BKPODPSG.RVW   990124

"Portraits of Discovery", George Greenstein, 1998, 0-471-19138-8,
U$24.95/C$34.95
%A   George Greenstein
%C   5353 Dundas Street West, 4th Floor, Etobicoke, ON   M9B 6H8
%D   1998
%G   0-471-19138-8
%I   John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
%O   U$24.95/C$34.95 416-236-4433 fax: 416-236-4448 rlangloi@wiley.com
%P   232 p.
%T   "Portraits of Discovery: Profiles in Scientific Genius"

My wife frequently asks me what I am thinking about.  It took me quite
some time to get used to the fact that someone was actually interested
in what I might be thinking about: in true male (and professional
paranoid) style I figured that there must be some ulterior motive, and
searching for it tended to derail my train of thought.  Nowadays I
generally just tell her, and she is almost invariably amused at what
bizarrity I have come up with now.  She refers to my thought as "the
scientific mind at play" and has noted more than once that the
scientific mind is never still.  Thus has developed what she promises
will be my epitaph: "The scientific mind is finally at rest."

Other than being more than you need to know about my personal life,
what does this story have to do with the book?  Well, Greenstein
starts out with a similar story about his own wonderings occasioned by
a minor news story.  He uses this as an illustration of a
characteristic of the mind of a scientist.  The portraits that he
presents are not simply portraits of the life and work of the
subjects, but of the mind and personality.

The essays are truly portraits: they do not present a full biography
or dossier of the subject, but a glimpse of the life and work, and
most of all of the character.  Those looking for details will be
disappointed: many are demonstrably lacking.  But detail is not the
important factor here, essence is.  Greenstein gives us a distillation
and opinion in these pieces: thoughts rather than additions to the
file folder.

The chapter look at Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin and Annie Jump Cannon,
Ludwig Boltzmann, George Gamow, Homi Bhabha, Luis Alvarez, Richard
Feynman, Martin Perl, and Margaret Geller and John Huchra.  There is
at least a skeletal biographical background on each, along with some
description of the major contribution or contributions.  What else is
included varies.  Explanation of the science is limited: the book
concentrates on the people.

The material is readable and entertaining.  Because of the nature of
the content, anecdotes and stories predominate, making the book a
positive joy to read.  Analysis is no necessarily deep, but is not
altogether lacking: the chapter on Annie Jump Cannon and Cecilia
Payne-Gaposchkin looks at the disgraceful attitude towards women in
the sciences that is not altogether gone even yet.

An enjoyable, interesting, and sometimes thought-provoking work.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1999   BKPODPSG.RVW   990124