No comments about Thomas Edison (Library of American Biography Series) (2nd Edition) (Library of American Biography).

2 comments about Grand Eccentrics: Turning the Century : Dayton and the Inventing of America (Ohio).

1. Mr. Bernstein does a great job bringing to life the interactions among the Wright Brothers, Boss Kettering, and John Patterson in turn of the century Dayton, Ohio. Did you know John Patterson (founder of National Cash Register)invented the canned sales pitch and direct mail marketing? And the way the book covers the five year period it took the Wright Brothers to concur flight is spellbinding. I have purchased five copies of this book to give to various friends, all of whom loved it.



2. Orville Wright, Wilbur Wright, James Cox, John Patterson, James Ritty, and other men have brought many great inventions and insight into the world of business, politics, and science. These guys are known mostly for their contributions to human progress but they also have one more thing in common: they all grew up and/or lived in the city of Dayton, Ohio, when they achieved greatness. Author Mike Bernstein wrote this book in 1996 to commemorate the bicentennial of the city of Dayton and to celebrate the many native men who helped change the world.

   Much of this book is spent talking about John Patterson, the former head of NCR (known as National Cash Register in those days), and his business practices and personal conduct that thrust him into the national spotlight. The Wright Brothers also get extensive coverage in this book, with Bernstein talking about not only the invention of powered flight, but also the personalities that made the Wright Brothers unique. You complete your reading feeling like you know about them as people and not just as two guys who were good mechanics.

   Bernstein includes many black and white photos throughout the book, showing some of the factories, the people, and the inventions that put Dayton, Ohio, on the national map. He doesn't include any color photos. He gives the book an historic feel by including photos exactly as they were taken in the early part of the twentieth century.

   Dayton, Ohio is still known by many as the birthplace of aviation. But it was also a hotbed of other activities and inventions. Author Mike Bernstein explains these complex men and the ambition and drive that propelled each of them to national prominence. These men were all unique and important to the progress of mankind. But most of all, they were "grand eccentrics"- men who were out of the ordinary and who didn't allow conventional thinking to stand in the way of innovation. This book describes them well, showing how the combination of determination and zeal led these inventors to accomplish so many great things.

5 comments about Ocean Warrior: My Battle to End the Illegal Slaughter on the High Seas.

1. Paul Watson is one of the few hominids on this planet who actually knows what he's doing with his life. Over the last two hundred years humanity's impact upon Gaia has become exponential. Only people with his courage, compassion and vision offer us any hope. "Whether 'tis better in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them" -Shakespeare



2. I worked and sailed with Captain Watson for more than three years. You may not like the what he does or how he writes, but that doesn't matter one bit to him! His only concern is for those animals and ecosystems that he is fighting so hard to protect. He is an gifted leader and speaker, one of the world's most successful activists (if you count results rather than media attention), and has been an inspiration to and mentor of many others that fight for environmental justice.

   Read this book, try to soak up some of his message and his passion - then do something with it.




3. Watson wasn't enforcing international law, there was no international LAW against the "crimes" he claims whalers committed. He has stated elsewhere that he has authority to "enforce" this law from a [non binding] UN resolution that was issued many months AFTER he started sinking ships.
   This is a self aggrandizing piece of droll from a common criminal. He gives a bad name to a good cause.
   I'm very glad I had someone else's copy and I didn't spend my money on it.



4. One of the best books I have ever read! Without any question. Watson will make you laugh, cry, and most of all, get up and take action. He is one of the few humans I admire. For the most part I am so disgusted with my species I am ashamed to belong to the human race. Capt'n Watson and his crew are amoung the few souls I have any respect for. He is a true Mahatma. READ THIS BOOK!
   I was taught humans are neither demons nor angels but occupy the spectrum in between. Well far too many of us gravitate towards one end of the spectrum don't we? And that's why our homeworld has become the cesspool that it is. If we make it out of this mess, it will be because of people like Watson.



5. This book will make you laugh and cry all at once. Paul is a great writer and has packed more adventure into his life that all the Star Trek episodes put together. Time after time as you read you are sure he is done for this time, will be dead or in jail, but time after time he miraculously prevails in his Pirate Vikinq quest to save the whales.

No comments about Enigmas of Chance: An Autobiography (Alfred P. Sloan Foundation series).

4 comments about Polar Knight: The Mystery of Sir John Franklin.

1. Polar Knight;Mystery of Sir John Franklin took me back in history in a very personal way, as if I were listening to Sir John recount his story, which of course I was! The historical details and the human side of this adventure story made it difficult to put down.



2. B.J. Rule has solved the mysteries surrounding Sir John Franklin and his expedition. A riveting book full of history, and a beautiful love story.



3. Talk about a ghost writer, this book is co-authored in-effect by the subject character himself...Sir John! AR

   Skeptics disappear after experiencing this riveting saga of the mysterious fate of the noted artic explorer, John Franklin. CR

   "Blood finds Blood"..Sir John found B.J. Rule, his descendent, to relate the ture gripping facts of his mysterious fate. TA

   The facts validated the channeling. Fascinating Read. MB

   History with a Twist. JM

   Exceptional-non stop reading! PB

   A famous arctic explorer finds a descendent contemporary writer to relate the chilling facts causative of the mysterious disappearance of his voyage and his discovery of The Northwest Passage. NM

   Bizaare! Sir John himself...the subject character, dead for 153 years, returns as the literal "ghost co-author" of this riveting historic saga. AM

   B.J.'s exhaustive research, vivid descriptions, unique theme, detail orientation, captivating writing skill and the admirable main character create a worthwhile reading happening. A Discerning Reader.




4. Well written and intriguing. B.J. Rule had created a masterpiece

4 comments about Powering Apollo: James E. Webb of NASA (New Series in NASA History).

1. A nice book about the second NASA administrator who able to guide NASA from the early days of the Mercury program to right up to the first journey to the moon (Apollo 8) when Webb was forced to leave as the Nixon Administration took over.

   The book is divided into two parts. The first third of the book describes Webb's early years including his employment with the State Department, the Bureau of the Budget and Republic Supply, a division of Kerr-McGee. The remainder of the book focuses on Webb's involvement in the development of the NASA management system and the problems he overcame to get Apollo to the Moon.

   In general, I found the book quite interesting. There are many descriptions of the personal battles he had to fight with contractors, the congress and his own top-level employees, how set up the NASA management system, his involvement with the academic world and in how upper management viewed various disasters and triumphs. The management system which he developed for the largest engineering and research effort mankind has ever undertaken, carried on well after he left NASA. For example, the Apollo 11 moon landing took place when it was suppose to even the there was a new Nixon appointed leader. This management system carried on well into the Space Shuttle and Space Station programs. I also found it refreshing that Jim Webb felt a sense of personal responsibility for the loss of the Apollo 1 crew. Compare that to the finger pointing associated with the Challenger explosion and the majority of today's politicians.

   After finishing the book, I came away with the feeling that Jim Webb was truly believed in the dream that mankind should explore space and made every effort to make this dream a reality.




2. So Many books have been written about what it took technologically to put a man on the moon. What this book does is give the reader insight into what it took to get the resources to buy the technology. James Webb proved to be an expert when it came to serving many masters. The President(s), Key members of Congress and the NASA team. Would we have landed a man on the Moon before the end of the 1960's without Jim Webb? Probably Not.



3. This is an excellent biography of James E. Webb (1906-1992), NASA administrator between 1961 and 1968, the critical period in which Project Apollo was underway. During his tenure NASA developed the modern techniques necessary to coordinate and direct the most unique and complex technological enterprise in human history, the sending of human beings to the Moon and bringing them safely back to the Earth.

   Political scientist W. Henry Lambright focuses here on the biography of a stellar public administrator. He finds that Webb, a North Carolinian with a thick southern accent that charmed all and helped to hide a steel trap mind, was well-prepared for guiding NASA during this critical era because of his place as a Federal government insider well-versed in the bobs and weaves, ins and outs of New Deal Washington and the highest echelons of the Democratic Party.

   Coming to Washington in 1932, Webb served as secretary to Representative Edward W. Pou of the 4th North Carolina District and Chairman of the powerful House Rules Committee until 1934. He then went to work in the law office of O. Max Gardner, attorney and former Governor of South Carolina, in Washington, D.C., between 1934 and 1936. He then moved to the private sector, eventually rising to vice president of the Sperry Gyroscope Company, before entering the U.S. Marine Corps in 1944. After World War II, Webb returned to Washington and served as Executive Assistant to Max Gardner, by then Under Secretary of the Treasury, before being named as Director of the Bureau of the Budget in the Executive Office of the President, a position he held until 1949. President Harry S Truman then asked Webb to serve as Under Secretary of State. When the Truman administration ended early in 1953, Webb left Washington for a position in the Kerr-McGee Oil Corp. in Oklahoma.

   James Webb returned to Washington on February 14, 1961, when he accepted the position of administrator of NASA. Webb's long experience in Washington paid handsomely during his years at NASA, where he lobbied for federal support for the space program and dealt with competing interests on Capitol Hill and in the White House. His career changed fundamentally after May 25, 1961, when President John F. Kennedy announced that the United States would commit itself to landing an American on the Moon before the end of the decade. For seven years after Kennedy's 1961 lunar landing announcement, through October 1968, James Webb politicked, coaxed, cajoled, and maneuvered for NASA in Washington. The longtime Washington insider proved a master at bureaucratic politics. In the end, through a variety of methods Administrator Webb built a seamless web of political liaisons that brought continued support for and resources to accomplish the Apollo Moon landing on the schedule Kennedy had announced. He left NASA in October 1968, just as Apollo was nearing a successful completion.

   All of this is detailed in Lambright's excellent book. Once reading it, everyone will understand the book's title, "Powering Apollo," which Webb did with brilliant political leadership.

   Lambright deals extensively with the most difficult challenge faced by Webb, the Apollo 1 fire on January 27, 1967 that killed astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee. As shock gripped the nation during the days that followed, Webb told the media, "We've always known that something like this was going to happen sooner or later....who would have thought that the first tragedy would be on the ground?"

   Webb took the brunt of public criticism for the accident, and went before various congressional committees and took a personal grilling every time. His answers were sometimes evasive and always defensive. The New York Times said that under Webb NASA stood for "Never a Straight Answer." While the ordeal was personally taxing, whether by happenstance or design Webb deflected much of the backlash over the fire from both NASA as an agency and from the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson. While he was personally tarred with the disaster, the space agency's image and popular support were largely undamaged. Webb himself never recovered from the stigma of the fire, Lambright notes, and when he left NASA in October 1968, even as Apollo was nearing a successful completion, few mourned his departure.

   In all, this is an outstanding administrative biography of Jim Webb, still by far NASA's most significant administrator, although some-Daniel S. Goldin and James M. Fletcher (when his two appointments are counted together)-have served longer. "Powering Apollo" is must reading for anyone seeking to understand the Apollo program.




4. Our nation was indeed fortunate to have a NASA Administrator of the skills and insights of James Webb. His apparent push for the Industry-University-Government axis has served the United States well to this very day! I equate his vision of the Industry-University-Government axis as the forerunner of what sociologists today refer as "The Tripple Helix." Let us hope that future NASA administrators might wield the influence in the Oval Office and the Halls of Congress for humans to Return to the Moon in the 21st Century. If the James Webb Telescope has the vision of its name sake, well ... fasten your seat belts!

1 comments about My Life: A record of events and opinions.

1. This book was just what I wanted. A R Wallace's account of his own long and interesting life.

No comments about The Life and Times of A D Blumlein (Iee History of Technology Series, 24).

4 comments about Hypatia's Heritage (Beacon Paperback, 720).

1. As with much else of western culture and history, the role and importance of exceptional women in science throughout the ages has been, sadly, under-appreciated. This book seeks to address this point. Their achievements have been even more remarkable when one considers the male-dominated societies in which many of them lived. Hypatia herself was a magnificent scientist, as were many others, sadly under-represented in many historical analyses. Hopefully in the future, with our growing awareness of our societys' inherited irrational and unfair bias towards women, anyones place in the history and future of science will become what it should always have been, as scientists, irrespective of gender.



2. I rated this book at one star only because amazon.com doesn't allow a reviewer the option of zero stars. The author of this book is a biochemist -- not a trained historian -- and her amateurism certainly shows, particulary in the early chapters where a competent historian would be careful in the assessment of the historicity of sources. So Alic retails a tradition -- presented as though it has a factual basis -- about Moses and his wife operating a medical school in Egypt. Never mind that there is virtually no evidence independent of the Bible that Moses even existed. Perhaps needless to say that the Bible contains no mention of said medical school. Shortly thereafter readers are told that Cleopatra studied human anatomy and physiology by dissecting condemned prisoners alive. The source for this horror story turns out to be a rabbinical tradition -- scarcely an unbiased source when dealing with Greeks or Greek culture. The rest of the book is at best naive hagiography.



3. If you are a woman with any interest at all in the sciences (mathematics and philosophy included), then please read this book. I expected a strongly feministic "the man is holding me down" revision of history. I found a well-balanced and well-documented account of the content and context of the science and scientific lives of women who history has forgotten. I am a 36 year old female scientist, who for the first time has found a source of inspirational female role models in this book. Look, things weren't so good in the past for women. But let's not remain in denial and let's not rewrite the past. Let's read even-handed historical accounts, such as the one presented in this book, and then let's make healthy, well-balanced decisions about how society should best move forward.



4. The author has put together a comprehensive review of women, more or less lost from history, who participated in the sciences. The book is loosely structured around time periods, covering antiquity through the 18th century. The book contains many references and she clearly states her sources. Some of the more questionable (rabbinical tradition) were probably better left out. In any case, since she states the source, the reader can decide for herself.

1 comments about In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer: The Security Clearance Hearing (Cornell Paperbacks).

1. This book was originally intended to be a TV drama, I believe. I don't remember if it got made, but it doesn't change the fact that the written work is excellent.
   
   The drama follows the security clearance hearing. Kipphart took the official transcripts and melded some people together into one, rearranged the order, shortened the list of witnesses to produce one work that showed both sides of the argument. Because of the way it was pieced together, I myself couldn't decide if I sympathised with Oppenheimer or believed he was wrongfully accused. The moment one side got the upper hand, it would be the other side's turn to state its case.
   
   Perhaps one negative point is that it's hard to say Kipphart truly "wrote" this, as so much is taken from historical fact. His artistic touch is visible through what exactly is shown, not the content. He chooses to show these arguments, the ones he believes are the most important.
   
   My favorite part is Oppenheimer's monologue at the end, although that was freely invented by Kipphart. It's one of the few things that can be easily attributed to him.
   
   I enjoyed this work, and I would recommend it to everybody.