Amazon.com's Best of 2001

Most 31-year olds can't boast of being the instigator of a revolution. But then again, the world's leading promoter of open source software and creator of the operating system Linux does humbly call himself an accidental revolutionary--accidental being the operative word here. Just for Fun is the quirky story of how Linus Torvalds went from being a penniless, introverted code writer in Helsinki in the early 1990s to being the unwitting (and rather less than penniless) leader of a radical shift in computer programming by the end of the decade.

OK, perhaps "story" in the traditional sense of the term is stretching it a bit. This whole book is more like a series of e-mails, an exercise in textual communication for someone more used to code language than conversation: choppy sentences packed into short paragraphs, and sometimes just one-liners. The pace is fast, but the quippy tone can get somewhat tiring, though it definitely suits the portrayal of a computer-dominated life. And like an e-mail conversation, the tense often changes, the topics jump back and forth, and the narrators occasionally change, mostly alternating between the Linux man himself and Red Herring executive editor David Diamond, who convinced the difficult-to-pin-down Torvalds to write his story (or at least allow Diamond to poke, prod, and pull it out of him, all the while giving his own impressions and interpretations). But Torvald's tale contains enough informative and entertaining tidbits--on growing up in dark, strangely silent but communication-gadget-obsessed Finland (which boasts more cell phones per capita than anywhere else), on what makes passionate code writers tick, on making the transition from unknown computer geek to world-famous computer geek, on the convergence of technology and ideology, on his work for Transmeta and involvement (or lack thereof) with all the players worth mentioning in Silicon Valley - to keep more than just computer programmers engrossed in his story. For the latter, of course, Just for Fun will be required reading.

If you pick up this book as a geek's guide to the meaning of life (which, believe it or not, Torvalds does ramble on about at the beginning and the end), then you're in for a bit of a shallow take on the whole thing. But if you're interested in the idea of technological development as a global team sport, and how a nerdy Finnish transplant to California got the whole game going in the first place, check out Linus's story... just for fun, of course. --S. Ketchum ... Read more

Reviews (63)

Real Insight into Linux, its founder and the future.
I loved this book. Linus Torvalds is a unique individual: a very bright guy with no megalomaniacal ego. This book is his autobiography, written with Red Herring's David Diamond. What I found refreshing was that while Diamond certainly proofed it and managed the effort, the book is not some detached ghost-writing. Instead, the book maintains two narratives: Torvalds' first person recounting of his life, Linux, and his family life, and Diamond's outsider perspective, looking in. The dual-narrative device works, and Diamond's narrative (set off in italics) gives the book a refreshing shift that makes the book all the more readable.

Linus Torvalds, it turns out, was a geeky kid growing up near Helsinki, Finland. Part of the swedish-speaking minority there, he was the son of a communist activist (dad) and journalist (mom), who divorced when he was young. With one sister (who also became a journalist later in life), young Linus (age 10) gained an early interest in computers that never stopped. In school he was the wiz at math and physics, and was generally referred to as the "Math Guy."

From this start, the narrative runs to how at a university level he decided to learn the innards of the Intel 386 CPU, and decided that the the way to do that would be to port Minix (an academic poor cousin of unix) to the i386 CPU. The detail of the effort, and his description of how thus Linux was born is sufficient for the expert reader, but well-explained enough for the lay computer user to comprehend.

Interspersed in this book is Torvalds' trademark self-deprecating humor. When asked in a public setting how he planned to capture the server and desktop markets, he answers that he hasn't personally captured anyone. The point of this and other magic moments, when corporate computerdom, and the trade press bump into him, is the realization that being the next Bill Gates was *not ever* his motivation.

There is a clear sense you get reading this book that Linus Torvalds and Linux are phenomena that are structured like forces of nature, against which any corporate bastion of proprietary software (Microsoft?) will ultimately inexorably fall. I once heard Jon ("Mad Dog") Hall, the founder of Linux International say that he had a presentation about Linux, early on, with a single slide that read, "Linux Is Inevitable." Torvalds understands that, and is not worried for the future. He even provides a tripartite condensation for the meaning of life, which operate as motivators for human action: 1. survival, 2. social order, & 3. fun. He argues that all endeavors start at (1), and evolve toward (3). Linux for him was (2) the social framework of the open source movement, and definitely (3) fun. The man seems well-adjusted and "normal." Very refreshing given the driven insanity of Gates, Ellison and McNealy.

I highly recommend this book for its detail about a very important anti-hero of our times, who has a better view of the future than the proprietary computer moguls. The ultimate future of Linux? Torvalds thinks it will ultimately disappear into the devices of the future, and will not be thought about, in the same way that you do not ponder upgrades to your microwave's operating system today.

What we are left with by the last page of the book is a normal guy with a family, living in California, and working for revolutionary low-power chipmaker Transmeta. Linus is back to his first love: CPU's. This is a great book, and a fast read. Buy it!

A Book About Life
When I first picked up this book, I thought it would just be about the startup and growth of the Linux operating system. Well it was all of that, AND more! This book not only speaks about the making of the greatest open source project ever, it talks about life. It goes into an in depth history of Linus Torvalds from child to present. In between some chapters there are details about some parts of the interview process for the book which somewhat detract from the main point. I would have liked it better if there was another chapter with this devoted entirely to it.

The writing style is very easy to understand. I don't know if thats because I am a nerd or what? But before the talk about the beginnings of Linux there is a page warning you of intermediate geek language, so I suppose non-tech savy people should stay clear. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in computers or wanting to learn more about Linux.

Insightful!
In Just for Fun, Linus Torvalds, the Finnish creator of the Linux operating system, mixes his personal story, told in both narrative and e-mail dispatches, with the saga of his development of the Linux operating system. Torvalds' personal account makes the book fascinating. He began as a self-proclaimed nerd (and even a jerk) who labored to create an operating system in his garage and eventually became the head of the world's largest open source project. By requiring buyers and licensees to keep the Linux source code open, Torvalds assures the continued technological evolution of his system. The episodic nature of the book makes it choppy, the technical descriptions are hard for the uninitiated to track and co-writer David Diamond's digressions are revealing about Torvalds' personal life, but a little disruptive. Even so, we recommend this entertaining, interesting book that may even lead you to consider using Linux on your computer, whether or not you are another self-proclaimed computer nerd.

Expecting much better
First problem Mr. Torvalds co-wrote the book - should've left it to the professionals. Though one gets the impression from the book that he's such a control freak that wasn't an option. Considering his ego I'm suprised the book wasn't longer. A lot of drivel, negative comments about industry people he's met, ego stroking, self-important blather. He's cashed out, made his millions and good for him - think he'd acknowledge the Free Software Foundation/GNU etc. instead of critizing them. Nothing wrong with being a sell-out, just don't deny it and minimize the contributions others made to your success.

Enjoyed reading it
Nice reading, several good ideas.
Mr. Torvalds deserves what he got.
I just hope to use some day Fredix or Diannix OS.
Jag gör det! ... Read more

Book Description

"A fascinating account of inner and outer exploration and discovery in one of the last remote regions of the world - sharp-eyed, insightful, candid, and well written. "Peter Matthiessen, author of The Snow Leopar.

In 1993, Alan Rabinowitz, called "the Indiana Jones" of wildlife science by The New York Times, arrived for the first time in the country of Myanmar, known until 1989 as Burma, uncertain of what to expect. Working under the auspices of the Wildlife Conservation Society, his goal was to establish a wildlife research and conservation program and to survey the country's wildlife. He succeeded beyond all expectations, not only discovering a species of primitive deer completely new to science but also playing a vital role in the creation of Hkakabo Razi National Park, now one of Southeast Asia's largest protected areas.

Beyond the Last Village takes the reader on a journey of exploration, danger, and discovery in this remote corner of the planet at the southeast edge of the Himalayas where tropical rain forest and snow-covered mountains meet. As we travel through this "lost world"-a mysterious and forbidding region isolated by ancient geologic forces-we meet the Rawang, a former slave group, the Taron, a solitary enclave of the world's only pygmies of Asian ancestry, and Myanmar Tibetans living in the furthest reaches of the mountains. We enter the territories of strange, majestic-looking beasts that few people have ever heard of and fewer have ever seen-golden takin, red goral, blue sheep, black barking deer. The survival of these ancient species is now threatened, not by natural forces but by hunters with snares and crossbows, trading body parts for basic household necessities.

The powerful landscape and unique people the author befriends help him come to grips with the traumas and difficulties of his past and emerge a man ready to embrace the world anew. Interwoven with his scientific expedition in Myanmar, and helping to inform his understanding of the people he met and the situations he encountered, is this more personal journey of discovery. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Wonderful Story
I really enjoyed this book. The way Mr. Rabinowitz intertwined his experiences in Myanamar with his own internal conflicts really personalized the story and captivated me as a reader. I also found his experiences with the Taron amazing - imagine seeing and interacting with the last of a group of humans before their extinction. One of the important ideas which I gained from this book is the idea that animals need to come first when a National Park is created. He showed what happens when the needs of the people living the area come first - extinction! At the same time he is careful to note that if the people living in the area are not given an alternative to their current way of life - no park will suceed. The world needs more Alan Rabinowitz's.

A good book
This was a good book, I think Jaguar was his best book but I liked this one. It must have been amazing to have trekked across such unknown wilderness and interact with the local villagers and see a part of the world that virtually no western eyes have seen. It must have been extremely difficult to deal with the reality of overexploitation of wildlife to trade for something as mundane as salt. Rabinowitz doesn't paint the local people as uncaring monsters. They are just trying to make a life for themselves and their families.

I would have like a few photographs of the animals, but this isn't a field guide. Overall the book was very good. I liked the way the Dr. Rabinowitz made the point that if any conservation effort is going to have even the smallest chance of being successful the local government and more importantly the local people need to be involved from day one.

great adventure
Massachusetts Sierran, March 2002
Diana Muir

Alan Rabinowitz has the best day job in America. The Bronx Zoo pays him to fly to parts of the world that have been off-limits to western scientists for generations. He assembles a team and walks into the forest where he treks beyond the point at which effective government ends, beyond the last road negotiable by Land Rover, beyond the last village. He comes back to report the existence of new species of large mammals previously unknown to science. Then he arranges to have vast tracks of wild land set off as protected nature reserves.
Rabinowitz works for the organization that runs the Bronx Zoo, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and he doesn't actually find an entirely new species of large mammal every time he steps into the bush. But the delicate Burmese leaf deer he discovered for science in 1997 is flourishing in forests that his Burmese scientific and administrative collaborators are working to conserve. Their efforts have resulted in the protection of 3.2% of the land area of Myanmar as national parkland or wildlife refuge. And the adventures in Myanmar recounted in Beyond the Last Village are merely the latest exploits in a career spent mapping the last refuges of the nearly extinct Sumatran rhino, tracking tigers in Thailand, and determining how large a jaguar preserve need be to succeed in preserving jaguar.
No one is perfect. Rabinowitz has a great story to tell, but he attempts to combine a sensitve exploration of his inner self with real-life adventures that play like an Indiana Jones movie. The outcome can be bad enough to make you wince. Here is Rabinowitz, the sensitive male, awaiting the birth of his child.
"The due date came and went, and I was surprised at how rattled I was. I had helped deliver a Mayan baby in the back of a pickup truck on a bumpy dirt road in southern Belize. I had sewn up my dog, Cleo, after his neck was ripped open by a jaguar. I had ridden for help on a motorcycle in Thailand with a broken leg and a bamboo stake through my foot. I had had to find my way out of the jungle with a subdural hematoma after a plane crash. But nothing compared to this. This was my child."
When Rabinowitz discovers a species unknown to science, he takes evidence to the Director of Genetics at the Bronx Zoo for expert confirmation. If he had taken the account of his trip to a professional writer for similarly expert help he would have a best seller on his hands. Make no mistake, Rabinowitz has a first-rate story to tell. The sort of story that might have reached millions of readers around the world and persuaded them of the importance of saving the world's last wild places. Instead we have a book that is almost wonderful.
This is a great read nevertheless because Rabinowitz is the real deal. He goes to places where we cannot go and sees things that we would never see. Had I somehow gotten permission to hike into upland forests of Myanmar off limits to outsiders, I would have seen some pretty little deer. Rabinowitz saw an undescribed species. And while the writing may be clunky, the adventure is real.
E. O. Wilson's new book, The Future of Life, is an elegant statement of the importance of preserving the biodiversity of this planet by protecting large, intact ecosystems from exploitation. Rabinowitz takes the problem down to cases.
His new species of leaf dear, along with bear, tiger, rhino and a bevy of southeast Asian species whose names I failed even to recognize, are endangered by poverty, and by a voracious Chinese appetite for bogus medicine and chimerical aphrodisiacs. Sometimes it can take surprisingly little to save them.
In the remote highlands of Myanmar Rabinowitz and his Burmese colleague, Dr. U Saw Tun Khaing, discovered villages with no access to salt. The only way that they could obtain this vital commodity was by hunting and selling wildlife parts to Chinese traders. Rhino, the species most prized by credulous Chinese men, were extirpated in the area decades ago.
Dr. Khaing has now set up a system in which payment in salt and other goods is made to villages that preserve the wildlife around them. Erstwhile hunters are employed as game monitors with the cost picked up by the Wildlife Conservation Society. Salt and self-interest will surely do more to induce local people to preserve game than any number of wardens could.
The pity is that poachers serving the Chinese market continue to hunt Asian rhino elsewhere. My son, the college student, suggests that the only way to protect the last wild Asian rhinos from poachers is to provide free Viagra to every middle-aged man in China. He just might be right. Meanwhile, I'm glad that Alan Rabinowitz is on the job.

Alan's third book and third best
Alan has a wonderful gift for expressing his expeditions and emotional journeys on paper. He can set you in the middle of his trails and make you feel his inner turmoils and exhilerations. Although Jaguar was by far his best book, this one should not be missed. I will be anxiouxly awaiting his next journey and book.

One Last Question
A wonderful book. Informative and cleanly written. Mr. Rabinowitz is a well informed, engaging storyteller who lays this story out with lots of quality information and a minimum of fuss. A book that's not particularly sentimental even in the sentimental parts.
But inquring minds, or this one at least, has one nagging question that this book might (and perhaps should) have been able to answer.
Mr. Rabinowitz freely admits he's got compulsion to travel and explore. Even though this compulsion takes a toll on his marriage Mr. Rabinowitz, for reasons he amply explains in the book, decides to trudge forward anyway.
The birth of his child is an epiphany, and is wonderfully described. <

The One Last Question is this: How will Mr. Rabinowitz reconcile the demands of fatherhood with his compulsion to travel?
... Read more

Book Description

This book tells the stories of the lives and achievements of fifteen women scientists who either won a Nobel Prize or played a crucial role in a Nobel Prize-winning project.NOBEL PRIZE WOMEN IN SCIENCE book reveals the relentless discrimination these women faced both as students and as researchers.They succeeded because they were passionately in love with science. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

stories of women who loved science
Why so few? This is the question which the author put on the first page of the book. More than 300 scientists have won the Nobel Prize since its establishment,however, only 10 of them are women.Why? Why have so few women won the Nobel Prize in science? Some people might say this small number could be evidence for old prejudices. But the author tried to find a different answer through this book.This book contains stories of 15 women scientists who won the Nobel Prize or had a critical role in Nobel Prize winning works. Although this book takes the style of a biography and also describes all the scientific details quite well, it is neither just a biography nor just a science book for general readers. It is more than both of them. These women scientists had gone through lots of difficulties. All of them had experiences of being rejected from the opportunity of receiving a higher education. Most of them had more than once been mistreated and disregarded of their abilities as well as their works. And some of them, such as Rosalind Franklin, still have not received the full credit which she deserves.One might say that all the scientists who did remarkable works had faced and overcome many kinds of difficulties. But these women had to carry the added burden of being "women scientists". So, as the author pointed, another question should arise when the book is finished. Why so many? Why have so many women challenged themselves with such difficult works in spite of all the obstacles? The answer is simple. They loved science.And, through this book, the readers will find a love and a understanding for these fearless women as well as their lover,science.

Liberation in Hour-Long Chapters
Nobel Prize Women in Science is a superb collection of hour-longbiographies of women who either won a Nobel Prize or worked on a projectthat won a Nobel Prize in science.The biographies are full of memorablevignettes and quotes and lucid explanations of the scientific discoveries. This reader found the book liberating because it debunked so many myths shehad had about good scientists.This book makes great bedtime reading andexcellent gifts for both men and women.

inspirational
I was enthralled by this delightful, healing, and eye opening crediting over the wonder works of scientific endeavor made by woman--unsungheroines who did not flinch one bit from their true calling, what for allthe drowning out and dumbing down of class ostracism inundating them andtheir sisters in their times.TheseLadies are the truest measure of whatis called a benchmark in the progress of humanity to wake up and rise toThe Greatest Challenge:to free the mind, the spirit, the yoke ofhistory'scircumstance, to unite us in peace, recognition, respect, andunqualified defference to all who carry forth the Light.From my heart,Thank You Sharon Bertsch McGrayne!And for thosefor whom it is easier toquip, 'a woman's place is in the home, raising children and so forth....' I'll just add, wegotBILLIONS of 'em.

In depth and inspiring portrayal
Remarkable book. The lives and challenges of these women are faithfully described, not only detailing their careers but their personalities as well. These women become more than names mentioned in textbooks, and theseaccounts of their lives allow them to become inspiring women. The accountshave more science than an average reader would probably like (as a biomajor, I loved the detail), but I can guarantee they will find this bookinteresting all the same. I especially liked the way the author correctedthe misconception of Rosalind Franklin as given through Dr. James Watson'saccount, "The Double Helix."

Good reading that is well researched and inspiring
The book is a little heavy to read but is very absorbing.Both the science and personal attributes of the women reviewed are documented in a matter-of-fact manner with few distracting adjectives.You can easily readabout one or all of the women and cross referencing of events is well done. I found it enthusing whilst doing a PhD in an area of few women.I haveno struggle compared to the trials relayed in this book.Not for a lightreader. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

In the 1930s, while the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression sent most of America into the doldrums, a lively intellectual and artistic community formed in the West, revolving around three legendary friends: Ed Ricketts, John Steinbeck, and Joseph Campbell. Steinbeck immortalized Monterey’s bohemian spirit in Cannery Row, but the area’s true lifeblood was his best friend and mentor, Ed Ricketts.

Today he’s usually remembered as "Doc"—the beer-drinking philosopher-scientist who presides over Monterey’s population of "whores, pimps, gamblers, and sons ofbitches" in Cannery Row—but Ricketts was actually a trailblazing ecologist who did seminal work in the emerging field on the Pacific coast. His two books, Between Pacific Tides and Sea of Cortez (coauthored with Steinbeck), are still considered classics. This is a thoughtful and revealing portrait of symbiotic friendship, a suspenseful tale of adventure at sea, and the story of how an unbecoming, outcast scientist became a legend in the annals of American literature.

This book contains over 60 illustrations, including photos, maps, and line drawings. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Almost perfect story of Edward F. Ricketts
This book is a result of considerable research by the author and is very well written. I believe that it is an essential text for anyone interested in the Steinbeck Cannery Row era.

The weakness of the book lies in the author's presentation of Ricketts as the primary contributing influence over Steinbeck and even Joseph Campbell. While there is no doubt about Ricketts' contributing influence, Steinbeck and Campbell were contributing and teaching influences on Ricketts and if alive, I believe he would agree.

Like Ricketts argument regarding individual creature influence on the tide pool, the primary influence on Steinbeck and Ricketts was the "Row" as the meeting place, a considerably more complex human tide pool. Steinbeck (and Campbell) brought as much to Ricketts as he did with them. More importantly the individual elements of the row such as Carol Steinbeck, the bums, market owner Wing Chong, and the whores consciously and unconsciously influenced the row and as a result, each other. This Ricketts-like, more holistic perspective seems to have escaped the author. The book is fascinating reading in any case.

This Doc Rocks
Tamm does an excellent job of separating the fictionalized Doc of "Cannery Row" fame from the flesh and blood self-made scientist/adventurer that was Ed Ricketts. "Beyond the Outer Shores" combines rip-snorting travelogue, narrative biography and gossip into the lives of Ricketts, John Steinbeck and Joseph Campbell. Easily the best Ricketts book out there. Highly recommended for all aficionados of real-life adventure tales, and indespensible for Steinbeck and Campbell fans.

"What's Up, Doc?"
Ed Ricketts "Doc" ever heard of him? Me neither, but after roaring through first time author, Eric Enno Tamm's portrait of the fraternal relationship between America's beloved John Steinbeck and this shadowy almost mythological figure I can't help but feel the loss of his violent and tragic passing more than half a century ago. It's often said that "no man is an island" and nowhere is this more true than in the case of writers. Ed Ricketts was to John Steinbeck (and Joseph Campbell) what Neal Cassidy was to Jack Kerouac. If America's legendary literary tradition is to endure we need not only more great writers and their muses but books like Tamm's "BEYOND THE OUTER SHORES" to memorialize their friendships. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The thorniest scientific problem of the eighteenth century was how to determine longitude.Many thousands of lives had been lost at sea over the centuries due to the inability to determine an east-west position. This is the engrossing story of the clockmaker, John "Longitude" Harrison, who solved the problem that Newton and Galileo had failed to conquer, yet claimed only half the promised rich reward. ... Read more

Reviews (209)

Amazing subject, fascinating story
With "Longitude" Dava Sobel has written a very interesting book about the greatest scientific problem of the 18th century.

As a result of the 1707-shipwreck story (with a loss of 4 out of the 5 ships), the English Parliament offered in 1714 a 20.000 pounds reward to the person that could provide a practicable and useful way of determining longitude. (If you have forgot, longitude is the "lines" that runs from pole to pole). Not being able to determining longitude was a great problem. Ships spent excessive time trying to find its way back to port, or worse men, ship and cargo were lost at sea.

John Harrison (1693-1776) spent his lifetime trying to solve the longitude mystery. Harrison was a son of a countryman, with minimal schooling, and was self-educated in watch making. He made several timepieces, which all qualified for the reward, but the reward was delayed several times by the Longitude committee whom believed that other ways of measuring longitude were the preferred ones. Ultimately after a lot of harassment and trouble, Harrison was given the reward money.

Dava Sobel has done a wonderful job in this book, capturing Harrison's fascinating character, his brilliance, preserving and hard working nature. The author has also managed to strike a perfect balance between technical jargon and personal anecdotes, and she does it in such a way permitting the lay readers of the book to admire the elegance of Harrison's discoveries. I believe it is a sign of excellent quality when an author makes learning so interesting.

I was hooked from the first page of this book and I read it in 50-page gulps at a time.

Highly recommended!

John Harrison--an extraordinary person
John Harrison (1693-1776) spent his lifetime inventing and perfecting a series of timepieces to measure longitude. As Dava Sobel relates in her engaging narrative, "Longitude," until the 18th century sailors navigated by following parallels of latitude and roughly estimating distance traveled east or west. Ships routinely missed their destinations, often taking excessive time to arrive or succumbing to reefs off fogbound shores. Thousands of sailors and tons of cargo were lost.

In 1714, England's Parliament offered £20,000 (the equivalent of about $12 million today) to anyone who provided a "practicable and useful" means of determining longitude. Countless solutions were suggested, some bizarre, some impractical, some workable only on land and others far too complex.

Most astronomers believed the answer lay in the sky, but Harrison, a clockmaker, imagined a mechanical solution--a clock that would keep precise time at sea. By knowing the exact times at the Greenwich meridian and at a ship's position, one could find longitude by calculating the time difference. However, most scientists, including Isaac Newton, discounted a clock because there were too many variables at sea. Changes in temperature, air pressure, humidity and gravity would surely render a watch inaccurate.

Harrison persisted. As Dava Sobel writes, he worked on his timepiece for decades, though he suffered skepticism and ridicule. Even after completing his timepiece, an instrument we now call a chronometer, in 1759, he underwent a long series of unfair trials and demonstrations. Ultimately he triumphed.

Sobel, a science writer who contributes to Audubon, Life, Omni and other magazines, captures John Harrison's extraordinary character: brilliant, persevering and heroic in the face of adversity. He is a man you won't forget.

Brief but enjoyable
This slim volume tells the story of John Harrison who, although untrained, built four revolutionary clocks that changed how ships navigate at sea. It also tells about the political fight Harrison was forced to fight to win recognition for his work.

Written in a easy-to-read, "magazine" tone the tale goes quickly, whole years pass in a couple sentences. I wanted more details and this is where the book disappoints but it may not be the authors fault The book hints that many events weren't recorded and more details just aren't available.

One technical note: I think the font used in this tiny, five by eight inch book is a little small and the page numbers, even smaller, aren't readable at a glance. Or maybe I'm getting old.

Great story, but BEWARE of inaccuracies in this book.
John Harrison completes his first pendulum clock in 1713 before the age of 20. He made the gears for this out of wood which was radical for such a use, but as a carpenter, perhaps not to him---which is a mark of genius, I'd say; to reach beyond accepted norms in this manner. This he did after borrowing a book on math and the laws of motion; which he copied word for word, making his own copy. He incorporated different varieties of wood into his clock for strenth and later invented a bi-metal pendulum to counteract the expansion and compression of various individual metals. He also employed friction-free movements so as to do away with problematic lubricants. When intrigued by the puzzle of time at sea and the issue of longitude he contemplated substituting something not prone to gravity, as a pendulum of course is, to track times passing. In 1737 he creates a cantilevered clock 4 foot square. This the longitude board (which had offered a cash bonus to anyone who could devise a method in which time at sea could be kept) admired. Four years later he returns with an improved model; then starts on a 3rd model, like the previous two, also a fairly large sized clock.But there exists a problem within this book: An artisan freemason by the name of John Jefferys at the Worshipful Company of clockmakers befriends Harrison and then later presents to him a pocket watch in 1753. Then in 1755, while still working on his 3rd model, Harrison says this to the Longitude board: I have..."good reason to think" on the basis of a watch "already executed that such small machines[he's referring to pocketwatches] may be of great service with respect to longitude." He then completes version 3 in 1759. His fourth version appears just a year later, however, and is a 5 inch wide pocketwatch! The obvious inference made by the author is that after he received the pocketwatch from Jeffreys he seemingly put his version #3 on the backburner and soon started on the pocketwatch 4th version. The author does not claim Harrison copied anything from the Jeffreys model, but she certainly phrases this section so as to lend one to believe that this may have been the case; that Jefferys had a hand in the masterstroke invention Harrison eventually produced in version #4. This is not true. Harrison commissioned the watch he received from Jeffreys and was based on Harrison's specifications. It seems that Harrison simply asked Jeffreys to test an idea which he himself hadn't the time to attack just then; as he was still working on his 3rd version of a table-top prototype clock. Hence Harrison's above statement to the board in 1755 whence his ideas were validated by Jeffreys. In addition, the author plays up the part of the Astronomer Royal's part in attempting to impede Harrison from convincing the longitiude board of the efficacy of a time-piece solution to this problem over a celestial answer to this conundrum. The author also jazzes up the issue of whether Harrison received the prize the board promised to pay for a successful solution herein; even though the board supported him for upwards of 20 years as he pursued this quest. It's as if the author intentionally omitted some facts (that the Jefferys was a Harrison commission), and pumped up others (of a rival/foil on the board trying to impede Harrison and the compensation issue; implying that Harrison was jipped) just to make the story more compelling. John Harrison's story, however, is extremely compelling as it is and didn't need this extra spice served up by the author.Do read this (very short) book on how this Mr. Harrison solved the problem of knowing where one is when at sea; and if you're in London, visit the Old Royal Observatory and the Clockmakers museum (in the Guildhall) where you can see Harrison's wonderful creations in person. Enjoy!

The Man who Captured Time so Ships could Navigate Accurately
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Note: This review has been written from a city with the following position on Earth:

LATITUDE: (43 degrees 2 minutes North)
LONGITUDE: (81 degrees 9 minutes West).

In order to understand the significance of this remarkable book by Dava Sobel, the reader has to understand some words and phrases in the book's title and subtitle.

"Longitude" along with Latitude are two numbers along with compass directions that are used to fix the position of anything on the planet Earth (as in the note above). Lines of Latitude are the imaginary, parallel, horizontal lines circling the Earth with the equator (fixed by nature) being the "zero-degree parallel of latitude." Lines of Longitude or "meridians" are the imaginary lines that run top to bottom (north and south), from the Earth's North Pole to its South Pole with the "prime meridian" (established by political means) being the "zero-degree meridian of longitude." (Since the mid-1880s, the prime merdian has passed through Greenwich, England. Before this time, the imaginary line that passed through a ship's home port was usually used as the zero-degree meridian.)

Finding the latitude on land or at sea was easy and eventually a device was invented to make it even easier. But finding longitude, especially at sea on a swaying ship was difficult, a difficulty "that stumped the wisest minds of the world for the better part of human history" and was "the greatest scientific problem" of the 1700s. Ways of determining longitude astronomically were devised, but these proved to be impractical when used at sea.

England's parliament recognized that "the longitude problem" had to be solved practically since many people and valuable cargo were lost at sea when the ship's navigators lost sight of land. Thus, this parliament offered a top monetary prize that's equivalent to many millions of dollars today to anybody who could solve the problem.

Enter "a lone genius" named John Harrison (1693 to 1776). While most thought the solution to the problem was astronomical, Harrison saw time as the solution.

To calculate the longitude using time on a ship at sea, you have to realize these two facts found in this book:

(i) The Earth takes 24 hours of time to spin 360 degrees on its axis from east to west.
(ii) Noon (12:00 PM) is the highest point the sun seems to "travel" in a day.

To learn one's longitude at sea using time, as this book explains, it's necessary to do the following:

(1) Know the time it is aboard ship (local noon was normally used because of fact (ii) above).
(2) At the very same moment, know the time at a known longitude (such as at Greenwich, England).
(3) The difference in time between (1) and (2) is coverted to a longitude reading in degrees and direction (using fact (i) above).

Harrison's solution was the accurate determination of time of (2) above by inventing a reliable timepiece. This timepiece, in this case, would be set to Greenwich time. (Note that, as stated, (1) could be determined using the noon-day sun but this was not always practical. Eventually another timepiece was used to determine the ship's local noon for a particular day.) It has to be realized that this was the "era of pendulum clocks" where, on a deck of a rocking ship, "such clocks would slow down or speed up, or stop running altogether." Harrison was to capture time by building a marine clock or "timekeeper" (eventually called a "chronometer") that could be used on a ship at sea.

This book tells the "true story" of Harrison and his chronometers. (There were five built over a forty-year period. Harrison's first timekeeping device was known as H-1, his second was H-2, and so on.) Sobel uses accuracy (as evidenced by her thirty references), extensive interviews, and an engaging, mostly non-technical narrative (only essential technical detail is included) to convey a story that's filled with suspense, heroism, perfectionism, and villiany. All this in less than 200 pages!!

The only problem I had with this book is that it has hardly any pictures (photographs and illustrations). I would have liked to have seen pictures of the various people involved in this saga, maps showing where ships traveled, more photos of Harrison's amazing timepieces (both interior and exterior), and diagrams that explained important concepts. A diagram that actually showed how longitude, using a simple example, is calculated (using the steps above) would also have been helpful.

Finally, there is a good 1999 movie entitled "Longitude" based on this book. Be aware that even though this book is short, the movie is long (over three hours).

In conclusion, this book documents the exciting "true story" of how "a lone genius" solved "the longitude problem." Sobel states this more eloquently: "With his marine clocks, John Harrison tested the waters of space-time. He succeeded, against all odds, in using the fourth...dimension to link points on a three-dimensional globe. He [took] the world's whereabouts from the stars, and locked [or captured] the secret in a...watch."

<=====> ... Read more

Amazon.com

As a schoolbook figure, Isaac Newton is most often pictured sitting under an apple tree, about to discover the secrets of gravity. In this short biography, James Gleick reveals the life of a man whose contributions to science and math included far more than the laws of motion for which he is generally famous. Gleick's always-accessible style is hampered somewhat by the need to describe Newton's esoteric thinking processes. After all, the man invented calculus. But readers who stick with the book will discover the amazing story of a scientist obsessively determined to find out how things worked. Working alone, thinking alone, and experimenting alone, Newton often resorted to strange methods, as when he risked his sight to find out how the eye processed images:

.... Newton, experimental philosopher, slid a bodkin into his eye socket between eyeball and bone. He pressed with the tip until he saw 'severall white darke & coloured circles'.... Almost as recklessly, he stared with one eye at the sun, reflected in a looking glass, for as long as he could bear.

From poor beginnings, Newton rose to prominence and wealth, and Gleick uses contemporary accounts and notebooks to track the genius's arc, much as Newton tracked the paths of comets. Without a single padded sentence or useless fact, Gleick portrays a complicated man whose inspirations required no falling apples. --Therese Littleton ... Read more

Reviews (36)

Q.E.D.
This book demonstrates that biography is no exception to the adage that brevity is the soul of wit. Gleick divides this short but comprehensive biography into short chapters that respectively address each aspect of Newton's work: the calculus, the laws of gravity and motion, optics, alchemy, theology and so on. Moreover, each chapter succinctly but vividly describes the phase in Newton's life in which that work was performed and finally published, so that the reader moves chronologically through Newton's life while examining each of his monumental achievements. In 188 pages (not counting the informative, pertinent footnotes) Gleick tells the story of Newton's life, describes (but,thankfully, does not try to explain) his peculiar personality, sets out, in layman's terms, the basics of his most important discoveries, and places those discoveries in their social and historical context. Other biographers should take heed; readers with an interest in science and intellectual history should hasten to buy this book!

Revealing the personality of a genius
James Gleick's book Isaac Newton presents the life, the oddities and the great discoveries of the man who set the foundations of modern physics. Gleick has a unique talent for rendering science in layman terms. He preserves and sometimes amazingly expands the scope of the original ideas. When I read his book Chaos I wondered - Gleick seemed too vivid and comprehensible for a scientist and in the same time too penetrating for a writer who is not a professional researcher.

Maybe you would like to see what creates the observations described by Newton in his famous laws. Perhaps you have been sometimes puzzled by the enigmatic meaning of your life. Then you should read also Eugene Savov's Theory of Interaction the Simplest Explanation of Everything, James Gleick's Faster and Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order by Steven Strogatz. The explorations and discoveries presented in these three books show a path toward a new knowledge in which the laws of Newton and his genius shine even brighter.

A universal mind
With almost poetic grace, Gleick portrays the life and thinking of history's most expansive mind. Works on Newton aren't as common as might be expected. The task of addressing such a monumental mentality is formidable, to say the least. Only the most ambitious or analytical could attempt it. Gleick's effort encompasses the major facets of Newton's life, including his academic, political and religious aspects. He avoids the modern approach of delving into Newton's psyche or recapitulating three centuries of scholarly disputation. Even the "falling apple" story is redrawn as Newton's realisation that apparent size compared with distance expressed a relationship needing explanation. The result is a clean, unobstructed view of a complex man - and his legacy.

From meagre beginnings Newton carved an expansive niche in European scholarship. His skills, noted early, brought him a Cambridge appointment at 27. Already showing great promise, he was a reluctant publisher. He sequestered himself in his rooms, later in a small cottage. He'd lived almost alone during his childhood, but his curiosity led him in many directions. The prism experiments, breaking sunlight with a prism, began his long career in what is now deemed "physics". Light's properties were the subject of great dispute, with Newton holding to emitted particles. Waves seemed to adhere to the Cartesian "vortices" which Newton found suspect. Playing with mirrors and lenses led to the reflecting telescope widely used today. Thinking about the heavenly bodies he observed led, of course, to his idea of gravitational attraction. Not a popular idea then, since such forces were disdained.

It's difficult to assess whether his delving into the facts of nature led to his personal isolation, or the reverse holds. Gleick shows how Newton focussed on problems with an intensity few have demonstrated. Even in employment as Warden of the Mint, Newton pursued counterfeiters with a Rambo-like dedication - even accompanying culprits to the gallows. His brief stint as a Member of Parliament, however, was virtually silent. He was perturbed by his developing scepticism of the Holy Trinity - this while teaching at the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Cambridge University. These thoughts, too, he kept closely concealed. Only the dispute over gravity with Robert Hooke brought him reluctantly forth.

Although Newton's accomplishments were vast, Gleick relates how the great thinker understood he was only uncovering beginnings. Even those beginnings, however, were deemed "mechanistic" by the later Romantics - a label applied to science even today. Gleick rebuts this hostile view in his conclusion. However Newton's personality is viewed, his accomplishments readily surpass puerile complaints. Without him, Gleick reminds us, much of today's world would not exist. Cassini would not be orbiting Saturn, returning its amazing images to us, without him.

This book isn't highly detailed, and that's right and proper. Massive volumes of Newton's life already exist. Gleick has provided a tasteful and effective teaser for those wishing to learn more of this amazing man. He's even provided images of some of Newton's notes and observations imparting the flavour of Newton's thinking. Start here, you will not be disappointed. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Doesn't capture enough of the inner-Newton
There were moments in this book, but overall I was left a bit disappointed by the author's lack of insight into the man himself. I have always held Newton in awe, and wondered what his IQ might have measured. Perhaps what I was looking for in this book was not the author's intent in focus. I've read many scientific books that detail the theories and history of Newton's contributions. In this book I hoped to find more of an inner glimpse into Newton's psyche. What it did reveal was disillusioning--Newton was apparently petty, jealous, and socially inept. For those who are looking for a biography, this doesn't cut the mustard. For those who are not already familiar with the scientific thought of the day and with Newton's accomplishments, this book will be much more satisfying.

Honesty meets rationalism
I found this book hard to follow in places, but because James Gleick places you so close to Isaac Newton, I found it impossible to give up reading it. According to other reviews, the struggles between Newton and the philosophy of Descartes, and the personality of Hooke, and the possible plagarism of Leibnitz, are not new or unknown. They were to me. Another thing that I didn't understand about the times that Newton lived in was how his society and culture was so steeped in mysticism and the occult. Newton set his philosophy apart from the rest by strictly defining all of the terms that he used. So, while religions and other faith philosophies thrive on the dishonesty of wordplay, science, as defined by Newton's approach, rules the day. ... Read more

Book Description

In his New York Times bestseller, Chris Kraft delivers an unforgettable account of his life in Mission Control. The first NASA flight director, Kraft emerged from boyhood in small-town America to become a visionary who played an integral role in what would become the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. It's all here, from the legendary Mercury missions that first sent Americans into space through the Gemini and Apollo missions that landed them on the moon. The great heroes of space are here, too-Alan Shepard, John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, Jim Lovell, and Buzz Aldrin-leading the space race that would change the course of U.S. history.

From NASA's infancy to its greatest triumphs . . . from the calculated gambles to the near disasters to the pure luck that accompanied each mission, Flight relives the spellbinding events that captured the imagination of the world. It is a stirring tribute to the U.S. space program and to the men who risked their lives to take America on a flight into the unknown-from the man who was there for it all.

"A highly readable memoir." (The New York Times Book Review)

"A rewarding look at the brief, shining moment when space pathfinders held sway over space warriors." (The Washington Post) ... Read more

Reviews (55)

An insider's candid account of NASA's evolution
After reading many books about NASA's early days including Moon Shot and Failure is Not an Option, I was expecting Flight to follow the same formula of a chronological mission-by-mission playback. Instead, I found what I think is one of the best accounts of how NASA evolved and became what it is today.

Though he does include the missions, each with their own difficulties, from Mercury through Apollo, Chris Kraft writes much more from a management standpoint. He describes how decisions were made and how design and planning was accomplished without going too much into the technical nitty-gritty. This is truly a behind-the-scenes look at the early manned spaceflight program.

Kraft starts the book with a description of of his boyhood and college years, explaining how he came to work for what was then known as NACA. Having been a part of NASA from the first days of the Space Task Group, he is one of a few who are in the best position to describe it's evolution. He is open and honest about his feelings toward various people in the industry and the agency itself as it has come to be today. He also gives Bob Gilruth the credit and attention he deserves as the true father of NASA.

The only drawback I found to this book is that the chronology can get a bit confusing at times. Once the Space Task Group is formed, Kraft breaks the book up into Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. Because the programs overlapped, there is a bit of backpedaling at the start of each section which you have to keep track of - just something to keep in mind while you read.

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in early space flight, anyone who wants to revisit those years with an insider's look and anyone currently within NASA. Though all the other books about NASA's best years have their selling points - Flight should be at the top of any list.

Absolutely wonderful!
Anyone who is familiar with the numerous television documentaries about the early years at NASA knows about Chris Kraft. NASA's original flight controller, Kraft takes the reader on the journey of his amazing life story from a small town in Virginia to the top levels of management at NASA's Johnson Space Center. The reader will come away with an amazing appreciation for the contributions that Kraft gave to this nation as well as the numerous other unsung heroes that helped America get to the moon. As NASA's original flight conroller, Kraft was personally present for the most memorable moments in the history of space exploration including Alan Shepard's first trip into space in 1961 and John Glenn's historic orbital flight in 1962. Kraft takes the reader behind the scenes and shows what was really going on inside NASA that the public never knew about. The story he tells is amazing. The best part of this book is that Kraft acknowledges that the race to the moon was a team effort where everyone including managment, astronauts, mission control and contracters all contributed to this historic effort. Kraft was part of the story from the beginning and anyone interested in the least about the greatest story of the 20th century should and needs to read this fine book. It is well written, candid and an easy read.

Chris Kraft is not a pleasant man
I enjoy all the books on the space program and I am really glad that Scott Carpenter was able to tell his side of of the story in his book "For Spacious Skies" (which is very good). Chris Kraft makes Scott out to be a dopey day dreamer behind the controls of the Mercury Capsule. Chris ensures that the world knows that it was "his" decision alone to kick Scott out of the space program. Chris should have been more fair and point out that Scotty was overloaded with "space experiments". It was Scotty's flight that proved that you cannot overload the man in capsule with experiments and NASA never did it again in the "and on" flights. Give Scotty a break. He put put his life on the line while Chris played big shot engineer.

Mercury, Gemini, Apollo - MGA = Man's Greatest Adventure.
Chris Kraft is one of those brilliant rarities that can lead and design complex and difficult projects and has complete faith that the answer is just around the next corner.
He was the FLIGHT director of all three distinguished space programs beginning with Mercury and ending with Apollo.
Gemini was stuck in the middle and without Gemini, Apollo would never have landed on the moon.

It's so odd that many people STILL refuse to accept the facts that the USA DID in fact land on the moon on that fateful day, July 20th, 1969.
YES - 44 years ago Apollo 11 did so on the EAGLE at exactly 3:17:39.9PM CST in the United States of America.
Neil Armstrong's voice was clear over the radio, a quarter million miles away,
"Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."
Armstrong was much admired in NASA for having a cool head under intense pressure and he was unanimously voted to be the first man to step foot on the moon.
At the time, it was unknown what the surface of the moon was made of...some scientists feared the top layer of the moon dust was one mile of soft sand that would collapse under any weight and swallow up the landing ship upon it's landing.
Thankfully, this did not occur, nor were there any life-threatning germs found on the lunar surface.

"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
Those words forever changed our world. Along with the lunar landing came many inventions that blessed our quality of life with many newfangled inventions like the super speedy computers and telemetry that could monitor heart rhythms of people.

Everyone got their due in this tell-all book and what a page-turner it proved to be. Kraft is a brilliant man who can tell it like it is and he sure lead an exciting and intellectual life.
It's sad that his family got the short end of the stick, but the nation recieved his best and most intensive labor.
Without Kraft, I seriously doubt that the US would have made the moon in 1969...I really do.
Read this book and understand the whole story....all the twists and turns and convolutions of the bueracracy.
It's interesting and I need to mention that initially, Kraft had a low interpersonal assesment of the genious scientist, Wernher von Braun. He disliked the fact that von Braun bombed Europe with his evil VH bombs --- he hated the fact that Hitler bossed von Braun around the way he did. But then later, he had to understand that a knife was held at von Bruan's throat and he HAD to do those evil things.....or Hitler would of had him executed or shot or whatnot.....Kraft later awarded von Bruan with his highest admiration because without von Braun, there'd very likely be no Saturn V moon rocket. It's statistics must NEVER be forgotten, insists Kraft, and here I will discuss it with you.
The Saturn V had 3 stages, the first was 33 feet in diameter.
It had 5 monster rocket engines and each one could produce 1.5 MILLION pounds of thrust! (That's 7.5 million pounds on this stage alone....)
Now add stage 2 : it was 30 feet in diameter and had 5 smaller engines that punched up 1 million pounds of thrust.
(uh let's see --- 5 more million pounds added to #1.)
Then the third stage was 22 feet across with no specified thrust given, but it was impressive!!!
Add the equation up and add some more millions to it and uh --- well -- you get the idea! That mutha kicked!!!
All this power was required to break free of Earth's gravitational field and launch Apollo into Earth orbit.
WOW! What a ride it must have been!
All this happened so long ago and before long, Americans took space travel for granted.
According to Kraft, we could have landed on MARS in the 1990's had we stuck to our high ideals and kept the NASA space exploration programs going at full tilt.
But politics and Viet Nam came into the picture and that was the piece of pie NASA needed to perform these unrealized dreams.
They went as far as Apollo 17 - that was as far as the budget and national interest allowed for them.
Kind of a shame to stop dreaming big....but I know other programs need our aid too.
Some people say we don't need space and we don't need to explore while world hunger is still a reality here along with homelessness and child abuse.
Maybe we should forgo it and take care of the more fundamental problems facing humanity here on Earth.
But after reading this quality book, it encourages one's intellect to reach for the stars and never stop thirsting for the truth about our universe and the many associated discoveries that will come with other great adventures up there in the mysterious cosmos.
I bought this book for a mere $3.98 and I wish I could share it with every person who is reading here at AMAZON dot com.
It's a wonderful book that you should endeaver -- it will bring you much discovery and knowledge.
Thank you Chris Kraft for living an exemplary life and sharing your brain power with all those programs that improved the world.

The story is worth reading from all who shared in it and have a point of view.

Young Guys Take On the World and Win -American Style
This is a modern and very much an American story where people are given the money and resources and are told to get the job done. This takes place of course at NASA under the intense glare of the international media. It was done under tough working conditions, with many technical and human challenges, with long hours, and tough deadlines to meet.

Sure the Mission Control team headed by Kraft was supported by a cast of thousands and many suppliers, but they (ultimately) had to manage the flights and make the decisions, and do the things that were required to make the operation a success. Only the very best people can lead in this technical environment. They must be the brightest and have the ability to garner respect from their fellow workers. Age is not a factor in selecting the people, those decisions are based on raw talent and drive. In this pressure cooker environment Kraft rose to the top.

That is what this book is about. It is a group of young guys with lots of energy and the smarts have to come up with and execute a winning plan and then solve all kinds of problems with no prior or at least limited experiences.

But Kraft and his team did it with the world watching. This book conveys this great achievement by a young group of managers and engineers.

Four or five stars. Great story.

Jack in Toronto ... Read more

Amazon.com

An academic biography, Michael D. Gordin's A Well-Ordered Thingtells Dmitri Mendeleev's story in dense prose, detailed with Russianhistory and molecular chemistry. Mendeleev will forever be remembered asthe inventor of the periodic table of the elements, which sortshydrogen, helium, lithium, and so on, according to their weights andproperties. Readers unfamiliar with either the periodic table or thepolitics of Imperial Russia will have a tough go of it. Nevertheless,Gordin's treatment reveals surprising facts about the enigmaticMendeleev and his social context.

The periodic system was developed in Russia by an individualwho was ... trying to bring order to a Russian society that wasapparently disintegrating.... In order to understand the building ofthis part of modern chemistry, one must come to terms with the attemptsto create a modern Russia.

Reviews (2)

Story of a great man - by an ingenious historian
I've heard a part of story of Mendeleev directly from Michael Gordin during the dinners in the Harvard Society of Fellows, and the discussions with Michael were always extremely insightful as well as entertaining.

One of the main reasons is that Michael knows a lot, and he is interested in everything. My feeling is that he knows more about Russian history than those who are specialized in humanities. Think about any two people whom you know and who lived in the 19th century or the early 20th century (two Russian writers, for example), and Michael will be able to tell you what was the relationship between these two people, when they met, and why it was important. What you read in this book about Mendeleev is just a fraction of what Michael could tell you about the 19th century.

Moreover, he also understands the important technical points of chemistry - in fact, not just chemistry: physics, mathematics, and other sciences are his cup of tea, too. Therefore his presentation is not superficial: you will learn the right things about the right ideas and their evolution, about the wrong ideas as well as about the influence of politics and ghosts.

Michael Gordin's Russian is very good and it helped him to understand all the relevant events and links between the contemporaries of Mendeleev as he studied the archives in St Petersburg (and perhaps also Moscow). Incidentally, he also learned Czech - which is my first language - because at some moment he decided that it is helpful to follow some old letters about chemistry.

Anyone who is interested in chemistry, history of science, or Russian history should immediately buy this book because Michael Gordin was the right person to write it, and you will certainly learn a lot about all these issues. Moreover, Mendeleev might be the most famous chemist ever and his life was rich enough to keep you excited as you read through these 300+ pages of a superb text.

Superb read
This is a superbly written text by a young, brilliant historian. It is a must have for all who study Russian history and the history of science. I would recommend it whole-heartedly. ... Read more

Book Description

"The presentation of [Einstein's] discoveries is little short of inspired." -- The Washington Post

Amusing, irreverent, sophisticated and highly accessible, Einstein for Beginners is the perfect introduction to Einstein's life and thought.

Reaching back as far as Babylon (for the origins of mathematics) and the Etruscans (who thought they could handle lightning), this book takes us through the revolutions in electrical communications and technology that made the theory of relativity possible. In the process, we meet scientific luminaries and personalities of imperial Germany, as well as Galileo, Faraday, and Newton; learn why moving clocks run slower than stationary ones, why nothing can go faster than the speed of light; and follow Albert's thought as he works his way toward E = mc2, the most famous equation of the twentieth century. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

OK
This is an OK outline of the special theory described within its historical (physics) context. As expected with the "...For Beginners" series, diagrams are used well. The general theory is not covered. Note: Dollops of the authors' crackpot Marxism are found throughout.

Fantastic Introduction with Deep Details!
This book is about the Theory of Relativity and a bit about how it was developed. The author done a wonderful job in teaching it in a very easy way and also showing the details of the theory (not being only superficial), like equations etc. You see, the deduction of the equations he done in a great way that everyone can easily understand (it's not like the appendix in the Einstein's book about relativity which I never understood). Of course this "deduction" is not formal, but it helps a lot to understand how it works and how they got to the theory.

Whets your appetite for more on Einstein
An easy and maths free introduction to the world of A.E. However, some of the more silly and irrelevant cartoons might distract the reader.

All in all, not a bad introduction to A.E. (In fact a damn good place to start discovering relativity). My grouse is that it does not cover all of A.E.'s works. The treatment of relativity touches the tip of the ice-berg only, so to speak.

Still, it really makes you want to read more about A.E.'s works, at least for this reader.

A Simplified Approach to a Complicated Subject
Einstein for Beginners acts more as a visual representation of Einsteins work. An easy to read format for anyone interested in knowing Einsteins theories without the mind-boggling formulas. I would suggest this as a place to begin. A nice read, although the theories one still needs to comprehend. The author, Joseph Schwartz puts it in a perspective that both challenges and educates. Highly reccomended!

Einstein was a living breathing human? What a concept!
Hey! Guess what? Albert had a life. A pretty goofy one at that. And still he manages to come out on the top of so many lists they saved his brain for study! I'm glad I found this reprinted - I have bought and loaned so many copies of this I was sure I'd never see it again. Yes, it's a cartoon book. That's probably its best feature. There are plenty of books that can take you through Einstein's work, equation by equation, scholarly treatments, rigorous in their dicussion of the minute details of unseen physics. This is not one of them, thank heaven. But if you want to know WHO Einstein was, you want to see him as a child and what incident started him on a world-changing life of inquiry, want to know who helped him and why, who threw obstacles in his path and why, whom he loved, and what place he takes in the rivers of history, this is the book. As a scientist, I know where to go to look up and learn the math of Einstein's work. I can read his original papers, I can review the problems he solved. But that's not who he was, it's not enough info to solve Albert himself. All the equations in the world won't tell you why he married his cousin. And if this book is broad enough to cure most folks of two myths: (a) he invented the atom bomb (FALSE) and (b) he got the Nobel Prize for Relativity (FALSE) then it's worth the eight bucks. Read it anyway, but especially if you think you know how science evolved in the 20th century. ... Read more

Amazon.com

At a time when overwritten biographies arguably provide too much information about their subjects, astronaut-turned-politician-turned-astronaut John Glenn's breezy memoir is welcome. His life story is simply told, not terribly reflective but enormously compelling: an Ohio boy grows up to become the first American to orbit the earth, takes a shot at the presidency but misses, and triumphantly returns to outer space as a senior citizen and national hero. Following a section on his youth, Glenn describes being a fighter pilot in the Second World War and Korea (where he lived in the same Quonset hut as baseball legend Ted Williams), as well as a test pilot. The highlight of the book is Project Mercury, the early NASA effort that hurled Glenn 150 miles above the planet in a tiny capsule--"flying from one day into the next and back again." In less than five hours, Glenn observed three sunsets and sunrises. He also conducted a few basic experiments, such as "squeezing some applesauce from a toothpaste-like tube into my mouth to see if weightlessness interfered with swallowing. It didn't."

Upon his return to earth, Glenn made a few abortive runs for the Senate. He was finally elected in 1974 as a Democrat and served for 24 years. In 1984, he sought his party's presidential nomination, and it looked like he was the one candidate potentially capable of beating President Reagan. But he stumbled and had to quit. The final pages detail Glenn's 1998 mission aboard the space shuttle Discovery at the age of 77. Just as his journeys riveted the nation, Glenn's memoir will grip its readers. --John J. Miller ... Read more

Reviews (34)

Delightful biography, but short on space hardware
John Glenn became the first American in orbit when he circled the Earth three times aboard Friendship 7. The most senior of the original Mercury astronauts, he was trumpeted as a hero upon return, but left the space program shortly thereafter because NASA wouldn't give their famous spokesman a second, potentially disastrous flight. Not until almost thirty years later, that is, when Senator Glenn returned to space at the age of 77, amidst a roar of publicity that rivalled his first mission. In the meantime, he had embarked upon a political career that included a shot at the presidency. A rather distinct biography.

In "John Glenn: A Memoir", the Marine turned Astronaut turned Politician shares with the world his life story, which spans the better part of a century and saw aviation progress from biplanes to the Space Shuttle. Yet this is a deliberate and slow-moving book, written in earnest and matter-of-fact prose. It progresses in strictly chronological order, spends a great amount of nostalgic detail on Glenn's childhood - including mother's cooking and playpen stories -, then moves on to the Marine days flying planes in World War II and Korea, then to his test pilot career. Always one step at a time, one little story after the other.

The results are a mixed bag: while the drama-oriented readers will call it outright dull, others might find the leisurely pace quite immersive and captivating. At the least, it is refreshing to read an astronaut biography that does not suffer from tunnel vision. The space program is not as much as mentioned until about half-time, and even recounting his NASA days, Glenn focuses on the big picture - the political and ideological implications of the space race - rather than technical detail. While the accounts of his actual Mercury and Shuttle flights are vivid and gripping, on the whole there is nothing about the space program that could not be found in most other, specialised books. Not surprising, given that Glenn's astronaut career was illustrious but brief, and something that the die-hard space buffs should consider.

The part between Glenn's flights focuses on his political career, his friendship with the Kennedys, and law making as an Ohio Senator. There is more talk about his loved wife and family, and more emphasis on duty, country, values. In truth, it must be said that the only things arguably more all-American than John Glenn are baseball and apple pie; he constantly reflects on his beliefs and guidelines, and never seems to waver in his uncomplicated optimism and patriotism. More remarkably, it all seems genuine, too: no image polishing, that's just the way he is. Indeed, Glenn colours his omnipresent love of America with plenty of humour and palpable feeling, and comes across not as preachy, but entirely likeable.

The concept of such an awfully nice moralist seems strange in today's cynical times, and this is perhaps the most telling point of all: the text seems like a document from a different age. Like the photographs that come with it, showing Glenn's wedding ceremony in uniform, or piloting Corsairs in World War II, this tale is something out of our reach, something delightfully dated. And "John Glenn: A Memoir" sure is a delightful book. Readers looking for a remarkably rich and varied life story can hardly make a better choice. Space enthusiasts lusting for nuts and bolts might want to think twice.

A thrilling, exhiliarating autobiography
Marine Colonel John H. Glenn, Jr., was selected as one of the original seven Mercury astronauts in 1959, and made his historic orbital flight aboard Friendship 7 on February 20, 1962. But as this book reminds us, Glenn was involved in many other grand events in our nation's history. He was a fighter pilot in the Marines during World War II and Korea in the 1940's and 1950's, he served in the Senate for four terms in Ohio, and finally, in the fall of 1998, he made a historic return to orbit aboard the space shuttle Discovery. This book captures the details of those events, sweeping the lifetime of this small town boy from the midwest, a true American icon. I thought it was very thrilling, and was interested in hearing of his accounts of his spaceflights , Senate career, and combat flights in the wars. Others have said it was boring because Glenn has almost never faced adversity in his life, but I thought it was entertaining nontheless. His accounts of the Friendship 7 and Discovery missions are nearly minute-by minute, very detailed, and I thought it was very well done.

The Story of a Perfect Life?
Based on this book John Glenn never got out of line, never got in any serious trouble or caused anyone else to get into trouble, had a perfect wife and family who always supported him 100%, even if it meant his being away from home for long periods of time. He even goes to the extreme of discounting a story about his concern over his height exceeding the max requirement for space travel. I found many parts of this book enjoyable, but left feeling I had only been reading a whitewashed version purified for mass consumption. On slight hint at the "real" John Glenn may be revealed in his writing a letter to NASA in an effort to overturn the decision to have Alan Shepard and Guss Grissom fly in space before him. This book left me with many more questions about the real man. Showing more of his human, occassionally risking and failing side would have added much to my enjoyment. Unfortunately this was missing.

Critical Reflections
There have been many assessments of John Glenn since February 1962, but perhaps none so critically important as those he has made in his Memoir's. All of us have fallen short of fully living our values and maintaining our ethical standards as we move through a life filled with temptations; we are but mortal. While Glenn is certainly an American hero of the highest caliber, and one of my favorites, his shortcomings remain a puzzle to me. The paradox of John Glenn is found in the staunch moralistic tone of his life before his Senate career, and his stance after taking that oath of office.

His criticism of the moral behavior of his fellow Mercury astronauts in 1960 is in stark contrast of his support for a president who was equally as guilty some 40 years later. His support for a political agenda that represents a normalization of deviancy leaves me wondering if his professed Christianity is truly a "born again" commitment or simply cultural attribute that can be influenced by power.

Glenn agonizes over his "guilt by association" in the Keating affair and presents a rather weak defense. He states that one of his reasons for entering politics was to prove that good men can survive and triumph in an atmosphere where power corrupts. Yet he leaves himself open on several occasions to simply reinforce the notion.

Glenn reviews his life in a manner that I found interesting and informative. As an avid space historian, he filled in a few areas of his life and the early manned space program that were unknown to me. Of interest too, are the occasional factual errors that have crept into the book, perhaps because much of the final composition was probably done by his co-author, Nick Taylor (who, overall, did a great job). Gordon Cooper's flight did not terminate early because "his spacecraft lost orbital velocity" but went the full 22 orbits. And, Gus Grissom was not "the first person to fly in space three times". He would have been had he not been k