Note: I couldn't find the original cover picture, and my book has a green cover with nothing on it...
Book Summary (from of
the book)
The story of men who struggled to add to the
domain of scientific knowledge is a drama that surpasses the ordinary invention
of fiction. Out of the efforts of these daring men has evolved our modern world
–our freedom from disease, our ease of communication, the most powerful weapon
against the forces of nature.
In these stories of twenty-five vital
discoveries, the Thomases place their emphasis upon the great accomplishment,
but never lose sight of the man whose spirit was the prime mover. There is the
tale of Major John Wesley Powell, the one-armed scientist who shot rapids of
the Grand Canyon in a rowboat; of John Lloyd Stephens, who searched the jungles
of Central America for the buried grandeur of the ancient Mayan civilization;
of Alfred Russel Wallace, who navigated the crocodile-ridden waters of the
Orinoco; of the men who struggled to climb Mount Everest; and of the men in the
laboratories –the Curies, Roentgen, Baekeland- whose experiments into other
unknown worlds were no less exciting.
]
The Thomases have chosen a representative band
of scientist; there are astronomers, explorers, archaeologists, inventors,
doctors and artists. Each chapter is a lesson in personal courage, a narrative
of victory over great odds, an illustration of what man has accomplished in his
quest for knowledge.
My Review
I got this book on the Public Library sale. The
premise was good, adventures in science. Plus the books was really old looking
and I loved the old book smell (is tie for me between that and new book smell).
But somehow it ended up in the library and I started other books. So the other
day, when I finished Game of Thrones
I saw the book again, and decided it was time to read it.
It started nicely, the introduction left me
with a nice phrase to start my reading:
Practically every scrap of knowledge has
been bought with human agony
You see, as a scientist, I know what that agony
is all about, is a bitter sweet pain when you spend the whole day in the lab,
and at the end you only have one tiny result, but oh boy, you love that result.
And then I kept reading, and started learning, I learned that James Watt
learned German, only so he could learn subjects in the original language; I
learned that Louis Pasteur was the type of kid teachers sometimes dislike
because they make questions, questions they cannot answer; I learn that poor Dr
Noguchi worked and partied hard…but I also learned that there was only one
woman who made it into this book, and that was Madame Curie…although her
chapter was dedicated both to her and her husband.
It started as a nice book, but then…it wasn’t
so adventurous. So I started having trouble reading it. I was really looking
forward the Curie chapter, thinking it would show more about Mme Curie…but no.
So this is a short review for a book that took
me long to read. I didn’t dislike the book…I just had bigger expectations for
it. I mean, it was a book from 1954, so I knew it wouldn’t have 24/25 female
based chapters…but half? And then, let’s face it, it wasn’t very adventurous,
except for a couple of them (archeologists, pfff crazy people). So…that’s why
this book is not getting high marks in my review.
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