No comments about Deal Makers, Brokers, and Bankers (Secrets of the Great Investors).

5 comments about The Northern Lights: The True Story of the Man Who Unlocked the Secrets of the Aurora Borealis.

1. Dear Lucy Jago,
   I really enjoyed this book! I read the complete title so I knew it was about the MAN who unlocked the secrets of the Aurora Borealis... not about the "powerful and mystical Northern Lights". What an amazing man he must have been. Thanks for showing us his human side, strengths and weaknesses. I'm still left wondering what else he might have been able to accomplish if he had lived longer (and had a more healthy life style!)
   I thought this book had a good balance between the technical aspects and storytelling. I didn't want a physics book about Aurora, if I did, then I would have gotten one. I wanted a history of science book, I wanted to know the "story", I wanted to meet the people, I wanted to know the community reaction at the time. I got all that and more.
   Thanks for your fine work, I had an enjoyable few hours reading it.



2. This book is a very intriguing biography of one of the great minds of the early twentieth century. It tells the story of Norwegian scientist Kristian Birkeland and his obsession with the aurora borealis. The book starts off with his first expedition in Lappland, observing the Northern Lights from a mountaintop observatory over a winter season. Jago then takes us through the results of the expedition, and Birkeland's dreams for further research, and his inventive projects for funding his research. She follows Birkland through the rest of his life, including his role in starting Norskhydro, his trip to Egypt, and his death in Japan. What struck me about Birkeland's genius was how he turned design failures or accidents into new discoveries and further inventions- -how a high-voltage switch became a magnetic cannon, and how a magnetic cannon was transformed into a fertilizer furnace. Jago's descriptions of Birkeland's expeditions carry the details that are usually only found in travel narratives.

   The narration by Michael Cumpsty is quite clear throughout, and I was especially impressed by his ease with pronouncing the Danish, Egyptian, and Japanese names. One of the challenges of listening to a book of this type is following the scientific explanations orally. Although I got a basic idea of Birkeland's theories, I think reading them on paper instead of listening to them on tape would have been a little easier. I also missed the footnotes and biography that must have surely been available in the print version. Nevertheless, the tape was quite enjoyable and very informative.




3. As reviewer Carter points out, this book is a biography of Kristian Birkeland, not a scientific treatise on the Northern Lights. And as reviewer Hoge points out, the writing style is more mainstream pop than dry academia. Personally, I found it quite readable. I'm not doing serious research on the subject, so I was fine with being entertained while I learned a little more about how the scientific community worked at the dawn of the 20th century. The primary criticism I have is that Jago was rather biased in favor her subject-- maybe justifiably so, but her flag waving was a little too blatant for me at times... Also, she stretched her material a bit, probably could have been a shorter book. Still, if you enjoyed books like Sobel's "Longitude" or Larson's "Devil in the White City," you'll probably enjoy "Northern Lights."



4. This tale of Kristian Birkeland and his aurora quest was simply enthralling. His will-power alone was awesome, fighting against the wind and his enemies to find the truth behind the beautiful northern lights.
   
   Who knew how dangerous the winds would be? Who would not suffer along with him in our imaginations as he and his assistants took shelter from the cold?
   
   I found his courage and strong focus truly amazing and inspiring. It makes my life puny by comparison.
   
   Larry Rochelle, author of GHOSTLY EMBERS: VISIONS OF TOLEDO.



5. The Northern Lights is a roller coaster ride through the extraordinary life of Kristian Birkeland. Influenced by the great minds of his time, this story recounts the struggles that he endured as an under-appreciated Norwegian scientist. His traveling from the snow-topped mountain of Haldde to the hot dessert of Egypt, is intermixed with a slew of brilliant discoveries showing the true benefit of dedication. This perseverance leads him to make exciting inventions that keep his life exciting because of the treachery and deceit that follow his success. This novel clears the name of this famous scientist in hopes that the world will never again forget the consequences of scientific prejudices.

No comments about Nathaniel Southgate Shaler and the Culture of American Science (History Amer Science & Technol).

1 comments about A History of the Orchid.

1. This is by far the best book on orchid history ever written. A wealth of information on each historical orchid people that deserve to be there and with their corresponding photo!! It's all here!

   All the other chapters are simply a delight to read. A must have for any orchid people with a sense for the past.

1 comments about The Tree Collector: The Life and Explorations of David Douglas.

1. This is a page-turner for gardener and non-gardener alike. It includes many of the journal entries and letters that survive David Douglas' incredible travels, particularly in the Pacific Northwest in the early 19th century. His experiences on a 10,000 mile walk between the Pacific coast and Hudson Bay are unimaginable today. He collected over 200 species -- important sources today of timber as well as ornamental garden plants. This biography suggests that his death at age 35 by falling into a wild-animal trap in Hawaii may have been murder and not an accident as commonly thought.

5 comments about Track Conditions: A Memoir.

1. This book is so unique and special -- not at all your typical gay coming out story. There are horses here and the tactile world of the racetrack and Klein's lyrical and spare prose adds just the right kind of music to a poignant and harrowing redemption tale.



2. Michael defies narrative convention while achieving its goals in his long prose poem/memoir/story. His is a story of triumph: whether found covered in ash and velvet and 100 dollar bills or perhaps in the spotlight of literary praise. Either way this story helped save me. Michael is a writer I respect and emulate.

   donaldahearn@hotmail.com




3. Being a straight nursing student who lives in small town america,I wasn't sure I would relate to this book. But the writing and the openess of the author surpasses any differences between our lives. An amazing book.



4. Oprah, for a million little reasons, you chose the wrong memoir for your book club.
   
   In an age where honesty in memoir seems to be a rare commodity, TRACK CONDITIONS is probably one of the most honest, compelling, and underrated books in print.
   
   A fascinating glimpse into author Michael Klein's downward spiral into alcoholism, lost love, dependency, and casual sex, this lyrical memoir is not an easy read-never easy to read about another person's coming-of-age psychic pain. But this memoir is a must-read.
   
   A real-life thoroughbred horse story, from a former groom's point of view, this memoir focuses on the deteriorating relationship between two young men in the midst of their own personal crises.
   
   In 1979, Klein, a confirmed New Yorker, desperately followed his lover Richard Coatney into the homophobic underworld of thoroughbred racing, beginning his career as a horse walker at River Downs in Cincinnati and working his way up to groomer at Belmont, Churchill Downs, and Pimlico.
   
   Among all the empty booze bottles and one-night stands, Klein discovered an aesthetic affinity for horses, in particular one special--and well-known--thoroughbred, precipitating the author's final downfall and then leading toward his eventual salvation--and this memoir.
   
   Klein leads the reader into a world rarely ventured into by the average horse track bettor: vivid descriptions of lame horses being cruelly euthanized and the casual doping of horses for monetary gain. At the beginning of chapter three, the author summarizes, from his perspective, the visible and invisible aspects of "racetrack society":
   
   "There are people you see all the time: the barn help, the trainers, the exercise crew, the men and women who deliver hay and straw and feed. And there are those you see only rarely, if at all: the jockeys, the parimutuel clerks, the owners, the starting-gate crew. Two worlds: the training world and the racing world."
   
   Ironically, from the reader's perspective, the visibility/invisibility paradigm is directly the opposite from the author's.
   
   And Klein offers insights into worlds which are largely invisible to most of us: in addition to the gritty side of thoroughbred racing, he also reveals the limited options available to an impoverished young homosexual, also a poet and rebel, of the late seventies and early eighties.
   
   First published in 1997, the memoir's main narrative covers the author's racetrack life, from its inauspicious beginning to its shocking 1984 denouement, with some interspersed flashbacks to his abusive and incestuous childhood and Manhattan life with Richard.
   
   While revealing vivid and harsh details about his life, the author maintains a psychic distance from the reader through his dispassionate use of the past tense; moreover, he does not editorialize from the perspective of the forty-something memoirist.
   
   He simply unfolds his story, leaving judgments, analyses, and evaluations up to his readers.
   
   The distance works well; the author never whines or asks his audience to feel sorry for him. He simply presents "in-your-face" statements and facts, like them or hate them.
   
   It doesn't matter what the reader thinks; in the end, Klein, with a metaphorical kick from his equine friend, triumphs.
   
   There is beauty and poignancy in Klein's spare prose, yet glimmers of humor add some comic relief, for example, when he describes some of the other grooms and other track people and recounts some his late mother's family stories.
   
   I recommend this book for both gays and straights--anyone who appreciates a well-written life-story, no matter how down and gritty.
   
   I own the 1997 hardcover edition, and it is worth every one of the twenty-two dollars that I paid for it.



5. Klein, Michael. "Track Conditions: A Memoir", University of Wisconsin Press, 2003.
   
   Memorable Memoirs
   
   Amos Lassen and Literary Pride
   
   Michael Klein is an award winning poet and should win awards for his wonderful memoir "Track Conditions". It is both shameless and fascinating. After he followed his lover to an Ohio race track, Michael Klein began a three year career as a groom in the world of horse racing. He managed to bond with the 1984 Kentucky Derby winner, Swale. However he was plague with alcoholism and deeply concerned about his relationship with his lover which was on the skids as well as memories of having been abused as a child. His memoir is a story written from the heart and it is a tale of resilience. Using the race track as a metaphor for life, he shares his joys and his pain.
   This is some of the most beautiful writing I have ever read but that does not mean that Klein does not get down and gritty. He holds nothing back as he illuminates his life. His life is not a pretty story--it is filled with excesses--but even so it is beautifully rendered. Here is an honest recreation of a life that is compelling.
   We read as Klein succumbs to alcohol and enters a depressive state over lost love, dependency and casual random sex. It is never easy to read coming-of-age stories that are filled with pain but this is a coming-of-age story not to be missed.
   It is likewise a story about horses and with the equestrian background we read about a relationship between tow men that are in the midst of deterioration.
   The world of horse racing is a homophobic place but Klein managed to survive it and move up along the circuit as a groom. He discovered an affinity for horses and loved them as they loved him. We get to look into the world of horses and learn things that the average person never knows. He refers to the secrets of the world of horses as "racetrack society. The world of horse racing is a gritty and unreal world but it is not just that world that Klein tells us of. He writes of how little was available to a young homosexual with very limited means.
   Written in the past tense, the memoir puts a distance between reader and writer from his beginnings until 1984 with quite a shocking ending. Klein makes no evaluations or judgments--he leaves that to the reader.
   It is Klein's openness that makes this book so good. He defies the usual conventions of narrative and he is a writer to be cherished. The book is unique and very special and in no way follows the styles of other coming out stories. It is harrowing tale of redemption written by a poet in prose. The chapters are short and amazing and we realize early that there is little chance of resolution to be found. It is not a tell-all memoir--rather it is a half-told life and has something for everyone. It is not a book just for gays but rather a small life story that looms large.

No comments about Metchnikoff and the Origins of Immunology: From Metaphor to Theory (Monographs on the History and Philosophy of Biology).

No comments about BEGINNERS FAITH IN THINGS UNSEEN PA (Concord Library).

1 comments about David Douglas: Explorer and Botanist.

1. The adventures of an ardent plant lover/collector during the 1820s and 1830s. David Douglas documented, collected, and returned to England over 200 new species of plants commonly found in contemporary gardens. The Douglas fir, arguably the most significant timber source of the 20th century, is named for him. He walked more than 10,000 miles during his travels across North America enduring many hardships while experiencing an unexplored wilderness. His interaction with native peoples demonstrated his inate skill as a diplomat.
   His wonder at the marvels of nature will resonate with any plant lover.

2 comments about The Papers of Thomas A. Edison: Research to Development at Menlo Park, January 1879-March 1881 (The Papers of Thomas A. Edison).

1. The fifth volume of The Papers of Thomas A. Edison covers Edison's invention and development of the first commercial incandescent electric light and power system. In the process he turned his famed Menlo Park laboratory into the first true research and development facility. This also enabled him to develop a new telephone for the British market in the midst of his herculean efforts on electric lighting.
   
   In the face of daunting technical challenges and skepticism from leading scientists and engineers, Edison and his team of experimenters and machinists found the solution to the decades-old problem of creating a practical incandescent lamp. By focusing on the characteristics of the entire system Edison reconceptualized the requirements of a successful lamp design. While rivals worked primarily on lamps, Edison developed other parts of a complete system as well. This approach was most notable in his revolutionary work on generator technology, one of the highlights of this volume. Successful exhibitions of the system in December 1879 drew crowds to Menlo Park to witness the softly glowing lamps. These spectacles gratified his financial backers but Edison realized the importance of following experimental demonstrations with the hard work of commercial development. He needed to make each component work effectively in daily use and to improve the designs so that they were easy to use and inexpensive to manufacture. To create a daytime market for electricity he also developed electric motors for a variety of uses, including electric railways, for which he built a small demonstration line at Menlo Park. To accomplish all this Edison greatly enlarged his staff to as many as sixtyexperimenters, machinists, carpenters, and office workers. He began manufacturing lamps at a factory in Menlo Park. At the end of 1880, Edison was ready to move his system into commercial production and made plans to produce other components in New York. He also invited New York officials to a demonstration in order to win their approval for running underground lines in lower Manhattan where he planned to put his first commercial central station. In March 1881, he moved to the Edison Electric Light Company's headquarters on Fifth Avenue and began the hard work of introducing the new electric light and power technology.



2. 
   Hi I read a book about Thomas Elva Edison. He was an inventor he invented the telephone, electricity, the light bulb, and the movie projector. When he was 16 he wanted to be an inventor. When he finished collage that's when he started to think of new inventions. His first invention was the telephone well he didn't invent it he helped Alexander Grand Bell finish it off. When he was 20 years old he invented the movie projector that was his biggest hit of all. Then he invented electricity and that led to the light bulb. By his inventions he's the biggest hit ever in history. All the people moved to the cities because of his new inventions. I sort of liked this book but it had a lot of facts I mean really my head was spinning. If they didn't have to many facts I would of probably loved it.