very much. It was refreshing to step away from the technical library and read more about the people, machines, trials, and triumphs that occured as far back as the early 1800's.

   Though it all you learn about a man who had such vision. His execution could be faulted for many reasons. But in the end the machine works! I can not wait to see the Difference Engine myself someday.




2. This is the first book I've read on Charles Babbage, but I imagine that there are others that are better. First, this book seems to assume you've already read a book or two about Babbage before. It almost has an apologetic tone and seems to be an answer to what, I assume, have been slights against Babbage and his work. Second, this book is as much about the author and his quest to build a Difference Engine as it is about Babbage himself. If you want to hear about dealing with office politics in an British museum, you may find this interesting.

   All in all, this is a fairly dry read. It was interesting at points, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it for your first book on Babbage.




3. This book has 2 basic parts. First, is the discussion of Babbage's life and his computing engines. Second, is the author's modern-day story of attempting to complete Babbage's Difference Engine, a feat which Babbage himself was unable to do. I picked up this book for the first part. I wanted to learn about Babbage and how his engines worked. While the author gives a wonderful account of Babbage's life and methodology, he does not clearly describe HOW these engines function. I realize that the engines are extremely complex, but a chapter on the functioning of the Difference Engine trial piece and some diagrams on its operations would have been much appreciated. Unfortunately, as were Babbage's contemporaries, we are left mainly in dark as to how simply turning a crank can produce the necessary additions. The author also never fully explains the "method of finite differences" upon which the function of the difference engine is based.

   The most amazing part of the book is the overview of Babbage's design for the Analytical Engine- the first programmable computer. It is amazingly similar in concept to today's modern computers, but it uses motion through metal gears and cams, instead of electricity through logic gates and wires. I expected to be bored by the modern-day story, but I actually was interested in the process of reconstructing this 19th century machine. It was enlightening to see how the same problems Babbage faced 150 years before troubled engineers today.

   Overall, I recommend this book for those curious about Babbage and his engines. However, the writing seems jerky and unorganized in parts, and there is little technical description of the engines' functionality.




4. Charles Babbage and John Herschel, the astronomer, were preparing tables for the astronomical society. They needed to check the work of computations by humans, by different computers. The need for tables was particulary important for navigators. The source of error in the tables was clear, human fallibility. The manual production of tables, calculation, transcription, typesetting, and proofreading created opportunities for error. The engine of change in 1821 was the steam engine. Charles Babbage wanted to produce a machine to produce error-free tables.
   
   Babbage entered Trinity in 1810. He studied on his own the work of the French mathematicians. His father was a well-to-do London banker. Charles married and received from his father an allowance of three hundred pounds. In London he established himself in scientific circles. By the spring of 1822 he had a small working model of his first design. Computing devices of the time required manipulation and were limited as to the size of the numbers the devices could handle. Babbit first used the method of differences, addition, in his design. He sent a brief announcement to the Astronomical Society about his invention. He received a mandate from the government and was prepared to build a new machine. He hired Joseph Clement for precision engineering work. Clement and Babbage devised new tools and modified machines. There was a need to produce large numbers of similar parts. Babbage conceived of his machine when manufacturing was in transition. By 1826 Babbage was wholly absorbed in the design of his Difference Engine. The machine was eight feet by seven feet by three feet.
   
   In 1826 Babbage published a book on life assurance. While traveling in Europe following the death of his wife, he learned of his election as Lucasian Professor of Mathematics. He never resided in Cambridge and gave no lectures. Babbage expressed a view on the decline of science In England. Undoubtedly science was more professional in Prussia and France. Babbage's position alienated some of his supporters. In 1832 part of the engine was put on display in his drawing room. Clement was to leave the project. Work was not resumed. The Treasury Department spent more than seventeen thousand pounds on it.
   
   There is a curious affinity between mathematics, mind, and computing. After the break with Clement, Babbage moved from the Difference Engine to the Analytical Engine. He devised the first automatic mechanisms for multiplication and division. He had in fact designed a general purpose four function calculator. In 1836 he opted for punch cards to control the engine. The Analytical Engine was never built. Babbage worked in isolation. With the Analytical Engine Babbage was seduced by the intellectual quest.
   
   After twenty years the Treasury axed the Difference Engine and wrote off the expense. Between 1846 and 1849 Babbage designed Difference Engine No. 2. Maurice Wilkins believed the Analytical Engine was one of the great accomplishments of the 19th century. The Science Museum in Britain built a version of the Difference Engine No. 2 for an exhibit on Babbage.



5. This is a terrific book. Beyond that, I have nothing to add to the previous excellent reviews, except to note that it seems to be precisely the same book as Doron Swade's The Cogwheel Brain. I nearly bought both until I checked the tables of contents...

5 comments about The Curious Life of Robert Hooke: The Man Who Measured London.

1. Robert Hooke's life was curious, a neglected topic that makes good reading, although a full, living sense of this man is missing from the book.
   
   He was an ingenious, creative man, abounding with energy and interests in his younger years, whose acquaintances and friends included Boyle, Pepys, and Wren. He was widely recognized as a physics and general science experimenter of exceptional ability - a designer of both accurate instruments and experiments in which to employ them - almost certainly the greatest of his day. He might be viewed from today's perspective as something of the Ernest Lawrence of his day versus the great theorists.
   
   Hooke's interests included astronomical measurements, microscopy, fossils, watches, the behavior of gases, and more. He was also interested in theoretical concepts although his mathematical abilities fell far short of people like Newton or Leibniz. Still, he came up with the hypothesis of the inverse-square law for gravity which he sent to Newton, asking him to prove mathematically whether it was valid. Newton never gave Hooke appropriate credit for Hooke's early insight, and it is not clear whether this was owing to Hooke's annoying carping or Newton's own very unpleasant temperament.
   
   Hooke's early musings on the layers of fossils found on his native Isle of Wight demonstrate a remarkable analytical and creative mind at work. He got the process of their formation pretty close to right lifetimes before the meaning of fossils was widely recognized in science.
   
   Ms. Jardine made the happy discovery of what is likely Hooke's portrait (no known one survives), a picture that had long been identified as being of John Ray. The circumstances of her discovery make a wonderful little tale early in the book.
   
   What comes through so strongly from some of Jardine's anecdotes is how the basic philosophy of science had advanced by the second half of the 17th century, Hooke's time. This was, after all, only a few decades after Francis Bacon, yet the main points of modern science seem to be assumed by Europe's leading tinkerers and scientists.
   
   Hooke's story is not a happy one, but I will leave that for readers to discover. Ms. Jardine is at times a slightly awkward writer, but she has an interesting story to tell and, on the whole, she tells it well. Ms. Jardine also wrote On a Grander Scale, a biography of the wonderful Christopher Wren. The book on Hooke she regards as a companion volume to the one on Wren. Do read both.



2. I've been fascinated by Robert Hooke since studying science in the 1970s. Less well known than Newton or Wren but arguably at least as influential today, even if that influence is less obvious.
   
   Who is Robert Hooke? Lisa Jardine does a great job of breathing life into a man whose greatest misfortune, perhaps, is contributing so much across so many fields. A true polymath, with a brilliant mind.
   
   Highly recommended to those who want to know more about the development of science in the 17th century. The man himself may not be especially endearing, but his scientific learning is particularly enduring.



3. 
   This book is an interesting read, though it is sort of dry. My interest did not really get aroused by the book until the Great Fire and the rebuilding. Maybe I know too much about Robert Hook and the first part of the book was only a rehash of what I was already familiar with. I have always known about the Great Fire and the damage to the city, but had no idea of what went on in the effort to rebuild. Of course Sir Christopher Wren has always been "the man who built London after the fire" and this book does give a little more realistic description of how the interests of the various groups (the Royals, the Corporation of London, the Royal Society and the average citizen) were accomodated in the rebuilding.



4. Definitely not for the casual reader or the faint-hearted but an excellent read all the same. You will need to be pretty curious about Mr. Hooke and his cantankerous personality to navigate this book. The extensive use of quotes from original texts and letters provides the story with authenticity that is admirable but sometimes, makes it a little laborious read. I suspect it is important to understand how Hooke was hooked on patent medicines and opiates, not to say the odd heavy metal, but constantly reading about his vomiting habits is not for the squeamish, particularly at the breakfast table. However this is a great read and I came out of it feeling more sympathetic about Hooke who accomplished more in each month of his life than most of us do in a lifetime. Certainly Lisa Jardine made a comprehensive effort to capture the whole man and succeeded perhaps a little too much.



5. I was looking for a good introduction to Hooke and his contributions, and got part of that. Lisa Jardine shows us a man of great energy, great diversity, great precision and artistry. Yet as she tells the story she writes out of a background of knowledge of Hooke which she doesn't detail for us. For example: apparently Hooke had a long-standing interest in a universal language - but we only notice this at the end of the book; apparently he had a pattern of contesting prior discoveries, but she doesn't exhibit this pattern for us; the zenith telescope seems to be very important for Hooke - it's not shown why here.
   Coupled with the fact that her plan is not chronologically structured, the timeline is not all that clear to me as a reader, but rather I have a cloudy impression of Hooke's life read out of the largely inimical view of Newton and the self-obsessed Royal Society with their treatment of Hooke as a rather difficult servant, toally at their beck and call.
   I'm glad to have read the book - but I'm keen to read a better one.