The subtitle of this book is “Caught in the Mystery of the Monarch Butterfly.” I was caught by this book’s beguiling tone, its lovely writing, and its respect for science and the mystery of the unknown that drives people to “do science.”

We learn much about the behaviors and the enigmas of the monarch butterfly and its mysterious migration behavior. We also learn much about the people who work to reveal these mysteries. Some work from within traditional academic science. Others operate as “lone wolves” and spend their time in the field pursuing their own research agendas with support from volunteers from all over the continent.

Halpern is an exquisite writer. She encapsulates thoughtfulness, sensitivity, and intellectual curiosity in a manner that is both unique and refreshing. Given the profound nature of the questions raised by the monarch butterfly’s behavior, the match between the subject and the author in this book is nearly perfect.

Copyright (c) 2008 by Dennis D. McDonald

This 3-part book by Oliver Sacks from 1989 reviews the history of deaf education and language, the neurological underpinnings of language acquisition and deafness, and the student uprising at Gallaudet College in 1988. 

The styles and language of the three parts are different. The history part is an amalgam of history and intertwined footnotes that are almost as long as the text. The “science” portion is the Sacks that many readers are familiar with, a blend of humane and intelligent prose that reveals profound insight into the world of research and human behavior. Part 3, about the student revolt, stands apart stylistically and effectively caps what is a fundamentally unusual overview of a topic about which I knew nothing before I read this book.

What did I learn? Quite a bit; Sacks is a good guide, though the observant reader can tell when he is treading in areas that are unfamiliar to him. But one if his messages is clear: Sign is a language, as evidenced by how its use relates to the social and intellectual development of deaf children. 

What I would like to do now is to learn how the research discussed in this book has advanced since 1989. If readers can point me in the appropriate direction, I would be grateful.

Copyright (c) 2008 by Dennis D. McDonald

Peter Watts’ Blindsight is hard SF. Normally I like hard SF but I had some trouble with this one:

• None of the characters is sympathetically drawn. Put another way, I don’t think I’d want to have any of them over for dinner with the family (well, maybe the vampire, who, oddly enough, stands out from all the other characters as having a real personality).
• Watts’ prose is well constructed, expressive, action oriented — but essentially lifeless. Also colorless and odorless. I just don’t think he portrays life inside a long distance spaceship very well — the sounds, the odors, the things that get misplaced. My vision of the ship was based on memories of reading about Skylab, I have to admit, with a bit of the messiness of the space station from Armageddon.
• The aliens. I admit I like a good “First Contact” story, but I really had a hard time not envisioning the little guys as looking and acting like the starfish in the tank in Finding Nemo. I know that is NOT the mood that Watts intended!

Still, I’d recommend this one for the fascinating ideas:

• Ruminations about consciousness and intelligence. This is always fun but Watts really gets into this in a big way.
• Genetics. I like the fact that all the characters have been genetically altered in some way. They may all be special cases but I think that’s where we’re headed as a species.
• Orbital mechanics. I love the vision of the alien “mother ship” navigating a virtual Sargasso Sea of objects. Still, key points in the story are punctuated by the reality that if you’re in orbit around a body you sometimes may disappear from the view of another observer.
  

In summary, I didn’t like the characters, and I didn’t like the prose, but the ideas and story  were more than enough to keep my attention. Highly recommended if you want a challenging, thoughtful read!

• Copyright (c) 2008 by Dennis D. McDonald
• Thanks to Lisa Junker for recommending this book to me!
  

This little volume is packed with an amazing amount of readable information about the history of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment,  libel, privacy, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press.

The most important point made about these topics is that freedoms we in the U.S. now take for granted were developed painfully and slowly over many years through difficult legislative battles and creative and thoughtful judicial interpretations of the law.

Early in U.S. history it was not unheard of for political opponents to be imprisoned for speaking out and publishing anti-government opinions. Such august figures as Thomas Jefferson participated in what we would now define as anti-democratic persecution. Over time, the right of people to speak out against the government, even in times of war, has evolved. But it has not been easy, given the receptiveness so many people have to the “giving aid to the enemy” accusation.

One interesting aspect of the book is that the author also intertwines his discussion of freedom of the press and freedom of speech with a consideration of libel and the right to privacy. This is a difficult feat, and the author seems to prefer a concept of “balance” that weighs speech against the issues of libel and privacy concerns.

I have a couple of observations based on my reading of this book, the first “legal” book I’ve read in quite a while:

1. Some of the repressive government behaviors we in the U.S. lecture other countries about were not so uncommon here not so long ago.
2. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press, the way the author writes about them, are not identical. Many of the “press” issues he describes (and the related legal precedents) are specifically related to organized publishing entities such as newspapers. The relationship between the two is not always clear.
3. Given so much attention to freedom of the press, I kept wondering about the extension of these principles to less “institutional” purveyors of political opinions such as independent blogs and web sites. The author does not address this.

• Copyright (c) 2008 by Dennis D. McDonald
  

I assigned these tags to this book review:

1. History. The book traces the multitude of military campaigns and wars that took place during the Middle Ages that pitted the forces of the “Latin Church” against Islamic and a variety of other opponents.
2. Religion. The fundamental, but by no means only, rationale for these campaigns and wars was the opposition of different religious beliefs. This opposition was sometimes between Christians and Muslims, sometimes between Christians and other “heretical” Christians, and sometimes between Christians and “pagans.”
3. War. Sometimes the battles were between opposing forces on battlefields, sometimes they were betwen armies sieging opponents behind the walls of fortresses or cities, and sometimes they involved the slaughter of men, women, and children for reasons related to differences in religious faith.

Most of the book is a dry recitation of campaigns and battles grouped into major categories or groups. Chapters include:

• The Holy Land
• The Iberian Peninsula
• Northeastern Europe
• Crusades Against Heretics
• Crusades Against Ottoman Turks

In the final chapter “Conclusion: The Impact of Crusading on History” we finally read the author’s analysis of the significance and continuing effects of the details she supplied in the preceding chapters.

One interesting comment she makes is that the funding of the Crusades may have forcibly led to improved systems of administration (and taxation) which in turn set the stage for the growth of modern governments. After all, a lot of resources were required to supply the multitudes of military campaigns and expeditions that often required time-consuming travel from distant points in Europe and the Middle East.

While the theme of religion underlies much of the history that is recounted here, it isn’t the whole story. Yes, the occupation of the Holy Land by Muslims did stimulate  a variety of Christian campaigns, some victorious, some failures. But intertwined among the various religions themes and the promise of “indulgences” by the Popes to the Crusaders as one inducement for civic involvement were politics and commerce. Kings and lords used the wars to secure land and political power. Commerce was expanded via the establishment of ports in remote locations.

The fundamental headscratcher is that the Catholic Church (called the “Latin” Church here) either actively promoted the crusades or indirectly supported them through the offering of “indulgences” in return for participation. How did an organization founded on ideas of peace and love come to justify the extensive uses of military force that are documented in this book?

This question is raised but never directly answered. Perhaps the answer is simply that the Church was a creature of its times, and Medieval times were brutal.

One could probably ask similar questions of other violent movements throughout history that involved some sort of religious or cultural foundation that seemed to contradict the underlying beliefs that were being promoted through violent acts.

As the details are presented in this book, one cannot help but appreciate the way that faith and politics were combined. Threatening one sphere of influence threatened the other. This in turn resulted in a violent response — as was common to the times.

We are still dealing with the consequences as the author points out in her analyses.

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Here are links to other book reviews on this web site:

• History
• Non Fiction
• Religion
• War

Cloning, evolution, and the Human Genome Project are often in the news. One of my 2008 New Years’ Resolutions was to learn more about genetics and molecular biology. I had resolved to “get smarter” about DNA and its role in evolution and in generation-to-generation stability and inheritance.

Despite its brevity, this book manages to be profound, clear, and extraordinarily thought provoking. Published in 2000 by Harvard University Press, it looks back on a century of genetic research that started with ponderings about the mechanisms of inheritance, exploded in mid-century with the description of the helical structure and role of DNA, and concluded with the dawning realization that much of what we thought we understood about DNA and molecular biology was either wrong or incomplete.

Keller writes that the role of DNA in reproduction is significantly more complex than had been thought in the 1950’s and the 1960’s. Based on her meticulous research and a focus on a series of important questions, she shows how the notion that helical DNA functions as a simple recorded “template” for generational transmission of biological characteristics is a gross oversimplification. In fact, how DNA operates and is controlled in reproductive processes is so complex and mysterious that the very nature of the existence of “genes” is called into question.

I’ve italicized “and is controlled” since that question lurks behind much of this book. What is the mechanism that controls how DNA operates? The author discusses in clear and elegant prose a lengthy list of research findings that seem to show that we do not yet know.

This is not, however, a negative or pessimistic book. It is, instead, an intelligent assessment of our state of knowledge about one of the most profound and mysterious phenomena in the natural world. Reading about DNA related operations, in the light of current [circa 2000] knowledge, I could not help but shake my head at the astonishing complexity of the mechanisms that evolution has delivered.

At the same time, I cannot help but be encouraged at the intelligence and creativity of those who study and advance humankind’s knowledge of such phenomena. I shall therefore attempt to continue my reading in this field; hopefully additional books of this calibre are available.

“Captain” Alatriste is an ex-soldier in 17th Century Madrid who scratches out a living via odd jobs and spends part of his time gabbing and drinking at a local bar. An old “friend” tosses him a job which is initially to scare a pair of English travelers but turns out to be a contract for murder.

Thus this novel starts, seemingly inauspiciously. But as things progress we learn more about Alatriste’s character, Madrid society, 17th Century European politics, religious and political intrigue, Spanish cultural navel-gazing, and the intrigues of royalty.

There’s not a lot of swordplay but the novel skillfully sets up the characters for further adventures and sequels, which I intend to read. As with the same author’s The Nautical Chart,  the translation seems a bit flat. Still, this is an enjoyable read.

Late 17th Century London and the Royal Society provide the setting for this book. It concentrates on the “great men” who created modern Western science.

It is mostly the “great men” we learn about. Towards the end of the book the author does uncover some details of women who were involved in scientific advances but who did not  receive the credit they deserved.

What is most fascinating about this book is how the author intertwines the social, political, and personal details of the age. Anyone who just knows high level details of the accomplishments of famous names like Huygens, van Leeuwenhoek, Newton, and Wren will come away from this book with an improved understanding of the times in which “natural philosophy,” engineering, mathematics, biology, and physiology began to emerge in the West.

Interspersed are fascinating details of how secrecy, professional jealousy, international politics, natural disasters, personality, financial competition, and international trade impacted the advance of science and technology. The common thread is the professional and social networks surrounding the London based Royal Society, a group of well-connected intellectuals who, sometimes for entertainment purposes, staged public displays of new and untried experiments.

Not all experiments worked. Some of the descriptions of how animals were experimented on are grisly. Still, the process of publication and peer evaluation that surrounded this truly international organization reflects an orientation towards professional communications that extends to this day.

Another interesting set of details is the importance of instrumentation. Optics, surveying, microscopy, and astronomy depended greatly on the interplay of theory, observation, and manufacturing skill. Those most skilled in manufacturing were not always mathematically or creatively inclined. The relationships among people in these different groups were not always smooth.

New to me was the emphasis on the collection, organization, and graphic description in book form of animal and plant species. A great deal of time and energy was devoted to collecting and categorizing unusual or foreign plant species, sometimes in the hope of discovering patentable medical substances that could remove dependence on expensive foreign sources. This activity helped promote advances in chemistry and medicine. It also, as I am discovering via another book (Jim Enderby’s “A Guinea Pig’s History of Biology”) led to serious 19th Century efforts to scientifically understand heredity and genetics.

This novel follows several Confederate and Union solders during the two days of the 1862 battle of Shiloh in Tennessee.  This is not a view of politics and grand strategy. This is the view from the ground from the soldiers’ perspective. Each speaks in a different voice that varies with education, social status, and age. All are honest, detailed, and real.

I’m always depressed when I read books like this about the Civil War. It’s hard believing that state loyalties could lead to citizens taking up arms against each other; but the result was real and ferocious. The other impact of this novel is its universal representation of soldiers in combat. Foote captures real details and real personalities, with nearly every paragraph showing evidence of detailed research. The characters themselves may be fictitious but the people and situations they come into contact with ache of death and reality.

My only complaint: the book lacks maps. True, the descriptions of place and time are crisp and clear, but locating the events on a map would have helped.

• For other reviews of war books click here.
• For other reviews of history books, click here.
  
• For reviews of war movies click here.
  

Scientist Gould in this short book attempts to demonstrate both (a) how Science and Religion can learn to co-exist and (b) how efforts to control Science through Religion-imposed limits are prime examples of the two “magisteria,” as he refers to Science and Religion, transgressing on each other’s territory.

It’s an interesting approach that makes for fun and thought provoking reading. His premise is that the two belief systems are based on such different premises that it is unnecessary and unproductive to reconcile the two.  In fact, he goes out of his way to describe instances where both Science and Religion have erred by attempting to impose themselves on each other’s territory.

If there is a failing to this book it is that, as an attempt at readily-graspable philosophy, it does not really address at any length why the two Magisteria  have attempted to control the other, with Religion, according to Gould, more frequently and flagrantly being the transgressor.

Even assuming that is true, Gould does not address in enough detail the role that politics and the desire for power play in promoting religion, especially in modern day America.

Without paying enough attention to that angle, Gould misses pointing out the underlying political nature of how Religion and Science battle it out on a daily basis. Instead he is forced to fall back on the posited separateness of the two “magisteria” while downgrading attempts to unify the two.

I must admit I enjoyed this book. I’m one of those people who tends to think that there really isn’t that much incompatibility between Science and Religion, given that Science tells us more each day about the wonders of Creation. 

If I had to sum up the meaning of this book for those who feel a natural tension between Science and Religion, it seems to be saying, “Live and let live” to people on both sides of the fence. And that’s not a bad message.

This book is a great read if you are at all interested in the nuts and bolts of film production. Alter provides an inside view of the making of Omkara, an updated Bollywood version of Othello, a dark and brooding adult film that stretches the boundaries of what many have come to expect from Bolloywood fantasies. What comes through is an exciting story that reveals the passion and industry of the creative forces involved in developing a major film, both in front of and (especially) behind the camera.

I watched the film Omkara after reading this book and found I appreciated it even more. As the lead character, Ajay Devgan (Company) is intense and threatening. But everyone shines and Alter’s descriptions in the book provide an enjoyable extra dimension to watching the movie.

It is common knowledge that the book The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which tells about a sinister Jewish plot to take over the world, is a 19th-century fabrication that emerged in Europe during the time of the infamous Dreyfuss affair. Yet the Protocols refuse to die and are repeatedly published wherever and whenever there is economic or political advantage to be gained from bald-faced anti-Semitism.

Famed graphic novelist and comic artist Will Eisner, in his last published graphic work before his death, decided to document the creation of the work. He does so in a remarkably detailed graphic presentation that involves Czar Nicholas, secret agents, Parisian political cells, London based journalists, and German beer halls.

The sad truth is that the people who would cite the Protocols as the basis for hating and fearing Jews are the same people who would happily ignore truth and historical evidence.  Educational efforts such as this book by Eisner are doomed to fail with such people. People believe what they want to believe.

• Click here to see a list of all my History book reviews.

The translator does a masterful job of representing in English the nuances of a variety of historical references drawn from a variety of languages. What emerges from the book, too, is a sense of wonder about a time when these inventions were new.  The reader realizes that the period of inventiveness that stretched across hundreds of years could now be so highly compressed given our modern communications and transportation technologies.

This short book, newly re-translated into English, is the memory of a teenage Jewish boy who is sent to a series of German concentration camps during World War II.  He survives, but most of those around him — including his father — do not.

Most of the book is a matter of fact retelling of the day to day horrors of what it is like to be the target of an organized racial extermination plan where the targets of extermination are systematically brutalized, staved, and forced as slaves to work to support the Nazi war effort. It is intensely personal and matter of fact but occasionally reveals very adult and complex thinking about God, the existence of evil, and most profoundly, the existence of God.

• Click here to see a list of all my History book reviews. 
  

Many years ago my dad and  my brothers and I would take our telescope out to the back yard during the day and point it at the sun. Holding a white card about a foot away from the eyepiece we would watch sunspots projected on the card, the easily visible evidence of massive solar magnetic storms.

Sometimes we would draw spots on the card where the sunspots were projected and, a few days later, setting up the telescope in the same location, we would see how the sunspots had moved as the solar surface rotated. Not a bad introduction to celestial mechanics!

I was reminded of this by a book I picked up at the public library, Storms from the Sun: The Emerging Science of Space Weather, by Michael Carlowicz and Ramon Lopez, PhD (© 2002, The Joseph Henry Press).  This is one fascinating and well written book. It explains with great clarity how the sun and the earth are closely connected via a constant stream of particles that sometimes wreak havoc with terrestrial communications, satellites, and power transmission systems.

Starting with a historic review that shows how scientists gradually pieced together a connection between sunspots, solar flairs, and earthly phenomena such as auroras and disrupted telegraph signals, the authors build a picture of the relationship between the sun and the earth.

The storms referred to in the book’s title are not related to rain and snow but to impacts on satellite communications and long distance electrical power transmission via wires, wires that are susceptible to the fluctuations in the earth’s magnetic forces when the upper atmosphere is pummelled by particles ejected from the sun.

The authors point out that the next “peak” in solar storms is expected in 2012, the result in a cycle that averages 11 years from peak to peak as measured beginning in the 1700’s. The impacts of this “solar max” event could be quite substantial for all the systems we have that are increasing dependent on power transmission and communications.

Efforts are currently underway, according to this CNN story, to predict the severity of the  events expected in 2012. Here is a list of potential impacts from the CNN story; reading the Carlowicz and Lopez book will give you an excellent grounding in understanding these impacts:

• Airlines flying over the pole face loss of communications that could force them to use a different, longer route at an added cost of as much as $100,000 per flight.
• The Global Positioning System is immensely important to commerce and can be disrupted by solar activity.
• Operating floating oil rigs in the ocean requires keeping them positioned within a few inches to prevent damaging drilling gear. “They have to know when GPS is going to be accurate.”
• There is an increased radiation risk to humans in space.
• Currents can be induced in long electrical transmission lines, causing blackouts.

 To this I would add the potential impacts of solar weather peaks on mobile devices such as cell phones and multimedia devices such as the Apple iPhone with its combination of phone, music, and web features. When inadequately shielded communications satellites get zapped, how many conversations — and downloads — will suffer?