1 comments about Linnaeus in Italy, The Spread of a Revolution in Science.

1. College-level libraries strong in science history will want to add LINNAEUS IN ITALY: THE SPREAD OF A REVOLUTION IN SCIENCE to their collections: it considers the evolution of both science and intellectual thinking in early 19th century Europe and uses Italy and one Linnaean revolution in particular to highlight changes in scientific thought. The scholarly essays to be found here consider Linnaeus' theories, their public representation and reception, and how these theories found support and controversy in all sectors of Italian society. Plenty of footnoted scholarly references assure college-level readers receive the best in researched science history.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch

No comments about Charles Darwin (Grandes biografias series).

5 comments about Wilbur and Orville.

1. This volume surpasses another similar effort by Tom D. Crouch that came out at roughly the same time. Both books can be read profitably but Howard is better informed technically and a good deal wittier than Crouch. Howard's description of Samuel Langley's attempt to get his contraption into the air shortly before the Wrights' is laugh-out-loud funny. Crouch also suffers from his association with the Smithsonian Institution, whose scandalous treatment of the Wrights shocks even at this distance.



2. There are thousands of books produced each year on history and biography that are written by people with a preeminant knowledge of their subject but whose intellect suppresses their passion or perhaps simply masks the truth that they just don't know how to write -- how to let their passion soar upon the page.

   In that respect Donald Howard has done with "Wilbur and Orville" what only the greatest of biographers can do. He opens the roof on a cloistered and inscrutable family and allows you to share with two of its members the adventure of a lifetime. You bear witness to the achievement of manpowered flight, not as an Archimedean moment of "Eureka!" but as a result of a dogged pursuit of knowledge through trial and failure.

   The great genius of Wilbur Wright and his brother is one of unstinting determination. Failure is not defeat but only the next small problem to solve. They knew that experimentation without failure yields only a partial truth -- that failure and success are irrevocably intertwined. Only those with the persistence not to be discouraged by the false thread will find what they seek.

   As a former aeronautics librarian for the Library of Congress, Donald Howard does a tremendous job in defining precisely the nature of the Wright brothers' achievement and in defending them from later detractors who crawled from the woodwork to lay their own partial claims to invention. In truth, the Wrights leaned heavily on the experimentations of others, letting the failures of others serve as a practical classroom. What they invented was not the first machine to rise from the earth under its own power, but the first that could sustain itself and be navigated across the skies.

   As we near the one hundredth anniversary of their first flight, it is an opportunity to reflect and remember those two young men whose vision opened the skies and made our world a smaller, less alien place to live.

   This is THE definitive biography! If you read only one book on their lives (although there are other recent good ones), let this be it. This is the great tale of discovery -- Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" but with a spiritual quest infused with the miracle of invention. It is not just their quest, their discovery. It is mine. It is yours. Just as Kerouac lies awake thinking and dreaming of Dean Moriarty, I think and dream of Wilbur Wright.




3. This is a fine account of the Wright Brothers' lives and achievements. It reads easily, and sets correct some of the myths that have grown around Wilbur and Orville (such as the vignette about building the little sled).

   And I really liked the line in the Preface (...) stating that this particular biography wasn't going to delve into an extensive exploration of the Wright Brothers' ancestry, that some brief information about their family history was going to be presented in the first few paragraphs, and could easily be skipped by the reader. That's definitely my kind of biographer.




4. The first 100 or so pages or so pages are an extraordinary account of the Wright brothers development of the first airplane and controled flight. It was interesting to learn why Kitty Hawk NC was selected as a test area; plenty of wind, no trees and sand to land on. Also that development of first plane could be done on the profit from summer earnings from a bicycle shop. Overall this is an excellent and detailed documentary of the Wright brothers achievment and also the impact of the business considerations which followed.

   Ken Kraetzer
   White Plains, NY




5. This is a very detailed chronology of the Wright Brothers massive achievement to create a flying machine. It details each stage of development and incorporates the other individuals that were both helpful and damaging to the development and eventual recognition world wide of their accomplishments. It is a slow read but very satisfying since you appreciate the enormous difficulties they endured to achieve what we take for granted now - safe, frequent, air travel.
   
   I read this at same time that I read the biography of Alex G Bell by Charlotte Gray which serves as a great contrast in life styles and creative follow through. While both the telephone and airplane define modern life, the achievement of the airplane is orders of magnitude more complex than the telephone.

5 comments about Out of Harm's Way: The Extraordinary True Story of One Woman's Lifelong Devotion to Animal Rescue.

1. I thought it was an okay book, but as I was reading, I found myself skipping through all the blah blah blah to get to the actual animal stories. The stories about the animals were great, but you have to wade through a lot to get to them.



2. State probe forces animal-rescue nonprofit to close
   Queries $8M raised in wake of Katrina
   Sacramento Business Journal - March 30, 2007
   by Kelly Johnson
   Staff Writer
   A local animal-rescue nonprofit that gained national attention for its work after Hurricane Katrina, sparking more than $8 million in donations, was shutting down this month amid a state investigation into how it used that money.
   Noah's Wish, which rescues and cares for animals in disasters, was preparing this week to close its El Dorado Hills headquarters. About a dozen workers have resigned or been laid off since late last year.
   The California Attorney General's Office has been investigating the organization since last summer, examining how Noah's Wish used donations that might have been designated for relief efforts in the hurricane-ravaged area. The probe led to most of the nonprofit's funds being set aside in accounts where they couldn't be used for other operations.
   The nonprofit contends the funds were used properly and said it is cooperating with investigators.
   The group received millions in donations after news stories showed its efforts in an area devastated by the August 2005 hurricane. Former Noah's Wish insiders allege those millions were intended to relieve suffering in the storm-battered zone but were improperly used for other purposes.
   According to documents obtained by the Business Journal from a former employee, an accounting firm hired by Noah's Wish to examine its books concluded that it would be impossible to conduct a reliable audit because so many records were missing from the period when the group and its volunteers were working on the ravaged Gulf Coast.
   Documents filed by the nonprofit or provided by the former employee indicated Noah's Wish had about $210,000 in revenue in the year ended June 30, 2005, and almost 40 times that much -- $8.4 million -- in the next six months.
   Expenses shot upward, too, from about $212,000 in 2004-2005 to more than $2 million in the last six months of 2005, including almost $400,000 to purchase vehicles. In early 2006, the group bought a storage building in East Alton, Ill., for $65,125 and leased office space in New York City, according to documents provided by the former employee.
   Terri Crisp, founder of the group and its executive director until this week, was paid $6,200 in 2004-2005, tax records show. The documents supplied by the former employee covering July through December 2005 indicated Crisp received compensation of almost $141,000.
   The nonprofit's board this week acknowledged the investigation on the group's Web site. "The California Attorney General has taken the position that certain funds donated to Noah's Wish during this period (of Katrina), and its immediate aftermath, are restricted and may only be used for the animal victims of Hurricane Katrina, rather than the animal victims of other disasters or for general disaster preparedness," a letter posted online said. "Noah's Wish disagrees ... but is working cooperatively with the Attorney General toward a timely resolution of the dispute."
   Noah's Wish has agreed not to use the disputed funds while the investigation is pending, and the nonprofit cannot continue its work without access to the money, the letter said.
   A spokesman for the state's top lawyer would not confirm or deny an investigation.
   Ralph Nevis of Downey Brand Attorneys LLP in Sacramento, who represents the group, would not discuss the nature of the inquiry.
   Founder was asked to leave board
   Staff members are being paid through April 11, but this week only the office manager remained at the El Dorado Hills headquarters to close things down over the next couple of weeks.
   At one point, the nonprofit had 15 employees working at offices in El Dorado Hills and New York City and from homes in other states. The three-person office in New York closed in January.
   "They've reduced the staff because of funding. It's everybody," Crisp said Wednesday. She said she's taking her remaining days as sick leave, but by Wednesday evening a message on the group's Web site said she was no longer connected with Noah's Wish.
   Crisp also served on the organization's board of directors from its founding in 2002 until February. She's no longer on the board, she said, "partly because it's a conflict of interest." The Attorney General's office "had asked for me not to remain on the board."
   Because she's no longer on the board, Crisp said she did not have the latest information on the investigation or details about what it covers. Investigators, she said, have not interviewed her and were working only through the nonprofit's attorney and its board chair, Amy Maher.
   Maher did not return calls Wednesday. Board members Lyn Kendrick, Gail Monick and David Lesser declined to comment on the investigation; another, Heather Hathaway, did not respond to a request for an interview.
   Asked about allegations that the nonprofit inappropriately used money, Crisp said, "I don't know of any misuse of funds."
   Lori Polk, chair of the Noah's Wish board during Katrina, left it the month after the hurricane. Before and after Katrina, she said, she voiced concerns about "the organization and the allocations of the donations we were collecting." She said she felt she was "fighting a losing battle trying to maintain my fiduciary responsibility to the organization."
   The group "did not make decisions based upon board approval," she said, and made "expenditures without approval."
   The former employee, who would only speak on condition of anonymity, said that "the amount of money that was spent by the organization was unbelievable."
   The Attorney General's authority over charities includes investigating the loss of substantial funds during one year, illegal use of funds, diversion of funds from their intended purpose and excessive amounts paid for salaries, benefits, travel, entertainment, legal and other professional fees, according to the agency's Web site.
   Raising money last month
   Noah's Wish was soliciting funds as recently as February. In a letter to potential donors, Crisp wrote the nonprofit had "made a concerted effort to only ask for donations when the need truly exists, and not become a pest with repeated appeals."
   Later, the letter said, "So why am I contacting you now? Noah's Wish is prepared for the next disaster, but lately this has become increasingly challenging." Because 2006 was a "fairly uneventful year," Crisp wrote, donations declined significantly.
   Tax documents for Noah's Wish obtained by the Business Journal reported revenue of $8.4 million, almost all of it from contributions, between July 1, 2005, and Dec. 31, 2005. Some $4.8 million was in unrestricted assets and $1.5 million in temporarily restricted assets at the end of that year, financial documents indicate.
   In June 2006, the accounting firm engaged to audit the books wrote the board that it could not express an opinion on the 2005 financial statements, according to documents provided by the former employee.
   "A significant portion of corroborating evidence such as vendor invoices, receipts, deposit slips and other supporting data were not maintained during the period that the organization was responding to the needs of animals during Hurricane Katrina. The records that remain are not sufficient to permit the application of auditing procedures that would be adequate for us to express an opinion on the accompanying financial statements," according to the letter from John Waddell & Co. CPAs.
   For the second half of 2005, Noah's Wish paid $405,948 in salaries and compensation, according to the Form 990 supplied by the former employee. Of that, Crisp received $140,900, while the second-highest compensation went to Sheri Thompson at $118,125, the tax documents show.
   If the numbers are correct, it appears the compensation for Crisp and Thompson is well above the norm for nonprofits of this size, said Ann Lucas, executive director of the Nonprofit Resource Center. The annual median base salary for the executive director of a nonprofit of this size is $130,000, according to the 2006 Compensation and Benefits Survey of Northern California Nonprofit Organizations, which is produced by the Center for Nonprofit Management in Los Angeles.
   Noah's Wish committed $1 million to the city of Slidell, La. for construction of a new animal control center; the old one was severely damaged by Katrina. The city has not received any of those funds, Slidell City Attorney Tim Mathison said.



3. This is in response to the post about Terry Crisp's organization being investigated by California's Attorney General's office. This is what's posted on her website:
   
   Noah's Wish Board of Directors, March 26, 2007
   
   We are writing to inform you that Noah's Wish is in the midst of an ongoing civil investigation by the California Attorney General's office concerning funds received by Noah's Wish during Hurricane Katrina. The California Attorney General has taken the position that certain funds donated to Noah's Wish during this period, and its immediate aftermath, are restricted and may only be used for the animal victims of Hurricane Katrina, rather than the animal victims of other disasters or for general disaster preparedness. Noah's Wish disagrees with the Attorney General's position with respect to those funds, but is working cooperatively with the Attorney General toward a timely resolution of the dispute.
   
   In response to the California Attorney General, Noah's Wish has set aside the disputed funds and agreed not to use those funds pending final resolution of the investigation. Noah's Wish is unable to predict when the matter will be resolved. Because Noah's Wish does not presently have access to the disputed funds, it is unable at this time to continue with its efforts to provide disaster preparedness services and volunteer training.
   
   We will provide you with an update once we have resolved this matter.
   
   We appreciate your patience and also wish to express our gratitude for all that you have done to support Noah's Wish in carrying out our charitable mission.



4. Terri Crisp is a dinosaur and hopefully she has been replaced by more enlightened people. She randomly euthenized every feral cat she came across, proclaiming that ferals are not adoptable and are basically a scurge. Obvioulsy she has never heard of T.N.R. programs. I was very disappointed in this book and in Crisp's actions and can only hope people will NOT use it as a guide to animal welfare. It is just one uneducated womens accounts of her exploits.



5. Great book on the plight of unwanted and abandoned animals and the humans who care enough to do something about it by rescuing them and finding homes for these homeless pets.

5 comments about Irrigating India : My Five Years as a USAID Advisor.

1. Armchair adventurers could not ask for a better book than this heartwarming story of a man who helped to bring water -- and a lot more -- to India. It is also the story of what India brought to him, with vivid descriptions of the sights, sounds, tastes, and textures of post-WWII India and of the people he met there. Sol Resnick is an engaging story-teller, and his good humor and passion for his work make this impossible to put down. He loved his work, the people he met, and the places he traveled, and you will, too.



2. Compelling tales bring the people and the land of India vividly to life. Stories of practical engineering, working with villagers and farmers, designing and building irrigation systems and wells. Most of all, stories about the people, the culture, the politics and the country. Travel rivers, meet tigers, have dinner with Nehru, and make wheelbarrows for the village children so that everyone participates in building the future of rural India.



3. A tremendous story told with great warmth and humor. It conveys the struggle to stay healthy, the process of adapting to local cultures, and the overwhelming sense of joy in receiving gratitude from people you help. Sol Resnick is able to find elements of humor and poetic irony in the daily activities and chance occurrences that shaped his life. Irrigating India also provides an absorbing historical perspective on India. Having served in the Peace Corps for three years, the book brought back memories of my own experiences. I highly recommend this book!



4. Irrigating India: My Five Years As A USAID Advisor is the story of Sol Resnick, a USAID advisor who served faithfully in India from 1952 to 1957, as told in his own worlds to Elaine Minow Resnick. Sol Resnick, a civil and agricultural engineer, worked hard to help make the basic human needs of food and water stable and attainable to a populace that was previously at the bitter mercy of the annual rainfall. He would later look on that time as the best five years of his life. Heartwarming, inspiring, and highly recommended to students of international studies as well as the modern history and agricultural development of India.



5. As a former University of Arizona Hydrology student of Dr. Resnick, I laughed and cried in reading Sol's terrific, engaging insight to practical rural water-resources and community development in India in the late 1950s. Based on my own observations, I confirm that Sol tells it like it was. And in some ways still is. I stayed up the night to read the book to my wife. We shared the joy of Sol's adventure to improve life in rural India by training Indian engineers and working with local people to improve irrigation and drinking-water supplies and to reduce the terrible effects of droughts. I've shared Sol's and Elaine's book with my international development colleagues and my own students. Sol's integrity and ingenuity, and love of people, justice, culture, community, and hydrology come across loud and clear, modestly and humorously. A fine read for anyone interested in people, development, practical hydrology, or India. Reading "Irrigating India" reminded me why I became a hydrologist and taught me more about myself.

2 comments about From the Periodic Table to Production: The Life of Thomas Midgley, Jr., the Inventor of Ethyl Gasoline and Freon Refrigerants.

1. From The Periodic Table To Production: The Life Of Thomas Midgley, Jr. is the compelling biography of the American scientist who invented high-octane ethyl gasoline and freon refrigerants. His accomplishments allowed America to advance its technology in both civilian and military applications; ethyl gasoline enabled carrier-based Army aircraft, and fueled the Enola Gay when it dropped the atomic bomb that ended World War II. Though Midgley was only 55 when he died, his immense contributions to modern chemistry are all the more fascinating considering his background - he was originally trained as an engineer, not a chemist. From the Periodic Table to Production is an amazing read of how one man's hard work, creative genius, and passion for research transformed the modern world.



2. This book is more than a biography. Its eight appendices contain( among other things)texts of Midgley's speeches given on various occasions, and examples of his poems. Appendix "B" , his presidential address to the American Chemical Society(ACS), shows a fascination with the subject of inventions and the ages of the inventors. Unfortunately it contains numerous references to a graph which I could not find anywhere. One of the other appendices lists a number of prominent inventions and the ages of the inventors.
   Surprising to me was the information that Midgley suffered from polio,
   and had difficulty rising from his bed-so much so that he devised a lifting apparatus he could use to achieve independence. He died when
   he became entangled in the device and strangled.
   There is an interesting account of the incident when the first freon
   was tested for toxicity. Differerent samples were tested by exposing a mouse to the vapor. In one case, the mouse survived, in a second case
   the mouse died. The difference was traced to the antimony trifluoride
   used in preparing the samples- one batch contained moisture, which led to
   toxic impurities in the freon prepared from it. The dry antimony trifluoride led to a pure non-toxic freon. Midgley in retelling this
   anecdote says that if the toxic sample had been tested first, the project
   might have been abandoned.
   Midgley's achievements are justly praised, but in the passage of time
   both the lead gasoline additives and the freons have proved objectionable
   in the environment.

5 comments about BORN NAKED CL.

1. I've been a big fan of Farley Mowat's literary style since I first read Never Cry Wolf back in junior high school. Even as a 9th grade Earth Science teacher, I show the silver screen adaptation of this great novel. Born Naked, however, is of different 'stuff' than Never Cry Wolf. Here is a book written in a light, easy-to-read fashion that highlights his early years in this great world. We, the readers, are along for the ride when he travels to the Arctic on a research mission with his uncle, or when he makes his daily rounds to inspect the nests of local birds in Saskatchewan. This book is written in a truly entrancing style. I had a very difficult time putting it down. There are some questionable portions in it dealing with his discovery of his own sexuality, but they are far outweighed by the sense of awe and discovery he felt as a youngster. I would heartily recommend this book to anyone that enjoyed Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, or anyone that wants to experience the childhood they only dreamed about



2. Canadian author Farley Mowat's Born Naked is a must-read glimpse into the author's much self-written about life. It's hilarious, it's poignant and a must for any Mowat fan.



3. I enjoy all of Mowat's books, but this one is particularly good. His style is conversational, his humor is biting. Clearly a man who does not suffer a fool lightly. Farley Mowat is a national gem. Buy the book...



4. If you've read Farley Mowat, you know him as a passionate defender of the beautiful "Others" with whom we share our planet. This book is a joy-filled description of his early life and formation as a nature-lover. We hear of the wild beauty of Canada, the Quixotic plans his father devised and his mother endured, and the daring adventures which will become the foundation for his later writings. Although a light-hearted story overall, Farley does not avoid the difficult times, including a powerful depiction of the effect of the Depression on the Canadian provinces. It is a love song to the strength of character and perseverence of our northern cousins, as well.
   
   When the book ends, the reader, like the writer, wonders if there will ever be such a wonderful time again. Sheer delight.



5. The other reviews have been spot on, this is a page turner extraordinaire--delightful moments, amusing stories, amazing adventures in days of yore.

3 comments about Paperboy: Confessions of a Future Engineer.

1. "Paperboy", by Henry Petroski is another one of his intelligent, friendly, winning books.Petroski, of "The Pencil", and "The Evolution of Useful Things,"wrote about his family's move from the city to the suburbs in the 1950s.However, there's more- how he had difficulty finding a place in a school that would provide him with the challenge and stimulation he needed, the comfort of family, the joy of friendship, and the challenges of the physical world.Petroski is one of the great scientist=writers, like Lewis Thomas, Primo Levi, and Stephen Jay Gould. However, Petroski is a mapper of the world of bridges, buildings, and the one who ddeply notices pencils, paperclips. and how to fold a newspaper.This is a good book, and would be a great book for many men- Father's day, birthdays, high school graduations--And, a great gift for women, too



2. Not only an interesting recalling the 50's, but full of thought provoking insights. They creep in on the story and all of a sudden you realize you have read something deeper than throwing a paper across a lawn.



3. This is a great compilation of memories for anyone who grew up in Cambria Heights in the 1950s/1960s. From the stores on Linden Boulevard to the nuns at Sacred Heart School, to the kids in the neighborhood it will bring back memories of a time and place once enjoyed and long forgotten.

3 comments about The Autobiography of Charles Darwin.

1. This book is definitely a really fun read for someone with some leisure time and an interest in Darwin. It's important to not take this book too seriously (perhaps) because Darwin doesn't really take it that seriously himself. The autobiography tells us a lot about Charles Darwin the man and the way that he felt about certain issues but it barely scratches the surface: he has a great sense of humor (like when he talks about his original plans for being in the clergy) and sometimes he talks about his own life seriously (like his regret for not reading more poetry), but when you come down to it, the book is sort of written in a really mechanical manner. He doesn't really share with us any of his deepest desires or secrets (nor do we really expect him to).
   
   Overall this autobiography is pretty fun to read and it's probably a good springboard from which we can then go and read his Origin of Species or Voyage of the Beagle.



2. Darwin's Autobiography serves as a good overview of his life and the major events that happened to him. While the actual autobiography itself is very short and lacks details, its a good starting point for someone wanting to learn more about Darwin. In this edition edited by his son Francis Darwin leaves out some passages about Darwin's family and married life, something one could argue as particularly telling or interesting information; if this bugs you, buy the later edition.
   
   One of the most interesting sections to me was Darwin's description of his boyhood and young adult years. It's comical to hear this scientist describe his obsession with the pastime of shooting things and his mediocre performance in school. A few things signal Darwin's observational powers or scientific inclination, such as his collection of beetles, but for the most part, he seems an ordinary young person.
   
   Also, the book continually references scientists and intellectuals of the time which Darwin comments on. Some of these people were close to Darwin, others he just mentions. Now knowing these people can be somewhat frustrating to the reading, as I can attest to. The book is very much written and directed at his children, who would be familiar with this social context.
   
   Even with these minor faults, Darwin does give insight into his own mind, something I'm sure anyone who's reading a book about Darwin is looking for. The introspection comes at the end of the book. Darwin speaks of his own reasoning capacities and ability to notice things which easily escape the observations of other men.
   
   This book is short and a I recommend it as a good place to start for getting a handle on the major events of Darwin's life and hearing Darwin's own perspective.



3. This reprint of Francis Darwin's edition of the Autobiography is not the full version, but is fascinating nonetheless. Francis omitted some passages in deference to his mother, Darwin's widow Emma, who marked passages that she did not want published. (Interested readers can go to Nora Barlow's 20th century edition of the Autobiography for the full text). Francis Darwin's reminiscences of his father's working habits and "everyday life" (chapter 4) are wonderful. Chapters 5-18 are largely chronologically arranged extracts from Darwin's letters with Francis's commentary.

No comments about Memoir of John Dalton, and History of the Atomic Theory up to His Time.