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May 18
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Patrick
read and liked
David's
review of When Science Goes Wrong:
"This book was a major disappointment. I'd seen an interview with the author on "The Daily Show" and wasn't that impressed, but bought the book anyway because of the promise inherent in its subject matter. Sadly, that promise remains largely...more
This book was a major disappointment. I'd seen an interview with the author on "The Daily Show" and wasn't that impressed, but bought the book anyway because of the promise inherent in its subject matter. Sadly, that promise remains largely unfulfilled in this pedestrian, and often irritating effort by LeVay. The book is arranged in twelve chapters, each considering a specific instance of what LeVay deems to be 'scientific failure'. These specific aspects of the book bothered me:
1. Several vignettes (e.g. the 1928 St Francis dam break, a 1961 nuclear reactor explosion at the Idaho National Laboratory) clearly deal with engineering, rather than scientific, failures. But throughout the book, LeVay makes little distinction among science, engineering and technology, which makes the title misleading.
2. "I had hoped to find out more about this from Tudor herself but ... she had died a few weeks earlier"
"Dyer ... seems to have disappeared from public view"
"Williams ... didn't respond to my requests for an interview"
The book is studded with this kind of admission. Failure to represent all points of view adequately may be inevitable in an exercise like this, and LeVay does acknowledge this difficulty. Nonetheless, the reader is left with some niggling doubts about his credibility. In a story about an experiment conducted almost 70 years ago, to miss obtaining testimony of the main protagonist by three weeks seems unfortunate, to say the least. And in almost every chapter, it seems, LeVay is forced to admit that testimony of at least one key person was unavailable.
3. One chapter, about the 'failure' of the BBC Met Office to predict a severe storm in 1988 has no discernibly useful comment to make about science, except maybe that computer weather prediction models are often inadequate. But it does give the unsettling impression that LeVay constructed a 'story' where none existed, then collected a bunch of selective quotes to buttress his preformed prejudices. Several times I found myself wondering about LeVay's status as a neutral observer, not the feeling one wants to come away with after reading a book like this. Similarly, the reason for including a vignette about a patient with late-stage Parkinson's disease, who flies to China for fetal-implant surgery forbidden in the U.S., with predictably disastrous consequences, is murky. What point is LeVay trying to make - that submitting to experimental surgery under poor supervision in an inadequately equipped facility is a bad idea? Well, duh! This type of pandering to lurid curiosity seemed better suited to World Weekly News than to a serious book.
4. Maddeningly, in several vignettes, on feels that an opportunity is being missed to write a far more interesting story. A story about confusion of units leading to the loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter and its aftermath suggests at least two more interesting possibilities: an analysis of the culture at NASA which made such errors possible, even likely, or a discussion of the high prevalence (with often deadly consequences) of serious dosing errors in U.S. hospitals. Similarly, LeVay's account of the death of Jesse Gelsinger in the now-infamous gene therapy trial at U. Penn was an even-handed presentation of the facts of the case, but left me wishing for a more illuminating discussion of its implications. The reader is left with the impression that the case dealt a death blow to the future of gene therapy (which seems unlikely). Several interesting questions raised by the case are left largely unexamined, e.g.:
* how scientific ambition can corrupt the scientific process
* the potentially destructive hegemony of the status quo in the biomedical and scientific establishment
* direct funding of clinical research by pharmaceutical companies and associated issues
* the appropriate balance of risk and caution in the regulation of biomedical research
Pointing out cases where things have gone wrong is necessary and useful. But ultimately, unless it fuels a discussion of how things can be improved in the future, it starts to feel like a slightly smug exercise in playing Gotcha!
LeVay's idiosyncratic selection of case studies, his conflation of science, technology, and engineering, as well as a repeated failure to explore the more interesting questions raised by his examples combine to make this book a real disappointment.
...less
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May 16
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Patrick made a comment on Sherri's profile:
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May 12
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Patrick made a comment in the group 50 Books 2008—Patrick's reading journal topic:
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Patrick
gave
 
to:
Collapse (Hardcover)
by Phillip Werne
bookshelves:
construction-and-engineering
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my rating:
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read in May, 2008
Patrick said:
"Neat Book! Very easy to follow along even if your don't much about engineering. The author goes out of his way to explain in plain English the specific engineering design and construction terms that are introduced throughout the book, and use many ...more
Neat Book! Very easy to follow along even if your don't much about engineering. The author goes out of his way to explain in plain English the specific engineering design and construction terms that are introduced throughout the book, and use many easy to understand diagrams to further illustrate how these various structures failed.
When I told a Goodreader friend that I was reading this, she commented that if she read it she would likely be too afraid to ever go inside any building for fear it might collapse. I can see her point of view, but I didn't take that away form this book. For one thing, despite the subtitle of "WHEN BUILDINGS FALL DOWN," more than half of the structures described here aren't buildings at all, in the conventional sense. And of the building that are covered, most of them are not residential or office space structures. So I would like to conclude, that unless you're unlucky enough to live in a certain type of high-rise tower in a British city (covered in Chapter 7), you're probably fine, and are unlikely to die because the builing you're in falls down. (But if that building is located anywhere below a dam, after reading Chapter 10 of this book I'd have to conclude that your town is probably doomed, and I recommend you move as soon as possible).
I find it curious that so few of the "buildings" covered within these pages are residential or office structures, and am not satisfied with the author's brief mention of this in his otherwise short but satisfactory introduction. He merely says that "there are, thankfully, relatively few such failures" that experience what engineers and architechts call "catastrophic structural collapse," that being the criteria for inclusion in this book.
That may be so, but I think another criteria for selecting the examples covered within was the drama and the public impact inherent in each particular episode. At this point I should emphasize that this book was produced in conjunction with a documentary apparently appeared on The Learning Channel...in fact, the book's publisher is actually called TV Books. And in many ways the text often read like a transcript from one of those ubiquitous and usually annoyingly shallow documentaries that are always appearing on PBS, TLC, Discovery, History, and similar channels. But this usually occurs when the author is describing the facts of the collapse/explosion/disaster and the immediate human impact of the tragedy. Once he gets back to describing how the investigations and inquiries proceeded, and especially once he details exactly what is suspected to be the cause for structural failure in each case, the book's connection with the TV show becomes an asset. The narratives describing the investigations read like decent news reporting - not too much detail, but making an effort to present the opposing views of all sides. And the descriptions and depictions of what actually failed in each case are particularly good...in fact, for me they were the best part of the book (which surprised, since I usually dislike and am bored by technical information). The author gets the facts down but makes an effort to illustrate the physical principles involved with simple metaphors and examples, and whenever I was still not completely sure what the text was referring to, the diagrams accompanying the text (and referred to within the text), usually cleared it up. Excellent work by the author in this regard!
One other note to be aware of, for those of you who are connoisseurs of good non-fiction...there are no endnotes or sourcenotes here, which usually would bother me, and might in the future are I read more books in this field. The author does a fine job of mentioning in the text who and what he is quoting or citing as he describes the experts' varying opinions on what happened and what caused each collapse. That said, at times the book reads a little too much FaAA's greatest cases....FaAA being a really interesting company called Failure Analysis Associates, who often called in as consultants during investigations into structural collapses and disasters. This again, for me, is representative of the "documentary syndrome" on PBS and cable TV, in which the producer often rely too heavily on a particularly helpful source (who just happens to be pretty good at telling a story with the TV cameras rolling). Regrettably, too many folks are apt to conclude that an expert appearing on a TV documentary is the best in his field, rather than the most handy, helful, or photogenic (primary example: Shelby Foote in Ken Burns' The Civil War...was he really the best available guy?). FaAA's experts seem to be fine, and the company certainly (and coincedentally) does seem to have expertise in many of the areas covered in the pages within. But as a very critical reader of non-fiction, I would have preferred to see a few more experts...in the end, I can't help but be concerned that FaAA influenced what was and was not included in the documentary (which, by the way, I haven't seen) and perhaps they also influenced what was presented in each case.
In the end the main lesson I took away is that building is an inexact science, and lots can go wrong. But two particulary human failures stand out to me:
- complacency in the building phase. In many of the cases, builders during construction modified specifics in the design, or else they did a shitty job of performing the work. in other cases, the owners or operators simply changed the use of the structure without thinking through the implications that this would have for incorporating safety into the design.
- complacency or resistance in following up on concerns raised by builders, designers, inspectors, or the public. Politically speaking, I don't see this changing much...following up on concerns costs time and money, and so those responsible for getting a job on time and under budget will often blow these concerns off. Regrettably, only public pressure and costly litigation will likely create the conditions in which builders and owners feel compelled to follow up on such concerns.
Bottom line: neat book, and I recommend it to anyone who like interesting non-fiction. ...less
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May 10
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Patrick
is currently reading:
Battle of Brooklyn 1776 (Hardcover)
by John J. Gallagher
bookshelves:
currently-reading
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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May 04
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Patrick
gave
to:
Take 2: 2nd Acts (Hardcover)
by Jo Brans
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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recommended for: people who enjoy popular self-help books
read in May, 2008
Patrick said:
"Not sure what to make of this book. There are some interesting stories in here, but the book feels dated (it was published in 1989). The author includes a lot of her personal philosophical musings and some anecdotes from literature as to begin and ...more
Not sure what to make of this book. There are some interesting stories in here, but the book feels dated (it was published in 1989). The author includes a lot of her personal philosophical musings and some anecdotes from literature as to begin and end chapters, or to segue from one story to another.
I found some of the stories of the people profiled interesting, and may include some examples if I decide to expand this review. On the whole, though, Po Bronson has done a much better job with this type of book, and I especially recommend his WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH MY LIFE if you're looking for a book about how people make and cope with changes in their lives.
That said, I will likely re-read this book by Jo Brans sometime in the future, and pay a bit more attention next time to some of the ideas mentioned by the people profiled within (and ignore the author's trite commentary). I believe there are some wise ideas captured in their remarks which may be worthy of further consideration....less
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Patrick
is currently reading:
Boswell's Presumptuous Task: The Making of the Life of Dr. Johnson (Paperback)
by Adam Sisman
bookshelves:
currently-reading
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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Patrick said:
"Started reading this last week, as I prepare to read Boswell's Life Of Johnson. This book is about how Boswell went about writing that famous book, which is perhaps the most influential biography in the English language. I'm about a third of the wa...more
Started reading this last week, as I prepare to read Boswell's Life Of Johnson. This book is about how Boswell went about writing that famous book, which is perhaps the most influential biography in the English language. I'm about a third of the way through this one, and am very pleased with it. The author, Adam Sisman, has done a fine job telling his story, and I am finding both Boswell and Johnson to be most interesting people. Can't wait to finish this!...less
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Patrick
gave
to:
Out West (Hardcover)
by Mike Flanagan
bookshelves:
americanhistory
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my rating:
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read in May, 2008
Patrick said:
"A picture book of famous "Western" charatcers, places, and events, written by a columnist for the Denver Post. A very mediocre book...not comprehensive in either text, photos, or inclusiveness. The author seems to have based his decision ...more
A picture book of famous "Western" charatcers, places, and events, written by a columnist for the Denver Post. A very mediocre book...not comprehensive in either text, photos, or inclusiveness. The author seems to have based his decision to include or exclude a person based on whether they ever passed through Denver, and some of the places he includes would be of interest only to people who lived in Denver. It's neat to see some of the photos, but for most entries there is usually only one big photo, and the text accompanying the photo is often limited on accuracy and long on conjecture and opinion. If someone should give you this book for free, it's mildly interesting to spend a couple of leisure hours perusing it, but it's not worth buying for more than a buck.
There is an interesting and amusing story and photo in here about Richard Nixon, though. FWIW...less
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Patrick
gave
to:
Anything for Billy (Hardcover)
by Larry McMurtry
bookshelves:
larry-mcmurtry
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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read in May, 2008
Patrick said:
"This is McMurtry's fictional take on the Western outlaw Billy the Kid. Seen through the first person narration of a wealthy and civilized pulp novelist who just happened to fall in with Billy The Kid just around the start of the adventures (and kill...more
This is McMurtry's fictional take on the Western outlaw Billy the Kid. Seen through the first person narration of a wealthy and civilized pulp novelist who just happened to fall in with Billy The Kid just around the start of the adventures (and killings) that made him famous, Billy is portrayed sympathetically as a troubled but engaging young man who has a tendency to cold-bloodedly murder anyone whom he takes offense to. He is also easily manipulated by those who would seek to take advantage of his murderous nature, and McMurtry creates a scheming seductress who uses Billy to wipe out her rivals for the inheritance of one of the largest ranches in the West.
This is a very odd tale, not even close to one of McMurtry's best. Many of the characters and plot elements appear to be borrowed from other, better McMurtry book, written before and since. Published in 1988, just after McMurtry's most creative period (in my opinion) when he wrote the superb books Lonesome Dove and Texasville, this book appears at the outset to be a poor man's Lonesome Dove. The plot is very convoluted but not too hard to follow. The numerous characters are the strongest part of the book. They are nearly all interesting but not very well fleshed out. These folks all compete for space with one another, and die with almost numbing regularity and suddenness, usually at the hands of another character. In the end, the only constants are Billy the Kid and the narrator.
This may have all been intentional on McMurtry's part...his take on the West at that time (his "West" of this era being mainly Texas, the Oklahoma Territory, New Mexico, and parts of Kansas and Arizona) is that it was a violent, uncultured, outlandish place filled with fascinating people who acted out of the basest of human motivations and who usually died violently before they had much a chance to accomplish anything. McMurtry recognizes that most Americans of the time from the East and many Europeans were intrigued by the West for these very reasons, and yet he seeks throughout his "old West" fiction to portray the era in a realistic fashion, reminding us just how brutal life was in that time and place, perhaps so we are less likely to glorify it.
And yet, because he writes with such humor and is so wonderful at creating memorable characters that we care about, we read on through the brutal depictions of life in the West to get to the end, often hoping that McMurtry doesn't kill off our favorite characters prematurely, knowing (often as a result of McMurtry's blunt foreshadowing, as is the case with this book) that he probably will, since that serves his thematic purpose.
In nearly every other novel I've read by McMurtry, this combination works, but it doesn't in this one. The book seems a little rushed, despite its 380+ pages. This might be becasue the chapters are so short. Most are only two to three pages; the longest is no more than six pages long. This is a fast read, but not necessarily a compelling one...I would expect that folks who haven't read any of his better books would wonder what all the fuss is about, and put it down long before the plot starts to pick up speed when the main characters arrive in Greasy Corners and become involved in what McMurtry calls the Whiskey Glass War.
It may be that I didn't enjoy this book as much because I had different expectations for what a McMurtry novel should be like. The humor is never quite there in Anything For Billy, though there is some occasional funny dialogue and many ludicrous circumstances. From the first we sense that Billy is a doomed character, and he quickly demonstrates that he knows it too. That makes the book kind of sad. Who actually kills him in the end adds to the sense of tragedy, and is a bit of a surprise, since by the end of the book Billy's managed to rile up quite a few of the main players in his area of the West, and they are out for his blood. If anything, the last part of the book and the death scene reminded of the end of the classic Blues Brothers movie, in which Belushi and Ackroyd have managed to bring down the wrath and attention of groups as disparate as the local Hell's Angels, the American Nazi Party and the Illinois State Police, plus a bunch of others I can't recall. But though the actions of the Blues Brother were humorous, Billy's actions in the main were murderous, often murders of people he had encountered for the first time only a few seconds before, most notably a ten year old Apache boy who just happened to be coming down the same trail Billy was going up. McMurtry does not play these scenes for laughs; he often has a character remark as to how Billy's murders have taken away a son, or brother, or husband, or father, from other people. But as the narrator so often points out, Billy never realizes this; the narrator is puzzled throughout the book by Billy's lack of remorse or semblance of any feelings for those he hs killed, and occasionally offers a brief observation as to what may have missing in Billy The Kid's psyche that enabled to kill so ruthlessly without any afterthought at all.
A word on the historical accuracy of the book...as best as I can tell from some brief research, many of the events and people in Anything For Billy have some basis in reality, though McMurtry has taken great liberties with their actual accomplishments and the real-life relationships to each other. But the death of Billy The Kid is very different from the way Billy actually died, so I'm not sure that fans of the "real" or legendary Billy The Kid would enjoy this book very much. This novel is most likely to be enjoyed by McMurtry fans who have very little knowledge of the Billy The Kid legends....less
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April 26
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Patrick
is currently reading:
Orlando [UNABRIDGED CD] (Audiobook)
by Virginia Woolf
bookshelves:
currently-listening-to,
currently-reading,
virginia-woolf
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my rating:
Added to my books!
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50 Books 2008
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History is not boring
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Southern California Readers
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Remembrance Of Things Past 2008
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