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Science writer William Poundstone (and biographer of game-theory guru John von Neumann) begins this book of deftly strung anecdotes from the life of pop-science demigod Carl Sagan with the following anecdote: four-year-old Carl, a Jewish kid growing up near the Jersey shore, rides piggyback on his dad's shoulders into the 1939 World's Fair and the "World of Tomorrow." Surrounded by mocked-up "rocketports," GM's "Futurama," and the promise of outlandish technology to come, it's easy to imagine the impact on this little guy who was to become one of our century's most visionary and visible scientists. A childhood friend tells Poundstone that "from an early age Carl was seized with the fabulous mission of searching for life on other worlds," a quest that would dominate his entire professional career.

Poundstone recounts how this quest drove the immensely intelligent, ambitious, and charismatic Sagan, from his discovery of Arthur C. Clarke to his predictable adolescent chemistry-set accidents to his colorful academic career and professional work on the Viking and Voyager missions, nuclear disarmament, the award-winning Cosmos, and Robert Zemeckis' Contact. What recommends this biography most, though, isn't its completeness but its style: Poundstone has divided the 500-plus-page book into over 200 easily digestible, addictive little sections, each an entertaining or illuminating (or, often, laugh-out-loud) anecdote from Sagan's life, with titles like "Pornography in Space," "Muskrats, Drunkards, Extraterrestrials," and "Sagan Versus Apple Computer." (The in-house name for the mid-range PowerMac 7100 was "Carl Sagan," the joke being that it would make Apple "billions and billions." But forced to change it by Sagan, Apple switched to "BHA," later revealed to stand for "Butt-Head Astronomer"--Sagan sued for libel.) --Paul Hughes ... Read more

Reviews (20)

Good, fair read
You can add me to the list of people who was about 7 or so when I first saw Cosmos, and it was a major influence (along with 2 scientist parents of my own) to go into science (not astronomy). Carl Sagan, and the way he made science poetic, influenced me greatly.

I feel that an absolute must in a biography, is fairness. I neither want to read idolatry, nor a muckracking book. This book was fair in its depiction of Sagan: a brilliant scientist, who cared about the world, science, writing, and his own ego. I especially liked the sections on his work with NASA on the various Mars missions; where do we land, what experiments do we perform, and just what do the results mean, anyway?

There was enough information about his background and personal life to keep it interesting, but not so much that it bored me. I was unaware of his first marriage to Lynn Margulis; a famous scientist in her own right.

This biography moved very quickly; I always wanted to pick it back up again. Lastly, you do not need any type of science background to understand this book. It is a biography, not a science text at all.

A Bio That Strives to Ring True
Many of us who knew Carl Sagan understood how he compartmentalized his complex life. Few had an inkling how rich, surprising, and often tragic it was; how Sagan faced down death;how he hurt and cut off many and helped more.

For the reader, while rewarding to see that Sagan was a driven, and polymathic person (as a few of us knew well), it is also shocking and even distressing to see details of Sagan's private life up for ultimate scrutiny. In fairness, Poundstone was doing his job. In comparison, Davidson's competing bio of Sagan (also read by this reviewer)is a revolting escapade into several episodes of spiteful, foul-mouth invective, and marijuana haze, additionally peppered with unfortunate inaccuracies. I found no statements in error in Poundstone's book, although more than a few for which I could disagree upon his interpretation.

Superb portions in this bio abound; in fact, the decription of Viking is the best I have seen; Poundstone took me back.

A disappointment: Sagan's secretary, Shirley Arden, should have been front and center here, but shows up as a minor allusion. Shirley is a miracle worker, and for anyone interested in Sagan, it is salient to note her key role of support, editorial acumen, organizational savvy, surrogate mothering, and many other lovely attributes in making Carl Sagan a mensch.

A bittersweet book of a remarkable life,all too short. Sagan is missed but Poundstone helps make sure he will not be forgotten.

Among the Stars
I was more influenced by his books then TV appearances on Cosmos, which was a great show. The book really made me smile and reminded me of what was great about the scientist and the man. As we all are, he was mortal and flawed and this book did not try to hide either. It's possible Sagan's final note to us all was his article at the end of the now defunct George magazine. In it, he looked foreward and encouraged us all to take better care of our planet and fellow inhabitants.

Carl Sagan: A very Human being
I have read everything that Carl Sagan has ever written. I have also read biographies by other writers, and had some conversations about what kind of man Carl Sagan really was. Behind the hype and the smile lived a lonely man-- a man who cared too much about the world, yet it distracted him from the chance he had to bond with his eldest children. This book touches on some of the lesser known facts and issues about Carl Sagan. His loves and his losses; his triumphs and his losses. By the time the reader is finished this well written and, I believe, even handed account of one of modern days greatest scientists, he or she will have learned a great deal about the man behind COSMOS, behind the Dragons, and behind CONTACT. And they will have learned that in many ways, Carl Sagan was just a man, for better or worse-- yet we will not see his kind again soon. I do remember where I was and what I was doing when JFK was shot in Dallas. I also remember where I was and what I was doing when I learned that Dr. Sagan had passed away. I must admit, and without any remorse, I shed a few tears on both occasions.
I cannot recommend this book enough to the reader who wishes to know the real man behind the force that was and is Carl Sagan.

no hidden agenda
This reads like a simple relation of facts without hidden agenda, amateur psychoanalysis, pompous moralizing, etc. I think that is what a biography should be.

Avoid Keay Davidson's conniving diatribe; stick with this book. ... Read more

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Before discussing the merits of David Foster Wallace's Everything and More: A Compact History of Infinity, it is essential to define what the book is not. This volume in the "Great Discoveries" series is not a history of the personalities and social conditions that led to the "discovery" of infinity. Nor is it a narrative fixated on the cultish fear of--and obsession with--the infinite that has seemingly driven mathematicians insane over the centuries. Rather, Everything and More is a surprisingly rigorous march through the 2000 plus years of mathematical research that began with Aristotle; continued through Galileo, Isaac Newton, G.W. Leibniz, Karl Weierstrass, and J.W.R. Dedekind; and culminated in Georg Cantor and his Set Theory.The task Wallace (author of the bestseller Infinite Jest and other fiction) has set himself is enormously challenging: without radically compromising the complexity of the philosophy, metaphysics, or mathematics that underlies the evolving concept of infinity, present the material to a lay audience in a manner that is entertaining. To propel his narrative, Wallace even develops a style that mirrors the mathematical language he probes. One difficulty in his focus on concepts and not a strict human chronology, though, is that his structure is dependent on frequent digressions (especially early on). Patience is required. Wallace demands that his reader walk through the equations, study the graphs and charts, and relearn college-level concepts to follow along on the exploration. Indeed, after one wrenching dip into Zeno’s paradoxes, Wallace spouts at his imagined complaining audience: "Deal." But the book should be deemed a success. If one grants him the attention he requires, Wallace has made the trip richly rewarding.--Patrick O’Kelley ... Read more

Reviews (33)

Good idea, Bad Book
When DFW isn't using undefined acronyms, or rubbing his absurdly large vocabulary in your face, the book achieves what I believe to be its goal, that is, to explain the origins and problems associated with infinity. The puzzles he uses are very interesting and provide a good look into the problems the notion of infinite can put forth.

However, the book is unneccesarily complicated and the meaning of many words/phrases/ideas continue to be used throughout the book without explaination. The book attemps to be accessable to "readers who do not have pro-grade technical backgrounds" but fails (at least for me) considering I was often confused although I had taken calc 1 in high school a year before reading it.

Less than the sum of its parts
There are two books here, that should complement each other, but, in reality, turn out to be mutually exclusive. Which is unfortunate, since they're both pretty good books in their own right.

The first book is your standard David Foster Wallace long essay/argument/explication. If you've read and enjoyed 'A Supposedly Fun A Thing . . .etc., etc. etc.' you'll recognize this easily. It's in DFW's distinctive voice, awash in digressions and asides and continually undercutting itself. And using little tricks like breaking up sentences into fragments which you'd think is just a clever trick but, to me, is just really enjoyable. (And, if you haven't noticed already, DFW's style is, to me, kind of infectious ' a lot of my writing is kind of influenced by it.) Anyway, this first book is a long chatty essay about infinity in general and Cantor's struggles with it in particular.

This is where the second book pops up. It's basically a math textbook. A focused one, yes, but a textbook nonetheless. Meaning that there are a lot of equations and Greek letters and the like. DFW continually claims that most of this math should be accessible to anyone with some high-school math and maybe a semester or two of college calculus. I fit that description to a T, and I should admit that I struggled at times.

But I think the reason I struggled was that the two books ' chatty essay and dry textbook ' undermine each other. The equations are stumbling blocks in the flow of DFW's prose. And the second guessing and asides in DFW's prose (which work just fine in an essay about pomo lit and television or state fairs or such) really get on your nerves. Because when you hit the hundredth iteration of DFW saying, 'well, what I'm about to explain isn't entirely accurate but . . .' you just want to scream 'where in hell can I find a book that explains this all accurately'' (Which, given the complexity of all this, might be a tall order.)

Frankly, I think this could have been a hell of a book if DFW's editors had let him blow it up to Infinite Jest size. Then he could have had room for more historical context, actual biographical details. As well as the space to go through the assorted proofs and equations in a more complete way. As well as the space for an index, table of contents and glossary (because the emergency glossaries, while well intentioned, don't quite cut it.)

But as it is, you basically have to read this thing twice. Once for pleasure and once for the math. If that sounds like your cup of tea (and you're a DFW fan), give this a read.

Good, but flawed
Good subject, interesting (although sometimes tangled) presentation.

But the mathematical mistakes just spoil everything. Like the proof of dichotomy convergence using Weierstrass delta-epsilon thing for continuity. What was that? Looked like the author himself didn't quite understand what he was trying to do, so he just crumpled the proof: "Hence... Hence...".

A fellow of infinite jest?
I found this a well-researched book by a knowledgeable author, marred only by his putting it into words.The presentation is perhaps that of an overdue term paper at three a.m., when the un-numbered pages have collapsed into a pile on the floor.

The arrogant mannerisms, cliches and hackneyed phrases, ideosyncratic abbreviations, and lack of linear structure make it a book that, once you put it down, is hard to pick up again.

I bought this book hoping to bring away from it some fresh perspectives on infinity, to benefit the calculus students I am teaching.I left it empty-handed.

Paradoxically flawed
Inspired by praise for David Foster Wallace's "Everything and More" in publications including The Onion and Wired, I bought it hoping to revive in myself and instill in my kids an enduring excitement about mathematics.

Wallace begins with a series of anecdotes that promised to fill the bill, leavened with plain talk and a bracing occasional bit of scatology. But the book's reliance on advanced notation -- much of it impenetrable even to this reader, despite four years of college math (up to differential equations!) -- soon kills the narrative flow.

Wallace's parenthetical asides and copious footnotes sometimes provide illumination, but the book's scattershot structure belies the dust jacket's promise of "a literary masterpiece."

Even Wallace himself acknowledges the book's shortcomings, apologizing at several points for convoluted sentences, bewildering explanations and jumbled storytelling. A good editor could have helped him cut those knots, isolating the advanced math or otherwise rendering it intelligible, allowing him to deliver what author James Gleick hails in his promotional blurb as "exquisitely (and hilariously) original science writing." (Did Gleick and the other reviewers survive the entire book? Or did they just get the funny parts?)

Reading "Everything and More" was like being trapped in a literary version of Zeno's Paradox: Finishing half the book, then struggling to complete half of what remained, then half of that ... I finally just gave up, disillusioned. ... Read more

Reviews (19)

fun and informative
In my opinion, the Cold War was the most interesting era of all history. This book gives a real sense the the precariousness of the world situation of the time. The fact that liberals like Bertrand Russell advocated going to war with the USSR in the late 40's to prevent them from building a nuclear arsenal shows how fearful people were in the early Cold War. The world may have been saved by Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD), the idea that if both sides have the ability to eliminate the other, neither will act. MAD is a game theoretical concept, and game theory was dirctly resonsible for the ABM treaty. Poundstone does a very good job of explaining game theory, using several examples ranging from prisoners trying to reduce their sentence, to high schoolers trying to get their friends to shave their heads. Von Neumann, inventor of game theory, comes across as one of the geniuses of the 20th century, but not as someone you would want for a boss. Poundstone's story of Von Neumann's life and explainations of game theory are very entertaining, and his profound observations of the Cold War are something that I wish more people were familar with.

Von Neumann, game theory, and the Cold War
William Poundstone is in his element when he's writing about stuff like this. If you've read his _Labyrinths of Reason_ or _The Recursive Universe_, you already know he's a terrific expositor of the logical and mathematical brain-benders that have driven both mathematics and philosophy for the past century or so. Well, this book really gives him a chance to shine.

You see, it's one big story that consists of several sub-stories. In part it's a biography (intellectual and otherwise) of John von Neumann, one of the greatest mathematicians of the twentieth century. It's also a popular exposition of game theory and some of the decision-theoretic puzzles that arise in it (most obviously the one of the book's title). And it's _also_ a history of the Cold War, at least on its strategic side.

You pretty much have to be William Poundstone to weave all this together into a coherent and readable narrative. Fortunately, William Poundstone _is_ William Poundstone, and he pulls it off with panache.

There's something here for everybody. My favorite parts are the chapters on the various game-theoretic dilemmas (including a _very_ nice exposition of Robert Axelrod's _The Evolution of Cooperation_ that correctly captures what Axelrod did and did not show in his famous computer tournaments). But the biography of von Neumann is fascinating too; great mathematicians tend to be odd and interesting characters, and von Neumann was one of the greatest. And all the Cold War-era history is riveting in its own right, even apart from its relationship to von Neumann (who may have been at least one of the real-life models for Dr. Strangelove).

Poundstone is a fine writer with a real gift for this sort of thing. If even one of the strands in this tale sounds engaging to you, you can rest assured that Poundstone will manage to keep you engaged in the other two as well.

Look for his other books too. I especially recommend _Labyrinths of Reason_.

Mind triggering!!!
This is an excellent book. One of the best I have ever read in my life. While you read it you get so many ideas about life, research, people...For me, as a doctoral student making a thesis on multicriterion optimization of ship structures, it a revelation.
I highly recommend it to everyone, since it is not a technical book, but written with ease for a layman. For the people in the business of decision making, I bet that you will be amazed with the impressions you get from it.

Very good for the common reader
This book was a very good discussion of game theory and Prisoner's Dilemma type games. It was interesting to see how so many real-life situations and conflicts can be reduced down to variations on some pretty basic games. I only wish the book didn't keep returning to the atomic bomb and the arms race so frequently. The point was made early.. and often.

poorly organized
Granted the subject matter is absolutely fascinating, 5 stars out of 5. Having said that, the subject deserves a much better treatment. This book was poorly organized and felt rushed. Yes, it was readable. But it felt like Poundstone just jammed together the results of his research rather than using his research to flesh out a coherent structure.

The purported central point of the book was the influence of game theory on cold war strategy. Yet this theme was not well developed or documented. The book was part (weak) bio of von neuman, part (weak) introduction to game theory, and part(weak) history of the cold war. The parts just did not fit together smoothly. ... Read more

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Bob Buck may not be as famous as Charles Lindbergh, but he's well known among aviators for setting flight-distance records in the 1930s, flying a B-17 in the Second World War, and finally, becoming a commercial airline pilot who logged more than 2,000 trips across the Atlantic Ocean. North Star over My Shoulder is Buck's memoir of a life spent in the skies. He shares plenty of cockpit wisdom: "A copilot can make a trip or ruin it; get someone who talks too much, gripes about the company, tries to impress you, tells long and boring anecdotes, or is overly aggressive in suggesting ways to run the flight, and the taste is unpleasant." He also answers the question he says nonpilots are most likely to ask him: How do you overcome jet lag? "You don't," he says. Buck addresses offbeat subjects, too, such as what an airline pilot does when one of his first-class passengers is irate about the lack of caviar on a long trip. Readers fascinated by flight will enjoy this book, both for its historical perspective on advances in aviation ("a time no one will ever experience again") and the good advice that springs from almost every page ("sitting low tends to make you level off a little too high, while sitting up high tends to make you fly into the ground and not level off enough"). Pilots will appreciate this book, as will anybody who has ever wondered what it's like to fly a plane. --John Miller ... Read more

Reviews (13)

A Fascinating Story
In spite of a somewhat slow start, the story quickly improves and becomes an incredible account from the early days of commercial aviation, where you read about the author becoming a TWA captain flying DC-2s and DC-3s, through his retirement in the 1970s where he flew 747s across the Atlantic.

The fact that one individual lived and experienced all these monumental changes that shaped modern aviation (such as radio navigation, the birth of the ILS (Instrument Landing System), not to mention having a chance the meet and chat with Charles Lindbergh himself as well as Amelia Earhart), plus the quality of the story-telling, makes this a book that can be enjoyed by pilots and non-pilots alike.

I won't spoil the story by going into great detail, but I highly recommend this book for anyone; from aviation history buffs to bold and bald pilots, or for anyone who simply wants to read a great-and true-story.

Life story of a great aviator
Buck's latest book shifts gears away from his classic style of teaching pilots to fly better. This book is autobiography at its best. The reader travels with the author as he learns to fly open cockpit biplanes and then sets aviation records as a teenager. We then join him in the DC-2/DC-3 days as a new copilot for TWA. The upgrade to Captain, flying a B-17 doing research, numerous ocean crossings in all kinds of weather and then the transition to flying jet airliners - it's all here.

Along the way I was introduced to Tyrone Power and Howard Hughes. Fascinating stuff.

I enjoyed this book for its many stories but most of all for the tremendous amount of history about the golden age of aviation that Captain Buck passes along to us.

This book is a treasure.

An unknown Aviation Legend
North Star Over my shoulder was an interesting look at the life of a pilot who was along for the ride throughout modern aviation history. As a pilot, I enjoyed Capt. Buck's stories spanning from the early open cockpit days to his international flights as the first TWA 747 Captain. This book offers insight to the history of aviation and how it has changed since Capt. Buck started flying. A very entertaining book with a historical flair.

6 Stars
Capt. Robert N. Buck's "North Star Over My Shoulder" is a great memoir that can be enjoyed by flyers and non-flyers alike.

how for home made glider to f104?
Simply amazing , one of the best aviation "history" books I have ever read, Truly those were unique times for aviation : the author started flying wood and fabric airplanes and finished his carreer flying 747. I reccomend this book to pilots and to everybody intersted in the history of commercial aviation and its developments. In my opinion it is comparable if not better than another classic : Fate is the hunter. ... Read more

Book Description

The Gemini 10 and Apollo 11 astronaut tells first hand of his journeys into space and his arrival on the moon. ... Read more

Reviews (31)

The Making of an Astronaut
Michael Collins was command module pilot of the historic Apollo 11 mission to the moon in July 1969. Had he not forged such a distinguished record of achievement in the cockpits of exotic, out-of-this-world air & space craft, first as fighter jet test pilot and then as astronaut, Collins would have likely experienced noteworthy success at the keyboard as a writer. After seeing this book on a recent list of the "100 Greatest Adventure Stories," I decided to give it a read. Collins' brilliant narrative helped me rediscover those feelings of admiration, wonder and awe that I experienced as a young boy while watching the space launches and moon walks on B&W TV. This is a fascinating, revealing and oh so candid first person account of the pathway that took Collins to the moon and back--his early career as a fighter jet test pilot, selection and induction into the astronaut corps, preparation and training of an astronaut, the personalities of many of Collins' colleagues in the space program, the exquisite and intricate planning intended to minimize the risks to these brave explorers and ensure their success, his own anxieties and something of the impact on the families of the astronauts. All of technology's wonderous achievements of the last 20 years, e.g., laptop computers, cellular phones, internet, cable TV, etc. seem to pale in comparison to the marvel of sending man to the moon and bringing him home again...safely. While circling the moon in the command module Columbia, Collins needed to correctly press a sequence of computer buttons 850 times just to manage a successful rendezvous with his partners Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin as they returned from the surface of the moon in the lunar module Eagle. Just one example among many of the incredible vision and engineering and planning involved in NASA's glory years of success. Despite his wonderful accomplishments, Collins does not take himself too seriously, tells his story with wry humor and is maybe a little irreverent. His story sent tingles up and down my spine again...after all these years!

The inside story -- well written
I read it, and re-read it. I couldn't put it down. Along with the information on the US Space program itself, it has insights into the family life of the astros as well as how they interacted with each other. As a bonus, a strong sense of humor comes through in the writing that makes the sometimes technical nature of the book spring to life. It is very entertaining! Far from a dry account of "I did this," you are left with a clearer sense of the incredible magnitude of the US Apollo and Gemini programs. If you ever wondered what went through those men's minds as they made history, this is the book for you! Thank you Mr. Collins!

No Question About It--The Best Astronaut Memoir Ever!
There have been several excellent Apollo astronaut memoirs, especially Gene Cernan's "The Last Man on the Moon" and Jim Lovell's "Lost Moon," which was made into the feature film "Apollo 13." This one is still the most honest and reflective of them all. It extends a tradition of the aviator as litterateur into the age of space travel.

Collins had an illustrious career as an astronaut. Chosen in the third group of astronauts in 1963, he served as backup pilot for Gemini VII, pilot for Gemini X, and command module pilot for Apollo 11. On that last mission he became the loneliest man in the universe when his two crewmates, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, landed on the Moon while he remained in orbit around the Moon in the Command Module. In "Carrying the Fire" Collins writes of his solitude in lunar orbit in July 1969. As he disappeared on the backside of the Moon from Earth, he recalled, "I am alone now, truly alone, and absolutely isolated from any known life, I am it. If a count were taken, the score would be three billion plus two over on the other side of the moon, and one plus God only knows what on this side. I feel this powerfully-not as fear or loneliness-but as awareness, anticipation, satisfaction, confidence, almost exultation. I like the feeling. Outside my window I can see stars-and that is all. Where I know the moon to be, there is simply a black void, the moon's presence is defined solely by the absence of stars." He compared it to being in a skiff in the middle of the ocean with only the stars above and black water below. It proved a profoundly moving experience for him.

Michael Collins left NASA in 1970 and became the first director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum, continuing to write eloquently of the possibilities of spaceflight. Among other works he published "Liftoff: The Story of America's Adventure in Space" (1988) and "Mission to Mars" (1990), a powerful exposition on the value of a human mission to Mars.

"Carrying the Fire" is the first candid book about life as an astronaut. The author comments on other astronauts, describes the seemingly endless preparations for flights to the Moon, and assesses the results. He also describes what he thinks of as the most important perspective that emerged from his flight, a realization of the fragility of the Earth. He wrote that "from space there is no hint of ruggedness to it; smooth as a billiard ball, it seems delicately poised on its circular journey around the Sun, and above all it seems fragile...Is the sea water clean enough to pour over your head, or is there a glaze of oil on its surface?...Is the riverbank a delight or an obscenity? The difference between a blue-and-white planet and a black-and-brown one is delicate indeed."

It is a powerful and moving memoir. Read it more than once and lend copies to your friends. You, and they, will not be disappointed.

One of the best
This is an excellent book. One of the best in regards to the space program and the ultimate in goals, the moon.
My interests are in the Mercury through Apollo era. This one goes through many aspects in a easy to read yet not dull form.
Fact filled, humorous, humble even.
This is a must read or must own if you are a space enthusiast.
Mr. Collin's other book, "Liftoff" is another excellent book. It held my interest as did this one.
But, that is another review.

Funny stuff!
I thought Collins's book was the best of any I have read about the golden age of the US space program. Collins was funny; made me laugh out loud a bunch. I also recommend "Deke!" and "A Man on the Moon." ... Read more

Book Description

The autobiography of mathematician Stanislaw Ulam, one of the greatscientific minds of the twentieth century, tells a story rich with amazinglyprophetic speculations and peppered with lively anecdotes. As a member of theLos Alamos National Laboratory from 1944 on, Ulam helped to precipitate some ofthe most dramatic changes of the postwar world. He was among the first to useand advocate computers for scientific research, originated ideas for the nuclearpropulsion of space vehicles, and made fundamental contributions to many oftoday's most challenging mathematical projects. With his wide-ranging interests, Ulam never emphasized the importance of hiscontributions to the research that resulted in the hydrogen bomb. Now DanielHirsch and William Mathews reveal the true story of Ulam's pivotal role in themaking of the "Super," in their historical introduction to this behind-the- scenes look at the minds and ideas that ushered in the nuclear age. Anepilogue by Franoise Ulam and Jan Mycielski sheds new light on Ulam's characterand mathematical originality. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

An examined life
Before I start, let me say that, for me at least, this is one of the most fascinating and entertaining books I've ever read. But I'm a special case, as you'll see...

Stan Ulam was head of the math department at U. of Colo., Boulder, where I was a doctoral candidate circa 1970. I hardly knew him to speak to, but heard about his participation in the Manhattan Project, and that many of those connected with it considered him to be the "father of the H-bomb" rather than Edward Teller. Having already been put off by the dryness and lack of application of a great deal of the math I'd studied, I was intrigued on hearing that a pure mathematician could have played such a central part in that effort. That, and the book's title, convinced me to buy it, even though I was an impoverished grad student.

There are many reasons why I love this story, but I think foremost is the picture of a gregarious, open, and sometimes mischievous man who was also bright enough to hold his own with the leading scientific minds of the 20th century. The sketches of the many famous people he worked with are priceless -- for example, Enrico Fermi, Richard Feynman, George Gamov. And especially John von Neumann, possibly the most brilliant mathematician of that time, certainly the most diverse and prolific (he practically invented the computer industry that I now work in). Having tried to read his work on game theory, it's especially comforting to me to hear Ulam refer to him as "Johnny".

My struggles with some of the math mentioned in the book give it special meaning to me, but this is not a technical book at all, and I hope that aspect won't be off-putting to non-mathematicians. Ulam was simply trying to give an honest picture, through the lens of his own experiences and friendships, of how people become mathematicians, of how essential group efforts are to progress in science and math, and of the staggering accomplishments that can result when people push the limits of thought. This book is about history and humankind, by one of the brightest and most thoughtful individuals who ever lived.

The Monte Carlo method
Monte Carlo simulation was discovered by Stanislaus Ulam and today is used by millions in all walks of life. It is the basis for planning and decision making in for corporations and in all issues of public and private life.

Ulam says "The idea...occurred to me when I was playing solitaire during my illness. I noticed that it may be much more practical to get an idea of the probability of the successful outcome of a solitary game...by laying down the cards, or experimenting with the process merely noticing what proportion comes out successfully..."

The advent of computers removed the need for "hiring several hundred Chinese from Taiwan" and made the progress of rational thought ubiquitous.

It is the most striking example of the triumph of mathematics in real life.

Andrew Vazsonyi, Real-life mathematician

A Mathematician in Physics
For its greatest part, the book is about Ulam's encounter with other scientists. It's thus a must-have for all historian of science, with great details about the three important Ulam's acquaintances: Banach, Von Neumann and Fermi. However, it's not what is making this book an invaluable document.

Ulam was a pure mathematician, like Banach or ErdÆs, not like Dirac or Einstein. Yet he had the ability to escape from formal abstract considerations to think about how other sciences could show him a path to new mathematical considerations. In this regard, the Monte Carlo method and all his proposals to non-linear systems and usage of computers for exploring them may be are his greatest achievements (his H-bomb papers are classified, and I like to think Monte Carlo is still more useful).

For that matter, this book is of the greatest interest for he who wish to deepen his understanding of links between mathematics and physics, that are usually discussed by physicists often having very poor idea of what mathematics really are about. The chapter "random reflections" is a jewel which by itself makes worth buying the book, explaining for instance how practical problems can lead to new mathematical concepts, how mathematic theories link altogether, or advocating the use of computers to help mathematicians view new spaces of new objects. Many aside jokes or peculiar reflections--like how mathematics change according to what language one is exploring them with (English, Russian, French, German...)--make the book very entertaining, seldom boring. This "mathematician's mathematician"'s overview of this century's science (he also had some contributions to biology) is thus highly recommended.

(caution to purists: the book has been edited by Ulam's wife from recorded tapes, he didn't write it.)

Stanislaw Ulam and other mathematician lives.
The very first time I heared from Stanislaw Ulam was reading a book by Otto Robert Frisch (What little I remember). In this book he said that a polish mathematician called Ulam was doing mathematics for the Hydrogen Bomb but his maths were deviating so much from abstract that he even used numbers with decimals in his formulas. This funny comment opened my curiosity to know more about this guy doing maths. Well, years later I bought this book and surprisingly he mentioned the comment by O.R Frisch. What a coincidence! I liked the book. He details his life and other genius lives: John von Neuman, Paul Erdos, Fermi, etc. No necessity to know maths. No formula within the book. Easy to read. Stan Ulam was co-father of the Hydrogen Bomb but everybody knows Edward Teller but not him. He makes especial emphasis in Alamos times (Ulamos times). Enjoyable book.

Fascinating insight into the mind of a mathmatician.
Surprisingly easy to read. It is an interesting perspective on the communitiy of scientists working at Los Alamos before and after the development of The Bomb. Ulam deftly considers all aspects of his life juxtaposed with those around him; sociological, philosophical and even poignant glimpses into the theological. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

shines a light on a murky time in history
I must admit a bias - HS Tsien is my grandfather's cousin. As such, this book is for me the family history that noone would tell me. For other readers, I would say that most history books concentrate on the rise of the USSR as a power, and then *poof!* there's China...how did that happen? Chang's book reveals how China's emergence on the world stage as a military power resulted from the US's own stupidity and xenophobia. My one real complaint about the book is that Chang's writing seems to drive the book to a climax at the point of Tsien's return to China, and then peeters out while she recounts China's race to the ICBM. This inconsistancy makes one feel that Chang herself had lost interest in the story, which is unfortunate. This story is fascinating enough (for anyone interested in history, not just me) to wish that the entire book had been treated with the care that Chang shows Tsien's US phase. Anyways, one leaves the story with feelings of respect and regret for what could have been. Please note that HS Tsien is still a bogeyman for the US intelligence community - he was mentioned, as Qian Xuesen, in the 1999 Cox report during the Los Alamos spy scandal. As far as I know, HS Tsien is still alive.

Meticulously researched and superbly written...
This is another book written by Iris Chang, author of bestseller "The Rape of Nanking". "Thread of Silkworm" told a fascinating story of a Chinese scientist, Tsien Hsue-Shen, educated in U. S. with great contribution in U. S. rocketry, was falsely accused as a communist and deported back to China in 1950's. Upon return to China, he became the father of Chinese missile program. The book was meticulously researched and superbly written. Iris Chang is a very talented writer; this is evident by this book.

barely scratches the surface
... the subject matter is very intriging and deservesattention. However, Ms. Chang's book has no real insight into Tsien'slife.... The actual writting is also lackingg. The book is filled with dragging sentences that fails to excite the reader. I only recommand this book to readers who do not know anything about Chinese history or Tisen. It is to be used as an general and elementry reference only. Even then, there are still many holes....

Saga of a rocket scientist worthy of Hollywood
Am I inclined to believe that all foreign born or educated defense scientists (e.g., Tsien and J.R. Oppenheimer) should be presumed "seriously suspect until proven innocent"? If so, to me Chang's book would no doubt leave open the issue whether Tsien had had a Communist leaning, while he was an immigrant in the US from a Nationalist China -- before and during a 'sky rocketting' career which culminated in his roles as JPL Director/Co-Founder; MIT/CalTech full professors; American aerospace pioneer; and a top Pentagon consultant, who grilled Werner von Braun in Germany to write for the US government its report on German aeronautics/rochetry state of the art.

To answer my own question, fortunately, I am not -- at least not consciously. So, let me justify my rating.

Poignantly told with facts organized like an epic novel, Chang's story is the saga of a gifted and industrious "orphan" from endless wars and feudal corruption in China who came to Uncle Sam's neighborhood for schooling, then contributed greatly to Sam's household, but was spurned from it by house stewards for allegedly associating with "people who condone thievery"; who then continued to work hard to be useful to people who appreciated him (as his ambition had always been) in a new career which he again excelled in, after, in the only remaining option he saw, being taken in by a delighted relative Uncle Mao.

As aristocratically brilliant, and yet democratically helpful to students/colleagues he saw as diligent, "why did he embrace the wicked Uncle -- of the proletariat masses of his kins?" you might ask.

'Cuz back in Uncle Sam's household, someone made him learn the lesson "You can't fight City Hall and expect to win." How about a harder question, from someone who has actually lived under a Fascist or Communist government?

One minor warning, though: Perhaps due to her bilingual upbringing, Chang's sentences are sometimes a bit long and not as colloquial as an impatient American reader might expect of a good novel. I won't throw rocks in my own glass house; so, to me, this quirk does not detract from the book in the slightest. Bear with her through limited technical discussions, and enjoy!

Remember Pygmalion in Greek mythology? A king could love the statue of a female figure so much that she came to life, to fall in love with him? If Tsien was innocent of the charge against him in the 50's America (you be the judge after reading Chang's book), isn't Tsien's "second life" as the leader of the successful Chinese ICBM project a modern-day antithesis of Pygmalion. Only this is not a mythical story, but real events which someday (with a chance however remote) may end disastrously for people on both shores of the Northern Pacific!

As Chang told us, the decent and kind, President Carter in the 80's by executive decree rescinded the INS order of the 50's for deporting Tsien (in essence saying, "Oops, we made a mistake.") Tsien however is still waiting for someone in the US government to give a forthright official apology for having ungraciously kicked him out while he was a guest in Uncle Sam's house, as he said so essentially (leaving it for others to remember his extraordinary contributions). Before then, he would not accept CalTech's invitation to come to California for awards of "Distinguished Teacher" and "Distinguished Alumnus."

Do most Americans who have read this book think the Communist charge against Tsien unwarranted (as President Carter must have, by his rescission decree)? If so, is it consistent with America's ideal of decency for some interested/concerned Americans to seek to make peace for their country with an aging ex-friend whom it turned enemy, and is it consistent with the US interest, in so doing, to disarm or merely soften whatever hostility toward USA his work may have bequeathed to his students and associates in China?

Whether these issues can be resolved positively with effective actions, before Tsien's death (in the challenging backdrop of the Cox Report) will determine if the American and Chinese saga of Tsien Shue-sen will come to a happier ending, or will forever remain a most poignant tragedy in the modern history of Science and Politics.

Many thanks, Iris, for helping us understand.

an unanswered question
Ms. Chang has an eye for intriguing subjects. This book had me engrossed immediately, and is well worth a read. At the end I felt like the big question of Tsien's loyalty went unanswered. Perhaps there will never be enough documentation to really know. Other reviewers seem sure that the U.S. government made a mistake, but I (and possibly the author as well?) am not so sure. I found it hard to accept that Tsien's enthusiastic embrace of Maoism, could come solely from a jaded pride and resentment from being deported. It's hard to say, and I applaud the author for not speculating too much on what can only be known by Tsien himself. I think this air of mystery is appropriate and makes the book all the more interesting. This subject is a goldmine for biographers and the surface has only been scratched. Possibly Ms. Chang would be interested in a follow-up work (some of Tsien's associates who were also accused) (?) ... Read more

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Reviews (7)

A Story of Triumph
Of all the the books I've ever read, none were quite as inspirational as the non-fictional tale A Smile as Big as the Moon, by Mike Kersjes.Kersjes is a special education teacher, who, one day while looknig through a magazine, came up with the wild idea of taking his kids to space camp.He would have to call people, sometimes dozens of times, just to set up an appointment.Eventually, through the help of a lot of people in high places he did get approval.However, funding for a trip like this was more than fifty thousand dollars.Through hard work and a lot of dedication, Kersjes and his assistant Robynn were able to overcome every obstale with relative ease.I would recomend this book to students, parents, teachers, and anyone that knows how to read, because this story is capable of putting a smile on anyones face.I would defintiely give this book five stars.

GREAT book--but what's with the paperback cover?!
These are supposed to be HIGH SCHOOL kids not little kids!That cover is ALL WRONG!

But the book itself is awesome.An inspirational, funny, heartwarming story.

I hope they make a movie of it!

A Smile asBig as the Moon
A Smile as Big as the Moon by Mike Kersjes is a great book for everybody to read because it was an inspirational story about a group of special education students that overcame all odds at space camp. It is also about their specail education teacher Mike Kersjes that helped his students get to space camp. The students were very successful; they won most of the awards and did everything right during their missions. The most thing that amazed me about the students was that before space camp camp the students were acting like little kids and had no confidence in themselvesl. After space camp the students left with confidence and felt that they could do anything if they put their minds to it. This all happened because their teacher was determined to get them to space camp and because thier hard work.

I loved the book because it had a great story and it was easy to read. Teachers,parents, and students should read it.

A Book Worth Reading
A Smile As Big As The Moon, by Mike Kersejes, is truly inspirational. It is qualified to inspire both teachers and students of all age groups. With the charisma for teaching and the love for his students this special education teacher lets nothing stand in the way of his students future. The challenges that the students are faced with beause of their disabilities are challenged by their very own teacher and themselves. This story can truly give a student who has no determination the will to move forward and stand up for what they believe is right. This book gives readers new strengths and the ability to see the lives and struggles that special education students deal with on an every day basis. This book will give all readers a new view on life.
I give this book four stars becuase of its inspiration and the message it sends out to readers.

Love it, love it, love it!
Being somewhat of an idealist working in the field of special ed., I am frequently frustrated by the barriers placed in front of me by administrators, special ed. directors, program managers, etc.This book reminds me that it's worth the battle...that our kids really can touch the sky.As I'm sure you can tell, I love this book!Kerjes is honest and humorous in his portrayal of the struggles he faced in bringing his kids to Space Camp.It's inspiring, and even better, it's TRUE! ... Read more

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Reviews (2)

Renew your faith in humanity...read this book
The first reviewer, Shari Just, has captured perfectly the quality, scope and value of Lear's biography. If you have ever wondered "can one person make a difference" this is the proof. A readable blend of history, place, people and events describing a modest scientist that loved to communicate scientific findings to a wider audience.

Extrordinary biography of an extrordinary woman.
Lear's detailed biography offers an unmatched look at Carson's personal and professional life. This book takes the reader behind the scenes of Rachel Carson's brilliant works in order to demonstrate the difficulties that dogged her every day existance. Lear chronicles Carson's personal perservance and dedication to the environmental cause in an immensely readable format. A wonderful and inspiring book to read! ... Read more

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Reviews (16)

Good Book, Bad Cover
The marriage between author and publisher can be a chancy thing. Here we have a good biography of Neil Armstrong, first man to set foot on the moon. The book appears to be well-researched and credited.

Unfortunately, the publisher did not do as much work as the author. This is immediately obvious by the photo of Buzz Aldrin on the cover. There is a tiny image of Neil Armstrong reflected in the faceplate, but the main image is Aldrin. Aldrin's name tag is clearly visible through the "A" in the word GIANT.

But if you can ignore having the wrong man on the cover, the insides are worth reading. Neil's adventure is one of the great achievements of the last fifty years and has had far too little actually written about the men themselves.

This is a wonderful addition to the library of any fan of the space race.

A Horrendous Piece of Work
Any would-be biographer of Neil Armstrong faces three major challenges. First, everyone knows (and many have written aboout) the central event of Armstrong's public life: the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon. Second, Armstrong is a fiercely private person who rarely speaks in public and has never (to my knowledge) consented to an interview since leaving NASA. Third, science writers like Andrew Chaikin ("A Man on the Moon") and astronauts like Michael Collins ("Carrying the Fire") and Gene Cernan ("Last Man on the Moon") have set the bar *very* high for those who have come after them.

Leon Wagener's new biography of Armstrong fails on all three counts. It adds little to what we already know about Armstrong's career, offers minimal insight into Armstrong the person, and is marred throughout by a grating prose style and abominable editing.

Wagener's biography is a patchwork of interviews with friends and family members, quotes from newspapers and magazines, and gleanings from NASA records. This works reasonably well in the first and last sections of the book: Wagener is the first writer to deal in detail with Armstrong's life before coming to NASA (in the late 1950s) and after leaving it (in the early 1970s). Few readers, however, would pick up a book-length biography of Neil Armstrong *solely* to learn about those parts of his life. The method breaks down, however, in the long mid-section of the book, where the subject is Armstrong's years in the space program. Here, piecing together the facts is not enough: We already know the story. We *want* to know what Armstrong thought about it all, and that is the one thing that Wagener cannot deliver.

Even the relatively effective parts of the book are undone, however, by the quality of the writing. Writing about some of the most dramatic events of the twentieth century, Wagener tries relentlessly to pump up the drama by adding adjectives to every noun, adverbs to every verb, and extra clauses to every other sentence. There is nothing inherently wrong with this kind of dramatic prose--Norman Mailer used it in "Of A Fire On The Moon" and Tom Wolfe used it in "The Right Stuff"--but Mailer and Wolfe are masters of the English language. Wagener has a tin ear, and it shows on every page. The difference between the right word and the almost-right word, Mark Twain famously wrote, is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. This book is infested with lightning bugs.

It is also, sadly, infested with factual errors. Navigation lights twinkle in airless space, the invention of the turbojet engine is attributed to the wrong person (and placed in the wrong year), the X-15 rocket plane is misleadingly described as a hypersonic glider (a description that fits the never-built X-20 far better), and the Ford Trimotor is inexplicably described as a weapon of war (which the later and superficially similar Junkers Ju-52 eventually became, but the Ford never did).

Readers have not been well served by Wagener's editors, who should have at least thinned out the factual errors and style-deaf sentences. Nor have they been well served by the decision (by the author, editors, or both) to omit *any* form of references, bibliography, or even a complete list of interviewees. Readers interested in the sources of specific details are left with no way to *find* those sources. Especially given the numerous factual errors (which would make double-checking essential for anyone wanting to use the book as a reference), this is goes beyond frustrating into outrageous.

Historians interested specifically in the pre- and post-NASA phases of Neil Armstrong's career may want a copy of this book. Others should avoid it at all costs.

Armstrong Deserves Better
Although this book provides the basic facts of Neil Armstrong's life and career, it lacks substance. After reading 300-plus pages about one of the country's ablest test pilots and the first man on the moon, the reader comes away scarcely knowing anything about what motivated Armstrong or how he was viewed by his contemporaries. One of the century's most interesting characters remains a mystery.
Additionally, this book could have used a good editor. Careless spelling mistakes diminish its effectiveness. The name of Alan Shepard, for example, is spelled incorrectly throughout the text and also in the index.
Here's hoping that a better Armstrong biography finds its way into print soon.

Great Read
If anyone has any doubts about this book being worthy of purchasing I assure you that it is a great read. I agree with Bill Pogue's cover blurb that it is a page-turner. I really enjoyed reading about Neil's experiences in the Korean War.

Major disappointment
This book was really disappointing. Not only is it written with flowery language and dramatic hyperbole, it presents a very unsatisfying profile of a man that the world deserves to know as something other than the myth. The author gives us almost no personal insights into Armstrong, at least none that come off as reliable. I couldn't even finish the book. My guess is that the author really has no clue who or what Armstrong is all about. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Scientist, poet, and self-proclaimed Antichrist, Jack Parsons was abizarre genius whose life reads like an implausible yet irresistible sciencefiction novel. Sex and Rockets looks at his short life and dual career ascofounder of Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and leader of the Agape Lodge ofAleister Crowley's Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO). Author John Carter scours primarydocuments and interviews surviving friends and contemporaries to deliver anintriguing portrait of a dreamy, driven man equally interested in rocketry andmagick. From his early childhood and deep attachment to his mother (who killedherself hours after he died) through his nonacademic research and brilliantinnovations in solid fuels to his mysterious 1952 demise in a garage-laboratoryexplosion at the age of 37, the reader gets the impression of a man whoseobsession with explosives and propellants was nearly single-minded. Yet thissame man found spiritual fulfillment through Crowley's Law of Thelema, conductedmagickal operations with L. Ron Hubbard, and signed an oath asserting himself tobe the Antichrist--clearly Parsons wasn't a boring guy in a white coat. Carterpulls off the difficult task of integrating Parsons's disparate drives into onecompelling story; though there are some rough spots and awkward transitions, onegets the sense that this illuminates the man's life better than a smooth,flawless work would. Robert Anton Wilson's introduction is smart and funny asalways, initiating the uninformed into the basics of Crowleyanity while placingParsons in the context of his times. While it might not be possible to readuniversal themes into Parsons's life, Sex and Rockets is an excellentstudy of a passionate life fully lived. --Rob Lightner ... Read more

Reviews (24)

The first and the best
This new edition should make more readers aware of this weird and forgotten part of our history. Carter pulls no punches and has little sentiment for anyone but Parsons, who he paints as a sort of tragic hero, equally obsessed with ritual occultism and rocket science. It is a testament to his inner will that Parsons worked with and was respected by some of the most brilliant scientists of his time--even though he had little formal training in science. He was instrumental in founding the modern era of space flight, and was honored by having a crater on the moon named after him (appropriately enough on the "dark" side.) All this while using his new-found wealth to open up a sort of bohemian paradise in his home on "millionaire's row" in the conservative Pasadena of the 1930s. Carter reveals all this and more in this fascinating book. Don't miss it.

Did John "Whiteside" Parsons open a door to the "darkside"?
This book explores the extraordinary life of a man who was both a rocket scientist and a ritual magician and who may have, through a magical operation known as "The Babalon Working," opened up a portal to outer space (and another dimension) in more ways than one!(No small feat, that).

Readers of this book will also enjoy the story " The Strange Case of John Whiteside Parsons" in the book, "Labyrinth13: True Tales of the Occult, Crime, and Conspiracy." (Visit www.labyrinth13.com for details).

Fascinating Work on an Incredible Man
Most people today have never heard of Parsons, and many who do underestimate the importance of his work. Parsons was a brilliant individual who led a colorful and offbeat life. Until now, however, very little information has been made available about him. This book is a much needed and very absorbing piece of little-known American history. It was well written and kept me reading non-stop. My only complaint is that it wasn't longer and more in-depth, but the author did a great job with the sources he was able to dig up. One of my favorite bios!

biography of an interesting critter
Sex and Rockets is a biography of John Whiteside Parsons, one of the most important men in the development of rocketry and space exploration. (...)This book, however, is about his life. It chronicles his growth and development in the professional arena more than the occult arena, although that is touched upon also. His relationships with other important people, such as the mysterious L. Ron Hubbard of Scientology fame, are discussed, as are the suspicious circumstances of his death by explosion in his home workshop.

I do not know if the material is accurate, but it seems well researched and makes interesting reading. There is an excellent introdcution by Robert Anton Wilson that is well worth reading in its own right. Parsons was an interesting critter, and this book will give you a bit more information about his life and the circumstances in which he lived.

"I seem to be living in a nation that simply does not know what freedom is."
J.W. Parsons

Fascinating though lacks depth...
This short biography touches upon the salient points of a fascinating individual: John W. Parsons, self-educated, visionary, explosives expert, rocket scientist and striving occultist, died at an early age, thirty seven, due to a freak explosion in his garage, a makeshift laboratory that was later discovered, had enough explosive material within it to take-out an entire city block. Was it murder? Was it a major conjuring ritual gone wrong? Or was it simply a terrible accident due to carelessness and oversight?

Parsons was indeed a unique character. His interest in Science Fiction, for example, moved him into literary circles, whose members are SF legends: Heinlein, Van Vogt...he became the protege of the founder of the OTO, Aleister Crowley. Another interesting personality, L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Church of Scientology, moved into his house, and allegedly took part in an extensive magical rite that might have drastically changed, for the worse, Parsons life. Many things may have contributed to Parsons turn of bad luck, but as the author points out, Hubbard ran off with Parsons wife and disappeared with a substantial sum of money, which later, Parsons sued for and won. Betrayal can have a devastating effect on anyone, as it obviously did on Parsons...

My only criticism of the text is the superficial manner in which the subject matter was explored - for such an interesting individual, much more time could have been spent researching his relationships and particularly his time at Hughes Aircraft and the alleged 'deal' he made with the Israeli government. It was rumoured that Parsons was organising to move to Israel with his wife Cameron, just prior to his mysterious death. Similar to most artists and non-conformists of the time, Parsons had a thick FBI file and had been under surveillance for an extended period...these intriguing aspects of Parsons life should have been unpacked, but were not...your guess is as good as mine.

Despite its lack of depth, ~Sex and Rockets~ is a fascinating read. ... Read more

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Book Description

Evolution's Captain is the story of a visionary but now forgotten English naval officer but for whom the "Darwinian Revolution" would never have occurred. When Captain Robert FitzRoy, the twenty-six-year-old captain of the H.M.S. Beagle, set out for Tierra del Fuego in the fall of 1831, he invited a young naturalist to accompany him. That twenty-two-year-old gentleman was Charles Darwin, and perhaps no single voyage in history had a greater impact on how we would come to understand the world -- in both religious and scientific terms.

When the Beagle's first captain committed suicide while at sea in 1828, he was replaced by a young naval officer of a new mold. Robert FitzRoy was the most brilliant and scientific sea captain of his age. He used the Beagle, a survey vessel, as a laboratory for the new field of the natural sciences. But his plan to bring four "savages" home to England to civilize them as Christian gentlefolk backfired when scandal loomed over their sexual misbehavior at the Walthamstow Infants School. FitzRoy needed to get them out of England fast, and thus was born the second and most famous voyage of the Beagle.

FitzRoy feared the loneliness of another long voyage -- with madness in his own family, he was haunted by the fate of the Beagle's previous captain -- so for company he took with him the young amateur naturalist Charles Darwin. Like FitzRoy, Darwin believed, at the beginning of the voyage, in the absolute word of the Bible and the story of man's creation. The two men spent five years circling the globe together, but by the end of their voyage they had reached startlingly different conclusions about the origins of the natural world.

In naval terms, the voyage was a stunning scientific success. But FitzRoy, a fanatical Christian, was horrified by the heretical theories Darwin began to develop. As these began to influence the profoundest levels of religious and scientific thinking in the nineteenth century, FitzRoy's knowledge that he had provided Darwin with the vehicle for his sacrilegious ideas propelled him down an irrevocable path to suicide.

This true story -- part biography, part sea drama, and a subtle study of one of the defining moments in the history of science -- reads like the finest historical fiction. It is a chronicle of the remarkable chain of events without which Darwin would most likely have lived and died an obscure English country parson with a fondness for collecting beetles.

Reviews (6)

good, not great
Nichols does a good job of providing historical detail without descending into excessive academic drudgery.It is readable and entertaining most of the time.The author occasionally delves too deeply into a tangential detail, but just when I began to get bored, Nichols got back on track.If you like reading about sailing and exploration of the "new world", or are interested in Victorian era academic thought, or of course the origin of the "origin of species", check it out.

Evolution's Captain with a Dark Fate that was not so Dark
The last thing that Robert Fitzroy, late captain of the H.M.S Beagle, late inspired leader and motivator of men, late brilliant navigator and cartographer, late natural scientist at odds with history's greatest naturalist Charles Darwin, late member of the British Parliament, late British Governor to New Zealand soon after the founding of that colony, late Admiral in the Royal Navy, and most lately, the man most responsible for the creation of modern day weather forecasting, was to climb up out of the bed he shared with his wife and alone in front of a mirror slit his own throat. Perhaps a "dark fate", but the path to that dark end was anything but dark.Fitzroy, born in 1805, started his career in the British Royal Navy at the age of twelve.And to prove he was no ordinary man, at a mere 23 years of age, he was given command of the Beagle after the man who started out as the expedition's commander, a Captain Stokes, slit his own throat after endless months under the pressures of command and peering out into the drizzle and freezing rain of Tierra del Fuego. Darwin commented on the presence and leadership qualities of Fitzroy while he was on the Beagle, describing how extraordinary he was, like one of the, "great men of history". But what makes Fitzroy interesting is that, if he was an inspired leader, even Napoleon-like, he was also flawed.And it his flaws when placed in contrast to his obvious qualities that make him interesting.After all, many thought - and even gave him the opportunity to become -another Horatio Nelson, a great scientist, or a wise and careful Governor; but he did none of those things. He did, ultimately, make a name for himself as the inventor of the "Fitzroy Barometer" and his weather forecasts (which like today were notoriously inaccurate). But that paled beside what could have been. It's said that because he was passed up for being chosen as Chief Naval Office in the Marine Department at 60 years of age, he slit his throat; but I doubt it. It was just the straw that broke his back.

Of course, Fitzroy was a man of his time, and in his time the church and the teachings of the church predominated the social fabric, morality, philosophy, and even the science of the day. (Ironically, even today in the United States, many might more readily accept Fitzroy's view of the world than Darwin's.) It was also the beginning of the Victorian Era in England with all the implicit social arrogance and condescension to other "inferior" peoples that was not present even 50 years earlier during Cook's voyages throughout the pacific.And so one of the most interesting sub-plots of this book was the story of the three natives Fitzroy took (some say kidnapped) from their homes in Tierra del Fuego and brought them to England for "proper" instruction in civilization, meaning Christianity as then taught. The ostensible purpose of Fitzroy's plan was to, `transfer to their relatives some rudiments of civilization'. It was a fact that two of the natives (a grown man and a twelve year old girl) after being caught having sex in the garden of the Rectory, prompted the second voyage of the Beagle for which Darwin was invited to come along: (They had to be taken out of England, and fast!) It is easy for us today - and perhaps a little too smugly as well- to criticize such gross arrogance; but given the context of his time, it's not so difficult to understand.Interestingly, Jemmy Buttons, one of the natives taken by Fitzroy, was, many years later, said to be responsible for the murder of the captain and crew of a Missionary Ship sent to give the natives further instruction. Fitzroy knew and read about this in the London Times; Nichols doesn't express what he might have thought; but we can imagine.

Nichols seems to spend more text on Darwin than Fitzroy, possibly because there is simply a paucity of primary source material. For those already familiar with Darwin's Journal or his, "Voyage of the Beagle", much of this book is a re-hash of that. But Nichols seems to be sea-going man and he spends most of his description of Fitzroy under that context. And it is wonderful, and it is enlightening. It just doesn't go far enough.

Simply Fabulous
I can hardly imagine a more enjoyable book, some how miraculously delving the reader into the annals of Victorian English society. The book is a much a testament to the epic voyage which ultimatly brought Darwin his fame, as a tale of the culture which bred such a remarkable theory.

A fascinating historical portrait
Charting a path through the Americas, Captain Robert FitzRoy crosses paths with a young Charles Darwin, an event that affects the direction of scientific study. In 1829, Capt. FitzRoy, of the HMS Beagle, sails with Capt. Phillip Parker, of the HMS Adventure, on a survey that will enable Great Britain's complete dominance of world trade. FitzRoy has his first sighting of natives in Tierra del Fuego; he finds their primitive appearance repulsive. On their return home, FitzRoy carries four natives back to England, his specimens. It is his intention to "save" the savages, baptize them as Christians and expose them to the advantages a civilization defined by its Godliness.

By 1831, the savages are the source of constant embarrassment and it is necessary to return them to Tierra de Fuego. Finagling a commission, ostensibly to finish the survey of the Americas, FitzRoy releases the natives to their homeland. This new commission involves an extended voyage navigating the globe and FitzRoy is concerned about the years of isolation, not one to mix with those of lesser rank. The prospect of such solitude is daunting to the young captain, haunted by the history of insanity in his family.

Charles Darwin is a naturalist, the perfect choic