As the introduction to the book explains, this is a collection of stories that do not merit more than a few pages and other than in a biography of the principles or history of the subject, would not likely see print at all. The anecdotes come from all areas of the natural sciences and were of varying levels of interest to me. Some were rather dry and uninteresting while others introduced me to people I was unaware of and their particular achievements. There is less of the glimpses into personalities than I was expecting and so I was a little disappointed in that but many of the tales of discovery were quite interesting. The stories involving politics between individuals and individuals and nations was also done well as was establishing the context of the times where appropriate. In many cases, the discoveries discussed were the result of a scientist changing their routine for no apparent reason and for some reason, I found those tales most fascinating. The anecdotes are too short to draw many conclusions but they do give a starting point for further investigation for those who are interested. While not deep, it is a quick read that is good for the times you don't want to get too involved or when you can lay a book down for a long time before coming back to it.
-Lyle Ford
[UWEC Home]
[Physics and Astronomy]
Lyle Ford
fordla@uwec.edu
Department of Physics and Astronomy
(715)836-5046
Last Updated: August 17, 2004