2 comments about The Great Belzoni: The Circus Strongman Who Discovered Egypt's Ancient Treasures, Second Edition (International Library of Historical Studies).

1. This is an excellent book. It is like taking the trip of a lifetime back to early 19th century Egypt



2. The beginning is very uninteresing. Belzoni's epypt adventures are not mentioned until your half way through the book.

2 comments about Their Day in the Sun: Women of the Manhattan Project (Labor and Social Change).

1. This work chronicles the role that women played in the Manhatten project during World War II in the fields of mathematics, chemistry, physics, health biology, etc. It also provides an interesting account of the role of women in the physics discoveries during the early twentieth century which made the development of nuclear weapons possible.

   This book is especially valuable since this information has not been treated in any kind of systematic way in any previous historical accounts of the Manhatten project.




2. Although attempts to profile female contributions to great undertakings are appreciated, ýTheir day in the sun,ý is fundamentally flawed by the authorsý bias toward academic, primarily physicist, researchers and by the authorsý failure to understand the mechanisms and downstream effects of Manhattan Project technologies. This has lead to a poorly organized document that spends pages on the contributions of a truck driver, secretary, or clerk whose husband was a Los Alamos or Chicago Met Lab physicist while ignoring the contributions of the tens of thousands of women who worked at other facilities, often in professional scientific or engineering capabilities. This is partially due to the uniqueness and historic significance of the atom bomb. However, other successes growing out of the Manhattan Project touch our lives every day: the medical isotopes that delineate a blocked heart artery, the separations that make good vaccines and new plastics possible, and the nuclear power reactors that remain our cleanest electric energy generators.

   The authors indicate that the limitations on their research imposed by the availability of published documents or potential interviewees were responsible for their omissions. However, in preparing reviews of the technology developed at a variety of Manhattan Project sites, my working group found reasonable access to both people and written records. Also, epidemiological researchers who have evaluated clinical effects, mortality, and morbidity of Manhattan project staff have been able to contact significant portions of former workers. Recent epidemiological studies of ýfemaleý illnesses (e. g., breast cancer) make the omission of the bulk of the Manhattan Projectýs female staff for reasons other than bias or intellectual laxness difficult to understand.

2 comments about A Benjamin Franklin Reader.

1. This is a great collection of the writings of Benjamin Franklin. For me, the real value here lies not so much in the fact that he was a self-made man, but in the advice he gave about connecting with people and interacting with others both from a business and from a personal point of view. His ability in that area led directly to his success (along with some luck). I wish more people read the Autobiography and other papers just for that reason alone. In the long run, that may be the greatest contribution made by Ben Franklin.



2. This is a fine selection from Franklin's writings, including the entire 'Autobiography'. All texts have been judiciously chosen by the editor, arranged in chronological order and prefaced by intelligent, concise and well written introductory notes. Franklin's importance and permanence clearly emerge from the reading.
   
   I only wish there were more excerpts from Franklin's delightful 'Poor Richard's Almanac'. The selections presented in this edition come from the Almanacs for the years 1733, 1734, 1736, 1737, 1738 and 1739, and they barely fill 15 pages. Nonetheless they might well satisfy the reader and in any event there is plenty of rarely published letters and articles from the Pennsylvania Gazette to make up for the possible lack of material from the almanacs signed by 'Richard Saunders'.
   
   This is the perfect book to discover Franklin and also a very good one for those who already know him, thanks to the editors insightful notes and to the opportunity to review Franklin's writings in chronological order, from a historical and biographical perspective.

1 comments about Rider of the Pale Horse: A Memoir of Los Alamos and Beyond.

1. McAllister Hull had a distinguished career as a nuclear physicist and university administrator but in the fall of 1944 he arrived at Los Alamos to work as an explosives technician. His story of how that happened gives a view of the Manhattan project different from the well told histories of the eminent scientists and military leaders. Hull knew who Oppenheimer and Groves were but his role was a niche producing critical chemical explosive components at the more isolated S-site. For that matter he knew Klaus Fuchs with out any idea of the Soviet connection.
   
   That Hull was a scientist to the depths of his psyche is apparent when he describes his thoughts while careening down a hill driving a truck with failed breaks: "I knew that if even a slight misalignment occurred, the truck would translate its forward momentum into a rotation about an axis across the road."
   
   The book is tantalizing in its brevity as when he alludes to Edward Teller during the Oppenheimer hearings: "He helped a petty man, Lewis Strauss, to harass a man better than either of them." The memoir is a quick summary by someone who had a view of the birth of atomic weaponry from the nuts and bolts up through a thorough comprehension of the underlying theory. It adds to the understanding of how the great wealth of technical talent was put together in the remote New Mexican country side and managed to achieve the unimaginable.
   
   Illustrations by the author's son round out the mid-century feel of the narrative and the bibliography has Hull's comments on nine of the more important accounts of the development of atomic and hydrogen bombs.

2 comments about That Was Ernest: The Story of Ernest Holmes & the Religious Science Movement.

1. Did you ever wonder how a religious thinker got from Point A (the youthful years) to Point B (adult years where he was now a religous pioneer and the soul that ignited the Religious Science movement)?
   If you have, this book is for you. If you're not into Religious Science's change your mind/change your life philosophy this book will still offer some revelations. If you are into it or involved with it, it is a must-read/must-own.
   Author Reginald Armor, who died in 1977, was a mere 12 years old when he met the older Ernest Holmes, who even as a young man in his 20s had embraced the philosophy for which he was to become famous. This book traces their lifelong friendship, Holmes' evolution, and the church's growth, from their first meeting (Holme's treatment helped cure Armor's warts) to Holmes' final years.
   Don't expect a long, ponderous detailed book. This book is not that at all. It's a simple account of a friendship that lasted until Holmes' 1960 passing. In sections tracing the steps of how Holmes' institute evolved into a church it resembles at times more of a history book than a memoir. These sections are the least interesting.
   But Armor also traces how Holmes' carefully considered and precisely articulated spiritual and metaphysical philsophy sparked a movement that would later have profound influences throughout the 20th century. Indeed, many classic and contemporary self-help books and motivational speakers are heavily influenced by his philosophy (the power of visualization; affirmative prayer; and "releasing" an affirmation and having complete faith in it after you make it).
   Armor also reveals several fascinating facts: even as a small child Holmes would never stop constantly asking questions (an answer meant he would ask another question), which is how he developed his thought; Holmes started as a public speaker because he truly loved speaking and sharing his philosphy about how applying what he called Universal Law could manifest a person's best good; and Holmes resisted until the very last his associates' attempts to create an church. He prefered a person's one-ness to and with God and felt organized religions' middleman institutions were unncessary. Plus he felt there were "too many religions" already. He made it clear he had no intention of founding a new religion.
   In the end, though, Holmes went along with the idea of a church (which today has some members who still maintain their previous religions even as they practice the all-inclusive Religious Science) to help spread his ideas...which he felt were really not HIS ideas, but ideas from a Higher Source.
   The bottom line: this is a simply written book which answers some key questions about who Holmes was, what motivated him, and how the then-innovative thoughts that he voiced led to the creation of an actual church.
   A MUST if you're interested in the lives of spiritual thinkers.



2. The life of Ernest Holmes is not just a very impressive and encouraging one, but also a real story of man whose lifework was destined to change lives of possibly millions of people. We have yet to see what this man's remarkable contribution will accomplish in the future to come.

   I don't usually like biographies, but this book is a great exception to this rule. It is written in a very beautiful way about man who discovered that there is divine power/force within everyone of us... he turned this knowledge into a religious science movement which is currently perhaps the most known division of New Thought movement.

   The author of this book has a way of nailing your eyes to the book, and you cannot lay it down until you have finished. The author will walk you through the good and bad, joys and sorrows...and will show you how Ernest stood erect for the truth and did not waiver or give up even when met with resistance. So the book tells you a story of man who knew what needed to be done and then did it.

   Ernest's sincere desire was to help his fellow human beings to lead a balanced life spiritually, socially, occupationally and financially. He wrote many great books which have changed lives of millions.

   In my opinion, the best thing that this book accomplishes is that it will enlighten your understanding of what Religious Science is truly all about. If you have any uncertainities or feel like Religious Science is a shady movement, then reading this book will show you how much love and good things there are about the father of this organization.

   The best biography I have ever read...written by a person who is Ernest's associate and a long-time friend.

No comments about Zerah Colburn - Spirit of Darkness.

2 comments about The Discovery of Anti-Matter: The Autobiography of Carl David Anderson, the Youngest Man to Win the Nobel Prize (Series in Popular Science , Vol 2).

1. I am the daughter-in-law of Carl Anderson. Per my request, Carl wrote his memoirs for our children. He wrote it in a way that everyone of all ages will be able to understand the meaning of physics. It is a personal story of his life from childhood to his discovery and beyond. The book is inspiring to young and old alike. It is a story of determination and perservance in a era when young scientists had to develop and create experiments using very primitive means. This book allows the reader to better understand the world and mind of a famous scientist.



2. I'm a bit biased because my grandfather was Carl Anderson's first cousin and never knew about him. I was pleased to find this book and learn more about one of my more famous relatives.
   
   For what would be called a geek today, Carl Anderson's life was quite interesting. The discussion of physics is minimal so the title shouldn't scare the casual reader away. But this is a simple autobiography of a man who just happened to be a great scientist. He faced all the basic problems we all face. For example, what do you do when you get the telegram that you've won the Nobel Prize but you don't have enough cash to get to Stockholm to pick it up?
   
   It's a fast and enjoyable read. I'm sure my 85 year old mother will enjoy it as much as I did. Then it's into the hands of my high school junior son who wants to be a physicist. It's a good peek into what a physicist actually does.

No comments about Edison.

2 comments about Slide Rule: The Autobiography of an Engineer.

1. I read all of Nevil Shute's books, except this autobiography, at a much earlier time. I've periodically searched for this book for the last twenty years, and now I'm so glad to have read it. It helps to explain why I enjoyed the man's novels so much.

   I was aware that Mr. Shute worked in aeronautical engineering, but had no idea he played such an important role in the industry. I had pictured his early engineering work much like his character in "No Highway in the Sky", a task oriented almost 'nerd-like' man with no interest beyond the laboratory. In an age when people seem to do all possible to elevate their public persona it is refreshing to look at a man who possessed humility.

   I realize now how Mr. Shute could develop such wonderful characters in his novels, people with a full range of foibles but also the quiet courage that perserveres through struggles. He had his own life and his own dignity to build upon.




2. The detailed account of the design and transatlantic flight of the dirigible R-100 is the most fascinating part of this book. The description of the pre-computer work of a large roomfull of engineers calculating and recalculating the stresses (iterative calculation) on the framework of the airship is amazing.

No comments about E.C. Stakman, Statesman of Science.