The Invention of Air, Steven Johnson

 

The Invention of Air:  A story of science, faith, revolution, and the birth of America by Steven Johnson

Started: March 2, 2024
Completed: March 9, 2024
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

At heart, this is a light biography of Joseph Priestly.  The focus of this biography is the impact that he had on others (like the US founding fathers), so it doesn't cover his whole life and it doesn't dive into personal details (like the relationship with his wife and children) in any great detail.  Johnson isn't really trying to tell you what it was like to be Joseph Priestly, the focus here is on how his scientific and religious activities affected the US founding fathers.  He was younger than Franklin, but did not outlive Adams or Jefferson.  His scientific interests were fostered by Franklin and his religious material (as well as scientific) impacted both Adams and Jefferson who both made an effort to distance themselves from him as candidates for office.  In the letters between Adams and Jefferson, though, Priestly was a frequent topic and that showed how he had impacted both.

Enemy of All Mankind, Steven Johnson

Enemy of All Mankind:  A true story of piracy, power, and history's first global manhunt by Steven Johnson seemed like an excellent read from a review in the Washington Post.

Started: 8/2/2020

Completed: 8/4/2020

Recommendation:  Recommended

Recommended By: The Washington Post

Review:

If you do not know a lot about a particular pirate, it pays to describe what you do know.  Henry Avery was the first pirate subject to an international manhunt back in the 1600s.  Very little is known about him, although there is some first hand knowledge from letters he wrote and court testimony.  He was the second pirate to have a huge score, but he was by far the most famous.  This story literally covers the globe and offers interesting tidbits like that the East India Company was the first publicly held stock.  This was a really interesting story, but bear with it because the beginning seems hardly connected.  It turns out all the ground had to be covered and by intermixing the early events with each other, there are no long runs of seemingly irrelevant material.