Obviously, this is not about Wicked... even though that is what I am supposed to be reading... but I couldn't help it! The library finally got in a few new audiobooks and one of them was A Short History of Nearly Everything, so I listened to it at work. It made for good science-related listening, but man was it long. It really did cover the history of well... everything. It starts with the big bang (and the arguments for and against such a thing in the first place) and ends with the evolution of homo sapiens. Overall it was a well constructed basic tour of the history of science and a good description of some of the basic tenants of physics, astronomy and biology.
Unfortunately, I think a non-scientist would enjoy this book much more than I did. Also, it would probably help if I hadn't already read or listened to so many other history of science books. A lot of the information in this tome was old news to me, and I found myself zoning out a lot. I like Bill Bryson as a writer - I loved his book At Home. But I couldn't get into this one. I did like some of the chapters on astronomy and physics and the discussion of the early evolution of humanity was really interesting and new to me. However, the stuff on biology was too basic for my almost-PhD self and most of the information about early astronomy I had already heard before. Still, it was entertaining with lots of anecdotal stories about historic scientists and neat examples to understand cosmic phenomena.
So, I recommend this book heartily for the non-scientist. Also, if you want to get into the history of science, this would be a great place to start. 7 out of 10.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Rosalind Franklin
Again, I'm behind in my posting. I finished Rosalind Franklin: Dark Lady of DNA a while ago, but here's my take on it anyway:
This book got significantly better as it went along. As previously mentioned, it needed some serious editing, but after about the halfway point, somebody either figured out how to edit or the author woke up and started writing better. It still wasn't exactly Purlitzer-worthy prose, but at least it didn't drive me towards madness.
The book deserves some serious credit for being the only full length biography out there of Dr. Franklin, and a lot of research clearly went into it. Most people know of Dr. Franklin because she was "cheated" by James Watson and wasn't given credit for the work she did on the structure of DNA. She has become a sort of archetype for the forgotten, down-trodden woman in science. Based on this book, at least, she certainly didn't think of herself that way. She published some papers on DNA structure and didn't know her X-ray images had been used without consent by the Watson-Crick team, but I'm not sure she would have cared anyways. Her major work before and after the DNA study was on virus structure, and she became somewhat famous for this in her time. I'm not sure she'd be happy knowing she's remembered mostly because James Watson called her "Rosy" rather than because she pioneered the use of x-ray diffraction to figure out molecular structures of virus particles. I liked learning about her life aside from her work on DNA, and realizing that she lived a full and happy life, if a slightly lonely one. She was independently wealthy through her parents, and used her money for travel abroad. She may, or may not, have been in love with one of her collaborators in France and the author suggests that she was on the verge of a new romance when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. In the end, the main argument of the book seemed to be that Rosalind Franklin's life was tragic not because she didn't get credit for the DNA discovery, but because she died of ovarian cancer at such a young age (37). I like that perspective. Based on the book, I'm not sure I would have liked Dr. Franklin in real life and I'm certain I would have hated working for her, but I think I respect her even more after reading this book.
For research and sheer information content I give this book a 9 out of 10. For writing, at 4 out of 10. So I guess that averages to a 6.5 out of 10 overall.
Random.org has decreed that my next book will be #39: Wicked.
This book got significantly better as it went along. As previously mentioned, it needed some serious editing, but after about the halfway point, somebody either figured out how to edit or the author woke up and started writing better. It still wasn't exactly Purlitzer-worthy prose, but at least it didn't drive me towards madness.
The book deserves some serious credit for being the only full length biography out there of Dr. Franklin, and a lot of research clearly went into it. Most people know of Dr. Franklin because she was "cheated" by James Watson and wasn't given credit for the work she did on the structure of DNA. She has become a sort of archetype for the forgotten, down-trodden woman in science. Based on this book, at least, she certainly didn't think of herself that way. She published some papers on DNA structure and didn't know her X-ray images had been used without consent by the Watson-Crick team, but I'm not sure she would have cared anyways. Her major work before and after the DNA study was on virus structure, and she became somewhat famous for this in her time. I'm not sure she'd be happy knowing she's remembered mostly because James Watson called her "Rosy" rather than because she pioneered the use of x-ray diffraction to figure out molecular structures of virus particles. I liked learning about her life aside from her work on DNA, and realizing that she lived a full and happy life, if a slightly lonely one. She was independently wealthy through her parents, and used her money for travel abroad. She may, or may not, have been in love with one of her collaborators in France and the author suggests that she was on the verge of a new romance when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. In the end, the main argument of the book seemed to be that Rosalind Franklin's life was tragic not because she didn't get credit for the DNA discovery, but because she died of ovarian cancer at such a young age (37). I like that perspective. Based on the book, I'm not sure I would have liked Dr. Franklin in real life and I'm certain I would have hated working for her, but I think I respect her even more after reading this book.
For research and sheer information content I give this book a 9 out of 10. For writing, at 4 out of 10. So I guess that averages to a 6.5 out of 10 overall.
Random.org has decreed that my next book will be #39: Wicked.
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