What do you think?
Rate this book
The Department of Mad Scientists: How DARPA Is Remaking Our World, from the Internet to Artificial Limbs
The first-ever inside look at DARPA—the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency—the maverick and controversial group whose futuristic work has had amazing civilian and military applications, from the Internet to GPS to driverless cars
America's greatest idea factory isn't Bell Labs, Silicon Valley, or MIT's Media Lab. It's the secretive, Pentagon-led agency known as DARPA. Founded by Eisenhower in response to Sputnik and the Soviet space program, DARPA mixes military officers with sneaker-wearing scientists, seeking paradigm-shifting ideas in varied fields—from energy, robotics, and rockets to peopleless operating rooms, driverless cars, and planes that can fly halfway around the world in just hours. DARPA gave birth to the Internet, GPS, and mind-controlled robotic arms. Its geniuses define future technology for the military and the rest of us.
Michael Belfiore was given unprecedented access to write this first-ever popular account of DARPA. Visiting research sites across the country, he watched scientists in action and talked to the creative, fearlessly ambitious visionaries working for and with DARPA. Much of DARPA's work is classified, and this book is full of material that has barely been reported in the general media. In fact, DARPA estimates that only 2 percent of Americans know much of anything about the agency. This fascinating read demonstrates that DARPA isn't so much frightening as it is inspiring—it is our future.
America's greatest idea factory isn't Bell Labs, Silicon Valley, or MIT's Media Lab. It's the secretive, Pentagon-led agency known as DARPA. Founded by Eisenhower in response to Sputnik and the Soviet space program, DARPA mixes military officers with sneaker-wearing scientists, seeking paradigm-shifting ideas in varied fields—from energy, robotics, and rockets to peopleless operating rooms, driverless cars, and planes that can fly halfway around the world in just hours. DARPA gave birth to the Internet, GPS, and mind-controlled robotic arms. Its geniuses define future technology for the military and the rest of us.
Michael Belfiore was given unprecedented access to write this first-ever popular account of DARPA. Visiting research sites across the country, he watched scientists in action and talked to the creative, fearlessly ambitious visionaries working for and with DARPA. Much of DARPA's work is classified, and this book is full of material that has barely been reported in the general media. In fact, DARPA estimates that only 2 percent of Americans know much of anything about the agency. This fascinating read demonstrates that DARPA isn't so much frightening as it is inspiring—it is our future.
324 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2009
41 people are currently reading
700 people want to read
About the author
Michael Belfiore
4 books14 followersMichael Belfiore is an author, journalist, and speaker on the innovations shaping our world. He has written about game-changing technologies for the New York Times, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian, Air & Space, Financial Times, and other outlets. He is an International Aerospace Journalist of the Year Award finalist.
Michael has appeared as a commentator on the Fox Business Network, Bloomberg Radio and TV, CNN, CTV’s Canada AM, NPR’s Marketplace and Morning Edition, Showtime’s Penn & Teller: BS!, and C-SPAN. He has delivered his message of change to audiences at Noblis, Medtronic, the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Rutgers University, and other organizations.
Michael lives in New York’s Hudson River Valley with his two daughters.
Michael has appeared as a commentator on the Fox Business Network, Bloomberg Radio and TV, CNN, CTV’s Canada AM, NPR’s Marketplace and Morning Edition, Showtime’s Penn & Teller: BS!, and C-SPAN. He has delivered his message of change to audiences at Noblis, Medtronic, the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Rutgers University, and other organizations.
Michael lives in New York’s Hudson River Valley with his two daughters.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
April 5, 2010
Shallow and uncritical.
Goodreads's prompt for review text includes the language "what I learned from this book"; my answer to that is "not nearly as much as I'd hoped".
This title is mostly gee-whiz science writing with nearly all of the content that would be interesting to a scientist or engineer elided and replaced with biographical profiles of DARPA program managers and directors. For variety, he includes you-are-there stories of how he cleverly obtained entré to DARPA principals--entirely on their terms.
One suspects that, like memoirs written by former CIA employees, this book's text was thoroughly and unilaterally edited by the agency prior to publication. The author's rolled-shoulder apologies for being unable to offer the most rudimentary of technical explanations became so tiresome that at times I wondered if they weren't just a mask for his own inability to grasp the subject matter.
The best chapters are those on hypersonic transports and biofuels, but these come at the end of the book, and my impression may be distorted by the fact that I was grateful the end was in sight.
Belfiore's cover for gaining access to notoriously reticent DARPA people was his involvement with a television documentary (also uncritical) which would help drive recruitment into the agency.
Sadly for us, that cover became reality. In order to complete his book project, the author had to abandon his journalistic stance and become a PR flack, a point that is nowhere made as bluntly as in the concluding paragraphs.
After hearing about this title on NPR, I had hoped for a book which combined the citizen journalism of James Bamford (see The Puzzle Palace ) with the best of contemporary science writing for the educated reader.
My hopes were spectacularly unfulfilled in both respects. Avoid.
I wish Mr. Belfiore good fortune in his future career as communications director for DARPA.
Goodreads's prompt for review text includes the language "what I learned from this book"; my answer to that is "not nearly as much as I'd hoped".
This title is mostly gee-whiz science writing with nearly all of the content that would be interesting to a scientist or engineer elided and replaced with biographical profiles of DARPA program managers and directors. For variety, he includes you-are-there stories of how he cleverly obtained entré to DARPA principals--entirely on their terms.
One suspects that, like memoirs written by former CIA employees, this book's text was thoroughly and unilaterally edited by the agency prior to publication. The author's rolled-shoulder apologies for being unable to offer the most rudimentary of technical explanations became so tiresome that at times I wondered if they weren't just a mask for his own inability to grasp the subject matter.
The best chapters are those on hypersonic transports and biofuels, but these come at the end of the book, and my impression may be distorted by the fact that I was grateful the end was in sight.
Belfiore's cover for gaining access to notoriously reticent DARPA people was his involvement with a television documentary (also uncritical) which would help drive recruitment into the agency.
Sadly for us, that cover became reality. In order to complete his book project, the author had to abandon his journalistic stance and become a PR flack, a point that is nowhere made as bluntly as in the concluding paragraphs.
After hearing about this title on NPR, I had hoped for a book which combined the citizen journalism of James Bamford (see The Puzzle Palace ) with the best of contemporary science writing for the educated reader.
My hopes were spectacularly unfulfilled in both respects. Avoid.
I wish Mr. Belfiore good fortune in his future career as communications director for DARPA.
November 12, 2011
A book that SHOULD be a lot more interesting than it actually is, it's best passages concern the founding of the agency, its tumultuous early history and its role in the Information revolution. It quickly devolves, however, into a catalog of flashy demos, and features some strangely egocentric extended passages by the author (I'm so sorry it was difficult to contact the Darpa public relations office. Being a writer sounds hard.) Finally, while tele-surgery, artificial limbs and ramjets are interesting, they're covered better in your average episode of Nova.
February 9, 2017
3.5 stars. "The Department of Mad Scientists" is the story about DARPA, which is an arm of the Department of Defense. DARPA has existed for a long time and has been sort of the research and development arm of the American military. Although it's part of DOD, a lot of the experiments and research and development that the group has done has helped to create some of the biggest technological advances the world has seen in the past few decades. Some of their projects have included the Internet and artificial limbs. I find their group absolutely fascinating and I was looking to read this book in order to get more information about the story of DARPA.
Most of the book actually focuses on just a few of the different projects that the group has done. In fact, each chapter focuses on a different project that it has done. Some of the book tells a little bit about the history of the group, which is absolutely fascinating. I found the fact that each of the chapters only focused on one project to be a little bit limiting only because there are so many other things that this group has accomplished throughout its existence.
The author relies on first-hand interviews in order to talk about each of the projects which lended a lot of credibility and detail to each of the different sections. This book is best if you only want a summary of the group and not end-all discussion on all that they've been through and all that they've done. This is at least a good introduction.
Most of the book actually focuses on just a few of the different projects that the group has done. In fact, each chapter focuses on a different project that it has done. Some of the book tells a little bit about the history of the group, which is absolutely fascinating. I found the fact that each of the chapters only focused on one project to be a little bit limiting only because there are so many other things that this group has accomplished throughout its existence.
The author relies on first-hand interviews in order to talk about each of the projects which lended a lot of credibility and detail to each of the different sections. This book is best if you only want a summary of the group and not end-all discussion on all that they've been through and all that they've done. This is at least a good introduction.
November 27, 2010
I love to browse the new shelves of nonfiction books at my local library. One recent title that caught my attention because of it's goofy title was The Department of Mad Scientists by Michael Belfiore.
The book covers many of the recent advances by the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency, some which have made their way into civilian applications and others that are perhaps on the horizon. There are chapters on artificial limbs, the internet, GPS and driverless cars.
The chapter that made me pick up the book was the one on artificial limbs. It has a brief history of prosthetics and the problems faced in the development of arms and hands with better fine motor skills. Ultimately it's a matter of weight and balance. Even a lightweight limb that is strapped on will quickly become a tiresome burden to the person using and wearing it if it is off balance. The newest ones being developed use technology similar to what the Segues use to auto-balance, taking most of the work of balancing the limb off of the user's body, thus making it feel lighter and more natural.
The other chapters were just as well written but ended up being topics I was already very familiar with. That familiarity made the rest of the book an easy read. I ended up finishing it in the course of a single weekend when I had expected to take at least a week on it.
The book covers many of the recent advances by the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency, some which have made their way into civilian applications and others that are perhaps on the horizon. There are chapters on artificial limbs, the internet, GPS and driverless cars.
The chapter that made me pick up the book was the one on artificial limbs. It has a brief history of prosthetics and the problems faced in the development of arms and hands with better fine motor skills. Ultimately it's a matter of weight and balance. Even a lightweight limb that is strapped on will quickly become a tiresome burden to the person using and wearing it if it is off balance. The newest ones being developed use technology similar to what the Segues use to auto-balance, taking most of the work of balancing the limb off of the user's body, thus making it feel lighter and more natural.
The other chapters were just as well written but ended up being topics I was already very familiar with. That familiarity made the rest of the book an easy read. I ended up finishing it in the course of a single weekend when I had expected to take at least a week on it.
Want to read
October 17, 2015Read the New York Times article: The Body Electric.
February 10, 2010
I've always been aware of some of the DARPA history just from being aware of the beginnings of the ARPANET (now known as the Internet) and I knew they were into a lot of other interesting projects, but I have come away from this book with a lot more respect for the organization. Respect may be understating it, I think I'm in awe of how the federal government can manage to create something so amazing, and under the auspices of the Department of Defense no less. "DARPA is a national treasure".
The book itself bogged down a couple of times for me, mostly in the Autodoc and Grand Challenge chapters, where I couldn't help but think I'd have preferred a video documentary to reading about it, but it was never too bad and some of the other chapters were almost thrilling. I think this book may have broken a new record in the amount of time I spent just holding the book and day dreaming about things I had just read over just reading.
The book itself bogged down a couple of times for me, mostly in the Autodoc and Grand Challenge chapters, where I couldn't help but think I'd have preferred a video documentary to reading about it, but it was never too bad and some of the other chapters were almost thrilling. I think this book may have broken a new record in the amount of time I spent just holding the book and day dreaming about things I had just read over just reading.
September 2, 2010
The topic was excellent and overdue. The treatment, I thought was rather sophomoric and spent time on superficial aspects. Written by a Wired magazine journalist, it is about the same quality of writing - a quick flight over a State, but never enough to really see the State, much less interact with the State understand what it really has and is.
January 20, 2016
The author had previously written "Rocketeers", about the roots and rise of the commercial rocket industry. The discovery that DARPA was a major customer for one of these companies (XCOR) led him to research resulting in "The Department of Mad Scientists". Besides the obvious, the book covers Belfiore's strategies and struggles to gain access to DARPA personnel for interviews -- as well as his eventual partial success. I use the word "partial" because many of DARPA's projects require Top Secret or above clearance. So Belfiore is covering information from sanctioned interviews, observations and interviews of DARPA contractors, and his general research. He readily acknowledges that this is the tip of the iceberg. However, the book is well written, quite interesting and covers some of the history of DARPA, along with its organizational structure and a range of its projects.
ARPA was the brainchild of Neil McElroy, Eisenhower's Secretary of Defense. It was formed in response to the Soviet launch of Sputnik (10/4/57) and Eisenhower's frustration with the independent and duplicate missile research being pursued by branches of the US military. ARPA's original charter was "satellite and space research and development projects" (which was eventually ceded to NASA) and "other projects and programs" which might be assigned from time to time. It's creation was authorized by Congress on 2/12/58.
The subject organization changed its name between DARPA and ARPA more than once. To avoid confusion, I'll use the better known "DARPA" from now on.
Belfiore's account of is a mix of information gleaned at DARPA events and through sanctioned DARPA interviews as well as some supporting research into public documents. It contrasts sharply with Annie Jacobsen's book "The Pentagon's Brain" in that 1) Jacobsen's public research is more exhaustive 2) Her interviews are more outside of the "DARPA-sanctioned" envelope and 3) Belfiore has a positive, fascinated type of view of the organization with greater emphasis on its benefits, whereas Jacobsen (as in her "Operation Paperclip"), although mostly even-handed, has little positive to say about either scientists or the government establishments they work for.
I liked both books (for very different reasons). Jacobsen's book deserves its own review. Getting an even-handed view of DARPA probably requires reading both. I still ended up with a feeling of "incompleteness". I would like to hear another voice on this subject. If I could wave a wand and make them interested, perhaps Richard Rhodes ("The Making of the Atomic Bomb") or Mark Bowden ("Black Hawk Down") could do interesting things with this subject.
END OF REVIEW
-------------------
APPENDIX: A Brief Summary of DARPA Projects Covered in this Book
Early DARPA initiatives resulted in the Saturn V Rocket (which, after being transferred to NASA, sent Americans to the moon) the NAVSAT navy satellite navigation system (up by 1961), which led directly to GPS systems in use today, the creation of "Material Science" to create composite materials meeting specific requirements (initially used to create the X-15), and nuclear test monitoring (project Vela) to detect optical, electromagnetic and seismic signs of violations of the 1964 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty -- which initiated the field of Seismology. An outcome of Vela was the WWSN (World Wide Standardized Seismograph Network) giving the global community the ability to gather data on tsunamis and earthquakes. Vela (and NAVSAT) also led to DARPA's IPTO (Information Processing Techniques Office) from which came a series of visionary ideas and developments on human / machine interaction -- catalysts for improvements in databases and displays and ideas such as word processing and the computer mouse, eventually leading to the TCP/IP protocol and ARPANET -- today called the Internet.
Starting in the 1970s DARPA became heavily involved in Speech Recognition research - motivated by the needs of spy agencies and military services, but with visions of a hand-held Star-Trek-like universal translator. Artificial Intelligence development research, such as DARPA's Personal Assistant that Learns (PAL - also called CALO) are aimed at a variety of applications, including the CPOF (Command Post of the Future) - a project which resulted in knowledge base, computer reasoning and new visualization technology. Self-programming machine research (the nightmares of Sci Fi from the 1950s "Invisible Boy" up to the "Terminator") feeds and is fed by these types of projects.
DARPA has a set of initiatives spawned by requirements to make soldiers more effective. The ones covered by this book are related predominately to surgery, prosthetics and life-saving technologies that can be deployed within minutes (or seconds) after a battlefield wound. (Annie Jacobsen's "The Pentagon's Brain" focuses on a darker set of DARPA super soldier explorations). The commercially available da Vinci surgical robot is a direct benefactor of a funding from a DARPA project called Trauma Pod, a technology to encapsulate, treat and keep alive a critically wounded soldier while being transported from the battlefield to a hospital or surgeon. This project (inspired by Heinlein's "Starship Troopers" and Larry Niven's "World of Ptavvs") also triggered the creation of "Minimally Invasive Surgery" and a number of developments in telepresence. A hand-held ultrasound machine called SonoSite was partially inspired by Star Trek's medical tricorder. The LSTAT (Life Support for Trauma and Transport) was designed to be an interface between patient and robot. The Apollo Project created a digital X-ray machine to send x-rays from the battlefield. A smart T-shirt concept was initiated to monitor a soldier's vital signs.
Many of DARPA's battlefield-related initiatives are aimed at preventing injuries. DARPA's 2004 Autonomous Ground Vehicle initiative whose purpose was to make supply to troops on an urban battlefield less dangerous. The author gives a detailed account of public testing (Urban Challenge) that resulted from this project. Much of the research of this project also flows into commercial computer-driven car concepts. The Warfighter Visualization program is a heads-up visual display that would overlay a military commander's field of view with computer-generated imagery showing the situational status of his/her troops.
Among the projects of DARPA's Defense Sciences Office (DSO) there are initiatives on mathematically describing the workings of complex organic systems, including the human brain --- with a "view toward duplicating their functions in artificial systems", the development of a "biological quantum mechanics theory", reducing the cost of titanium to a tenth of its current cost, walking autonomous robots, growing plants that respire hydrogen - harvest-able for fuel.
The Microsystems Technology Office (MTO) focuses on quantum computing and microchip (and smaller) sized things. Among their projects is one for integrating electronics into insects to control their flight, as well as sensors, cameras, etc.
The Strategic Technology Office (STO) has projects not only to eliminate the military's dependency on oil but to generally eliminate oil as a cause of war. These initiatives include a range of technologies from expanding and enhancing the efficiency of solar energy technology to creating high-performance jet fuels from vegetable oils (the chapter "Power to the People" covers these areas.)
The Tactical Technology Office is interested in things like robot satellites that repair other satellites, and hypersonic ( > 5 times the speed of sound + air-breathing) engine design. If you are into this read "The Final Frontier" chapter which also describes some of DARPA's contribution to the commercial space travel industry.
DARPA is largely responsible for Stealth Aircraft. DARPA's Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD - better known as 'Star Wars') led to unexpected side-effects such as LASIK surgery. They funded the "pure science" research project of building the Arecibo telescope - the largest single aperture radio telescope in the world.
Some of DARPA's 9/11 triggered initiatives have been less well received. TIA (Total Information Awareness) was intended to provide a computer-monitored surveillance infrastructure that would discover terrorist activity and prevent terrorist events before they happened. Its perceived invasive surveillance of America citizens caused it (at least partially) to crash and burn. You can read volumes on that elsewhere.
ARPA was the brainchild of Neil McElroy, Eisenhower's Secretary of Defense. It was formed in response to the Soviet launch of Sputnik (10/4/57) and Eisenhower's frustration with the independent and duplicate missile research being pursued by branches of the US military. ARPA's original charter was "satellite and space research and development projects" (which was eventually ceded to NASA) and "other projects and programs" which might be assigned from time to time. It's creation was authorized by Congress on 2/12/58.
The subject organization changed its name between DARPA and ARPA more than once. To avoid confusion, I'll use the better known "DARPA" from now on.
Belfiore's account of is a mix of information gleaned at DARPA events and through sanctioned DARPA interviews as well as some supporting research into public documents. It contrasts sharply with Annie Jacobsen's book "The Pentagon's Brain" in that 1) Jacobsen's public research is more exhaustive 2) Her interviews are more outside of the "DARPA-sanctioned" envelope and 3) Belfiore has a positive, fascinated type of view of the organization with greater emphasis on its benefits, whereas Jacobsen (as in her "Operation Paperclip"), although mostly even-handed, has little positive to say about either scientists or the government establishments they work for.
I liked both books (for very different reasons). Jacobsen's book deserves its own review. Getting an even-handed view of DARPA probably requires reading both. I still ended up with a feeling of "incompleteness". I would like to hear another voice on this subject. If I could wave a wand and make them interested, perhaps Richard Rhodes ("The Making of the Atomic Bomb") or Mark Bowden ("Black Hawk Down") could do interesting things with this subject.
END OF REVIEW
-------------------
APPENDIX: A Brief Summary of DARPA Projects Covered in this Book
Early DARPA initiatives resulted in the Saturn V Rocket (which, after being transferred to NASA, sent Americans to the moon) the NAVSAT navy satellite navigation system (up by 1961), which led directly to GPS systems in use today, the creation of "Material Science" to create composite materials meeting specific requirements (initially used to create the X-15), and nuclear test monitoring (project Vela) to detect optical, electromagnetic and seismic signs of violations of the 1964 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty -- which initiated the field of Seismology. An outcome of Vela was the WWSN (World Wide Standardized Seismograph Network) giving the global community the ability to gather data on tsunamis and earthquakes. Vela (and NAVSAT) also led to DARPA's IPTO (Information Processing Techniques Office) from which came a series of visionary ideas and developments on human / machine interaction -- catalysts for improvements in databases and displays and ideas such as word processing and the computer mouse, eventually leading to the TCP/IP protocol and ARPANET -- today called the Internet.
Starting in the 1970s DARPA became heavily involved in Speech Recognition research - motivated by the needs of spy agencies and military services, but with visions of a hand-held Star-Trek-like universal translator. Artificial Intelligence development research, such as DARPA's Personal Assistant that Learns (PAL - also called CALO) are aimed at a variety of applications, including the CPOF (Command Post of the Future) - a project which resulted in knowledge base, computer reasoning and new visualization technology. Self-programming machine research (the nightmares of Sci Fi from the 1950s "Invisible Boy" up to the "Terminator") feeds and is fed by these types of projects.
DARPA has a set of initiatives spawned by requirements to make soldiers more effective. The ones covered by this book are related predominately to surgery, prosthetics and life-saving technologies that can be deployed within minutes (or seconds) after a battlefield wound. (Annie Jacobsen's "The Pentagon's Brain" focuses on a darker set of DARPA super soldier explorations). The commercially available da Vinci surgical robot is a direct benefactor of a funding from a DARPA project called Trauma Pod, a technology to encapsulate, treat and keep alive a critically wounded soldier while being transported from the battlefield to a hospital or surgeon. This project (inspired by Heinlein's "Starship Troopers" and Larry Niven's "World of Ptavvs") also triggered the creation of "Minimally Invasive Surgery" and a number of developments in telepresence. A hand-held ultrasound machine called SonoSite was partially inspired by Star Trek's medical tricorder. The LSTAT (Life Support for Trauma and Transport) was designed to be an interface between patient and robot. The Apollo Project created a digital X-ray machine to send x-rays from the battlefield. A smart T-shirt concept was initiated to monitor a soldier's vital signs.
Many of DARPA's battlefield-related initiatives are aimed at preventing injuries. DARPA's 2004 Autonomous Ground Vehicle initiative whose purpose was to make supply to troops on an urban battlefield less dangerous. The author gives a detailed account of public testing (Urban Challenge) that resulted from this project. Much of the research of this project also flows into commercial computer-driven car concepts. The Warfighter Visualization program is a heads-up visual display that would overlay a military commander's field of view with computer-generated imagery showing the situational status of his/her troops.
Among the projects of DARPA's Defense Sciences Office (DSO) there are initiatives on mathematically describing the workings of complex organic systems, including the human brain --- with a "view toward duplicating their functions in artificial systems", the development of a "biological quantum mechanics theory", reducing the cost of titanium to a tenth of its current cost, walking autonomous robots, growing plants that respire hydrogen - harvest-able for fuel.
The Microsystems Technology Office (MTO) focuses on quantum computing and microchip (and smaller) sized things. Among their projects is one for integrating electronics into insects to control their flight, as well as sensors, cameras, etc.
The Strategic Technology Office (STO) has projects not only to eliminate the military's dependency on oil but to generally eliminate oil as a cause of war. These initiatives include a range of technologies from expanding and enhancing the efficiency of solar energy technology to creating high-performance jet fuels from vegetable oils (the chapter "Power to the People" covers these areas.)
The Tactical Technology Office is interested in things like robot satellites that repair other satellites, and hypersonic ( > 5 times the speed of sound + air-breathing) engine design. If you are into this read "The Final Frontier" chapter which also describes some of DARPA's contribution to the commercial space travel industry.
DARPA is largely responsible for Stealth Aircraft. DARPA's Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD - better known as 'Star Wars') led to unexpected side-effects such as LASIK surgery. They funded the "pure science" research project of building the Arecibo telescope - the largest single aperture radio telescope in the world.
Some of DARPA's 9/11 triggered initiatives have been less well received. TIA (Total Information Awareness) was intended to provide a computer-monitored surveillance infrastructure that would discover terrorist activity and prevent terrorist events before they happened. Its perceived invasive surveillance of America citizens caused it (at least partially) to crash and burn. You can read volumes on that elsewhere.
July 31, 2021
If you are looking for hard-hitting investigative journalism, then this book isn't for you. If that's what you want, then The Pentagon's Brain, by Annie Jacobsen might be more your cup of tea. This book is more like a breezy overview of DARPA. This is an interesting, light read. You skim across the top and get a few dips of insight here and there of both history and tech research. I kind of felt like I was just reading a long magazine article at some points, or a blog post. And then there would be an interesting nugget or two of info. If you want a semi-decent taste of things then you might enjoy this book. The behind the scenes look at a contest of autonomous vehicles was kind of an interesting and fun chapter.
The best chapters are the last two, which cover hypersonic transports and biofuels. I got the sense that the author was possibly more interested or had a little more experience in these areas, especially the hypersonic transports. He did write a book on rockets I believe, prior to this book. That book might be worth checking out.
I debated on whether to give this book 3 stars or 4 and decided to remain on the positive side. It really all depends on what you're looking for in a read. Like I said earlier, it's an interesting, light read. Sometimes light is okay.
The best chapters are the last two, which cover hypersonic transports and biofuels. I got the sense that the author was possibly more interested or had a little more experience in these areas, especially the hypersonic transports. He did write a book on rockets I believe, prior to this book. That book might be worth checking out.
I debated on whether to give this book 3 stars or 4 and decided to remain on the positive side. It really all depends on what you're looking for in a read. Like I said earlier, it's an interesting, light read. Sometimes light is okay.
January 29, 2018
If you wish you see some conspiracy development in this book, you would be disappointed. This book is talking about how DARPA was established same time as NASA and it has became a department where they are not only focus on Space programs, overall GPS, internet, medical robots such as Davinci, artificial limbs, Xcor (not SpaceX), voice recognition to type out as text, AI development, autopilot cars....etc.
The last chapter focus on future energy and its main purpose is the be able to get rid of the dependence on fossil fuel and find alternative energy such as solar power, biofuel.
The efficiency of solar panel has been improved very slowly, but we are on the track.
Therefore this book is a basic introduction about what this department doing, nothing secrets or should we say the we are offered the information that is allowed to be known by public.
The last chapter focus on future energy and its main purpose is the be able to get rid of the dependence on fossil fuel and find alternative energy such as solar power, biofuel.
The efficiency of solar panel has been improved very slowly, but we are on the track.
Therefore this book is a basic introduction about what this department doing, nothing secrets or should we say the we are offered the information that is allowed to be known by public.
April 1, 2020
So this is my assessment of this book The department of mad scientists by Michael Belfiore according to my 7 criteria:
1. Related to practice - 5 stars
2. It prevails important - 4 stars
3. I agree with the read - 5 stars
4. not difficult to read (as for non English native) - 4 stars
5. too long and boring story or every sentence is interesting - 2 stars
6. Learning opportunity - 3 stars
7. Dry and uninspired style of writing - Smooth style with humouristic and fun parts - 3 stars
Total 3.71 stars
1. Related to practice - 5 stars
2. It prevails important - 4 stars
3. I agree with the read - 5 stars
4. not difficult to read (as for non English native) - 4 stars
5. too long and boring story or every sentence is interesting - 2 stars
6. Learning opportunity - 3 stars
7. Dry and uninspired style of writing - Smooth style with humouristic and fun parts - 3 stars
Total 3.71 stars
June 21, 2018
Interesting vignettes about the incubation of key technologies that have manifested its impact on society today. I had interest in the computing technologies, not so much the biological or environmental ones. You can read each chapter separately. Thank goodness for the DARPA think tank, staying competitive in technology development for the same of technology where private industry does it for profit. I hope DARPA decimates the government waste going into defense.
September 5, 2019
This feels like a very good concept that wasn't allowed to come to fruition. I knew very little about DARPA and am glad to have read the book, if only to learn slightly more. Unfortunately, it felt throughout the book that the author was given a lot less information than would have been needed to truly make the book memorable. This is the downside on attempting to write a book about a secret government program.
May 29, 2019
Take 100 pages of worth while content and spread it over 300. The best parts are the history of DARPA, scramjets, and alternative energy. Otherwise, it just is a slow moving, boring book that doesn't really tell you much.
Long story short - One of the most boring non fiction books about the most interesting agency.
Long story short - One of the most boring non fiction books about the most interesting agency.
August 26, 2019
An interesting and enjoyable listen. I found a few parts of it dated and cringeworthy (such as the glowing description of the benefits of some of the AI advancements), and some a bit frustrating (whatever happened to that $3/gallon biofuel?) Still, it was nice to hear how the agency operates.
Read
February 18, 2020Interesting read especially if you are into science. Some of the technology is dated but the back story is good.
November 10, 2020
This was a great research book for my novel. I’ll be using some if the personalities for my fictional characters. Well done!!
January 20, 2026
I enjoyed this book and found it fascinating. It's interesting that one of the inventions - the self driving vehicles has become a reality, at least in a non military environment.
March 28, 2011
A well-told story of a little known government agency that has had and is likely to continue to have an important impact on the world and how we live. I think many of us are aware that DARPA was responsible for bringing the Internet into being, but they are doing so much more.
I grieved when Bell Labs was sold with Lucent to the French firm Alcatel. I've been frustrated in my dealings on behalf start-ups with IBM's Watson Labs, with their bureaucracy and "Not invented here" attitude. It was surprising to me to learn of how DARPA works - it owns no labs, its program managers are term limited, its focus began (and except for a brief period when it strayed) with a mission to give the nations' war fighters a technological edge over adversaries, and yet the "spill-over" effects to the civilian sector are large.
I finished the book glad that DARPA exists. I believe it is a better model than government run venture funds, like In-Q-tel (Public funds spent on privae failures will always be hard to justify, even if over the long-run the fund record might justify itself.) I was also pleased to hear of so many dedicated people working furiously to solve 'enormous problems', driven to change the world, and not just self-enrichment (but here the term limits may help, there's still time for them to make money.) I guess as a child of the dwindling days of the 60s, the desire to change the world still has a romantic attraction for me.
I also found the first part of the book and the Eisenhower years, (DARPA was founded during the Eisenhower administration) very interesting. It's left me wanting to know more about Eisenhower - Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in WWII, a Republican President, his famous quote in his farewell (leaving White House) speech warning of the Military Industrial Complex, his funding of the nation's highway network to facilitate the movement of troops, his dealing with the Soviets scientific challenge, and his plea to Congress and the people that we remember that every dollar spent on guns is one dollar less spent on food, health and education. I recommend this book!
I grieved when Bell Labs was sold with Lucent to the French firm Alcatel. I've been frustrated in my dealings on behalf start-ups with IBM's Watson Labs, with their bureaucracy and "Not invented here" attitude. It was surprising to me to learn of how DARPA works - it owns no labs, its program managers are term limited, its focus began (and except for a brief period when it strayed) with a mission to give the nations' war fighters a technological edge over adversaries, and yet the "spill-over" effects to the civilian sector are large.
I finished the book glad that DARPA exists. I believe it is a better model than government run venture funds, like In-Q-tel (Public funds spent on privae failures will always be hard to justify, even if over the long-run the fund record might justify itself.) I was also pleased to hear of so many dedicated people working furiously to solve 'enormous problems', driven to change the world, and not just self-enrichment (but here the term limits may help, there's still time for them to make money.) I guess as a child of the dwindling days of the 60s, the desire to change the world still has a romantic attraction for me.
I also found the first part of the book and the Eisenhower years, (DARPA was founded during the Eisenhower administration) very interesting. It's left me wanting to know more about Eisenhower - Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in WWII, a Republican President, his famous quote in his farewell (leaving White House) speech warning of the Military Industrial Complex, his funding of the nation's highway network to facilitate the movement of troops, his dealing with the Soviets scientific challenge, and his plea to Congress and the people that we remember that every dollar spent on guns is one dollar less spent on food, health and education. I recommend this book!
June 12, 2010
I selected this book based on the sub-title ("How DARPA is Remaking Our World..."), not because I had read the author's previous book, "Rocketeers". In general it was well-written and researched. I am not sure if it is because Belfiore writes mostly for shorter media (blogs, articles, and so on), but I found the book to be a bit "breezy" and a quick read: not quite as "meaty" as I would have hoped for.
But, the subject matter (i.e. the projects he reports on and the organization itself) are both very interesting. Several of the projects (past successes and current work) fall in to the "near and dear to my heart" category, so I was definitely pre-disposed to enjoy those sections of the book. And, I am sure that he wrote about the topics that he felt would resonate most with readers. Nothing wrong with that.
the most odd thing, for me, was that the author wrote that he was unaware of DARPA and its history until he ran across it as a funding/program source while researching his previous book on rockets and space technology. That actually amazed me to the point that I was incredulous. I just could not conceive of how it was possible.
Maybe I am being parochial, but I was aware of who & (at least on one project) what ARPA (the previous name for DARPA) was when I was at least 16 or 17 years old and, as Issac Asimov would say, that was "mumblety-mumblety years ago". Long before Al Gore invented the Internet, there was something called the ARPANET and a company call Bolt, Berenak, & Newman (aka "BBN") and that my friends is my first knowledge of DARPA. (FYI - BBN is in Fresh Pond/Cambridge, MA; MIT was on the ARPANET when I was able to use some of its facilities as a teenager; and I grew up in Boston.)
The one fact that I had forgotten or never actually knew is what BBN's original line of work was (no spoilers, here.)
But, the subject matter (i.e. the projects he reports on and the organization itself) are both very interesting. Several of the projects (past successes and current work) fall in to the "near and dear to my heart" category, so I was definitely pre-disposed to enjoy those sections of the book. And, I am sure that he wrote about the topics that he felt would resonate most with readers. Nothing wrong with that.
the most odd thing, for me, was that the author wrote that he was unaware of DARPA and its history until he ran across it as a funding/program source while researching his previous book on rockets and space technology. That actually amazed me to the point that I was incredulous. I just could not conceive of how it was possible.
Maybe I am being parochial, but I was aware of who & (at least on one project) what ARPA (the previous name for DARPA) was when I was at least 16 or 17 years old and, as Issac Asimov would say, that was "mumblety-mumblety years ago". Long before Al Gore invented the Internet, there was something called the ARPANET and a company call Bolt, Berenak, & Newman (aka "BBN") and that my friends is my first knowledge of DARPA. (FYI - BBN is in Fresh Pond/Cambridge, MA; MIT was on the ARPANET when I was able to use some of its facilities as a teenager; and I grew up in Boston.)
The one fact that I had forgotten or never actually knew is what BBN's original line of work was (no spoilers, here.)
February 17, 2016
Two stars, and not because it is badly written, but because it was obviously written as blatant propaganda, a "recruitment tool" in the words of the DARPA head. Like all things bellicose and nationalistic, the DARPA functions as a primary beneficiary and functionary of "American exceptionalism." Yes, they are at the cutting edge of science, but science pinned to perversity as a means of better fighting the next war (not, of course, preventing the next war, but assuring that in any outcome, the good old USA comes out on top.) That means that DARPA is always keeping ahead of the Joneses. It also means that, by winning the approval of the head officer, Belfiore was not going to be writing a book about any of those things covered by DARPA's black budget or advances "rumored" by paranoid democratic republicans. Belfiore writes as the "embedded reporter" with enough off limits beyond his marveling and drooling over the many projects they've been working on to assist wounded "war fighters." These somehow, will drip back into the civilized world as trickle-down in the private sector, and then for the benefit of mankind. Since Einstein and even before, science has been put to use for the knowledge of meaner and better ways to kill people. Better ways to keep people alive so they can kill yet more people seems to be the purpose of a number of the sorts of things Belfiore has been allowed to write about. Investigational journalism, this is not. As an outpost of tribal "Conciousness I" mentality, DARPA, founders of the Internet, continues to exist on a plane well above true public scrutiny and transparent black budget justifications.
January 6, 2013
An inside look into DARPA, specifically following some of the agencies more successful projects. The book discusses the origins of DARPA - basically after WWII, there was a lot of power grabbing to see who would develop America's space program. The forerunner as DARPA temporarily took on this challenge. One of the reasons it was able to find the day of light was that it was specifically structured as a government research agency leveraging the free market, which appealed to Eisenhower. After NASA was formed, DARPA then survived because of specific actions by the Secretary of Defense of that time to keep it going as a special research arm within DOD. Since then, many, if not all, of the major technological advances we take for granted today have come from DARPA. The key to its success are its program managers.
DARPA program managers are hired to run specific programs, usually by self-selection, and are given a fixed time (4 years) to do it in. Because they are self-selecting, and because they all come with an expiration date, DARPA program managers tend to have a do or die attitude in achieving success. It's important to note though, that DARPA does not have any labs themselves; instead their program managers dole out funding to academic, commercial and government labs to do the actual research.
DARPA program managers are hired to run specific programs, usually by self-selection, and are given a fixed time (4 years) to do it in. Because they are self-selecting, and because they all come with an expiration date, DARPA program managers tend to have a do or die attitude in achieving success. It's important to note though, that DARPA does not have any labs themselves; instead their program managers dole out funding to academic, commercial and government labs to do the actual research.
March 17, 2012
While I enjoyed the beginning of the book when the author talked about the past projects done by DARPA, the rest of the book did not seem exactly coherent. While I understand the nature of projects in research and industry, the authors introduced too many personnels and the story was lost (I spent most of the time trying to remember who does what project). Some of the projects mentioned were also not exactly ahead of the curve anymore. As for the idea of DARPA itself, it is troubling to see that it is okay to invest in high-risk military ideas as long as the general public "might" benefit out of it (seems to be the emphasis by DARPA and the author). What would be more important is for the government to invest in innovative ideas such as those purely for the good of the public, using the entrepreneurial model. The author did mention something along this line, but that wasn't the tone of the book (although, on some level I guess it is beyond his control, as this book really is trying to generate some publicity for the agency).
All in all, it is an okay book. I wouldn't really recommend it - I think simply googling or looking up Wikipedia might give you a better idea.
All in all, it is an okay book. I wouldn't really recommend it - I think simply googling or looking up Wikipedia might give you a better idea.
January 2, 2014
This book was definitely a geeky pleasure for me. I read it and just enjoyed hearing about all these crazy technologies that were being developed, which was awesome. I was particularly excited to read about the autonomous car program, because for most of my five years at Stanford, I walked past those autonomous cars sitting outside the Mechanical Engineering Research Laboratory everyday (some of these cars are now being worked on at Google) (also, it makes the grad students "driving" the cars really uncomfortable when you drive right along side the cars for a few miles on El Camino). But it was also interesting to read about how DARPA had essentially put together this pathway for innovation, and the different ways they encouraged and supported innovation. I walked away with a surprisingly positive view of DARPA, which I did not expect.
May 8, 2014
This was an interesting and rare look at DARPA, the governmental arm where research leads to new discoveries. They are really secretive, so this examination of some of their recent, unclassified projects is a rare thing. We get to learn about biomechanical prosthetic technology for the injured, automated medical treatment, self-driving cars, and multiple-times-faster-than-the-speed-of-sound scramjets. In between the cracks of these stories, we learn about the history of the DARPA organization. All in all, a very interesting look. Some of the projects were more interesting to hear about than others and though the writing here is competent, it seemed on occasion to get in the way of some of the stories rather than elevate them. But that was only some of the time. Mostly, this was a good book.
April 6, 2013
A good read on the true history of DARPA and introduces some very interesting people and projects. It makes one appreciate just how unlikely it's establishment was, and therefore just how much of a fortunate 'accident' the world-changing results of its work have been.
However, I felt this could have been a much better book if it actually delved deeper into the science and technologies. Perhaps showing the authors bias (a journalist), every time the narrative came close to getting into fascinating detail, we are seemingly pulled back with a 'woah! this is getting too heavy for us to understand'. Frustrating, and a missed opportunity. I would have preferred the kind of treatment that Dava Sobel gave us with Longitude, or Lewis Wolpert with A Passion for Science.
However, I felt this could have been a much better book if it actually delved deeper into the science and technologies. Perhaps showing the authors bias (a journalist), every time the narrative came close to getting into fascinating detail, we are seemingly pulled back with a 'woah! this is getting too heavy for us to understand'. Frustrating, and a missed opportunity. I would have preferred the kind of treatment that Dava Sobel gave us with Longitude, or Lewis Wolpert with A Passion for Science.
June 3, 2011
Very intriguing portrait of the beginning of NASA, the internet, Cold War arms build up and more.
Would I recommend this to a friend?
For sure. If you like to read Wired Magazine or Engadget on the web you'll likely dig this. Very cool in terms of history of the space program in US and how the space race led to huge government investment in technology research leading to among other things, the Internet as we know it today! Chapters on artificial limbs blew me away also. The nice thing about this non-fiction book is that each chapter reads as a stand-alone essay so if you get bogged down you can jump to a new chapter.
Would I recommend this to a friend?
For sure. If you like to read Wired Magazine or Engadget on the web you'll likely dig this. Very cool in terms of history of the space program in US and how the space race led to huge government investment in technology research leading to among other things, the Internet as we know it today! Chapters on artificial limbs blew me away also. The nice thing about this non-fiction book is that each chapter reads as a stand-alone essay so if you get bogged down you can jump to a new chapter.
July 8, 2014
The story of DARPA, a defense agency created out of the space race, tries to keep the USA at technologies cutting edge. This book is a collection of what feel like long essays about different aspects and people of DARPA. What bothered me about this book was a lack of critique of spending and programs. Every program is grand and for the greater good. The research continues mutually assured destruction. DARPA researches a weapon, someone develops a defense, DARPA develops a defense, someone creates a weapon.
Great stories though, and fascinating technology. The book gives you a ton of ideas and makes you fall in love with creativity and innovation.
Great stories though, and fascinating technology. The book gives you a ton of ideas and makes you fall in love with creativity and innovation.
July 3, 2012
The story of DARPA, a defense agency created out of the space race, tries to keep the USA at technologies cutting edge. This book is a collection of what feel like long essays about different aspects and people of DARPA. What bothered me about this book was a lack of critique of spending and programs. Every program is grand and for the greater good. The research continues mutually assured destruction. DARPA researches a weapon, someone develops a defense, DARPA develops a defense, someone creates a weapon.
Great stories though, and fascinating technology. The book gives you a ton of ideas and makes you fall in love with creativity and innovation.
Great stories though, and fascinating technology. The book gives you a ton of ideas and makes you fall in love with creativity and innovation.
January 30, 2011
Of course, there are a lot of acronyms in this book - so many that they're hard to remember even after they're written out. Plus a lot of people to keep straight...The way that DARPA is run is interesting. I wouldn't know if the management style makes it better at what it does than other organizations are, but according to this book, it has a lot of accomplishments. I think those accomplishments could have been gone through at less length, and an organization chart for DARPA would have been helpful.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews