Product Description

Jacques Cousteau's underwater adventures. With black and white photographs throughout the book ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Silent World
If you grew up watching the Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau one night a week, you must read this book by Mr. Cousteau. I read the first chapter of this delightful little book in a diving collection and was instantly drawn to Cousteau's narrating style. Modest and touched with humor, he describes the creation of the aqualung (scuba) and his early exploits with it. Early photos of underwater creatures are amazing. My copy is from the late 1950s and I hold it carefully. It is a physical and figurative jewel to me.

An influence
I first read this book when I was about 15. I begged my mother to sign me up for a SCUBA class shortly after and I am still diving 25 years later. I have re-read it about 3 times since then and still keep a copy on my shelf. There is still something very captivating about the early days of diving and Cousteau's descriptions of the silent world. The explorers in his book indulged in a pioneering activity under the nose of the occupying Nazi regime and set in motion the evolution of underwater adventure that millions enjoy today.

The Silent World is easy and enjoyable to read. Most of the photographs are hard to see compared with the vast amount of underwater shots available today. However, when you consider the time period these photos were taken combined with the daring of these early pioneers, you can't help but be impressed.

This book produced an enjoyable influence on my life and I am sure it will on anyone willing to learn about the early history of underwater exploration.

Early account of the development of the aqua lung
This griping tale of the early period of under water exploration begins in late WW II and is set of the most part in the south of France and Mediterranean Sea. Most clearly it is not a NOVEL (see previous review). In it you will find Jacques' characteristic outlook in the germination stages. Especially interesting to observe is the beginnings of environmenal concerns in his misc. comments about mans impact on the health of the Mediterranean Sea. There are accounts of the effects of Coral dredging and drag netting clearing documenting the destructiveness of these technques coupled with descriptions of his own crew on his aboard the French Naval vessel he commanded harpooning of sea mammals for questionable "scientific" experiments.

All in all it is a good read for individuals interested in the history of exploration of new worlds by this sensitive innovative explorer. Not to be missed are the numerious accounts of early ship wreck exploration. My copy was published in 1953 and includes some of the earliest published color underwater shots. Highly recommended.

An amazing true story of heroes exploring blue space.
An adventure of heroic proportions. How mankind began the exploration of the underwater world and how Captain Cousteau and his team of aquanauts undertook a mission on the scale of the Mercury Seven Astronauts. Told by the men who went through the triumphs and the ordeals. This novel will provide a new understanding of how it all came about for those who scuba dive today. Some of Cousteau's team died in their brave efforts to investigate the mysteries of the deep for the rest of the world to see. Contains photographs of the liquid world taken with the first underwater cameras. ... Read more

Book Description

Sir Isaac Newton, creator of the first and perhaps most important scientific theory, is a giant of the scientific era. Despite this, he has remained inaccessible to most modern readers, indisputably great but undeniably remote.

In this witty, engaging, and often moving examination of Newton's life, David Berlinski recovers the man behind the mathematical breakthroughs. The story carries the reader from Newton's unremarkable childhood to his awkward undergraduate days at Cambridge through the astonishing year in which, working alone, he laid the foundation for his system of the world, his Principia Mathematica, and to the subsequent monumental feuds that poisoned his soul and wearied his supporters.

An edifying appreciation of Newton's greatest accomplishment, Newton's Gift is also a touching celebration of a transcendent man. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Leap from Intellectual Peak to Intellectual Peak with Newton
David Berlinski has created a marvelous intellectual history focusing on the progression of Newton's epic breakthrough thinking. He does this in a way that is totally accessible to those who are phobic about mathematics. The explanations are achieved through a skillful combination of simple sentences, symbols, pictures, and diagrams. The presentation is so effective that most readers will find their understanding of important mathematical and scientific principles greatly improved. This is a great book!

Newton was a seminal thinker in the areas of mathematics (developing calculus), physics (with his propositions about gravity and motion), and optics (with his conceptualization of light as being comprised of particles moving in parallel). He also did much work in theology and alchemy, which are recounted here.

A key challenge for David Berlinski was presented by Newton's reticence. He was not a very social person, and wrote almost nothing about how he developed his ideas. Berlinksi does a magnificent job of locating and sharing hints and clues about the bases of these intuitive leaps. This result is enhanced by considering the continuing themes in Newton's thinking, and assuming a connection to his intuition. I suspect that Berlinski is right in connecting the dots that way, but we will never know for sure.

The centerpiece of our story turns out to be the tangent to a curve. From that humble beginning, most of our modern understanding of how physical motion takes place follows.

I also enjoyed better understanding how Newton's thinking was aided by the careful observations and conclusions of Kepler.

If the history of science were always this entertaining, this subject would be one of the most popular majors in colleges.

As Berlinksi tells us in the beginning his purpose in the book is "to offer a sense of the man without specifying in details his . . . activities." This allows us to see the other sides of Newton, but without spending too much time on them. Newton was not perfect. We get glimpses of places where he wasted his time, such as his unsuccessful experiments with alchemy. We also see his flirtations and infatuations. Beyond that, we see what could enrage him, and how he took his revenge. This fleshing out of the whole man makes the scientific history all the more compelling.

If you liked David Berlinski's book, The Birth of the Algorithm, you will probably like this one even better. The asides are much more contained and relevant here.

For those who want a little more math with their scientific history, Berlinski has provided supplementary materials that are quite entertaining.

After you have finished enjoying this wonderful romp, I suggest that you think about where everyday events are unexplained in your life. For example, why do the people you meet with act the way they do? Why is progress slow in many areas, and rapid in others? By looking for connections, you, too, may isolate fundamental principles that can expand our own appreciation as a species of how we achieve understanding. The mysteries of how to improve thinking are still mostly unsolved, and many are relatively unexplored. Perhaps you can be the Newton of this important "last frontier" of self-limiting progress for humans.

Think about it!

Leap from Intellectual Peak to Intellectual Peak with Newton
David Berlinski has created a marvelous intellectual history focusing on the progression of Newton's epic breakthrough thinking. He does this in a way that is totally accessible to those who are phobic about mathematics. The explanations are achieved through a skillful combination of simple sentences, symbols, pictures, and diagrams. The presentation is so effective that most readers will find their understanding of important mathematical and scientific principles greatly improved. This is a great book!

Newton was a seminal thinker in the areas of mathematics (developing calculus), physics (with his propositions about gravity and motion), and optics (with his conceptualization of light as being comprised of particles moving in parallel). He also did much work in theology and alchemy, which are recounted here.

A key challenge for David Berlinski was presented by Newton's reticence. He was not a very social person, and wrote almost nothing about how he developed his ideas. Berlinksi does a magnificent job of locating and sharing hints and clues about the bases of these intuitive leaps. This result is enhanced by considering the continuing themes in Newton's thinking, and assuming a connection to his intuition. I suspect that Berlinski is right in connecting the dots that way, but we will never know for sure.

The centerpiece of our story turns out to be the tangent to a curve. From that humble beginning, most of our modern understanding of how physical motion takes place follows.

I also enjoyed better understanding how Newton's thinking was aided by the careful observations and conclusions of Kepler.

If the history of science were always this entertaining, this subject would be one of the most popular majors in colleges.

As Berlinksi tells us in the beginning his purpose in the book is "to offer a sense of the man without specifying in details his . . . activities." This allows us to see the other sides of Newton, but without spending too much time on them. Newton was not perfect. We get glimpses of places where he wasted his time, such as his unsuccessful experiments with alchemy. We also see his flirtations and infatuations. Beyond that, we see what could enrage him, and how he took his revenge. This fleshing out of the whole man makes the scientific history all the more compelling.

If you liked David Berlinski's book, The Birth of the Algorithm, you will probably like this one even better. The asides are much more contained and relevant here.

For those who want a little more math with their scientific history, Berlinski has provided supplementary materials that are quite entertaining.

After you have finished enjoying this wonderful romp, I suggest that you think about where everyday events are unexplained in your life. For example, why do the people you meet with act the way they do? Why is progress slow in many areas, and rapid in others? By looking for connections, you, too, may isolate fundamental principles that can expand our own appreciation as a species of how we achieve understanding. The mysteries of how to improve thinking are still mostly unsolved, and many are relatively unexplored. Perhaps you can be the Newton of this important "last frontier" of self-limiting progress for humans.

Think about it!

Nifty ideaography of one of the great minds of all time
The title "Newton's Gift" has, of course, a dual meaning. The book is about Newton's personal gift - his intellectual powers - and his gift to all mankind through his work in Mathematics (the Calculus), Physics (working out gravitation and motion), and Optics. When I walk into Borders and see the tens of thousands of books on the shelves and realize that this still represents a small portion of the books written I think about the works that will still be in print in 300 years. Probably you could pile them up in a small stack in the middle of a small room. Newton's "Principia" and his "Optics" will certainly still be among them. I believe these are among the immortal works of humanity.

Berlinski has a wonderful knack for making the arcane both accessible and lively. He has a style that seems breezy, but is more sophisticated than that and even has a bit of a shimmer to it. There are a few careless mistakes, but they won't get in the way of the story he is telling. For example, on page 33 the circumference of the circle is labeled as time, but it is the AREA of the shaded wedges that is time. The circle is distance. The point of the diagram, I believe, is that when an orbit is closer to the center it moves faster over distance, but the area between the end points of the orbit and center is that same as the area when the orbit is further away from the center and the orbiting body is moving more slowly. But anyone paying attention, I think, would see this pretty quickly.

I call this an Ideaography because the biographical portions are both helpful and concise, but by no means comprehensive. And the book is not technical enough to be considered an explication of Newton's thought. But it is quite successful as a Cook's Tour of Newton's life and thought. It is ideal for intellectually awakening high school students or a quick introduction for college students. It is a most helpful way to get the door open for further study and investigation. There is a most wonderful "Chrestomathy" of the fundamental concepts discussed in the book and the key dates of Newton's life.

However, the book could certainly have used a reading list for further study. Yes, other important works are mentioned throughout the text, but it would have been nice to have a good source for additional reading.

But these quibbles aside, I recommend the book as a nice to read introduction to Newton and his work.

Ok book
This is not a detailed biography of Newton, nor is it a "pure" technical text dealing with Newton's great accomplishments. Rather, the author takes a quick bite at the overall accomplishments of Newton- which is inventing Calculus, propounding the laws of gravitation and the particle theory of light, with Newton's life story as the frame of reference. The result is a book which is a useful source for a quick introduction to the Life, time and accomplishments of Newton, even for the average reader without any background in physics or maths. My quibbles are the author should have put effort in explaining the science of Newton, rather than getting self-involved in writing charming prose. The author's intention was to give a "sense of Newton" to the reader, at which he succeeds. But, it doesn't give a feeling a satisfaction. It is an cross between reading a story , where some physics concepts are thrown in in a broad manner and punctuated by ornate writing. Obviously, i need to read other books on Newton to know more.

Some of the "superficial" knowledge i gleaned from the book, which i quote at random are:

Newton's enlargement of the binomial theorem made use of mathematical expressions known as Infinite series, which is a series of numbers that goes on forever.

He invented Calculus (Leibiniz also has claim to this honour).

He extended the forces of gravity to the orbit of the moon.. i.e established a connection of sameness between the gravity on earth which brings a apple down to the mystery force which keeps the moon orbiting around the earth without falling into earth.

He advanced the particle theory of light, which said that light was a stream of particles moving in a straight line through space.

He elucidiated his grand ideas on the nature of gravitational forces in his masterpiece "Principia". The universe revealed by principia containts particles, forces and mathematical structures. It has three specific laws of motion, two general principles of time and space. The three laws are familiar to any high school student- the law of inertia, law of acceleration and the law of action and reaction. The second law is the mysterious one which needs further explanation.; The principles of time and space wre absolute time and absolute space i.e time and space are measurable.

Why doesn't moon crash into the earth, instead of orbiting around it?? - Newton's analysis begins with the law of inertia. The moon's natural trajectory in the sky is a straight line. It travels in a fixed velocity, because no forces are inducing acceleration in it. But, since the moon is orbiting circularly around the earth, there is a force on it which is continuously deforming it's path. Since the resulting path is circular, the force must be centripetal whose origin is at the centre of the earth. (eg: carousel). Based on the second law, the force makes the moon accelerate continuously towards the centre of the earth. It does not fall into the earth because it's natural trajectory (straight line) and the centripetal force of the gravity from the earth balance out, due to which the moon falls forever without falling into the earth. (rotates).

Newton's universal gravity law states every material object attracts every other material object, with a force that is proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to the square of distance between them.

Note, gravity is explained for what it does, what it affects, but there is no explanation for what gravity actually is. It remains a mystery.

Regarding Newton's personal life- his spars with Robert Hookes, Leibiniz shows him in poor light - as somebody vindictive, vain and secretive. His successful stint as the Master of Mint, in a bureacractic role of crushing counterfieting which was profuse at that time, is an achievement unique in the sense that we do not often find a great scientist and Govt official in the same person! Also, another curious aspect of Newton's life was he never married and is widely considered to have lead a celibate life; and yes, the apple boink on his head is apocryphal.

Newton's Gift is our gift
In his book Newton's Gift - How Sir Isaac Newton Unlocked the System of the World David Berlinski presents us with an engaging biography of Newton. What I personally liked was the fact that Berlinski avoided the trap of many biographies that merely present names, dates and places. In this book we see the person that Newton was and how it affected his study of mathematics.One of the main reasons that one should study the history of mathematics is to appreciate the human side of its creation. Berlinski presents Newton's human side quite well.

If you are looking for a lot of detailed mathematics, you probably won't find it here. The mathematics is presented at a very readable and understandable level. This is certainly accessible to the average undergraduate math/physics major.

I recommend this book without hesitation. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Physics might seem part of an alien culture to most people, but it has touched all our lives, and its byproducts, in the form of nuclear fission, are going to remain with us for many generations to come. It could be argued that the 20th century was the century of theoretical physics. The Genius of Science is, as its subtitle claims, a portrait gallery of 16 of the most interesting and eminent of the international physicists who helped change our view of the world--from Niels Bohr to Eugene Wigner.But the list of characters is much, much larger and interweaves most of the international network of physicists and other prominent scientists of the last century. Author Abraham Pais, an eminent American theoretical physicist and professor at Rockefeller University, has written acclaimed biographies of Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr, two of the greatest scientists of the 20th century. Pais was acquainted with many of the people he writes about, and he often appears in the book as a shadowy figure in the background. Anyone can dip into The Genius of Science anywhere in its pages and be immediately grabbed by both the extraordinary and the ordinary aspects of the lives of these scientists. The author provides plenty of anecdotes, from those about Bohr's pipe-smoking to Robert Oppenheimer's reaction to the first successful atomic bomb test: "... some lines of the Bhagavad Gita went through his mind: I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."

Pais wants to bring life back to these people, but not in any salacious way; he admits to having "never been interested in entering others' bedrooms." If you want psycho-biography or scandal, you will not find it here. But the general reader will get a sense of the trials, tribulations, and excitement of the scientific life. There are plenty of references for those who want to follow up the details, and there's a useful index of characters mentioned in the text. --Douglas Palmer, Amazon.co.uk ... Read more

Reviews (5)

People in science.
What makes Pais' book especially compelling and captivating
is that he knew the main players in Science over the period of a lifetime. And then the unique quality of his writing! The
result is a page turner. We are given a glimps into the personal lives of Bohr, of Dirac, of Einstein, of von Neumann, of Pauli,
and of others of the major profiles in science in the twentieth century;-- and Pais offers his own thoughts on their scienceas well. Based on having worked with them...Pais also wrote landmark biographies of Bohr and Einstein. Highly recommended.

Intelligent and warm biographies
The physicist Abraham Pais met these scientists and developed strong human bonds with them. So, besides concise accounts of their scientific contributions, he tells us some moving, insightful and unforgettable events of their lives.

Excellent biographies of sixteen who remade our worldview
Someone once wrote that there was more imagination in the mathematician and physicist Archimedes than in all of Homer. The arguments in favor of that statement are very strong. It took a great deal of original, abstract thought to solve the problems that Archimedes resolved. However, that pales before the level of original and abstract thinking that went into the creation of the modern models of the physical universe. Some of the confirmed results are so strange that it is simply impossible to relate them to what we see on the macro scale.
The collection of people who created these models are described in this book. Their exploits make very interesting reading, and although some could be placed in the strange genius category, most were otherwise rather ordinary. Some were devoted to their lives outside physics and others knew only physics. Some had tight partnerships with their spouses while others had tolerant spouses who accepted extra-marital affairs. While including more of the slush would have made the book more interesting to the voyeur and perhaps increased sales, the author raises the personal details only when they are needed.
The true measure of a quality biography of a scientist is that you find their lives interesting even when their science is being discussed. Such is the case here. These giants of the physical realm led interesting lives that the author describes very well in relatively few pages. The physics is also made quite interesting, in that the explanations make you appreciate their accomplishments all the more.
Given the wide variety of personalities described here, one is led to the conclusion that it takes all kinds to make a world view.

Influential 20th century physicists
Pais has previously written terrific biographies of Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein. Here he writes about sixteen brilliant 20C scientists who don't quite have the same name recognition as those two, but who made towering contributions - people like Dirac and von Neumann. And as a physicist himself, he knew them personally and worked with some of them. In fluid prose he makes the excitement of their milieu and their science come alive.

Remarkable
Usually one finds biographies of worldwide famous scientists. There are several books talking about life and times of these celebrities. In this book Pais presents not only those but some of the remarkable scientists not widely known outside the technical community. Being a member of scientific realm and eminent physicist he knew all the 16 experts he is talking about. His personal view of each of these Geniuses of the technical world gives a unique flavor to the book. As lay but loving fan of Physics, I think this book is outstanding. Whether you want to know about the men behind the beautiful field known as Modern Physics you should read, it is an insider view. ... Read more

Book Description

This non-traditional biography sheds light on the career of Lloyd V. Berkner and the role he played as mediator between the American science community and United States government agencies responsible for planning and executing national security during the Cold War.
The book illuminates how Berkner became a model that produced the scientist/advisor/policymaker that helped build postwar America. It does so by providing a detailed account of the personal and professional beliefs of one of the most influential figures in the American scientific community; a figure that helped define the political and social climatesthat existed in the United States during the Cold War. ... Read more

Book Description

Acclaim for Einstein: A Life

"Denis Brian's convincing picture . . . only makes our wonder grow at Einstein's sublime achievements." —The Washington Post

"Does much to reveal the man behind the image . . . Brian's intimate work proves that in literature, as in science, taking a careful look can be a rewarding endeavor." —Detroit Free Press.

"A fascinating, vastly enjoyable, deeply researched and fair account of Einstein the man." —Physics World

"Exhaustively researched, almost obsessively detailed, written with unobtrusive informality, the book is exemplary as a record of Einstein's personal and professional life." —The Spectator (U.K.)

"An utterly fascinating life of a great scientist full of new insights and very readable." —Ashley Montagu

"A fascinating read with more interesting material about Einstein as a human being than I have ever seen before . . . Once I started it, I couldn't put it down." —Robert Jastrow astrophysicist and bestselling author

"A thoughtful and captivating account of one whom I had the joy of knowing and loving." —George Wald Nobel Laureate ... Read more

Reviews (17)

Thorough but Hollow Biography
My first reaction to finishing this book was "Gee, That was interesting... now I would like to read a biography about Einstein."

This book is so focused on the details, that at times it becomes incoherent. In its pursuit of distilling Einstein to a more personal level, it still rings shallow. There were so many relationships discussed in such cursory detail, that I was not able to get a flavor for Einstein's interactions with magnificent scientists such as Born, Bohr, Plank, Milliken, etc.

The books strength is that it is fact laden. If you finish this book, then you will be able to discuss the individual elements of his life with 98% of people. It dispels a lot of lure, and at the same time illuminates some majestical quotes.

One of my biggest beefs with the layout of this novel is that the author goes to great pains to break his life into 1 to 2 year intervals (which I like), but the chapter titles never seem to come across in what is written. For example there is a chapter title called "The FBI Targets Einstein" yet the chapter itself has very little to do with that, and certainly doesn't differ from the surrounding chapters that discuss Hoover. Thus, I felt that an opportunity to explore various elements of Einstein's life were entirely lost. If it had been presented in relation to ideas as opposed to time frame, then perhaps Einstein would have been better illuminated.

I realize that this review is a bit harsh. The bottom line is that I feel that I am better off from having read the book. Nevertheless, I must be honest and say that as a scientist and idolizer of Einstein... I found this book extremely painful to read. It gives a lot of information, but not in a particularly user-friendly manor.

Einstein
Any reader who thinks it might be profitable to spend
some quality time with Albert Einstein - arguably the
greatest scientist of all time - should read this book. The
author, Denis Brian, knows how to write a biography
and, in his 'Alfred Einstein, A Life", he offers a
wonderful subject.
This reader - whose science background is close to
nil - approached this book with considerable trepidation
- needlessly. While the author deals properly and
necessarily with Einstein's scientific pursuits and
achievements - which means he sometimes employs
some 'heavy' jargon - like relativity theory, unified
field theory, quantum mechanics, electromagnetism,
superstring theory with 4 dimensions plus 6, photon
theory, neutrons, protons, atoms, particles - negative
and positive, etc. - he does so in a merciful fashion
that places few demands on the reader. NOT to
understand what Einstein was working on at any
given moment was always pretty much the norm,

anyhow, for even his peers and other world-class
scientists.
On the other hand, there is plenty in Einstein's life
that nearly any reader can understand and probably
relate to- much of which is highly fascinating and
illuminating. Here is a list of some of the subjects
and issues that Einstein chose or was compelled to
deal with - apart from his science: women and
romances and marriage, religion and the hereafter,
career decisions, anti-Semitism and racism, parenting
and a mentally ill son, celebrity-status and death
threats, Israel and Zionism, Russia and Communism,
Hitler and Fascism, Gandhi and pacifism vs. defense
needs, capitalism, atomic energy and weapons,
disarmament, Cold War politics, friends and relatives,
Germany and Germans, Americans and their culture,
world-wide lecture tours, mind vs. matter, Freud
and psychoanalysis, J.B. Shaw and literary criticism
and socialism, Upton Sinclair and social reform, and
the Rosenburg spy case. In short, while Einstein was always focused primarily on science and the mysteries
of the universe, he also found some time to do some
serious thinking, talking and writing about other serious,
mundane issues, as well.
The author does a marvelous job of researching and
organizing the materials in this book. I liked his decision
to introduce each chapter with a title, the years covered
therein, and Einstein's age during those years. I also liked
his thoroughness in including first-hand accounts, letters,
notes, and experiences of people of every possible age,
class, and status. The traits and qualities they describe
show clearly the essence of Albert Einstein: mental genius modest, shy, well-informed, explosive and lusty laugh,
absent minded, casual, unkempt, outspoken, impulsive, punster, impudent, kind, enthusiastic, energetic,
well-traveled, versatile, frugal, ebullient, stubborn, moody,
lucid, liberal, unpretentious, warm-hearted, informal, passionate, workaholic, direct, absentminded, prematurely
aged, pro-world government, tobacco addicted, endearing,
self-assured, handsome and noble face, sweet smile, radiant
and penetrating eyes, high brow, egalitarian, mischievous,
sparse eater, 'soft touch', metaphor lover, quick-witted,
non-swimmer boater, non-driver, walking and hiking
enthusiast.
David Ben-Gurion, Israeli Prime Minister at the time,
said this about Alfred Einstein: "He has the greatest mind of any living man...He's a scientist who needs no laboratory, no equipment, no tools of any kind.
He just sits in an empty room with a pencil, a piece
of paper, and his brain, thinking!"
"Thinking" was Einstein's favorite sport.
This book gets all the stars and 'thumbs up' I can give it.

Not too bad... however not what I was looking for.
I am pretty much in agreement with the fellow amazon reviewer - herrdirektor's impression of this book. It is a very well researched biography. However, the book looms away from Einstein, the man and focuses more into his works. Brian writes of his scientific researches in great detail and in a manner which may not be too convenient for any reader unrelated to the scientific field. I was particularly looking for a book which gave me a glimpse inside the mind of the philosopher/scientist. With its prime focus on his career, this book fails the philosopher that Einstein was. I feel that those philosophies played a very important role and maintaining his mass popularity even after decades of his death. This missing element may disappoint some of the readers.

Meet Albert Einstein - the greatest scientist of all time!
Any reader who thinks it might be profitable to spend some quality time with Albert Einstein - arguably the greatest scientist of all time - should read this book. The author,
Denis Brian, knows how to write a biography and, in his 'Einstein, A Life", he offers a wonderful subject.
This reader - whose science background is close to nil - approached this book with considerable trepidation -needlessly. While the author deals properly and necessarily with Einstein's scientific pursuits and achievements - which means he sometimes
employs some 'heavy' jargon - like relativity theory, unified field theory, quantum mechanics, electromagnetism, superstring theory with 4 dimensions plus 6, photon theory, neutrons, protons, atoms, particles - negative and positive, etc. - he does so in a merciful fashion that places few demands on the reader. NOT to understand what Einstein was working on at any given moment was always pretty much the norm,anyhow, for even his peers and other world-class scientists.
On the other hand, there is plenty in Einstein's life that nearly any reader can understand and probably relate to- much of which is highly fascinating and illuminating. Here is a list of some of the subjects and issues that Einstein chose or was compelled to deal with - apart from his science: women and romances and marriage, religion and the hereafter, career decisions, anti-Semitism and racism, parenting and a mentally ill son, celebrity-status and death threats, Israel and Zionism, Russia and Communism, Hitler and Fascism, Gandhi and pacifism vs. defense needs, capitalism, atomic energy and weapons,
disarmament, Cold War politics, friends and relatives, Germany and Germans, Americans and their culture, world-wide lecture tours, mind vs. matter, Freud and psychoanalysis, G.B. Shaw and literary criticism and socialism, Upton Sinclair and social
reform, the Rosenberg spy case - and more. In short, while Einstein was always focused primarily on science and the mysteries of the universe, he also found some time to do some serious thinking, talking and writing about other serious, mundane issues, as well.
The author does a marvelous job of researching and organizing the materials in this book. I liked his decision to introduce each chapter with a title, the years covered therein, and Einstein's age during those years. I also liked his thoroughness in including first-hand accounts, letters, notes, and experiences of people of every possible age, class,
and status. The traits and qualities they describe show clearly the essence of Albert Einstein: mental genius, modest, shy, well-informed, explosive and lusty laugh, absent minded, casual, unkempt, outspoken, impulsive, punster, impudent, kind, enthusiastic, energetic, well-traveled, versatile, frugal, ebullient, stubborn, moody, lucid, liberal, unpretentious, warm-hearted, informal, passionate, workaholic, direct, absentminded,
prematurely aged, pro-world government, tobacco addicted, endearing, self-assured, handsome and noble face, sweet smile, radiant and penetrating eyes, high brow, egalitarian, mischievous, sparse eater, 'soft touch', metaphor lover, quick-witted, non-swimming boater, non-driver, walking and hiking enthusiast.
David Ben-Gurion, Israeli Prime Minister at the time, said this about Alfred Einstein: "He has the greatest mind of any living man...He's a scientist who needs no laboratory, no equipment, no tools of any kind. He just sits in an empty room with a pencil, a piece of paper, and his brain, thinking!"
"Thinking" was Einstein's favorite sport and his forte.
This book gets all the stars and 'thumbs up' I can give it.

The Story of Einstein the man, not Einstein the Scientist
In this very readable biography, Brian conveys an extraordinary amount of information about Einstein's personal life so that the reader gets a real sense of what it must have been like to be around him.

Einstein's brilliance as a scientist did not turn him into a snob even tho' he clearly recognized that he had extraordinary abilities. He was both amused and repulsed by the trappings of celebrity that came with his status. Brian makes clear that Einstein was a kind man, a good friend, and a mediocre husband and father. The same man who labored intently over both scientific and social issues apparently put little effort into his family life. Brian does an excellent job of relating Einstein's family, social, and business world.

The 2 areas where this otherwise good biography falls short are the lack of context about Einstien's scientific achievements and the inadequate treatment of his interaction with other leading scientists outside of social and business matters. To the first matter, the book doesn't address why the theory of relativity mattered. He explains that it is a different model of the universe than what Newton defined centuries earlier; but, he leaves out any discussion of the impact. Similarly, the importance Einstein's quest for a unified theory is identified as an activity, but not why it was an important one. Brian never addresses why Einstein resisted Heisenberg's theories with such vehemence and for so long? The author provides little of Heisenberg, Bohr, or Plank's perspective of Einstein.

If you know the science already, this book is an excellent intrduction to the man. If you only know that Einstein was a "really smart guy," but not why his contributions mattered, then this is not the book for you. ... Read more

Book Description

Herman Kahn was the only nuclear strategist in America who might have made a living as a standup comedian. Indeed, galumphing around stages across the country, joking his way through one grotesque thermonuclear scenario after another, he came frighteningly close. In telling the story of Herman Kahn, whose 1960 book On Thermonuclear War catapulted him into celebrity, Sharon Ghamari-Tabrizi captures an era that is still very much with us--a time whose innocence, gruesome nuclear humor, and outrageous but deadly serious visions of annihilation have their echoes in the "known unknowns and unknown unknowns" that guide policymakers in our own embattled world.

Portraying a life that combined aspects of Lenny Bruce, Hitchcock, and Kubrick, Ghamari-Tabrizi presents not one Herman Kahn, but many--one who spoke the suffocatingly dry argot of the nuclear experts, another whose buffoonery conveyed the ingenious absurdity of it all, and countless others who capered before the public, ambiguous, baffling, always open to interpretation. This, then, is a story of one thoroughly strange and captivating man as well as a cultural history of our moment. In Herman Kahn's world is a critical lesson about how Cold War analysts learned to fill in the ciphers of strategic uncertainty, and thus how we as a nation learned to live with the peculiarly inventive quality of strategy, in which uncertainty generates extravagant threat scenarios.

Revealing the metaphysical behind the dryly deliberate, apparently practical discussion of nuclear strategy, this book depicts the creation of a world where clever men fashion Something out of Nothing--and establishes Herman Kahn as our first virtuoso of the unknown unknowns.

Reviews (1)

From The Master of the Possible Future
In today's new age of nuclear terrorism, it is vital that thoseresponsible for security understand how yesterday's "Cold War" thinkers viewed the possibility of nuclear war. The most important of those Cold War thinkers was Herman Kahn.

Sharon Ghamari-Tabrizi has written an absolutely brilliant profile of the oversized multifaceted personality of Kahn, a personality so powerful that he brought out the very worst in the military and academia. Kahn authored the ground-breaking work "On Thermonuclear War" (1961) a book which, in exquisitely painful detail theorizes how such a terrible war might be fought, and even "won." It was a book and a thesis which provoked
remarkable response. From the left there was the vituperation of James Newman in the pages of the prestigious magazineScientific American who could viciously ask, "Is there really a Herman Kahn?" There were plaudits from the left as well, including A. J. Muste, Socialist Norman Thomas and, Betrand Russell. Mostly, alas, brickbats and hate mail from the "liberal establishment,"which Kahn considered himself a card carrying member. The right didn't know what to make of him. Kahn loved hanging around (and tormenting) top military brass, and at the same time spend time with Abbie Hoffman and take -- and enjoy LSD. He was World War Three's Lenny Bruce.

Ghamari-Tabrizi has entitled her book "The Worlds..." and added a subtitle which incorporates the idea that developing scenarios for a nuclear war was, at heart, intuitive. She expands this profile of the man, into a full and thoughtful investigation of the scenario, the war "game" based on the role playing war games. War gaming as it is known -- allows the players to imagine how nuclear war would develop, to use simulation to think about how it might be fought, and yes, how it might be won. (And yes, Kahn went so far as to conceive the possibility of a "Doomsday" bomb -- immortalized in Stanley Kubrick's film, "Dr. Strangelove."

Kahn's huge genius lay in his ability to stare directly at and analyze anything, "When [U.S. military] officers objected that Kahn was ill-equipped to speak on military affairs," Ghamari-Tabrizi writes, "he'd shoot back, 'How many thermonuclear wars have you fought recently?' Aside from war games, they admitted, they had no actual experience with these weapons. 'O.K., Kahn would grin, 'Then we start out even.'"

Ghamari-Tabrizi also provides social and psychological contexts in which to evaluate the man and his work.

This book belongs on the book shelf of anyone today worried about nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism, which is to say any sentient adult. The same can be said of the rest of Kahn's work -- most especially "Thinking About the Unthinkable," "On Escalation," "Things to Come," and "The Year 2000" stunning in its insights when you realize it was published in 1967!

I had two occasions to visit the think tank he created, the Hudson Institute, from which he developed all of his work following "On Thermonuclear War" as well as some occasions in which we just met and talked. He delighted in challenging any unthought out shibboleth. One left his company with a headache and a desire to rethink everything you had previously believed.

Sharon Ghamari-Tabrizi deserves our heartfelt gratitude for her 387 page work bringing this man, his theories and his personality to life. Herman Kahn has been too long forgotten. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Physics turned weird recently--really weird. That doesn't necessarily mean that modern physicists are weird, though, does it? Well, yes and no, says science writer Richard P. Brennan, whose book Heisenberg Probably Slept Here chronicles the lives of seven great scientists of the 20th century--Einstein, Planck, Rutherford, Bohr, Heisenberg, Feynman, and Gell-Mann--as well as their spiritual father, Isaac Newton. Fascinating and funny, each biographical sketch illuminates the man, his surroundings, and his achievements with unusual clarity.

Writing about the enormous driving force engendered in physics by World War II, with scientists on both sides striving to advance their knowledge far enough to win a terrible war, Brennan shows us the delicate contingencies that led to our current level of understanding. What if the Nazis hadn't rejected "Jewish science"? What if the Allies had assassinated Heisenberg? More generally, he tells us stories of men working like maniacs to answer some of the hardest, most basic questions about our universe ever devised, only to find more questions for the next century to ponder. We may hope that a new generation will be inspired by these stories to take weird 20th-century science much further; perhaps some day quantum mechanics will seem more quaint than abstruse. --Rob Lightner ... Read more

Reviews (7)

High school physics on steroids
A lot of the material was similar to what I did in high school physics...but excellent presentation combined with insights into the lives of the phycisists made this a much more interesting text.

Heisenberg slept?!
First of all, the subtitle of this book, "The Lives, Times, and Ideas of the Great Physicists of the 20th Century," is a bit inaccurate.Among the 8 physicists depicted in Brennan's mini-biography is Sir Isaac Newton;obviously not a denizen of the 20th century.Granted, Newton had more influence on the present epoch of physics than anyone else up until the time of Einstein, so his presence in this work is not inappropriate.It's just that he's not a 20th century physicist.

On the other hand, a startling omission is Erwin Scroedinger.It is understood that one's selection of who's in & who's out can never please everyone in these types of books. However, I can't imagine someone assembling a roster of 20th century physicists without including the venerable Schroedinger.Just my opinion.

The content of the personages Brennan does write about is quite remarkable.Brennan does a reputable job of describing the major motifs of different biographical epochs of each physicist, then mixing in some nice anectdotes for good measure.He also does not get carried away & deify the scientists to make them look infallible.Rather, Brennan fairly integrates their faults into his text. As a bonus, there is also a brief synopsis of the history of Pre-Newtonian physics.

The most informative pages are those devoted to Heisenberg.I had always wanted to believe the stories about how he tried to sabatoge the Nazi bomb effort from the inside.Unfortunately, referencing British documents which were de-classified in 1992, Brennan nullifies those arguments as nothing but wishful thinking and ad-hoc propoganda engendered by H himself.

I would highly recommend this book as a prelude for those who wish to study the lives of these great physicists more deeply.As it is a quick read, it is an equally ideal book for physicists who have only a marginal interest in the great lives of their predecessors.

Convenient compilation, however too many mistakes
I bought this book thinking about its convenient compilation: biography of Feynman, Gell-Mann, Heisenberg, Planck, all-in-one. However I was already disappointed after the first chapter about Isaac Newton, who I know well from Westfall's biography (which is cited as a reference in this book). The chapter about Newton is full of mistakes, some of them are exactly the opposite of what you find in Newton's biography. You don't need to read Westfall's book to notice that since the author uses many adjectives all the time, instead of telling the history. Then this convenience become very expensive since you must read the biography book of each scientist to find out whether the author wrote the truth or just invented it up. Being a book compiling many biographies it was expected that it would have some mistakes, however the book is full of errors instead of just one or two. It is worth reading each big biography book of each scientist in this edition since you'll find much more historical discussions instead of imposing lots of adjectives like they were facts.

Fascinating and Well Written
I thouroughly enjoyed this book for several reasons.Richard Brennan doesa remarkable job of explaining each physicists' work in a manner alayperson can understand, but still involved enough that the readerappreciates the significance of each discovery.Brennan also manages tocapture the character and personality of each physicist with relatively ashort biography.He has also structured the book so that the implicationof each of the subjects' work on his successors is clear.In short, Ifound the physicists' personal stories compelling and the sciencefascinating.

The book had exquisite view of those great scientists
When I read the book at first time, Iwas attracted to the stories. They are not onlyan interesting narrative but also provide the correctattitude of life and research of science for us.When I finished readingthe book, I was deeply affected by the stories.I introduced the book tomy friends,and I stilly like reading the book now. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

A Must-Have Book For Titanic Fans.
Gorgeous 205 page, hardcover library volume. Beautiful full color and black and white large photos. Provides insight into the maiden voyage, terror at sea, in search of the Titanic, anatomy of the disaster, the trail of time, and an epilogue. Beautiful never before published photos. One of the best books on the topic to be found. Full color pictures of much Titanic memorabilia. A great addition to a Titanic fan's library.

This is a Titanic (adj.) Book
TITANIC: Legacy of the World's Greatest Ocean Liner is a (if not the) definitive book on the Titanic. It has lots of facts and text and is almost grotesquely overwrought with pictures.

In the beginning and end of this book, there is a complete list of RMS Titanic's passengers and crew which is very useful.

Scattered about the book, it contains points of views of different survivors. Two facts are incorrect, the gross tonnage was 46,328 and the cruising speed was 21 knots.

This book is worth all you pay for it, and Titanic buff should add it to his/her library.

Attractive Book for Light Reading
Overall, this is a nicely-designed and illustrated book that would make a great gift. Many of the artifact photos (of which there are plenty) are unique to this book. The issue of salvage haunts every page of this book. On numerous occasions author Susan Wels makes the case for RMS Titanic, Inc. and their salvage operations. That may or may not be fine to you, depending upon your view of the whole salvage thing, but you'll probably find that it gets kind of annoying and repetitive after a while. Much is made of the fact that Titanic-finder Robert Ballard initially supported some salvage operations (he is now opposed to them).

All of that aside, the rest of the book is nice to look at and worth reading. The text plays second-fiddle to the photographs, but that's fine for a book such as this.

I was a bit surprised at one error in the text- in describing Captain Smith's safety record, Wels notes that he was captain of the Germanic when it 'capsized' in 1899. Well, the Germanic sank upright at its pier because of an ice storm; it was quickly re-floated and spent another 51 years in service; the captain and crew were found not at fault by White Star; and the captain at the time was Edward McKinstry, not Edward J. Smith.

The Titanic saga in one easy, illustrated lesson.
Accurate, up to date, treatment in one volume of what happened to the Titanic. Also with excellent coverage of the discovery of the remains seventy years later, with copious pictures and illustrations. Students needing a short one-volume outline of the tragedy will find it here. Sensitivity and intelligence characterise this fine volume.

I love the Titanic,and I love this book and reading about it
This book is a really good book for people like me that want to learn more about the Titanic and maybe see it with there own eyes one day. It has really good facts ,pictures, facinating articles,and memorabilia of the people who survived and were killed by the R.M.S.TITANIC on April,1912. I don't have the book,but I intend to get it before Christmas 1998. ... Read more

Book Description

In a book that is both biography and the most exciting form of history, here are eighteen years in the life of a man, Albert Einstein, and a city, Berlin, that were in many ways the defining years of the twentieth century.

Einstein in Berlin

In the spring of 1913 two of the giants of modern science traveled to Zurich. Their mission: to offer the most prestigious position in the very center of European scientific life to a man who had just six years before been a mere patent clerk. Albert Einstein accepted, arriving in Berlin in March 1914 to take up his new post. In December 1932 he left Berlin forever. “Take a good look,” he said to his wife as they walked away from their house. “You will never see it again.”

In between, Einstein’s Berlin years capture in microcosm the odyssey of the twentieth century. It is a century that opens with extravagant hopes--and climaxes in unparalleled calamity. These are tumultuous times, seen through the life of one man who is at once witness to and architect of his day--and ours. He is present at the events that will shape the journey from the commencement of the Great War to the rumblings of the next one.

We begin with the eminent scientist, already widely recognized for his special theory of relativity. His personal life is in turmoil, with his marriage collapsing, an affair under way. Within two years of his arrival in Berlin he makes one of the landmark discoveries of all time: a new theory of gravity--and before long is transformed into the first international pop star of science. He flourishes during a war he hates, and serves as an instrument of reconciliation in the early months of the peace; he becomes first a symbol of the hope of reason, then a focus for the rage and madness of the right.

And throughout these years Berlin is an equal character, with its astonishing eruption of revolutionary pathways in art and architecture, in music, theater, and literature. Its wild street life and sexual excesses are notorious. But with the debacle of the depression and Hitler’s growing power, Berlin will be transformed, until by the end of 1932 it is no longer a safe home for Einstein. Once a hero, now vilified not only as the perpetrator of “Jewish physics” but as the preeminent symbol of all that the Nazis loathe, he knows it is time to leave. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Einstein in Context
This book gives a context to science that I have not seen before. Scientists do not work in an isolated bubble (though this one wished he had), but in a home and cultural environment.

Berlin, which prided itself on its science, went through dramatic changes, and the cowardice of the so-called intellectual elite was stunning. Yet Einstein himself seemed unsurprised by this. He was forever enthusiastically working toward the betterment of society, but had no faith in the people in it. He found people predictably disappointing.

The book contrasts his public commitment to his private cruelties. He himself was a disappointing individual, but not in the usual ways of public cowardice. Instead he had a callousness and seeming indifference to his families that he never showed the strangers he worked so hard to enlighten. He was not someone you would want to be married to or have as your father. But he would be great to kibitz with.

Still, his brilliance was not isolated to physics. He had brilliant philosophies and political observations. When I went to the Boston Museum of Science to see his exhibit, I was shocked to learn that he earned himself a file at our own FBI for his views, which I do not remember the book mentioning. It seems he was also brilliantly dangerous, and his disdain for authority was found equally unsettling to both the Nazi and the American governments.

This is a cover-to-cover read, educational historically as well as on Einstein himself and his physics. I have read a few books on Einstein and found this one of the best.

Einstein, scientist and pacifist, against a canvas of war
Focussed on the Berlin years this biography of Einstein has a lot of detail that moves in a broader dimension than the tale of the mythical scientist we see in most accounts. While the public 'story' is by and large accurate, a closer focus reveals some refreshing details, to say nothing of yielding some insights into how science is done, at least how science is done Einstein-style. From the discovery of relativity to the completion of the general theory a slightly different picture from the usual one emerges, as we see Einstein the intuitive problem solver more than Einstein the mathematician, a triumph of breakthrough synthesis. He complains about Minkowski's mathematical rendition, and behind General Relativity lurks Grossman. Einstein seems to be thinking on a different plane and summons the math to assist the gedanken experiment in his own mind.
Most of all we trace his path through the years of the first world war, Weimar, the hyperinflation, the coming of the Nazis, up to his final departure as Hitler takes control, interleaved with his interactions with the physics and physicists of his time.
A bad period for a pacifist, and Einstein was in the frontlines for almost the entire period.

A misnomer, but worth the effort...
...only reason I gave this 4 and not 5 was because the title really doesn't live up to its name--most of this book is not just about Einstein but rather of how he is defined by, or defines, world events surrounding him---nonetheless, it gives great non-technical, easy-to-read summaries of his theory of relativity, causes and effects of WW1, Germany in the inter-war years, anti-Semitism and how it affected his work (including one literally chilling scene in which he is snubbed, ignored by his non-Jewish colleagues at a regular meeting of one of his professional groups) and much more---fascinating!! buy it!!

Well worth reading
Einstein in Berlin needs no hype. It's an elegantly written narration of Einstein's years in Berlin--years that were vital to his development as a great scientist and humanist, and to Berlin and Germany's descent from post-World-War-I chaos to the madness of the Holocaust. It's not a book for someone wanting yet another idealized portrait of Einstein. But it's a must-read for anyone seeking a genuine understanding Einstein as a man, as a scientist, and as a remarkably influential figure during a critical historical period. Levenson has produced an insightful biography and a sophisticated history, and has woven them together masterfully.

Robert Adler, Ph.D., author of Science Firsts: From the Creation of Science to the Science of Creation (John Wiley & Sons, September 2002).

GENIUS AT WORK
I'm glad I read Thomas Levenson's EINSTEIN IN BERLIN in spite of its atrocious publisher's blurb: "In a book that is both biography and the most exciting form of history, here are eighteen years in the life of a man, Albert Einstein, and a city, Berlin, that were in many way the defining years of the twentieth century." What "the most exiting form of history" may be is never explained. Fortunately, the book is better written than its jacket. Levenson, a documentary filmmaker who produced a two-hour biography of Einstein for Nova, can paint memorable pictures with words too. In general, he does better by Einstein than he does by Berlin.

Levenson strikes a good balance between the details of Einstein's private life, his scientific work, and his political activities. The book's greatest strength is its rendering of Einstein's contributions to theoretical physics into a form digestible even by a scientific illiterate. Levenson shows the process as well as the final result; the failures as well as the triumphs. He explains the ongoing debate between Einstein and Niels Bohr over arcane aspects of quantum mechanics. I was intrigued by the "mind experiments" Einstein used to test his theories and those of other phyicists. The chapters summarizing Einstein's life before and after Berlin give the reader sufficient context for understanding his "defining" years. Some aspects of his personal life get short shrift: his activity as an amateur musician, for example. We learn that his friendship with Queen Elizabeth of Belgium began when they played chamber music together, but we never are given a glimpse of him playing, nor any sense of the time he devoted to this pastime.

Levenson is more impressionistic in his portrayal of Berlin. It is not so much Einstein's Berlin we are shown as that of his friend Count Harry Kessler, a liberal bon vivant whose Diary of a Cosmopolitan is quoted extensively. The reader learns almost nothing about the university that employed Einstein for eighteen years beyond the small circle of scientists with whom he associated. Levenson describes the nightlife and popular culture of Berlin at length, but shows little of its high culture. Much space is devoted to Josephine Baker and Fritz Lang, but Schonberg, Schnabel, Kadinsky and Lotte Leyna are mentioned only when they became refugees. Levenson is thorough in detailing political and economic events in Berlin and elsewhere in Germany, but provides little insight into the daily life of ordinary Berliners.

Levenson gives the reader more of WWI and Adolf Hitler's part in it than seems necessary for this book. Details of the major battles and of Corporal Hitler's medals are unnecessary to an understanding of Einstein's opposition to the war or of Berlin's experience during the war. It was Hitler the politician, not Hitler the soldier, who impacted Berlin and Einstein so profoundly in later years. ... Read more

Amazon.com

It would be difficult to identify three American scientists whose work had a greater effect on world politics than Robert Oppenheimer, Ernest Lawrence, and Edward Teller. This exhaustive account of how they worked together (and competed against each other) on the development of the atomic and hydrogen bombs is more a story of people than science. Author Gregg Herken of the Smithsonian Institution informs us, for instance, of Oppenheimer's "riotous parties" in the 1930s, in which latecomers would see "the top physicists of their generation, drunk and crouched on all fours, playing a version of tiddly-winks on the geometric patterns of Oppenheimer's Navajo rug." Despite a few light touches, Brotherhood of the Bomb is no breezy profile of three great minds. Instead, it is a serious look at invention, rivalry, and betrayal. One of the central episodes involves Oppenheimer's too-cozy relationship with radical-left politics--he carelessly associated with Communists, even though he occupied one of the most sensitive jobs in the U.S. government during the cold war--and Teller's momentous decision to testify against him. This event is one of the most controversial in the annals of American science, and Herken tells it straight, with barely a word of editorial comment. Fans of Richard Rhodes will enjoy this triple biography, as will anybody with an interest in science, politics, and top-secret security clearances. --John J. Miller ... Read more

Reviews (14)

Interesting Subject - Not An Easy Read
This is the story of the atomic bomb and the hydrogen bomb and the brotherhood of men whose genius created the bomb. While the story is very interesting, the text is difficult to read. The book has excellent photographs of the period which are just amazing to see. The book has over 80 pages of notes and looks like some kind of legal paper.

Great Topic - Very Poorly Written
The book covers an amazing subject matter and I was excited to get it and dive into but. But after slogging through the first 100 pages, I had to see what other reviewers may have said on Amazon. I see that a few agree with me. The topic is one of the most amazing of our time, but the writing is horribly academic, boring, and poor. Gregg Herken's writing style (if one can even call it that) is similar to a law review article, where facts are piled up high, references are many, but any style and creativity is buried. In this book, it's does not exist. I would not recommend this to other to read.

Bomb-Makers and Inevitability
Despite a prose style I find to be rather dry (as if the author believes that responsible history must be informational in tone as well as content), Herken's story of the American nuclear weapons program's early years does succeed in giving us the key players in the drama before, during, and after Los Alamos in all their gloriously flawed humanness.Teller is seen as the uncomfortably single-minded father of the hydrogen bomb, planning and plotting that weapon even before Little Man and Fat Boy were produced, calling the atomic bomb a mere engineering project in comparison to the "Super."Lawrence is the organizer and initiator, fostering bigger and bigger cyclotrons and recruiting more and more scientists and technicians ("the boys") for his pet project.And then there's Oppenheimer, most brilliant and egoistic of all, whose nonchalant inattention seems to have been as great a factor in his fall from grace as his political leanings in the years before the war.In the exceptional feature film that could be made from this story, the substance of this book would serve a screenwriter well.However, since Herken's prose possesses more flatness of tone than enthusiasm, it would not be wise to attempt to translate its style to film.Viewers would likely nod off.

This book is VERY WELL WRITTEN
I'm only a few chapters into the book at the moment.However, I am finding the book to be very interesting and extremely well researched.I totally disagree with the other reviews on this one.The book is very well written.I can hardly put it down.Excellent job!

History treated like a heavy machinery operating manual
This book is very well researched, but is EXTREMELY poorly written. It is the driest and most boring history book that I have ever read in my life. The entire thing is presented as a simple collection of facts and the author hardly gives you any insight into what the major characters were really like (sometimes you get a little glimpse in the footnotes). I bought this book after seeing all the good reviews it had gotten, but I have trouble focusing on reading for more than 10 minutes because I feel like I'm wasting my time reading this tedious amassment of factual evidence. ... Read more

Book Description

Many people have heard two things about Archimedes: he was the greatest mathematician of antiquity, and he ran naked from his bath crying 'Eureka!'. However, few people are familiar with the actual accomplishments upon which his enduring reputation rests, and it is the aim of this book to shed light upon this matter. Archimedes' ability to achieve so much with the few mathematical tools at his disposal was astonishing. He made fundamental advances in the fields of geometry, mechanics, and hydrostatics. No great mathematical expertise is required of the reader, and the book is well illustrated with over 100 diagrams. It will prove fascinating to students and professional mathematicians alike. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Remembering Archimedes for more than his naked stroll
The thought of a man running naked through the streets shouting with joy over a physical and mathematical discovery is one to warm the hearts of all who value knowledge. When Archimedes experienced this flash of joy, little did he know that his actions would become the genesis of a legend that would last for thousands of years. However, he should be remembered for so much more than that and several of his significant mathematical contributions are explored in this book.
It is really amazing to realize how close he was to inventing calculus 22 centuries ago, which was 18 before Newton and Leibniz. With notation that was minimally expressive, he was able to solve problems using a technique that demonstrates at least a rudimentary understanding of the concept of a limit. While many different problems can be solved using calculus, it only takes one breakthrough solution to demonstrate how it can be applied to so many of the others. It can be plausibly argued that algebraic and decimal notations would have been the tools that would have allowed him to overcome those last barriers. One can only speculate on how that would have changed history.
The book is not exhaustive and no attempt is made to make it that. Ten of his most significant discoveries are presented and the solutions are those of Archimedes, although modern notation is used. While the proofs are generally easy to follow, one is often left in awe as to how he thought of how to approach some of these solutions. The explanations are succinct, yet thorough, which is the signature of a solid storyteller.
Given the answers to the question posed in the title of this book, one can pose another that logically follows. Was Archimedes the greatest mind of all time? If the legends are correct, then the answer is probably yes. However, even if the unconfirmed stories are false, the mathematical and mechanical discoveries should make him a legend for more than one short stint of becoming a 'natural man.'

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission.

Recommended for all mathematicians and scientists
The author's aim is to make what he views "as Archimedes' most mathematically significant discoveries accessible to the busy people of the mathematical community." In this he succeeds admirably. The book is not only understandable by anyone who "recognizes the equation of a parabola," but is also very well written in a style that brings out the beauty of the mathematical ideas discussed, as well as the power of Archimesdes' creativity. As the author points out, the book treats most of Archimedes' mathematical discoveries. The presentation cleverly integrates Archimedes' own writing with the author's modern explanation of the ancient discoveries. Frequently, before a main idea is introduced, a quotation from Archimedes' own writing is presented in which the master reveals his thinking about what he had accomplished in that particular topic.

In addition to providing the scientific community with a detailed account of Archimedes' main mathematical discoveries and an insight into the ancient master's thinking, this book, I believe, can be useful in the classroom in a variety of ways. The most obvious use, of course, would be in designating it as a textbook or a reference in courses on the history of calculus or, more generally, on the history of mathematics. But it would also make an excellent textbook for a course on axiomatic mathematics: the book starts with a few axioms from which Archimedes had developed the theory of center of gravity and used it throughout a good part of the material covered in the book, including the development of the volumes of a paraboloid and a sphere and the theory of floating bodies.

In sum, this is an excellent book that should be within reach of any person interested in mathematics or science. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

A wonderful history of Poland as well as a biography
Susan Quinn does a wonderful job of describing the hurdles that Curie's family had to overcome during the occupation of Poland by Russia, Austria, and Prussia. The interesting fact is that all of her siblings were bright and well educated despite the denial of public education. Reading this book has been a delightful experience.

Marie Curie
This book did an very good job in explaining the science of Marie Curie to the average reader, However it's not a book I would read for fun. This book was long and tedious with extensive descriptions of things that often seemed almost completely unrelated to her life and work. If you're looking for a book that will make you like who Marie Curie was this is not it. It depicts her as cold, aloof and almost neglectful of her children. It also seems to end abrubtly. There isn't a conclusion of any sort to a book that goes on for 433 pages.If you need to know about her life and work this book certainly does a more than adequate job in covering it, but it's a long slow read that you have to force yourself through in parts of it.

As if I was walking in her shoes
Growing up in Poland, being interested in science and scientists and loving biographies "made me" reach for Susan Quinn book, Marie Curie: A life. A life,...what an accurate title! The book is about one of the scientists of its (and even current) times, but it is titled modestly, "...:A life". This means, Susan Quinn introduced this intriguing woman as a normal, day to day character. Such "normalcy" did not take away my admiration and inspiration in my own professional pursuits. She, the author, simply presented an extra-ordinary woman in a very ordinary way, just as if she, Maria Sklodowska-Curie, were your or mine neighboor.

The language of the biography is percise but also nostalgic. Susan Quinn proved to be excellent researcher and "mood creator". She was able to write as if she was walking in Sklodowska-Curie shoes. She captured non-essential detail that took a reader right in the middle of the action. The details she used were accurate and true. It brought a Polish reader back to Warsaw. There, the streets were just as she described them, the smell and noise and politics of XIX and XX c Poland were so accuratly painted that as I continued reading it I could no longer remember I was in USA. I thought I were at Nowolipki street or Saxon Garden. Memories of my country history and history of scientific world were rekindled in my heart.

This is a very rich book. It will bring memories or create some for those who are not familiar with scientific revolution of Europe in late XIXc and early XXc. It is a book about heroism, loyalty, determination, passion, love and friendship. It is also a book about rejection in professional world. But most of all, this book is about victory of one extraordinary woman. This is the only woman ever who received two Nobel Prizes. And she happened to come from a country that was constantly occupied by its oppresors, from Poland. Both the author and the heroin did a fantastic job.

Passionate for work
Her story seems but simple, yet her life is quite compelling. The story of a human-being living poorly, yet still remembering education, remembering that education would hold her together. Her brilliant mind kept through life and her husband taught her to love science more so. She grew up in Poland and never lost faith in what she believed. In the 430 pgs this book tells about the human spirit and how the mind is what keeps you going. It is detailed, telling about events going on during that time, especially very useful because of its index. Her life was a true science, that you must read to explore!

A fine, detailed portrait of a scientist and a woman.
As a woman scientist myself, and a long time admirer of the work of the Curies, I was struck by how much this book allows us to see beyond the legend, to the heart of Marie Curie. She emerges as a fascinating, brilliant individual of great depth, and a woman who endured great losses and emotional trials. Her character, emotional depth and her ability to follow her own moral code are what struck me most deeply. While her work has been greatly appreciated in the latter half of the 20th Century, the neglect and condemnation heaped on her in her day is not well known. It makes her accomplishments all the more remarkable and due our respect. This very fine biography should be on every scientists' bookshelf. ... Read more