Brenda Greene (Author of America's Girl)

Brenda Greene rated a book liked it Fly, Wild Swans: My Mother, Myself and China by Jung Chang	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Fly wild swans begins with a long recap of moments from prior books, highlighting personal details of Jung's relationship with her mother, with reference to her father, grandparents and sisters. It is part hagiography, as her mother's action or inact ...more
May 11, 2026 02:51AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Fly, Wild Swans by Jung Chang. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Fly, Wild Swans by Jung Chang <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Brenda Greene rated a book it was amazing Tales from the Ant World by Edward O. Wilson	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Charming.
Apr 11, 2026 12:49PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Tales from the Ant World by Edward O. Wilson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Tales from the Ant World by Edward O. Wilson <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Brenda Greene rated a book liked it The Map Thief by Michael Blanding (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The book starts with a list of characters that Blanding interviewed or knew about. These are the dealers, libraries, police, collectors and Smiley's family and friends, the Sebec (where he lived) and the law. He also lists mapmakers by nationality an ...more
Apr 04, 2026 02:14AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Map Thief by Michael Blanding. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Map Thief by Michael Blanding <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Brenda Greene rated a book liked it The Matter of Everything: Twelve Experiments that Changed Our World by Suzie Sheehy	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A history of experimental particle physics celebrating the hidden engineers, technicians, early researchers and women scientists. The experiments are the cathode ray tube, gold foil experiment (taught in schools and invented by Rutherford), photoelec ...more
Mar 19, 2026 07:07PM · like · see review
Brenda Greene rated a book really liked it 36 Islands: In Search of the Hidden Wonders of the Lake District and a Few Other Things Too by Robert Twigger	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A charming book exploring the lake district while reflecting on the life and books written by Arthur Ransom. Twiggers tries to capture, like Ransome did, that first time innocence of childhood, fantasy and exploration. He wonders if our childhood did ...more
Mar 10, 2026 09:35PM · like · see review
Brenda Greene rated a book really liked it The Basis of Everything: Rutherford, Oliphant and the Coming of the Atomic Bomb by Andrew Ramsey	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The childhood, early and late career of New Zealand born Rutherford and Australian born Oliphant are described. Similarities form the basis of a close friendship. Rutherford is a brilliant, decorated physicist and chemist and Oliphant a gifted techni ...more
Mar 01, 2026 10:20AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Basis of Everything by Andrew Ramsey. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Basis of Everything by Andrew Ramsey <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Brenda Greene rated a book it was ok When the Earth Was Green: Plants, Animals, and Evolution's Greatest Romance by Riley Black	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A book suited to early adult readers or to read aloud at bedtime to younger children. A series of short chapters begins with a small naive line drawing reflecting one main plant and (mostly) animal from different places and stages in chronological de ...more
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Brenda Greene rated a book liked it Oceans Rise Empires Fall: Why Geopolitics Hastens Climate Catastrophe by Gerard Toal	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oceans rise, empires fall shows how geopolitics hastens the climate catastrophe we are in. The first part of the book attempts to define geopolitics. It's a multifaceted, changing thing comprising the legal territories nations live in and defend as w ...more
Feb 07, 2026 04:09PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Oceans Rise Empires Fall by Gerard Toal. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Oceans Rise Empires Fall by Gerard Toal <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Brenda Greene rated a book it was ok Overshoot: How the World Surrendered to Climate Breakdown by Andreas Malm	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The book is divided into 3 sections. I gave up before finishing the first section. The first section "the limit is not a limit" gives an overview of the politics around the Paris 2015 agreement, the debates about 1.5 or 2 degrees Celcius, the hope of ...more
Jan 11, 2026 05:13PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Overshoot by Andreas Malm. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Overshoot by Andreas Malm <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Brenda Greene rated a book it was ok Pillars of Creation: How the James Webb Telescope Unlocked the Secrets of the Cosmos by Richard Panek	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apart from a colour image of the Pillars of Creation in the centre of the book (there are 8 pages of stunning images of the Universe from JWT), there is nothing in this book about the Pillars of Creation. Of these images, only one is described in the ...more
Jan 08, 2026 12:46AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Pillars of Creation by Richard Panek. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Pillars of Creation by Richard Panek <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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Fly, Wild Swans: My Mother, Myself and China
by Jung Chang

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Fly wild swans begins with a long recap of moments from prior books, highlighting personal details of Jung's relationship with her mother, with reference to her father, grandparents and sisters. It is part hagiography, as her mother's action or inact Fly wild swans begins with a long recap of moments from prior books, highlighting personal details of Jung's relationship with her mother, with reference to her father, grandparents and sisters. It is part hagiography, as her mother's action or inaction are recounted with hindsight and gentle but complex interpretation.

Jung then decribes her relationhip with her second husband, Jon, the love of her life. The rest of the book is a behind the scenes look at how she and Jon researched their Mao biography. Jung and Jon meet and interview hundreds of witnesses, perpetrators and victims of atrocities. She recounts snippets and interprets their motives. Jung describes the extensive archival research and travel they undertook. There is no doubting their thoroughness.

While the story is a chronology of Jung and Jon's research, what they found and her response to it (which are largely memories detailed in earlier books) is not chronological. This makes the narrative hard to piece together but is a testament to how difficult it is to uncover facts in China and to create a truthful narrative. Naysayers obviously did and do not like this, but offered no counterfactual evidence.

Jung, of course, is aware of this risk but takes it because the political landscape changed with China's WTO agreement. Additionally, many people exposed as tyrants were long dead. Jung accepts the risk and the consequences.

Jung's mother understood her daughter's biases and her own. The story would have been more powerful if Jung had shown how her emotional landscape changed with time, distance, education and change of culture. The westernisation of China from a personal viewpoint would be much more interesting than this book.

Jung and China may be the wild swans in flight after the cultural revolution fell with Mao's demise, however as Jung has changed her name from its original "swan" meaning and as China reverts back to Maoist policies, it seems a short flight. Her mother, the third swan, flies briefly to see her daughter outside China but never escapes her tightly controlled culture. In the end, there are no flying swans, just sadness.

The revisionist nature of the book and focus on the writing process means that the personal stories of modern China are largely lacking. Jung spends a lot of time reflecting on the past instead of showing what is happening in the modern era. She could have excluded family members to protect them and interviewed Chinese who fled China by keeping their names anonymous. This approach would have been more consistent with her prior books and allowed her to keep emotional distance.

Jung, of course, writes well and convincingly but the book is not a continuation of the prior two books. If you enjoy behind the scenes glimpses of the writing process and what Jung felt when revisiting China and do not expect a powerful insight into modern China you may enjoy this book. ...more

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Tales from the Ant World
by Edward O. Wilson

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Charming.

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The Map Thief
by Michael Blanding (Goodreads Author)

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The book starts with a list of characters that Blanding interviewed or knew about. These are the dealers, libraries, police, collectors and Smiley's family and friends, the Sebec (where he lived) and the law. He also lists mapmakers by nationality an ...more

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The Matter of Everything by Suzie Sheehy

The Matter of Everything: Twelve Experiments that Changed Our World
by Suzie Sheehy

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A history of experimental particle physics celebrating the hidden engineers, technicians, early researchers and women scientists.

The experiments are the cathode ray tube, gold foil experiment (taught in schools and invented by Rutherford), photoelec A history of experimental particle physics celebrating the hidden engineers, technicians, early researchers and women scientists.

The experiments are the cathode ray tube, gold foil experiment (taught in schools and invented by Rutherford), photoelectric effect, cloud chambers, particle accelerators, cyclotron, synchrotron, then quite a few other experiments which aren't described in much detail, mega detectors (again lots of experiments), linear accelerators (more experiments), tevatrons (mainly superconducting magnets but the experiments to create this are not described) and the large Hadron collider (no experiments are described, but what was found is).

The chapter on "particle physics goes large" breaks from the stated book structure and can be (maybe should have been) skipped. It is very techno jargon heavy and assumes interest in the discoveries of many new particles. A list or table and a quick summary would be better.

The number of particles just kept increasing as energy input increased with no end in sight or context provided. Do particles travel like this in space? Are these experiments replicating reality? Sure we will never know why, but so far it doesn't seem we are any closer to how the matter of everything works. Sure we can do fancy tech things and save lives but that is not the purpose of the research.

The unforseen relevance of the experiments (except nuetrinos) to archaeology, technology and medicine is unappreciated and far reaching. Since medicine is a focus, it would help to have a basic understanding of cell biology i.e. mRNA, ribosomes and what "code" means with respect to virus proteins as these terms are casually mentioned with no explanation as to what they are.

It would also help to understand some physics such as the atom, the standard model of particles, E=mc^2, quantum wave theory, radiation and meV. Or at least be prepared to read around each topic and find diagrams or images of the invented technology. A glossary of scientific terms and relevant online links and diagrams or images feels like a gap in the book.

Suzie writes well and is super enthusiastic. The chapters have a clear narrative and focus with underlying themes of the increasing need for more particle science investment and collaboration over time. Each chapter has a summary of the main idea and progress made as well as a very human story.

You, me and all matter is, like space, mostly empty. Time, distance, mass and kinetic energy, like atomic particles, appear to be interchangeable relative to each other. Reality is astounding and not what you think it is. I would have liked more on this aspect instead of on the contribution to the economy justifies the investment aspect.

The last chapter should be a summary of the twelve experiments that changed the world, the unseen engineers etc, the change from small to big science, the tech advances but also the fundamental understanding of reality (which is a big gap).

There is a complementary you tube lecture where Suzie demonstrates some of the experiments with original apparatus, which is pretty cool.

Good book, it is more a history of "look what particle physicists have done", than 12 experiments, but no matter (pun intended). ...more

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36 Islands: In Search of the Hidden Wonders of the Lake District and a Few Other Things Too
by Robert Twigger

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A charming book exploring the lake district while reflecting on the life and books written by Arthur Ransom. Twiggers tries to capture, like Ransome did, that first time innocence of childhood, fantasy and exploration. He wonders if our childhood did A charming book exploring the lake district while reflecting on the life and books written by Arthur Ransom. Twiggers tries to capture, like Ransome did, that first time innocence of childhood, fantasy and exploration. He wonders if our childhood did not contain these essential features then for our own health it is not too late to reclaim it.

Twiggers states he wants to explore forks in life's roads however this intent seems lost to romanticism about island exploration on his part. The islands of the lake district are tiny, completely overrun and stripped of any proper wildness by people and history. There is not really that much courage, determination etc needed to navigate such forks in this account.

There are anecdotes about notable events, such as the flooding of settlements to form a lake, its subsequent use as a water reservoir, jet boat speed records. Aggresive pooing swans, former fish stocks, shitty shags, a golden eagle, some deer tracks, birch and other trees get a mention. It is a peopled landscape and it is people he tries to avoid.

Twiggers invokes a sense of escape, exploration, reflection and even philosophy. It would help to have read and enjoyed "Swallows and Amazons", or pehaps to have visited the Lake district so as to see either in a different light. It's easy armchair travel illustrated with child like maps of each island.

There are disjuncts to the island narrative. For a man who has undertaken more extreme adventures, Twiggers is strangely neurotic. His quasi parallel journey with Ransome leads to deep analysis of the latter's life more akin to an English essay than for a book on islands. The link between islands as bolt holes on which to survive inevitable societal collapse during war is tenuous as the Lakes islands had no military purpose.

Twigger's expositions on the state of society, while accurate, seems more like a rant at sheep as he concludes that nothing really changes due to our short life spans with respect to earth system change. Intense and lengthy internal monologues like this are not balanced with the action that he states is needed to enjoy life.

Perhaps Twiggers wants to compare the childhood dream he has of re-enacting the Swallows camping adventures to his own and Ransome's reality where the "fork" and "childhood" are blasted to smiterheens by potential and real war?

Twiggers reflects on wars and the climate crisis but fails to link fossil fuel use to the rapidly diminishing native wildlife of Britain or its concurrent alarming food insecurity. He mentions, for example how Lyme disease is spreading due to increasing tic populations in the Lake district but simply ignores the cause.

36 islands it is, in the footsteps of Ransome, a gentleman's adventure with occasional reflections from other historical literary giants who visited the area with the environment mia. ...more

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The Basis of Everything by Andrew Ramsey

The Basis of Everything: Rutherford, Oliphant and the Coming of the Atomic Bomb
by Andrew Ramsey

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The childhood, early and late career of New Zealand born Rutherford and Australian born Oliphant are described. Similarities form the basis of a close friendship. Rutherford is a brilliant, decorated physicist and chemist and Oliphant a gifted techni The childhood, early and late career of New Zealand born Rutherford and Australian born Oliphant are described. Similarities form the basis of a close friendship. Rutherford is a brilliant, decorated physicist and chemist and Oliphant a gifted technician.

Rutherford brings the world into the nuclear age wih now classic experiments which are breathtaking in their genius. He holds his own with other brilliant scientists and meets many of them including Curie and Einstein. It's an extraordinary career of a nice, affable, down to earth man.

Rutherford notices that Curie's hands are deformed and her grip shaking and Ramsey outlines the casual way in which people working with isotopes could be electrocuted or poisoned. The lack of any concern about safety or security seems wilfully ignorant but is not commented on further.

Rutherford dies an early preventable death and Oliphant, now leading his own lab, is captured by the WWII effort. As his love for Germany flips to hatred and a surety that Hitler is developing an atomic bomb, Oliphant heads to the United States to expound his fears and a possible nuclear bomb solution. He apparently believes that such a weapon will be used by the military as a deterrent. Lawrence, a close collaborator and friend, champions his case and the Manhatten project is born. Oliphant works on the project but not with Oppenheimer, who is glancingly mentioned.

Ramsey is a wonderful writer, creating pace, drama, a realistic sense of place and relationships. He places focus on turning points such as Oliphant's friendships with Rutherford and Lawrence (about whom little is said), Rutherford's reluctance to "go big" and the timing of USA's commitment to a bomb.

Sometimes these foci don't seem justified. Much is made, for example, of the timing of the USA's bomb commitment, but as Germany surrendered before its use, the bomb did not win the War. Ramsey makes a case that if Pearl Harbour had happened earlier, no commitment to make a bomb would have been made. This makes the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki seem like an afterthought.

Oliphant rejects his role in the splitting of the atom, placing it firmly in Rutherford's hands. Guilt is the inferred motivation. Strangely Oppenheimer is not mentioned. Nor is there any definition of splitting an atom. Rutherford certainly chipped bits of the nucleus but Oppenheimer cleaved it in two (although this is not mentioned). It is inferred that Rutherford knew fission was possible but would not go down that research path. This part of the book is confused and needed to be untangled more.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and sometimes it is overused to maintain intrigue or suspense or a sense of destiny. Apart from that, the book's clear focus on two men critical to the new field of nuclear research is a very good, well written human story. ...more

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When the Earth Was Green: Plants, Animals, and Evolution's Greatest Romance
by Riley Black

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A book suited to early adult readers or to read aloud at bedtime to younger children. A series of short chapters begins with a small naive line drawing reflecting one main plant and (mostly) animal from different places and stages in chronological de ...more

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Oceans Rise Empires Fall: Why Geopolitics Hastens Climate Catastrophe
by Gerard Toal

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Oceans rise, empires fall shows how geopolitics hastens the climate catastrophe we are in. The first part of the book attempts to define geopolitics. It's a multifaceted, changing thing comprising the legal territories nations live in and defend as w Oceans rise, empires fall shows how geopolitics hastens the climate catastrophe we are in. The first part of the book attempts to define geopolitics. It's a multifaceted, changing thing comprising the legal territories nations live in and defend as well as the global resources we want to use it keep economically viable. Toal notes nations focus on the former and ignore the impacts of on earth systems/resources to our own detriment.

Toal then describes the history of geopolitics which, like the capitalism on which it is based, and the geographers who theorised about it, ignores the reality and constraints of earth's systems/resources.

Toal describes game theory as a basis for political decision making and shows that defence of territory is always valued more than earth system/resources. Consequently, as defence requires constant improving communication, energy and technology to outcompete other nations (utilities that have been ignored by geographers), the human race is heading for collapse.

Other sources of inertia are social belief systems set around individual freedoms. Any constraints to live within our means are viewed as an attack on the right to freedom and ignored. Societal values such as freedom, equity are valued more than the earth systems/resources that sustain life.

Toal paints a compelling picture of the structure of nations and nationhood and provide examples where political decisions are interpreted using the geopolitical framework and game theory. He shows that geopolitics and earth systems are largely chaotic but does not discuss emergence. He feels we just have to cooperate. Maybe he wants to end optimistically, however there is nothing in his book that supports this will ever happen.

The language is very academic and at times introduces concepts that are not explained or incidental. A lot of big words are used. Concepts are often repeated using different sets of big words. He overcomplicates basic things. The style is typical of social geographers - a lot of talk about the so called (revisionist) geopolitical theory that Toal demonstrably shows to be a poor predictor of reality.

Although early geographers theorising about geopolitics are shown to be wrong headed, and even as politicians adopted their world views, Toal continues to use game theory and highlights its failings in the face of climate catastrophe. This adherence to a theme makes the book more an academic essay on historical geopolitical theory rather than a modern construct and call for action.

Then, after describing all this, Toal asks "Are the celebrated ideals of modernity themselves superstructures built upon unsustainable economic practices and therefore drivers of climate catastrophe?" pg 152. Having undermined the facts and his entire premise he turns to technology.

The book should outline a modern theory of geopolitics that can be adopted by decision makers and/or used to make predictions. Instead it feels like geographers, economists and politicians have set humanity on a doomed trajectory while rejecting science and ecology. Toal at least could have painted a vision of a world with a realistic value set.

What Toal shows is that we have brought the climate catastrophe on ourselves and will continue this momentum due to the geopolitical structures and capitalism we have contructed underpinned by fossil fuel use. We voted in the current fascist leaders, so we all have to reassess our priorities. Collective action is a fantasy. Collective suicide is well underway. ...more

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Overshoot: How the World Surrendered to Climate Breakdown
by Andreas Malm

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The book is divided into 3 sections. I gave up before finishing the first section.

The first section "the limit is not a limit" gives an overview of the politics around the Paris 2015 agreement, the debates about 1.5 or 2 degrees Celcius, the hope of The book is divided into 3 sections. I gave up before finishing the first section.

The first section "the limit is not a limit" gives an overview of the politics around the Paris 2015 agreement, the debates about 1.5 or 2 degrees Celcius, the hope of enforceable targets quickly lost by USA's Obama administration and a block of countries dedicated to coal, which was excluded from CoP's remit.

The resulting "compromise" lead to polarised camps, defeatists believing 1.5 was long dead and voluntariasm believing any slowing of emissions was worth pursuing. The tensions between these political view points and between the Global north and south (maybe this means the Pacific nations?) is mulled over ad nauseum.

The CoP word fest did nothing except perhaps ignite placed based (read small scale) protest that delayed some new fossil fuel infrastructure. A couple of protests were briefly mentioned however these were largely ineffective and ignored by decision makers. A case is made for greater protest, such as during Greta Thunberg's leadership, but why this has subsided is not explored. Parallels were drawn with Marxism and societal protest but as climate action had few things in common with this unsuccesful movement it is unclear why this was discussed.

Overshoot is described as stemming from oversimplified economic models adopted by the EU and IPCC possibly around the 1990's. An imagined carbon capture system meant that in theory overshoot beyond 2 degrees was ok. A lot of the Paris 2015 politics from the prior chapters was reinterpreted, which was confusing. The carbon capture system was treated as if it were real and the IPCC concluded that carbon capture only worked if emissions were reduced by 2030. Subsequently, net zero goals by 2050 were adopted by many countries, but not China or India.

Some economist came up with earth's optimal temperature at 6 degrees above pre industrial. How or when that happened, who this was or why that mattered (did the UN agree?) is not explained. Nevertheless this unknown paper/report forms the basis of a whole chapter argument for it, then against it. Then Marxism is explored again. Then some theoretical philosophical argument is imagined based on hidden assumptions. What was the point of this?

The authors show time and again that current capitalist economics do not reflect reality and society's dedication to business as usual. What is real is the GDP/fossil fuel link. The lack of public discourse and media about climate change needs a chapter. This is a big gap.

The writing jumps about with no clear time frames. The fourth wall is repeatedly broken by references to aspects that are to be explored later. The authors opinions and musings on aspects of political decision making are profuse. Jarring incomplete and nonsensical sentences abound - here is an example from the start of a sub chapter on pg 79 " If these were several ethical objections and one historiographical, most damming for programmatic overshoot, however, might be a psychological observation."

A better structure for the book would be the history of the ozone hole agreement, what made it work, the genesis of the Kyoto agreement and the beginnings of the Paris Agreement, most of which is covered in Chapt 1. Further chapters should set the scene of geopolitical positions that underpin the Paris Agreement. There should be a chapter on the USA (north and south), Obama's position, Bidens and Trump's. A chapter on China and India is needed. Then one on island nations. This whole section should set the scene. The next section should be on political economic systems in relation to climate including a history from Marxism to neoliberalism. The 3rd section should be on the politics of the Paris agreement, including protests, without the authors opinions as readers can be trusted to form their own opinions. The last section should be on next steps.

So how did the world surrender to climate breakdown? Well, that was obvious from the start. No country legally committed to 1.5 to 2 degrees above pre industrial average land surface temperatures. It went all downhill from there. This book, like the intermidible CoPs, is, as Greta Thurnberg succinctly put it, "blah blah blah". ...more

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Pillars of Creation: How the James Webb Telescope Unlocked the Secrets of the Cosmos
by Richard Panek

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Apart from a colour image of the Pillars of Creation in the centre of the book (there are 8 pages of stunning images of the Universe from JWT), there is nothing in this book about the Pillars of Creation. Of these images, only one is described in the Apart from a colour image of the Pillars of Creation in the centre of the book (there are 8 pages of stunning images of the Universe from JWT), there is nothing in this book about the Pillars of Creation. Of these images, only one is described in the text, and that was brief and interesting.

There are other interesting snippets about how JWT improved understanding and detail of known or suspected features of the cosmos, but it is a stretch to say the book describes how it unlocked secrets.

These snippets are embedded in personal stories of some of the scientists involved, the meetings they attended and presentations they gave. These key players feel like cardboard figures.

There is no sense of the personal triumphs or sacrifices, nor a clear narrative of the discoveries. A better structure for the book would have been chapters on a noteworthy scientists or alternatively chapters on key achievements of JWT. Or maybe a comparison of what Hubble found and how JWT improved on that.

There is a repeated theme of historical context, sometimes going back to Galileo. We are told about grinding lenses, increasing lens size, technological advances with bouncing photons off mirrors, a bit about the Hubble telescope, spectroscopy, infrared, the search for water, the search for dust, the search for life.

There is potential, of course, for JWT to usher in a new astronomy or physics, challenging existing theories and supporting others. But as not much has been published yet, while we wait, we can go and look at the data ourselves.

Panek is excited by the hypothetical however after reading about how JWT data scientists discover things, the excitement falls flat. The required complex computer analysis is repeated several times in a chapter and again in other chapters. "Is the signal there?" "Yes". A paper is written.

We are given a once over lightly construction and launch of JWT, the extraordinary time and cost it took.Yes, there were barriers, numerous complex moving parts, yes JWT was perhaps almost mothballed, yes JWT is a triumph of technology, nothing was linear, it was all novel and creative and exceptional and a politician saved the day.

But what about the Pillars of Creation? Where are these vast dust clouds? How are stars forming? What is the chemical composition of new stars? Why was the amount of dust in the cosmos underestimated so significantly? The text invites these questions and none are answered.

It's a patchy, jumbled mix of very technical language, basic explanations, snippets of events, graphs of transits, diagrams of water vapour, wow moments, history. Somehow, in the end, the book is a bit too much and delivers way too little. ...more

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	America's Girl: The Incredible Story of How Swimmer Gertrude Ederle Changed the Nation by Tim Dahlberg, Mary Ederle Ward, Brenda Greene (Goodreads Author) 3.81 avg rating — 73 ratings — published 2009 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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