JOEL'S 50 BOOKS READ IN 2017

[Joel]

19. by David Baron
Finish date: September 14, 2017
Genre: History/Science
Rating: B+
Review:
I read this book after returning from my own total solar eclipse expedition in Missouri. I spent a couple of days driving each way, and booked hotels on Starwood Hotels’s website. I found an ideal spot to view it using NASA’s interactive online map – I got exactly 2 minutes and 39.6 seconds of totality, and checked the satellite weather on my smartphone with The Weather Network app. A hundred and thirty-nine years ago, however, such an expedition would have taken months to plan, required tons of equipment to be hauled, and would have taken you to the edge of the civilized world.

This book tells the story of the Great American Eclipse of 1878, which was viewed by several great scientists: Thomas Edison, Samuel Pierpont Langley, and several other characters who should be a lot more famous than they are: Maria Mitchell, advocate for women in science and one of the most respected woman astronomers of her day; Cleveland Abbe, who practically invented the science of weather prediction; James Craig Watson, one of the greatest asteroid hunters in America; and the British scientist Norman Lockyer, the discoverer of helium and founder of the journal Nature.

Along the way, we learn about the hunt for the planet Vulcan – which wasn’t proven to be non-existent until Einstein came up with his General Theory of Relativity; Thomas Edison’s celebrity status, even before inventing the light bulb, as well as some of his flops; and the Meeker Massacre, in which the Ute Indians killed the US Indian Agent who was trying to force the hunter-gatherer tribe into a farming lifestyle, and kidnapped his wife and daughter. I was already aware of the science discussed in the book, but the author is clear and concise in explaining it, and presents lots of original historical research to make the story exciting. It is not a very long book at all, and packs a lot into its two hundred and fifty pages of main text and beautiful illustrations and color pictures.

[Dimitri]

Will you also post your review publicly? It is very much to the point & positive.

[Joel]

Dimitri wrote: "Will you also post your review publicly? It is very much to the point & positive."

Thanks Dimitri! I also posted the review to the book publicly.

[Bentley, Group Founder, Leader, Chief]

Joel - here is your new 2018 thread for 50 Books Read in 2018 - here is the link - it is ready to go:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...