No comments about Elsie Clews Parsons: Inventing Modern Life (Women in Culture and Society Series).

2 comments about Inventing Modern: Growing up with X-Rays, Skyscrapers, and Tailfins.

1. This is modern archaeology at its best. John Lienhard writes a thoughtful, moving book encircling our history through the eyes of an engineer. Inventing Modern traces the watershed inventions of the twentieth century, cataloguing their importance in the arc of our civilization. Without invention, the author argues, there are no artifacts of history. Taking a scientist's erudite perspective and infusing it with a healthy dose of playfulness and an artless sense of history, Lienhard tells us what it is to be American, modern, nuclear, analog, and even digital. Lienhard sees invention with a sense of irony, tragedy and pure joy. "Inventing" is not a dialectic dismantling of our Dionysian times but rather a surprising and hopeful and even dreamy look at the (recent past and) future of civilization from the perspective of a crafty engineer unafraid to stare down that elusive American improvisational spirit. You can read Arthur C.Clarke for fantasies of an alter-universe, but to get down to the nuts and bolts of the history and the scholarly soul of the space elevator project (for example) currently in its planning stages off the coast of the Pacific, read Lienhard. His is a most eloquent telling- an optimistic, un-patronizing work with a very strong vision of mankind's makings.



2. Lienhard's book is a personal account of the age of Modern, a term he defines as more a state of mind than an actual event or time. The operative word is personal. It is difficult to fully interpret biographical events as part of the epoch-changing phenomenon he calls "Modern".
   
   "Modern", which began in the 19th century, affected not only the physical world but how we viewed that world. The author opines as to how an object or idea is either pre, post or actually modern. The range - from architecture to art to war to electricity and inventions - cover the gambit.
   
   Lienhard believes "Modern" denotes a societal mindset, one we no longer possess. He is absolutely correct. Our society is awash in waves of data that can be neither integrated nor understood. Our spirit (for lack of a better word) is unlike the Modern pioneers. We've lost our innocence, our belief that technology will better our lives. Nor do we seek knowledge for its own sake. This is illustrated by popular myths: The environment is degrading, the economy is collapsing, chemicals are lethal, life is drugery, etc. The facts are, the UN again rated the US #1 for clean water and safe food, we are richer than ever, we have unprecedented free time and access to virtually any entertainment, news or information at our fingertips. In this post-modern age, the cry is for something different.
   
   The author IS correct that "Modern" stopped in the 1950's. We define "modern architecture" as Frank Lloyd Wright, "modern art" as Andy Warhol and Mark Rothko, "modern cars" as snazzy Vets. Yet biotechnology, space travel and new inventions may usher in a new age he calls "Expanded". Recommended for serious readers.

2 comments about Galileo Galilei - When the World Stood Still.

1. Strikes a great balance between detail and readability,
   unlike so many biographies whose goal seems to be to
   impress the reader with the biographer's mastery of
   arcane contemporary details rather than to communicate
   knowledge about the principal subject.
   Much better than the bio by Reston.



2. I actually enjoyed reading this text on who I consider, and deserves the title of, "the first scientist," He not only applied what is essentially the modern scientific method to his work, but fully understood what he was doing and laid down the ground rules clearly for others to follow. In addition, the work he did following those ground rules was of immense importance. In the late 16th century, there were others who met some of these critieria-but the ones who devoted their lives to what we now call science were often still stuck with a medieval mindset about the relevance of all or part of their work, philosophical significance of the new way of looking at the world were usually only part-time scientists and had little influence on the way others approached the investigagion of the world. It was Galileo who first wrapped everything up in one package. This text seems to wrap up everything quite nicely too in one package.
   Highly recommended.

No comments about Nathan Roberts: Erie Canal Engineer.

No comments about Noah Webster: Series: American Men of Letters. Edited by Charles Dudley Warner.

No comments about Enigmas of Chance: An Autobiography.

3 comments about Joseph Leidy: The Last Man Who Knew Everything.

1. This book is required reading for anyone interested in natural history or the academic and scientific climate of 19th century Philadelphia. Leidy, a man of immense distinction in his time, was virtually forgotten in this century. Warren has given us an absorbing account of the life and times of this eminent Victorian, and in doing so has restored him to the stature he deserves as "The Last Man Who Knew Everything."



2. Most readers of this book who are familiar with Joseph Leidy and his work will be disappointed. The biography offers an ear full about the scientific climate during the late 1800's of America, but relatively little about, Joseph Leidy, himself. Throughout the book the author laments the fact that Leidy was not an experimental biologist or theorist, and overlooks Leidy's talents as a descriptive biologist, geologist, and (what he is most known for) paleontologist. This book, even, lacks a bibliography of Joseph Leidy's writings. I would suggest anyone to read Joseph Leidy's original words. Hopefully we don't have to wait another 150 years for the next biography to be published.



3. An outstanding account. Another reviewer has complained that there is relatively little here about Leidy himself, but the book is filled with accounts and stories of Leidy, his fears, his struggles, his hopes, and his triumphs -- there is much here about Leidy 'the man'. True, there is also much here about science in America during Leidy's life, which I found fascinating. This is a carefully researched book, with copious notes and references, and dense with facts and supporting historical perspectives. It is not a leisurely read, but a very rewarding one. Thank you, Dr. Warren, for such a fine effort.

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 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.

No comments about Zerah Colburn - Spirit of Darkness.