The Philosophical Breakfast Club, Laura Snyder

The Philosophical Breakfast Club:  Four remarkable friends who transformed science and changed the world by Laura J. Snyder is an intertwined biography of Charles Babbage, John Herschel, William Whewell, and Richard Jones.  I read about this book in the Washington Post when Michael Dirda wrote a review.

Started:  3/1/2014
Completed: 5/3/2014
Recommendation: Highly recommended, but slow reading
Recommended by:  Michael Dirda of the Washington Post

Words for which I needed a dictionary definition:

animadversion -- criticism or censure

desideratum -- something that is needed or wanted.

parvenu -- a person of obscure origin who has gained wealth, influence or celebrity.

puling -- cry querulously or weakly.

surplice -- a loose white linen vestment varying from hip-length to calf-length, worn over a cassock by clergy, acolytes, and choristers at Christian church services.

Review:

First and foremost, prior to reading this work I had no idea that these four men were in any particular way connected.  Additionally, I was blithely ignorant of the tremendous influence of Whewell in science and had not previously even heard his name.  I was familiar with Babbage (a person I thought of as more of an engineer than scientist) because of his association with modern computing (the one with machines, not the one with computational experts).  I was aware of Herschel only from his astronomical work (some of which was his father's but I had confused the two Hershels in my mind).  In short I did not really know these pillars of scientific thought.

I have read Bacon (Actually I listened and edited an automatically generated audio version of New Atlantis for Project Gutenberg.  Unfortunately, the automatic reading did not become sufficiently good at being understandable to end up on the site.).  I was familiar with the concept of the House of Solomon, but never knew what an influential role it played in non-fiction.   Laura Snyder does an excellent job of showing how Bacon was a strong influence on these four men and how his approach to what we call science today was inculcated into their efforts to change the world for the better.  This book is not, however, a mere recitation of the facts that led the group to their successful conclusions, nor a simple chronology of events.  Ms. Snyder makes an effort to offer insight into the nature of these men through personal letters and how they were effected by the events of their times.  In this sense, the book is more a biography of the four than a reflection of their scientific prowess.

As one might expect, there is plenty of dry reading.  I defy anyone to read this book and fail to understand the importance of silver nitrate in early photography.  That is, however, an indicator that this book does slip over into plenty of geeky, technical material though couched in layman's terms.  It would certainly be possible to write a biography without delving too far into the technical, but it is a necessary component of the history of the creation of the epoch (hopefully Whewell does not posthumously take offense at the use of the term) of scientific thought as we know it today.  This book is rich in detail and that detail helps characterize the nature of the men who would be categorized as Renaissance men today.  Their abilities to span so many different types of sciences was both a reflection of their towering intellects and the youth of the scientific movement in general.

QED, Richard Feynman

QED:  The strange theory of light and matter by Richard P. Feynman is a book I've wanted to read for a while and have put off looking for a cheap copy.  I found one.

Started: 2/27/2014
Completed: 3/1/2014
Recommendation: Strongly recommended for anyone who has studied some quantum physics
Recommended By:  Nobody


Review:

 I really enjoy the way that Richard Feynman explains things.  It is so nice to read a clear and cogent description of a fantastically complicated concept without resorting to highly specific nomenclature.  This book is a collection of 4 lectures and I enjoyed all of it.  Some experiments that had been well known to me (like the double slit experiment) and that I had found remarkably frustrating became clear.  This book does not resort to "magic" like wave-particle duality or state collapse to explain how things work.  I especially love that Richard Feynman who was a consummate experimentalist did not resort to a requirement that an observer be involved to explain things.  Best of all, I like the way that he explained  how a lens worked.  What a great book!

The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg

The Power of Habit:  Why we do what we do in life and business by Charles Duhigg was recommended by a coworker as a book he thought I might like.  He had read the first chapter.

Started: 2/10/2014
Completed: 2/27/2014
Recommendation: Highly recommended
Recommended By: A coworker

Review:

This book is full of stunning insights into everyday behavior. I am a habit oriented person (if I get interrupted in the middle of a habitual cycle, I often cannot get back on track). I have also had good luck changing my habits, but it sometimes takes a while and, when stressed, I've found myself falling back into my old habit. This has long perplexed me and this book has some explanation for why this happens. It also has some ideas for how I might overcome my tendency to fall back on old habits even when they have not served me well. Add in the insight into how companies use data about people and this is quite an intruiging read. 

The Nine, Jeffrey Toobin

The Nine:  Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin came up on a search of library audio books with the key words "supreme court" so I thought I'd give it a shot.

Started: 11/7/2013

Completed: 11/13/2013

Recommendation: Mildly interesting

Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

This book has an interesting angle on the effect of abortion in general and conservatism in particular on the Supreme Court.  Having said that, there is no stepping inside a "Secret World."  All of the details mentioned here about the court are readily available elsewhere.  The interesting angle is more the Conservative assault on the Court which has been quite successful and is reasonably well documented.

Out of Order, Sandra Day O'Connor

Out of Order:  Stories from the History of the Supreme Court by Sandra Day O'Connor came up when I was searching for audio books with Supreme Court as a keyword so I thought I'd give it a shot.

Started: 10/25/2013

Completed: 11/7/2013

Recommendation: Recommend the audio version for those with an interest in US History

Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

Justice O'Connor seems to write her chapters as one might write a legal decision.  Between chapters it is not unusual for the same historical fact to reappear often  in the exact same way it was presented earlier.  It feels like the book is a collection of presentations with the occasional chapter being a combination of several speeches.  As a result, there is overlap between them.  This is why I recommend the audio version...the overlaps are relatively small and easy to hear, but I can imagine reading the same thing over and over and thinking that she had said all she was going to say.  Rather, I think that each time she addresses a major character or event at the court, she feels the need to set the historical precedent which led to the event itself.  Hearing her describe these events with frequently the same inflection suggests that this is material that is familiar and important to her, kind of like a point that a teacher might repeat over and over in the hopes that a child would come to know the material through repetition alone.

Justice O'Connor's perspective alone is useful in understanding some of the seminal decisions for which she was a swing vote, but her sense of the other justices on the court--both current and historical was an interesting insight as well.  She remains active in the Federal Court system, though she has retired from the Supreme Court.  I enjoyed her fresh insights, her take on historical courts, and her severe and ardent dislike for circuit riding (which seems exceedingly well founded).  After reading her work (in contrast to Justice Stephen's book) I feel like I've had a character sketch of Justices framed by their life, times, and decisions.

Team of Rivals, Doris Kearns Goodwin

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin was recommended to me at the polls by one of the people working there.  She had just finished it and wanted to share with everyone what a wonderful book it was.  I picked up this audio version from the library book store a few days ago.

Started: 9/28/2013

Completed: 10/25/2013

Recommendation: Wonderful addition to a Lincoln biography

Recommended By:  A woman working the polls several election cycles ago.

Review:

Wow.  This is the book that served as a basis for the movie Lincoln.  It does not strive to tell Lincoln's whole life, but focuses on Lincoln's acumen and accomplishments as a politician.  I always wondered why Seward was attacked on the day that Lincoln was killed and this book explains that clearly.  More to the point, this book explains how a perceived bumbling back-woods lawyer (who shared a bed with Seward when the two first met as a matter of boarding convenience) managed to become such a strong president.  Goodwin takes you inside the nominating process of the day and demonstrates the steps that Lincoln took to go from also-ran to nominee.  In addition, she details the collection of events that inadvertently helped forward his cause.

Lincoln's presence comes through sharply revealed through letters and actions and Goodwin does an excellent job of describing how his almost comical outward appearance belies his fierce intellect and deft ability to build consensus.  Lincoln's life and politics are fairly well known, but if you aren't familiar with the impact of Seward and Chase on Lincoln's White House years, then this book is fantastically informative.  Additionally, if you are aware that Lincoln was unhappy with the way his generals pursued the Civil War, this book offers insight into some of his thinking and how he handled his frustration--in particular, it explains how someone who is not a soldier can still be an effective leader of the entire military.

This book is not a substitute for a biography, but is a wonderful addition to a biography and I heartily recommend it.

The Light of Eidon, Karen Hancock

The Light of Eidon by Karen Hancock is the book in the Legends of the Guardian-King.  The author is known for Christian fantasy, so there is likely some effort to forward a religious perspective.  I got this book for free for the Kindle.

Started: 9/18/2013

Completed: 10/22/2013

Recommendation: Easy read, don't look for a lot

Recommended By:  Nobody

Review:

I was expecting a pretty heavy handed attempt at Fantasy from a religious perspective, but that is not what this is.  The book stands on its own as a fantasy novel.  Sure, there are some pervasive religious concepts that rather clearly map to current religions ("The Dead God" and the concept of at least a 2-in-1 deity).  These religious concepts, however, help strengthen the book and definitely don't take away.  A Christian reader is not going to be greatly offended by any of the religious concepts put forward and may find themselves at home.  Having addressed religion so thoroughly, this book does not read as a religious text.

The characters, for the most part, are a bit flat and real character development is largely limited to the protagonist.  Even there, and in most of the other characters, character traits are rather static.  The adventure part of the story is fairly good and internally consistent.  There are some real implausibilities (sickly boy becomes gladiator pretty much over night and a woman in what is a match for Arabic society has too much sway) but those are explained away in terms of the uniqueness of the characters and there is no need to suspend disbelief.  There are a few that are internally inconsistent implausibilities (queen who is forced into prostitution and the cascading dependencies therefrom) that do take away from the story and that frustrated me mildly.

This book isn't going to convert you into some religion.  It may be mildly supportive of your existing religious view.  There are no raunchy sex scenes.  This is a beach book and while I have a mild interest in the characters, I doubt I will read the next book in the series.