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Like cheap, shiny space suits and bug-eyed rubber monsters, nuclear-powered spaceships today seem like little more than laughably naïve 1950s science fiction tropes. It might have been otherwise--and still could be. George Dyson, son of supergenius physicist Freeman Dyson, wrote Project Orion to share some of his father's amazing research with the world. Much had been kept secret for years, but Dyson's unique insider status permits great depth and breadth on this important tale. Conceived in the wake of Sputnik, Project Orion was a true vision of '50s engineering: a huge 40-person ship powered by hundreds of tiny atomic bombs, capable of much greater lift and efficiency than chemically driven rockets. Struggles between NASA, the military, Congress, and other parties doomed Orion, but Dyson has gathered hundreds of documents and interviewed most of the researchers and engineers who worked together, trying to reach "Saturn by 1970." His knack for storytelling makes the book a quick, delightful read; even the staunchest anti-nuke activist has to admit that lighting a cigarette off a parabolic mirror facing a bomb test is pretty cool. By the end of the 20th century, technology had caught up with the vision of Orion--it's considered one of our best bets for long-distance space transit. Whether or not that could ever happen politically, Project Orion is a compelling exploration of scientific imagination. --Rob Lightner ... Read more

Reviews (20)

The Limits Of The Possible
Imagine a nuclear bomb powered spaceship, envisioned in the late 1950's, able to reach the Planet Mars in a few weeks travel time, or Saturn in a year or so, carrying perhaps a thousand ton payload. A detailed engineering design was produced in the 50's and 60's of a ship capable of just that! George Dyson, in this volume, takes readers back in time to that exciting era where the sky was literally the limit. Many physicists are depicted, some unknown and some famous, as are the associated politics, and many technical details also. Project Orion, as it was named, was to be powered by small fission bombs ejected out the back of the spaceship and exploded some distance away, the explosion wave front would collide with a working medium which in turn would hit a pusher plate on the spaceship at high velocity thereby imparting thrust. In fact, this concept is the only method, I believe, that combines high specific impulse with high thrust, using existing technology....it could open up the solar system to colonization. Many thousands of small fission bombs would be required on most missions. The authors father, Freeman Dyson, actually worked on this project for a time, and George Dyson presents here a fascinating account, hard to put down at times.

The Orion project was eventually shelved, largely due to it's use of nuclear bombs, but also partly due to NASA's reliance on chemical powered rockets, but it seems clear that with appropriate safeguards, nuclear powered spaceships, advanced descendants of Orion, will someday ply the spaceways between the stars.

Orion
This engrossing account details the Cold War effort by young Manhattan Project veterans to design and fly an ocean liner-sized spaceship driven by atomic bombs that was to reach Mars and Saturn by the early 1970s. Dyson, son of physicist Freeman Dyson, relays the fifties-style Space Age optimism of the undertaking, and mirrors his account of militaristic bureaucracy vs. benign research with an insider's portrait of the now-aging participants. A-bomb designer Ted Taylor, admitting he may have helped set loose a Pandora's Box of nuclear ills, nonetheless considers Orion to represent the last spirit in that myth-the one political circumstances have yet to set free. Although this is an entirely factual eulogy (Orion required tiny, terrorist-sized nuclear weapons; likewise any spaceport it launched from would, by definition, be subject to a nuclear attack), it may also be the best science fiction novel of the year, and-like much science fiction-may yet come true.

Khorosho!
Loved it. Very detailed and always sober recollections. Lots of helpful photos, diagrams and schematics.

A thriller for any (especially aerospace) engineer.

Point Summary of Proposed Theoretical Adjustments to Orion
1. It is not a pusher-plate but a type of cannon that should contain the blast. The cannon could be described as a pusher-plate with walls on it, obviously to focus the energy released by the blast. Failing to focus the blast would also destroy many more satellites than is necessary (EPP) and is also very wasteful of the energy release. The number of explosions required to give propulsion would thus be much less.
2. The cannon is an ancient device but invented in a remarkable piece of history where the Chinese failed to develop its effective application. Unfortunately the English language does not have an alternative and less warlike term for a hollow tube with one end sealed by a pusher plate. America, the inventor of a new super "gun-powder", the atomic bomb, thus is repeating history by accidentally side-stepping the challenge of physical containment. The pusher-plate concept seeks to avoid the challenge of physical containment, a mistake. It is to be suggested "the inventor of new and overwhelming explosion will fail to develop its most significant application because of an over-whelmed sense of what the challenge of physical containment will involve".
3. Orion should never take off from the ground, but would be built in space. It would test the efficiency of our ability to push payload into space, but would limit all tests to outer space orbits and beyond where solar radiation is an existing malignant factor. As such it could be said to be a "green technology" in that malignant radiation releases in space are already a natural occurrence. The test apparatus being non-tether able in such an orbit would require from the very beginning a pilot and massive counter-thrust chemical engines to return the test for inspection.
4. deleted to fit word count.
5. It should not be assumed that the human being suffers the same intolerance to G force in space in exactly the same proportions as it is experienced on earth until real time data can be gathered. Acceleration is measured as a factor of time squared. Clearly relativity in space may work in our favour and allow travel under more G than is possible than on earth, something required if we were to reach the stars within an economic time period.
6. Our world without Project Orion is in danger of dispensing with the only natural theory of the non use of nuclear weapons. If we miss the point that such explosions have an economic potential for use in space, perhaps because we proceeded initially with an alternative theory of non-use so-called "MAD", then we are left at an evolutionary disadvantage. That a weapon is "horrible" is not an adequate theory of non-use, as many wars have inadvertently proved with other new technologies. That its use in war would mean a loss of its economic opportunity and value in space, is a significant deterrent. The Orion Project book by Dyson mentions NASA commenting it would be a useful way to dispose of or to consume fissile material. More than that it is an essential theory of non use of such materials and would hopefully when demand consumption in space increased to a certain level, call upon the dismantling of thermonuclear weapons to free up the atomic cores for use in the profitable area of space propulsion.
7. Project Orion once constructed in space, like the first cannons made in many pieces, would have the potential to actually lift or pull heavy objects into space. The bizarre "free energy" idea of the "sky hook" thus has a new and powerful application. If the cannon in orbit were to weigh 500 tonnes it would we might hope be able to lift 20 times its own weight, the dangling sky cables being supported by high altitude weather balloons. The environmental costs of currently pushing payload into space would thus be super ceded forever by a new capability to pull (as in a building site crane or harbour tug) 10,000 tonnes into orbit in one go by firing atomic explosions harmlessly away from earth at an angle to it.
8. The number of explosions estimated as needed for interplanetary travel by Orion is far too high. The frictionless, weightlessness of space means that following Newton's F=MA the acceleration would strictly not diminish over any amount of time. However again relativity would likely introduce some gradual diminishment of acceleration over the time period. The expectation of the requirement of one explosion a day in space would not be unreasonable until proven otherwise to maintain acceleration and hence gravity levels. This of course assumes that the pusher-plate has been given some containing walls and is not discharging energy willy-nilly across the heavens.
9. Occam's razor theorem highlights the essence of simplicity in invention. By determining to use a cannon/tube/canister rather than a pusher-plate with complicated hydraulics and ejection procedures, we can draw from a near millennium's wealth of experience in the development of the cannon to musket, then rifle. The use of cartridges and their subsequent ejection is likely to provide engineers with more insight on how an interplanetary craft can be efficiently powered, than the noble but essentially misguided attempt by Orioneers to re-write centuries of physical containment into riding shock waves. When it comes to the challenge of physical containment in space, it maybe like testing a light bulb in orbit, but we must face up to the challenge of physical containment in space. This route has seen many hundreds of years of development tests and failures since the dawn of the original gunpowder age. As such it is much more likely to result in ultimate success, rather than by re-inventing the wheel as "square" as the original Project Orion concept has with a "pusher-plate" sought to do.

Poor book saved by amazing subject
What was/is amazing about the Orion project is the fact that as far as we can tell it would have worked. By worked, I mean it would have made our current space shuttle and space station projects look like covered wagons in the age of autos. If history had taken just a slightly different direction, we could have had several building size bases on the moon by the early seventies, probably sent manned expeditions to Mars and even beyond by the 80's.

But this book is not a great treatment of the subject. There is a lot of technical discussion but little organization. Characters come and go, various memos are written, and people write techical papers on building two story high shock asorbers. All well and good but what is missing is the real story and a unifying analysis of the project to propel a spaceship by riding atomic detonations.

The author has done a valuable service by bringing this fascination program to our attention. In addition, it is very clear that chemical rockets have serious limitations. Mankind is unlikely to make much movement away from the earth without a revitalized Project Orion. ... Read more

Book Description

Mammals first evolved at about the same time as dinosaurs, and their story is perhaps the more fascinating of the two--in part because it is also our own story. In this literate and entertaining book, eminent naturalist David Rains Wallace brings the saga of ancient mammals to a general audience for the first time. Using artist Rudolph Zallinger's majestic Age of Mammals mural at the Peabody Museum as a frame for his narrative, Wallace deftly moves over varied terrain--drawing from history, science, evolutionary theory, and art history--to present a lively account of fossil discoveries and an overview of what those discoveries have revealed about early mammals and their evolution.

In these pages we encounter towering mammoths, tiny horses, giant-clawed ground sloths, whales with legs, uintatheres, zhelestids, and other exotic extinct creatures as well as the scientists who discovered and wondered about their remains. We meet such memorable figures as Georges Cuvier, Richard Owen, Edward D. Cope, George Gaylord Simpson, and Stephen Jay Gould and learn of their heated disputes, from Cuvier's and Owen's fights with early evolutionists to present controversies over the Late Cretaceous mass extinction. Wallace's own lifelong interest in evolution is reflected in the book's evocative and engaging style and in the personal experiences he expertly weaves into the tale, providing an altogether expansive perspective on what Darwin described as the "grandeur" of evolution. ... Read more

Book Description

Written by distinguished historians of science and religion, the thirty essays in this volume survey the relationship of Western religious traditions to science from the beginning of the Christian era to the late twentieth century. This wide-ranging collection also introduces a variety of approaches to understanding their intersection, suggesting a model not of inalterable conflict, but of complex interaction.

Tracing the rise of science from its birth in the medieval West through the scientific revolution, the contributors describe major shifts that were marked by discoveries such as those of Copernicus, Galileo, and Isaac Newton and the Catholic and Protestant reactions to them. They assess changes in scientific understanding brought about by eighteenth- and nineteenth-century transformations in geology, cosmology, and biology, together with the responses of both mainstream religious groups and such newer movements as evangelicalism and fundamentalism. The book also treats the theological implications of contemporary science and evaluates recent approaches such as environmentalism, gender studies, social construction, and postmodernism, which are at the center of current debates in the historiography, understanding, and application of science.

Contributors: Colin A. Russell, David B. Wilson, Edward Grant, David C. Lindberg, Alnoor Dhanani, Owen Gingerich, Richard J. Blackwell, Edward B. Davis, Michael P. Winship, John Henry, Margaret J. Osler, Richard S. Westfall, John Hedley Brooke, Nicolaas A. Rupke, Peter M. Hess, James Moore, Peter J. Bowler, Ronald L. Numbers, Steven J. Harris, Mark A. Noll, Edward J. Larson, Richard Olson, Craig Sean McConnell, Robin Collins, William A. Dembski, David N. Livingstone, Sara Miles, and Stephen P. Weldon. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Up-To-Date Historical Studies
What struck me about this book was its clear departure from the Science vs. Religion stereotype that one encounters in some older histories. Most of the work contained in this volume comes from historical studies performed during the last thirty years.

Most of the scholars who have contributed to this anthology adopt a Complexity Thesis to account for the historical relation between science and religion - as opposed to a Warfare model or other military metaphors which were popular in late Victorian anti-clerical literature.

It's refreshing reading for anyone whose understanding of science and religion has been influenced by, say, Prometheus Press.

Insightful and clearly written
wow! The scope of this book, and the clarity of each of the articles, is fascinating. I haven't read something this good in a long, long time. Each of the essays is densely packed with lots of insights on the ever-growing realm of people, ideas and how they relate to science and religion.
The articles are fairly short, 3-5 pages. Yet each article is packed with references if you're really interested. What i enjoyed was learning the names of the many philosophers and scientists in this field. I'm interested in science (trained as one at University), and I spend too much time thinking about religion. I guess i'm not the only one.
It's a perfect overview. ... Read more

Book Description

The young investor with an idea has to negotiate many institutional, federal, and industrial challenges in order to get a product to market and has little knowledge of the steps in the development of new drugs, diagnostics, or devices. This volume contains the proceedings of the Symposium on Idea to Product: The Process, held in Washington D.C. from November 17 - 20, 1994. Written and edited by eminent authorities in the field, the papers herein contain timely, practical information on planning clinical research, identifying funding opportunities, details of drug development, negotiating the system, understanding the organization and function of the FDA, patenting and licensing, clinical trial development and design, and starting a medical product business. A must for those planning a career in academic medicine as well as for established academicians seeking an organized, comprehensive overview of the process. ... Read more

Book Description

Janos Bolyai (1802-1860) was a mathematician who changed our fundamental ideas about space. As a teenager he started to explore a set of nettlesome geometrical problems, including Euclid's parallel postulate, and in 1832 he published a brilliant twenty-four-page paper that eventually shook the foundations of the 2000-year-old tradition of Euclidean geometry. Bolyai's "Appendix" (published as just that--an appendix to a much longer mathematical work by his father) set up a series of mathematical proposals whose implications would blossom into the new field of non-Euclidean geometry, providing essential intellectual background for ideas as varied as the theory of relativity and the work of Marcel Duchamp. In this short book, Jeremy Gray explains Bolyai's ideas and the historical context in which they emerged, were debated, and were eventually recognized as a central achievement in the Western intellectual tradition. Intended for nonspecialists, the book includes facsimiles of Bolyai's original paper and the 1898 English translation by G. B. Halstead, both reproduced from copies in the Burndy Library at MIT. ... Read more

Book Description

A unique A-to-Z reference of brilliance in innovation and invention

Combining engagingly written, well-researched history with the respected imprimatur of Scientific American magazine, this authoritative, accessible reference provides a wide-ranging overview of the inventions, technological advances, and discoveries that have transformed human society throughout our history.

More than 400 entertaining entries explain the details and significance of such varied breakthroughs as the development of agriculture, the "invention" of algebra, and the birth of the computer.Special chronological sections divide the entries, providing a unique focus on the intersection of science and technology from early human history to the present.In addition, each section is supplemented by primary source sidebars, which feature excerpts from scientists’ diaries, contemporary accounts of new inventions, and various "In Their Own Words" sources.

Comprehensive and thoroughly readable, Scientific American Inventions and Discoveries is an indispensable resource for anyone fascinated by the history of science and technology.

Topicsinclude:

aerosol spray•algebra•Archimedes’ Principle•barbed wire•canned food•carburetor•circulation of blood•condom•encryption machine•fork•fuel cell•latitude•music synthesizer•positron•radar•steel•television•traffic lights•Heisenberg’suncertainty principle ... Read more

Book Description

Wassily Hoeffding's research papers are among the most cited in the statistical literature. This volume gathers together Hoeffding's published papers and reviews, including specially commissioned English translations of three major early research papers originally published in German. It also contains three essays assessing the impact of Hoeffding's work in various areas including Nonparametric Statistics, Sequential Analysis, Probability Inequalities and Large Deviation Theory. This unique collection should be an invaluable resource for researchers and graduate students. The translated papers add further to its value as a historical reference volume. "Wassily Hoeffding was one of the giants in the development of the field of statistics. His work was path-breaking and deep, he pursued it with tenacity, and demanded the highest standards of himself." Norman Johnson ... Read more

Book Description

With a foreword by Simon Singh this breathtaking book features 250 of the most significant milestones in the history of scientific discovery, offering a unique perspective on our unfolding view of the universe from the origins of counting and the concept of 'zero' to cloned cells and the human genome.A beautifully simple design complements short, lucid essays on each breakthrough, placed next to the most striking images available. Now in a new easy-to-handle format, this is most unique science book ever published -- the first truly accessible, fully illustrated story of science, with special contributions from leading scientists and science writers. ... Read more

Reviews (74)

Great book! Loved it!
This is a great book if you want a book that exposes the lies we have all been fed under the name of scientific discovery. Now I can see why many educated scientists and professionals initiate or support false fear campaigns (e.g. microwave ovens and electrical wiring) and inventions (e.g. perpetual motion machines) and medical balony (e.g. homeopathy; touch therapy) that clearly contradict established scientific laws. As the title says, some scientists take the road from "foolishness to fraud," while their journey costs us taxpayers millions or billions of dollars. Park helped me to see that we all better learn and promote the sciences in schools so that we and our kids can have half a chance of figuring out the difference between real scientific discoveries and popular "voodoo science." Btw, the reviewer who thought this book was actually about voodoo obviously didn't even read this book.

The Opium of the Masses, the Madness of the Few
There is now a bona fide genre of 'Sceptic' writings, which are probably familiar to people interested in Robert L. Park's "Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud". Along with the likes of Carl Sagan, Richard Dawkins, Michael Shermer and James Randi, Park attacks pseudoscience and stresses the importance of rationality.

"Voodoo Science" proves to be one of the better examples of this genre. Although it doesn't quite match Carl Sagan's brilliant "The Demon Haunted World", Park's book is noteworthy for three main reasons: The creative structure and fine prose, the choice of the targets, and the underlying theme of this book - how Voodoo Science is a journey from sincere errors through self delusion to outright fraud.

Park's writing is elegant and easy to read. I've finished 'Voodoo Science' within two days, a tribute both to the shortness of the book and to Park's ability as a storyteller. Furthermore, Park explains science well; I particularly liked his explanation of the first and second laws of thermodynamics ("You can't win" and "You can't break even, either"). Unlike most of these kinds of book, Park chooses to tell stories throughout the book, and as a consequence gives the feeling of a plot unravelling. Park also manages to tell similar stories together, proving that while fools change, the foolishness remains the same.

Park's choice of targets is also an advantage. Part of it is that Park's book is recent, and that many of the scandals are relatively new (the 80s and 90s, rather then the 60s and 70s as in many other such books). But it is more then that - Park picks on phenomena which reached bodies - US Congress, Prime Time US TV, and NASA - who should have known better.

The best chapters in the book are the fourth and eight. "The Virtual Astronaut" attacks manned flights to space, and argues that they are huge vanity projects of little practical value. It is a forceful suggestion, and one that is actually quite bold - unlike UFOs, Astrology and Creationism, Space travel is dear to the hearts of many sceptics, myself included. Nonetheless, Park's case is convincing. As presently carried out, Manned Space Exploration is a waste of time and money, and as the recent disaster of the Columbia space shuttle has demonstrated, dangerous as well.

I do wish that Park would discuss some ideas which might make manned space travel a more practical possibility, particularly the proposal for a space elevator - a satellite connected with a cable to earth, on which it would be possible to 'climb' to space.

Chapter 8, "Judgement Day" discusses attempts by the US Jurisprudence to fight Junk Science - the use of science to bewilder and bedazzle laypersons, and especially juries. The US Supreme Court ruled that it is the Judge's role to be a gatekeeper, to distinguish for the Jury between real and fake science, using outside experts if necessary. I wish Park had elaborated on this issue more, presenting some of the obstacles to this (such as who is qualified to decide, in concrete cases and on a tight schedule, what is or isn't voodoo science), and the dissenting opinions of the Supreme Court. If Judges have to decide for the jury what science is or isn't, aren't we approaching the point where the judiciary dictates the trial's results? Does the Judge replace the "Jury of one's peers" as the agent who finds the defendant guilty or innocent? And if so, is it a good or bad thing?

The main current of the book, its thesis, is an examination of the subtitle's "Road from Foolishness to Fraud". The how and when of inventors getting lost in their own hype, beginning to lie rather then admit they were wrong. This is an interesting theme which Park could have followed more closely with an inside look at people on that road. Alas, no such a description is given. I would have been particularly interested in an interview with Michael Guillen, the book's anti-hero, a physicist who "documents" all forms of paranormal folly for prime time TV. An anthropologist's inside view on the scandal would have greatly added to Park's book.

Such minor flaws not withstanding, Robert L. Park wrote an interesting and fun to read debunking book. If you like the genre, you'll love it. If you're a believer, try reading it with an open mind - it may do you some good.

Tightly written, engaging, fun ... and informative
Robert Park is a talented and smart writer who has crammed this book full of interesting facts and forceful counter-blasts against the endless "voodoo science" we are subjected to on a daily basis. One big revelation for me -- homeopathy is total hokum. I had no idea the various unique doses contain no ingredients, apart from the lactose pill or water (Park savages homeopathy in a chapter on the placebo effect). I also enjoyed his mention of how a schoolgirl invented a double-blind test that proved "touch therapy" was a load of cobblers (therapists put both hands through individual holes in a screen, while the girl would see if they could tell which hand she was holding hers under ... they got it right only 44% of the time, worse than not trying at all!). Get this book!

fraud,silliness and junk science
This is an excellant book that covers illustrative topics of bad science such as homeopathy,cold fusion and perpetual motion machines. In a readable article like style, Park uses and explain clearly the scientific problems with these issues. He gives excellant descriptions about several pepetual motion machines by discussing thermodynamics and electrical dynamic theory that even a chemist as myself can enjoy. He tends to turn poltical at the end of the book wth a negative description of SDI amd Dr Teller. Science should not dabble in politics so the author's Democratic party bias should be excluded.If your politics lean toward the right this might detract from this book. The book could have covered either fraud,junk science or bad science only. By lumping all these things together it may not be clear where bad science ends and fraud appears. The book appears to have been written as smaller articles for publication and combined.

Skepticism Without Smarm
I would say that VOODOO SCIENCE can rightly be called "Skepticism For Dummies." It debunks New Age thinking and pseudo-science without using the kind of technical jargon that sometimes alienates lay-people.

While its contents will seem obvious to the scientifically informed, it's important to remember that those folks are NOT the intended audience. Mr. Park is clearly trying to do more than just preach to the converted, and I think VOODOO SCIENCE will definitely win some converts. Five stars. ... Read more

Book Description

On his deathbed in 1601, the greatest naked-eye astronomer, Tycho Brahe, told his young colleague, Johannes Kepler, "Let me not have lived in vain." For more than thirty years, Tycho had made meticulous observations of planetary movements and the positions of the stars, from which he developed his Tychonic system of the universe-a highly original, if incorrect, scheme that attempted to reconcile the ancient belief in an unmoving Earth with Copernicus's revolutionary re-arrangement of the solar system. Tycho knew that Kepler, the brilliant young mathematician he had engaged to interpret his findings, believed in Copernicus's formation, in which all the planets circled the Sun; and he was afraid his system-the product of a lifetime of effort to explain how the universe worked-would be abandoned.

In point of fact, it was. From his study of Tycho's observations came Kepler's stunning Three Laws of Planetary Motion-ever since the cornerstone of cosmology and our understanding of the heavens. Yet, as Kitty Ferguson reveals, neither of these giant figures would have his reputation today without the other; and the story of how their lives and talents were fatefully intertwined is one of the most memorable sagas in the long history of science. Set in a turbulent and colorful era in European history, at the turning point when medieval gave way to modern, Tycho & Kepler is both a highly original dual biography and a masterful recreation of how science advances. From Tycho's fabulous Uraniborg Observatory on an island off the Danish coast, to the court of the Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolph II, to the religious conflict of the Thirty Years' War that rocked all of Europe, to Kepler's extraordinary leaps of understanding, Ferguson recounts a fascinating interplay of science and religion, politics and personality. Her insights recolor the established personalities of Tycho and Kepler, and her book opens a rich window onto our place in the universe. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Tycho and Kepler
An amazing and inspirational account of one of the greatest stories in the history of science. Extremely well written and scholarly. I have average reading skills but at times found the book impossible to put down. In spots I had to stop reading it because emotions took over. The best book I ever read about the classical scientists.

Experimentalist & Theorist
As a physics teacher, I like to use the background on figures from scientific history to try to generate some interest from my students. When teaching Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion, I always make sure to talk about the contributions of Tycho Brahe. To my mind, the relationship between Brahe and Kepler is one of the earliest examples of the experimentalist/theorist relationship and, unfortunately, it is the experimentalist who is often lost to history while the theorist is remembered. I teach my students the names of both Brahe and Kepler as a small effort to rectify this unfairness. Kitty Ferguson has made a larger effort with this book and I hope she is able to reach a large readership.

Ms. Ferguson has at least given herself a chance by writing a very good book. Her prose is very engaging. She is detailed both science and biography and yet she is quite easy to understand even for those without a scientific background. And she has two extraordinarily interesting characters to talk about--Brahe, the rather spoiled Danish aristocrat who brought glory to himself against the odds in a "ignoble" profession by becoming the greatest naked eye astronomer in history, and Kepler, the poor German Protestant school teacher who had a knack for doing mathematics and finding trouble.

Though I knew the broad outline of Brahe and Kepler's story, I was surprised again and again by all I did not know. I may not be able to incorporate it all into my classes but I am glad to know the story myself. It is always interesting to see how the great ideas came into being, mostly through more fits, starts and mistakes than most people realize. Anyone interested in scientific history would be foolish to pass up reading this book.

The Odd Couple Start Astronomy
Science needs observers to acquire data. Science also needs theoreticians to make comprehensive explanations of the data. In _Tycho & Kepler: The Unlikely Partnership that Forever Changed Our Understanding of the Universe_ (Walker), Kitty Ferguson has given a duel biography of exemplars from both aspects, two who founded modern astronomy. This was a peculiar and unlikely partnership, more of shared data than of friendship or cooperation. The story, however, is a fascinating one of detail within the Copernican revolution, and of the difficulties of doing science within the religions and politics of the time.

Tycho was a Danish nobleman, and was not supposed to have a career, much less a scientific one. His pursuit of documentation of the heavens was a rebellious break with the traditions of his society. He began keeping a logbook of astronomical observations when he was sixteen years old, and complained even then of the inaccuracy of the tables which were supposed to tell planetary positions. He also railed about the imprecision of the cross staff by which angular distance between stars was measured. Tycho was not satisfied with the Copernican system, although he knew the Earth-centered Ptolemaic one was wrong. He proposed the "Tychonic" system, wherein the Sun orbited the Earth, and the other planets orbited the Sun. He was welcomed by Emperor Rudolf II of the Holy Roman Empire, who supported him in making a new observatory in Prague, but he died only four years later. Kepler's start was far different. Born near Stuttgart in 1571 into a peculiar and unnurturing commoner family, he was essentially rescued by the church. The Protestants were urging the importance of schooling, and he originally wanted to become a Lutheran minister. However, he became interested in the ideas of Copernicus, and became a mathematician and mathematics teacher in Graz. Religious persecution drove him out of Graz, and Tycho extended an invitation to join him in Prague. The invitation resulted in a year of stormy misunderstandings. The odd couple argued constantly, and Kepler at one point walked out. Tycho did not always show magnanimity, but in this case he relented, and became a little more generous with data. Only after Tycho's death did Kepler get all the data he needed, to start making his epochal laws of planetary movement. Kepler, building on Tycho's data, was one of the giants on whose shoulders Newton was to stand, giving us calculus and modern physics and cosmology.

Both Tycho and Kepler were largely working in a vacuum; there was no set scientific tradition for them to be working in, and at times they were more highly valued for their expertise in astrology; though both of them knew astronomy was more valuable, astrology sometimes paid the bills. Getting financial support from kingdoms was difficult and unreliable; at one point Ferguson writes, "Rudolph lavished praise on Kepler and granted him a bonus of two thousand talers, which would have been splendid had it been paid." Not only were they working against a religious tradition, but they were operating in societies ruled largely by religion and superstition. Kepler was extremely devout, but was chivied from place to place in his later years because he refused to insist on religious requirements for others. Kepler's mother herself was tried for witchcraft. Locating Tycho and Kepler firmly within their religious and political milieus, and demonstrating the enormous difficulty of doing science in their time, and in getting appreciation and support, Ferguson has given a wonderfully complex picture of the partnership of two main founders of astronomy.

Wild doings at the observatory
Tycho Brahe, a Danish nobleman, and Johannes Kepler, commoner, crossed paths during one of the times when scientific thought and philosophy was growing by huge leaps--the 17th Century or Age of Reason. Their story is set against the backdrop of the Counter-Reformation and some unsettled times in European history, not to mention the development of major ideas of cosmology.

But what's equally interesting are the life and times of these two scientists in the context of 17th Century daily life. Ferguson researches her subject and provides the reader with a story that is a cross between a soap opera and a historical fiction novel. Brahe's castle and observatory were not only architecturally interesting, the life inside the walls was fraught with nasty doings. Brahe, by all reports, had quite the temper. He may have even invented the modern day graduate student-slavey; he kept associates of lower social rank under his thumb for years, paid them a pittance, assigned them menial work, stole their intellectual property and literally imprisoned them in his palace.

If you have an interest in astronomy or philosophy or just plain European history from this era, you should read this. I couldn't put it down. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. ... Read more

Book Description

"An entertaining and informative account of the unusual personalities and sometimes bitter rivalries of some of the world’s great-est scientific minds."--Publishers Weekly

"Hellman’s stories, other than taking greats down a peg by illustrating their jealousy, vitriol, or stubbornness, offer a few cautionary lessons about impediments to scientific progress....A pleasant compendium of amusements and lessons for science buffs."–Booklist

"Hellman reveals just how human science can be.…While such fights, which sometimes got personal and even led to individual suffering and ruin, are not pretty, they are informative."–San Diego Union Tribune

"Unusual insight into the development of science.…I was excited by this book and enthusiastically recommend it to general as well as scientific audiences."–American Scientist

"Hellman has assembled a series of entertaining tales.… Many fine examples of heady invective without parallel in our time."–Nature ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Serious Fun
What a delightful page-turner this book turned out to be. I needed information, fast, and this sounded like a good buy. It sure was. The author makes very complex ideas and medical procedures understandable for lay people, but doesn't sacrifice the seriousness of his subject. His wry wit does not demean the eminent and not-so-eminent figures he writes about but, rather, brings them back to life. In fact, the author himself seems to be sitting in the room with you, relaxed and talking about some people you both know.

Engaging overview
A sprightly romp through three hundred years of medical history, focusing on ten major contretemps. Entertaining and educational, it's also a cautionary tale for would-be medical researchers: many of the "heroes" of these tales (Semmelweis, Bernard, Franklin) meet extremely unkind fates. If you enjoyed Hellman's previous outing on feuds in science, you'll find here more of the same. ... Read more

Book Description

A brain-teasing, brain-pleasing look at the often-hidden mechanisms of innovation. From Archimedes' discovery of the principle of water displacement while taking a bath to Einstein's Theory of Relativity, from Brunelleschi's development of perspective drawing to the Impressionist revolution, from the taming of fire to the creation of the laser, "breakthrough thinking"--that is, a sudden, seemingly unaccountable moment of inspiration--has shaped and advanced civilization. But Nature invents, too--through evolutionary watersheds like vertebrate mammals and formerly grounded creatures making the leap to flight. How, then, does breakthrough thinking really work? What, if anything, does human invention have in common with biological evolution? In this sly tour de force of deep analysis and practical exercises, David Perkins explores the common logic behind breakthroughs across many fields, historical periods, and evolutionary epochs. Drawing on a rich knowledge of artificial intelligence and cognitive psychology, Perkins offers a uniquely integrative theory of how breakthroughs occur, along with dozens of delightful mind puzzles and illustrations that will have you quizzing whoever happens to be nearest. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Archimedes' Bathtub
Excellent book by David N. Perkins who explores "breakthrough" thinking. The author reflects a "need to understand" demeanor that is profoundly the essence of real learning. Archimedes'Bathtub expresses the contemporary motivation of the intelligent person's need to understand. Don't put the book away until you really make a "connection" to what the author is saying. He is brilliant. When does one know the moment, they cross the invisible line of "affluence" to "opulence"?

...Rob Harriman, Ed.D.
Solana Beach, California USA

Clear and compelling information on breakthrough thinking
This book itself is a breakthrough. I have yet to read a book on creativity that so effectively combines real-world advice on how to achieve breakthrough thinking in such an engaging and clearly presented way. As a book which is targeted toward the business person, rather than the academic, it does an excellent job of focusing on the key points and practical applications of breakthrough thinking without getting bogged down into too much detail.

The authors start out by drawing you in with simple and compelling points on creativity and problem solving along with simple exercises to illustrate each point. They then build from there to elaborate and drive home both the techniques and the rationale behind those techniques in a way that continues to be engaging.

As with any book of this sort, 50% is stuff you already know (but may not be practicing). However, I'll bet the other 50% will really make you to think about ways to improve your personal and your company's ability to achieve breakthrough thinking.

Disappointing and annoying
If you like puzzles, you'll be intrigued to see all the puzzles in this book. But if you like puzzles you will have met them all before. Only one or two were not familiar oldies. More serious are the outright mistakes. The writer coins a buzz word, "Klondike" for his theories and that word is scattered liberally throughout the book. Every time I read it I was reminded that when he introduces it, on page 46, he informs that the Klondike is in the Yukon Territory (correct) and the Yukon is in Alaska (wrong). On page 175 he tells us that ash is a compound of charcoal and oxygen. A man who claims so many fancy degrees ought not to be making High School mistakes, and his publisher ought to have cared enough about the book to hire a competent copy editor.

What is the logic behind breakthrough discoveries?
From Archimedes' discovery of water displacement to Einstein, this poses connections between human invention and biological evolutionary processes. What is the logic behind breakthrough discoveries across scientific disciplines? Chapters examine how changes in thinking lead to revolutionary findings.

Interesting Thoughts and Puzzles, Could be a bit more Solid
I really enjoyed Mr. Perkins' theme and thoughts in this book. He did a good job of breaking down how he looks at breakthrough thinking, and outlining a good methodology for overcoming seemingly unsolvable problems. These theories are then demonstrated through several fairly quickly worked through puzzles that demonstrate how to make use of these problem solving techniques. The books is written in a fairly standard format, with the introduction outlining the 'big picture' and subsequent chapters breaking out details of Mr. Perkins problem solving approach in more detail.

I did have some concerns about the book, the most notable being its repetitious nature. It almost seems as if the author has written a guide to teaching one's self this methodology rather than a book designed to explore the subject in depth. I believe that the author could wrap up his thesis and explain the methodology in probably 1/2 of the space that he has chosen, however, instead he has stretched out the context to fill some 260 pages.

There were two academic areas that I had hoped to see a bit more of. The first was the author's brief review of the similarity in break through thinking with evolution, specifically with the theory of "punctuated equilibrium" which has long been put forth by the author's fellow Harvard Professor Mr. Stephen Jay Gould. Mr. Perkins throws out the similarity as well as a couple of other thoughts on the matter, but never really crystalizes a thesis. One would have hoped that the two professors proximity would have allowed a more mature discussion. The second, which I had hoped would have been developed, was the oddly parallel development of most of the world's major inventions. The printing press of Gutenberg and the heavier-than-aircraft of the Wright brothers were both developed amidst furious competition, as if the time of development for these inventions had finally been "right". It seems as if somewhere in this history there would be a logical point for Mr. Perkins to have developed.

Again, I liked this book, but would have hoped for some more tangible support of his theories, either through experimental results or more first-hand interpretation of historical events. Where Mr. Perkins touches on the subject he does so with a very light brush stroke, and in doing so decreases the potency of what is otherwise an interesting piece of work. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The title of this scholarly yet remarkably accessible slice of contemporary cultural history has a whiff of paradox about it: what can it mean, exactly, to say that we humans have become something other than human? The answer, Katherine Hayles explains, lies not in ourselves but in our tools. Ever since the invention of electronic computers five decades ago, these powerful new machines have inspired a shift in how we define ourselves both as individuals and as a species.

Hayles tracks this shift across the history of avant-garde computer theory, starting with Norbert Weiner and other early "cyberneticists," who were the first to systematically explore the similarities between living and computing systems. Hayles's study ends with artificial-life specialists, many of whom no longer even bother to distinguish between life forms and computers. Along the way she shows these thinkers struggling to reconcile their traditional, Western notions of human identity with the unsettling, cyborg directions in which their own work seems to be leading humanity.

This is more than just the story of a geek elite, however. Hayles looks at cybernetically inspired science fiction by the likes of Philip K. Dick, William Gibson, and Neal Stephenson to show how the larger culture grapples with the same issues that dog the technologists. She also draws lucidly on her own broad grasp of contemporary philosophy both to contextualize those issues and to contend with them herself. The result is a fascinating introduction--and a valuable addition--to one of the most important currents in recent intellectual history. --Julian Dibbell ... Read more

Reviews (9)

REDEFINING WHAT HUMAN IS -- into the 22nd Century
Yes, this is 22nd Century thinking today. I was fortunate enough to meet the author at a LA FUTURISTS SOCIETY meeting where she was a guest speaker. She looks ordinary-- like a college professor-type, speaks clearly but her writing is the extraordinary talent. She combines humanism and science to see how virtual bodies and informatics are influencing how we live, work and love. One of those books that yearns for you to write in the margins and put your notes in the back. Pages and pages of notes on my copy. No one will share this copy, don't even ask!!!! Not an easy read but well worth the journey. I love to read books in hours or days but this one took weeks (in between other reading) and it was well worth every minute, hour, day spent. Perfect book for this summer when the MACHINES ARE TAKING OVER on our screens at movies and television. The crossover from cybernetics to literature is what is so fascinating. I can't begin to summarize all that I learned and all the questions that it brought up for me to seek out more info. Belongs on every science and literature teacher's shelf. One of the books they should require for every engineer and techie at the beginning of their careers. Make way for the future!!!!!

Too full of jargon for me
This is probably one of the hardest books I have ever read--with no background in either philosophy or cybernetics, much of what Hayles discusses is just plain incomprehensible. I also found it difficult to accept the idea of humans already being "post-human." If you are interested in deep philosophical writings on technology and the human condition, with links to literature, read this. If you don't really care about the post-human, skip it.

this book rules, her writing style is near impenetrable
This book is worth the effort. Or maybe all the effort you'll put into this triggers a cognitive dissonance reaction: I just spent 4 hours reading one chapter, so it must have been good. Right? Right?

This book is good, if only for her obvious reverence for the cyberpunk grandaddy PKD (Phil K Dick if you don't know already). Whether or not you accept her premise that we are already "posthuman" she considers her subject matter in a most interesting and relevent way, bringing in fiction that relates to the subject, as well as the history of computing and cybernetics (with some fun little anecdotes about the one and only Norbert Weiner). If you're a geek or into future-minded philosophy, pick this one up. She makes some convincing arguments, it just takes a good long while to decipher what those arguments actually are.

Resistance is futile - read this book
In this book of panoramic scope Hayles considers no less than the fate of the human race. In a rich and detailed discussion ranging from the science fiction of Greg Bear and Philip K. Dick to the science of Norbert Wiener's cybernetics and Claude Shannon's information theory, Hayles traces the changing conception of human consciousness and claims that a great many of us are already posthuman. A posthuman is someone who has been reconstructed in some sense, either physically or mentally, such that he or she exceeds, or believes they can exceed, the boundaries of a human. About ten percent of Americans can be considered cyborgs in the technical sense by virtue of having some kind of artificial implant - these people would qualify as posthuman since they have compensated for some limitation of their bodies through technological augmentation. However, Hayles claims that to be posthuman no prosthesis is necessary, simply the way in which we think about ourselves as conscious agents needs to change. The advent of Shannon's information theory has led to the modern convention of treating information as if it were entirely non-physical. If this idea is applied to the information in our heads - that is, the collection of memories that make each of us unique - then we quickly arrive at the conclusion that our consciousness can be uploaded into a computer, decanted into a robot-body, or even backed-up onto computer disk, giving us eternal life.

This is the story of how information lost its body and it is an idea which is now well established in Western culture and technology. Yet, Hayles believes it to be misguided. Any informational pattern, be it pebbles on the beach or electrons whizzing across the internet, must have a physical embodiment to exist. The importance of embodiment is also being discovered in fields such as neurology and experimental robotics. A surprisingly large amount of the information processing essential for being a responsive agent in the world goes on in body parts such as nerves, the spine and the proprioception of joints - our powerful human consciousness is a relatively recent add-on.

Hayles argues that future posthumans will not be the ethereal information-beings of much of current science fiction, but they will certainly have a much more intimate relationship with computers than we do today. In terms of information flows, a collection of humans and computers contains no boundaries between one and the next. As computers approach the complexity of our bodies and information becomes more important to our work and leisure, humans and computers will become more compatible with each other and there will be an increasing potential for one to collapse into the other. Whether this is to the detriment or betterment of humanity represents a cross-roads which urgently needs to be addressed. Hayles is well aware that technology issues such as these currently concern relatively few people - the majority of the world's population has yet to make their first phone call. Yet, now is precisely when such issues need to be aired before our posthuman futures are set in stone as either assimilated components in a vast machine or as free agents with powerful human-integrated technology at our disposal.

She's definitely onto something here
When the U.S. president called our war against terrorism a new kind of war--a war of information instead of a traditional war--I was struck by the similarity between what he said and what Hayles wrote a couple years earlier in How We Became Posthuman.

Hayles describes how:
1) information is more important than physical presence
2) consciousness is only part of what makes us human
3) we can think of the body as a prosthesis
4) humans and intelligent machines merge seamlessly

The book is well written, accessible, and has been very useful to me in my PhD literary studies. I highly recommend it! ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

"Mesmorizingly" Good Book!!
Dark Light is a great intro to a subject that we all take for granted, but whose scientific and cultural origins are a mystery to most of us, including me before I read the book. If you want to discover how the western world looked at the new scientific and commercial force of electricity, this book is perfect! From the early days of SB Morse and the telegraph,(artist turned inventor and promoter), to some weird "New Age" (for the time) ideas about electricity and health, the incredible carrers of Edison, Tesla (the overlooked genius), among many others, this book scores a bull's eye. Plus a nice trip into the 1892 Chicago Columbian exhibition, through the controversial electric chair, and into the x-ray, plus a lot more. There is not too much about how the nation was wired up, and how the utility companies were formed, but this may be the author's next project! ... Read more

Book Description

This book provides a comprehensive overview of modern particle physics accessible to anyone with a true passion for wanting to know how the universe works. We are introduced to the known particles of the world we live in. An elegant explanation of quantum mechanics and relativity paves the way for an understanding of the laws that govern particle physics. These laws are put into action in the world of accelerators, colliders and detectors found at institutions such as CERN and Fermilab that are in the forefront of technical innovation. Real world and theory meet using Feynman diagrams to solve the problems of infinities and deduce the need for the Higgs boson.

Facts and Mysteries in Elementary Particle Physics offers an incredible insight from an eyewitness and participant in some of the greatest discoveries in 20th century science. From Einstein's theory of relativity to the elusive Higgs particle, this book will fascinate and educate anyone interested in the world of quarks, leptons and gauge theories.

This book also contains many thumbnail sketches of particle physics personalities, including contemporaries as seen through the eyes of the author. Illustrated with pictures, these candid sketches present rare, perceptive views of the characters that populate the field.

The Chapter on Particle Theory, in a pre-publication, was termed `superbly lucid' by David Miller in Nature (Vol. 396, 17 Dec. 1998), p.642. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Comprehensive and concise, but awkward prose
Veltman delivers the tale of phenomenological particle physics with enthusiasm and depth as one of its leading researchers. He attempts to cover the whole arena, from the complex behavior of quarks and gluons to the description of particle detectors. Woven throughout the book are small "vignettes" (his terminology for brief biographical sketches) of the many physicists, famous and not-so-famous, who contributed to the current understanding of our universe. He succeeds relatively well in his goal of explaining particle physics to the layman.

But don't look here for any coverage of the more esoteric and exotic ideas of theoretical physics like string theory. He unequivocally states,

"The fact is that this book is about physics, and this implies that the theoretical ideas discussed must be supported by experimental facts. Neither supersymmetry nor string theory satisfy this criterion. They are figments of the theoretical mind. To quote Pauli: They are not even wrong. They have no place here."

He is, of course, correct but I think he downplays the mathematically unifying power of string theory, for which experimental verification lies beyond today's technological reach and thus cannot be vindicated one way or the other. Mathematical beauty, while not a sure sign of physical truth, can at least serve as a powerful beacon for future physical insights.

Always the true scientist, Veltman should be praised for unapologetically declaring agnosticism if evidence for a theoretical idea isn't clear cut. For example, he writes several times that the neutrino is massless but will almost always parenthetically acknowledge that it might have a very small mass (which indeed it does, as experimental evidence of neutrino mixing has been since verified). He deems it worthy enough to have an entire section devoted to neutrino mixing and its implications.

I found one glaring problem with the book that prevented the 5 star rating it could have received: writing style. It just doesn't read all that smoothly, and I think it could have been cleaned up a bit more by a more astute editor.

Balancing the rocky prose, however, are wonderful color templates (excellently used during his description of anti-matter) to aid explanations, pictures of apparati and scientists to portray the human side of science, and clear diagrams of particle interactions.

If you want to learn what physicists empirically know about particle physics today and how they determine it, get this book; just don't expect smooth reading. Veltman is clearly passionate about his profession and it shows. ... Read more

Amazon.com Reviews

Warriors have used incendiary weapons from the earliest times. In this comprehensive study, English chemist and historian J.R. Partington traces their origins to Assyrian bas-reliefs from the 9th century, B.C., and even finds hints of them in the Old Testament (see Proverbs 26:18, for instance). Firearms technology took a great leap forward with the advent of so-called Greek fire, used by the Byzantine fleet to defend Constantinople against Arab attackers in the 7th century, and then later versus the Crusaders. One of history's first secret weapons, Greek fire is poorly understood today. Contemporary accounts describe nozzles spouting a fiery liquid that would burn even on the surface of the sea. Experts have tried to determine the exact nature of the substance--the recipe has been lost--but without reaching any definitive conclusions. Partington offers his own theories about one of the great mysteries of premodern warfare. He also describes the advent of gunpowder, exploring the legend of supposed inventor Black Berthold (a mythic figure, says Parrington) and examining the development of firearms in Europe, the Middle East, and China. First published in 1960, A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder is a classic work on the development of military technology. A number of illustrations embellish the text, written in workmanlike prose that is at once scholarly and accessible to serious readers.--John J. Miller ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A mixed bag
[At the beginning, I must point out that the book I read was the 1960 hardbound edition, and some of what I have to say might not apply to later editions.]

This large book is filled with interesting information on the origins of incendiaries and gunpowder, from ancient Assyria, up to around 1500 A.D. The first chapter looks at incendiaries, and includes a marvelous investigation into the ingredients of Greek Fire. After that, the book turns to the origins of gunpowder in the West, and the evolution of its use in warfare. The next two chapters are quite fascinating, focusing on firearms and pyrotechnics in Muslim lands and China. The final chapter is a quick look at saltpeter.

I must admit to having found this book to being quite a mixed bag. F.E. Morgan's (1960) introduction bemoans the development of military technology, and seems quite out of place in this book. As for the text itself, the author wrote this book for a scholarly audience, and it shows it. That is to say, it is written in a dry, even turgid manner that is bound to put the casual reader to sleep.

The articles themselves contain information that ranges from the absolutely fascinating to the dull, overly drawn out look at obscure points. That said, though, this book is a wonderful resource, that contains a goldmine of information for anyone interested in Greek Fire or the early use of gunpowder. I give this book a somewhat guarded recommendation. ... Read more

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Reviews (11)