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Collisions: A Physicist's Journey from Hiroshima to the Death of the Dinosaurs
From the acclaimed biographer of Buckminster Fuller, a riveting biography of the Nobel Prize–winning physicist who became the greatest scientific detective of the twentieth century.
To his admirers, Luis W. Alvarez was the most accomplished, inventive, and versatile experimental physicist of his generation. During World War II, he achieved major breakthroughs in radar, played a key role in the Manhattan Project, and served as the lead scientific observer at the bombing of Hiroshima. In the decades that followed, he revolutionized particle physics with the hydrogen bubble chamber, developed an innovative X-ray method to search for hidden chambers in the Pyramid of Chephren, and shot melons at a rifle range to test his controversial theory about the Kennedy assassination. At the very end of his life, he collaborated with his son to demonstrate that an asteroid impact was responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs, igniting a furious debate that raged for years after his death.
Alvarez was also a combative and relentlessly ambitious figure—widely feared by his students and associates—who testified as a government witness at the security hearing that destroyed the public career of his friend and colleague J. Robert Oppenheimer. In the first comprehensive biography of Alvarez, Alec Nevala-Lee vividly recounts one of the most compelling untold stories in modern science, a narrative overflowing with ideas, lessons, and anecdotes that will fascinate anyone with an interest in how genius and creativity collide with the problems of an increasingly challenging world.
To his admirers, Luis W. Alvarez was the most accomplished, inventive, and versatile experimental physicist of his generation. During World War II, he achieved major breakthroughs in radar, played a key role in the Manhattan Project, and served as the lead scientific observer at the bombing of Hiroshima. In the decades that followed, he revolutionized particle physics with the hydrogen bubble chamber, developed an innovative X-ray method to search for hidden chambers in the Pyramid of Chephren, and shot melons at a rifle range to test his controversial theory about the Kennedy assassination. At the very end of his life, he collaborated with his son to demonstrate that an asteroid impact was responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs, igniting a furious debate that raged for years after his death.
Alvarez was also a combative and relentlessly ambitious figure—widely feared by his students and associates—who testified as a government witness at the security hearing that destroyed the public career of his friend and colleague J. Robert Oppenheimer. In the first comprehensive biography of Alvarez, Alec Nevala-Lee vividly recounts one of the most compelling untold stories in modern science, a narrative overflowing with ideas, lessons, and anecdotes that will fascinate anyone with an interest in how genius and creativity collide with the problems of an increasingly challenging world.
352 pages, Hardcover
Published June 10, 2025
73 people are currently reading
3008 people want to read
About the author
Alec Nevala-Lee
35 books123 followersI was born in Castro Valley, California and graduated from Harvard College with a bachelor's degree in classics. My book Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction (Dey Street Books / HarperCollins) was a Hugo and Locus Awards finalist and named one of the best books of the year by The Economist. I'm also the author of the novels The Icon Thief, City of Exiles, and Eternal Empire, all published by Penguin; my short stories have appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Lightspeed Magazine, and The Year's Best Science Fiction; and I've written for such publications as the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Slate, The Daily Beast, Salon, Longreads, The Rumpus, and the San Francisco Bay Guardian. My latest book is Inventor of the Future: The Visionary Life of Buckminster Fuller, which was released by Dey Street Books / HarperCollins on August 2, 2022. I live with my wife and daughter in Oak Park, Illinois.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
August 31, 2025
There are several biographies of people titled "The Last Man Who Knew Everything." This enjoyable, interesting and thought provoking biography of Luis Alvarez could have been titled "The Last Man Who Figured Out Everything."
Alvarez started his career at the onset of big science, working for Ernest Lawrence and then the Manhattan Project. After that he constantly reinvented himself, making key innovations in the development of the bubble chamber which itself helped advance big science by creating an almost factory-mechanization process to particle discovery. But then he went on to other topics including trying to use cosmic radiation to discover new chambers in the pyramids (his method worked but he chose the wrong period), extensive work disproving conspiracy theories on the Kennedy assassination, ideas on balloon-mounted particle detectors, and ultimately his work with his son establishing that the dinosaurs were killed by an asteroid strike (a story that is well told by his son in T. Rex and the Crater of Doom).
What makes the biography so fascinating is the many issues it wrestles with. One is Alvarez was a difficult personality, thin skinned, strong ego--but also someone who defended some of these traits as helping to advance science and who was more interested in interacting with and developing young talent than resting on his laurels. He also did things that went against the grain of where much of the science community was, including being on a plane to watch the nuclear detonations in Japan, subsequently defending the bombing when many of the key people on the Manhattan Project felt otherwise, testifying against Oppenheimer in the security clearance hearings, and voting for Richard Nixon.
Most interestingly, the story is about relentless creativity, the importance of the choice of a problem, moving on when something gets routine, and how outsiders can bring insights that insiders miss (as late as 1984 only a small minority of paleontologists accepted his asteroid theory of dinosaur extinction). Plus error correction--the biography is unsparing in exploring errors and dead ends, many of which themselves turned out to be fruitful. Ultimately, like the best science biographies, it is a study in how ideas come about and advance.
Alvarez started his career at the onset of big science, working for Ernest Lawrence and then the Manhattan Project. After that he constantly reinvented himself, making key innovations in the development of the bubble chamber which itself helped advance big science by creating an almost factory-mechanization process to particle discovery. But then he went on to other topics including trying to use cosmic radiation to discover new chambers in the pyramids (his method worked but he chose the wrong period), extensive work disproving conspiracy theories on the Kennedy assassination, ideas on balloon-mounted particle detectors, and ultimately his work with his son establishing that the dinosaurs were killed by an asteroid strike (a story that is well told by his son in T. Rex and the Crater of Doom).
What makes the biography so fascinating is the many issues it wrestles with. One is Alvarez was a difficult personality, thin skinned, strong ego--but also someone who defended some of these traits as helping to advance science and who was more interested in interacting with and developing young talent than resting on his laurels. He also did things that went against the grain of where much of the science community was, including being on a plane to watch the nuclear detonations in Japan, subsequently defending the bombing when many of the key people on the Manhattan Project felt otherwise, testifying against Oppenheimer in the security clearance hearings, and voting for Richard Nixon.
Most interestingly, the story is about relentless creativity, the importance of the choice of a problem, moving on when something gets routine, and how outsiders can bring insights that insiders miss (as late as 1984 only a small minority of paleontologists accepted his asteroid theory of dinosaur extinction). Plus error correction--the biography is unsparing in exploring errors and dead ends, many of which themselves turned out to be fruitful. Ultimately, like the best science biographies, it is a study in how ideas come about and advance.
October 15, 2025
COLLISIONS is Nevala-Lee's biography of Luis Alvarez, the American physicist and Nobel Prize Laureate. Alvarez was a fascinating man and COLLISIONS is a very worthwhile account of his life. It was published earlier this year.
After receiving his PhD from the University of Chicago, Alvarez went to work at the University of California in Berkeley. When WWII began, Alvarez was asked to serve a leading role in developing the allies’ superior radar technology credited with winning the war in Europe against the Nazis.
Alvarez then joined the Manhattan Project in progress. He is credited with solving a critical problem in the triggering technology used in the atomic bombs that ended the war with Japan.
It is sometimes said that radar won the war, and the atomic bomb ended it. Alvarez made important contributions to both of these technologies.
After the war, Alvarez joined Edward Teller in testifying against the appointment of Robert Oppenheimer to lead America’s team developing the hydrogen bomb. Alvarez and Oppenheimer, who had been friends before the hearings, seem to have reconciled later before Oppenheimer’s death.
In his senior years, Alvarez proposed the theory that the mass extinction of the dinosaurs was caused by a large meteor colliding with the earth. We now know the meteor landed in the Yucatan peninsula of southern Mexico and Alvarez’ theory is regarded as the best explanation for how the dinosaurs perished from our planet.
Before the war and throughout his career, Alvarez was regarded as one of the most ingenious particle physicists in the world. He was a lab physicist, not a theoretical physicist. His work in his field won him the Nobel Prize for physics in 1968.
Alvarez’ story is remarkable and enlightening. I recommend COLLISIONS very warmly for all readers.
After receiving his PhD from the University of Chicago, Alvarez went to work at the University of California in Berkeley. When WWII began, Alvarez was asked to serve a leading role in developing the allies’ superior radar technology credited with winning the war in Europe against the Nazis.
Alvarez then joined the Manhattan Project in progress. He is credited with solving a critical problem in the triggering technology used in the atomic bombs that ended the war with Japan.
It is sometimes said that radar won the war, and the atomic bomb ended it. Alvarez made important contributions to both of these technologies.
After the war, Alvarez joined Edward Teller in testifying against the appointment of Robert Oppenheimer to lead America’s team developing the hydrogen bomb. Alvarez and Oppenheimer, who had been friends before the hearings, seem to have reconciled later before Oppenheimer’s death.
In his senior years, Alvarez proposed the theory that the mass extinction of the dinosaurs was caused by a large meteor colliding with the earth. We now know the meteor landed in the Yucatan peninsula of southern Mexico and Alvarez’ theory is regarded as the best explanation for how the dinosaurs perished from our planet.
Before the war and throughout his career, Alvarez was regarded as one of the most ingenious particle physicists in the world. He was a lab physicist, not a theoretical physicist. His work in his field won him the Nobel Prize for physics in 1968.
Alvarez’ story is remarkable and enlightening. I recommend COLLISIONS very warmly for all readers.
September 30, 2025
Inevitably, I wasn't going to like Collisions as much as Astounding, Alec Nevale-Lee's masterwork joint-biography of four figures in science fiction history. This one is a biography of the physicist Luis W. Alvarez, a person I hadn’t heard of in a field I’m clueless about.
Despite my lack of passion for the topic, I still got a lot out of Collisions.
Born in 1911, Alvarez lived through, and helped propel, many big developments in 20th century physics, and beyond. He participated in the Manhattan project, won the Nobel for discoveries made with the hydrogen bubble chamber he helped to build, and, late in life, teamed up with his son to pioneer the asteroid theory for the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Given all that, Collisions focuses on the science to a far greater degree than Astounding focused on its subjects’ science fiction. There are pages and pages describing experiments, but little on Alvarez’s personal life. This probably made for a more interesting book, but it did miss out on the depth of character study that Astounding conducted on John W. Campbell.
It also meant that I couldn’t understand many passages. Fortunately, my lack of scientific background made me focus more on Alvarez’s methods. From his subject’s life story, Nevala-Lee skillfully narrates the discipline’s transition from playground for versatile geniuses to factory for skillful team leaders and fundraisers. Alvarez succeeded in both eras, victories which Nevala-Lee attributes varyingly to luck and privilege on one hand and dogged creativity and perseverance on the other.
Alvarez’s ability to abandon unsuccessful lines of inquiry and constantly innovate new ones is admirable, and a guide for creatives or researchers across disciplines. To make matters more complex, though, Nevala-Lee also examines the times when Alvarez’s ambition and strategic thinking overpowered those research ethics (a great example comes when he wades into the JFK assassination debate). This book taught me that there’s a lot more strategy and politicking to the pursuit of scientific discovery than I’d previously assumed.
More as an observer than analyst, Nevala-Lee also investigates Alvarez’s irascible personality and unsavoury aspects of his professional life, such as his lifelong defense of Hiroshima and heavy involvement in the military industrial complex.
My only more objective critique is that this novel doesn’t seem to break as much new ground as Astounding. Especially in the long section on Alvarez’s tension with J. Robert Oppenheimer and eventual testimony against him, Nevala-Lee was more filling in the blanks than writing a whole new history.
Despite my lack of passion for the topic, I still got a lot out of Collisions.
Born in 1911, Alvarez lived through, and helped propel, many big developments in 20th century physics, and beyond. He participated in the Manhattan project, won the Nobel for discoveries made with the hydrogen bubble chamber he helped to build, and, late in life, teamed up with his son to pioneer the asteroid theory for the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Given all that, Collisions focuses on the science to a far greater degree than Astounding focused on its subjects’ science fiction. There are pages and pages describing experiments, but little on Alvarez’s personal life. This probably made for a more interesting book, but it did miss out on the depth of character study that Astounding conducted on John W. Campbell.
It also meant that I couldn’t understand many passages. Fortunately, my lack of scientific background made me focus more on Alvarez’s methods. From his subject’s life story, Nevala-Lee skillfully narrates the discipline’s transition from playground for versatile geniuses to factory for skillful team leaders and fundraisers. Alvarez succeeded in both eras, victories which Nevala-Lee attributes varyingly to luck and privilege on one hand and dogged creativity and perseverance on the other.
Alvarez’s ability to abandon unsuccessful lines of inquiry and constantly innovate new ones is admirable, and a guide for creatives or researchers across disciplines. To make matters more complex, though, Nevala-Lee also examines the times when Alvarez’s ambition and strategic thinking overpowered those research ethics (a great example comes when he wades into the JFK assassination debate). This book taught me that there’s a lot more strategy and politicking to the pursuit of scientific discovery than I’d previously assumed.
More as an observer than analyst, Nevala-Lee also investigates Alvarez’s irascible personality and unsavoury aspects of his professional life, such as his lifelong defense of Hiroshima and heavy involvement in the military industrial complex.
My only more objective critique is that this novel doesn’t seem to break as much new ground as Astounding. Especially in the long section on Alvarez’s tension with J. Robert Oppenheimer and eventual testimony against him, Nevala-Lee was more filling in the blanks than writing a whole new history.
July 10, 2025
Was it a cameo appearance by this character in Nolan's Oppenheimer that secured a book deal for a biography of a Zelig-like scientist who seemed to be in all the right places, but never at the centre? Quite possibly. But there is much to appreciate about its account of a significant life on the fringes of great discoveries, and in its convincing argument about the value of dirty, practical building skills in bringing the airy dreams of the theoreticians to blazing life.
August 15, 2025
I received a digital review copy of this book from NetGalley.
Luis Alvarez was an incredibly accomplished and influential physicist and Nobel Prize winner. He was involved in some truly amazing projects regarding fundamental physics, worked extensively with the government, and even made his mark in the paleontology community. Yet, it seems like he's remained relatively unknown compared to other physicists who were less active at the same time. This book tries to remedy that by giving a comprehensive overview of his life and work. Unfortunately, the book tends to be a bit dry and bog down in some of the details, particularly when it comes to the science. I came away feeling like I read a lot about experimental setups and particle physics without having a clear idea of the big picture. Alvarez as a person comes off as an arrogant, self-absorbed asshole, who people put up with because he was such a genius. This might have been the intention of the author, but it makes the book a harder read than a lot of other scientific biographies.
Luis Alvarez was an incredibly accomplished and influential physicist and Nobel Prize winner. He was involved in some truly amazing projects regarding fundamental physics, worked extensively with the government, and even made his mark in the paleontology community. Yet, it seems like he's remained relatively unknown compared to other physicists who were less active at the same time. This book tries to remedy that by giving a comprehensive overview of his life and work. Unfortunately, the book tends to be a bit dry and bog down in some of the details, particularly when it comes to the science. I came away feeling like I read a lot about experimental setups and particle physics without having a clear idea of the big picture. Alvarez as a person comes off as an arrogant, self-absorbed asshole, who people put up with because he was such a genius. This might have been the intention of the author, but it makes the book a harder read than a lot of other scientific biographies.
July 16, 2025
The smartest guy in the room (just ask him). Overall a pretty obnoxious man. I wanted to like this book, but I couldn’t wait to finish it. Alvarez’s outside projects bordered on brilliance, but in fact he was just a fallible dilettante, just like the rest of us.
A very forgettable book.
A very forgettable book.
August 16, 2025
Good examination of Luis Alvarez’s life and work. A bit hard to follow in some parts due to the complete lack of illustrations, which would illuminate the key physics concepts under discussion. Luis was not a nice man, but he was amazing nonetheless. I wish the author would have spent a lot less time on Alvarez's life up to his work with his son on the K-T boundary and a lot more time looking at how they figured that out - that was the most interesting part of the book.
July 26, 2025
interesting collection of intimate details
I found it very interesting, but many of the stories require some understanding of, or at least familiarity and tolerance of, math and physics.
I found it very interesting, but many of the stories require some understanding of, or at least familiarity and tolerance of, math and physics.
October 24, 2025
Nevala-Lee's well written and comprehensive biography of Luis Alvarez is not without flaws but is worth the read.
The narrative is well constructed, avoids the pitfalls of jumping forward and backward through time, and presents Alvarez's perspectives on many issues. One does get an understanding of why Alvarez did what he did. The book makes an editorial choice to avoid or minimize counter-arguments, one that works here to good effect. However a reader could easily want more counter-arguments, and by design, this book would merely indicate where such arguments could be found, not relate them itself. Nevala-Lee does editorialize extensively through a DEI lens in the epilogue, something I found unnecessary given the decision not to include much counter-argument in the text itself. However the epilogue is again worth reading, as Nevala-Lee provides closure for Alvarez’s final physics problem, regarding the K-T extinction event, which is largely concluded after the physicist’s death.
Alvarez’s birth, childhood, antecedents, and early (pre-WW2) years are excellently described. During the war, Alvarez’s participation in Los Alamos in support of the Manhattan Project is obviously controversial. Nevala-Lee takes a just-the-facts approach outside of Alvarez but also explains Alvarez’s motivations. This choice works. A million other resources address the controversies of the Manhattan Project, and Nevala-Lee stays on target. I appreciated the author’s avoidance of controversies that will never be resolved. But I also understand that this may be off-putting. ‘Should we have dropped the bombs?’ questions aren’t mild. They deserve to be answered, and the author’s decisions to leave them to other material is defensible and controversial. Caveat lector.
The narration of Alvarez’s later life follows a similar path. I liked it. I appreciated leaving a fuller exploration of the Oppenheimer controversy to other material. But I understand why people would disagree.
Alvarez comes across as complex. He’s a nepo-baby, selfish, and abrasive. But he also works astonishingly hard, applies brilliance and creativity to his problems, and overcomes great difficulties. He reminds me of Achilles, someone not made for modern fiction, and Nevala-Lee’s narration paints a difficult picture. Worth reading and I enjoyed it.
The narrative is well constructed, avoids the pitfalls of jumping forward and backward through time, and presents Alvarez's perspectives on many issues. One does get an understanding of why Alvarez did what he did. The book makes an editorial choice to avoid or minimize counter-arguments, one that works here to good effect. However a reader could easily want more counter-arguments, and by design, this book would merely indicate where such arguments could be found, not relate them itself. Nevala-Lee does editorialize extensively through a DEI lens in the epilogue, something I found unnecessary given the decision not to include much counter-argument in the text itself. However the epilogue is again worth reading, as Nevala-Lee provides closure for Alvarez’s final physics problem, regarding the K-T extinction event, which is largely concluded after the physicist’s death.
Alvarez’s birth, childhood, antecedents, and early (pre-WW2) years are excellently described. During the war, Alvarez’s participation in Los Alamos in support of the Manhattan Project is obviously controversial. Nevala-Lee takes a just-the-facts approach outside of Alvarez but also explains Alvarez’s motivations. This choice works. A million other resources address the controversies of the Manhattan Project, and Nevala-Lee stays on target. I appreciated the author’s avoidance of controversies that will never be resolved. But I also understand that this may be off-putting. ‘Should we have dropped the bombs?’ questions aren’t mild. They deserve to be answered, and the author’s decisions to leave them to other material is defensible and controversial. Caveat lector.
The narration of Alvarez’s later life follows a similar path. I liked it. I appreciated leaving a fuller exploration of the Oppenheimer controversy to other material. But I understand why people would disagree.
Alvarez comes across as complex. He’s a nepo-baby, selfish, and abrasive. But he also works astonishingly hard, applies brilliance and creativity to his problems, and overcomes great difficulties. He reminds me of Achilles, someone not made for modern fiction, and Nevala-Lee’s narration paints a difficult picture. Worth reading and I enjoyed it.
August 28, 2025
From the Wikipedia article about the author:
In my opinion, the excess of technical detail is what makes the book 5 stars. Yes, diagrams would be nice...
Quite amazing that the author's formal education ends with a B.A. in Classics from Harvard. He can certainly report on the physics. It is irrelevant to me whether he "understands" it. I listened to the audiobook. Did I hear a few misspeaks? Not sure...
I notice some reviewers want more about the "eccentric character". Spare me. We got an honest biography about the important part of the brain of Alvarez.
We learn about the two-hour meditation sessions that Alvarez would productively engage in. I can't meditate, in a disciplined fashion, on science or technology issues for more than a few minutes.
While criticizing “the excess of technical detail with which it burdens the reader,” Banville concluded that the book is “a remarkable achievement.”
In my opinion, the excess of technical detail is what makes the book 5 stars. Yes, diagrams would be nice...
Quite amazing that the author's formal education ends with a B.A. in Classics from Harvard. He can certainly report on the physics. It is irrelevant to me whether he "understands" it. I listened to the audiobook. Did I hear a few misspeaks? Not sure...
I notice some reviewers want more about the "eccentric character". Spare me. We got an honest biography about the important part of the brain of Alvarez.
We learn about the two-hour meditation sessions that Alvarez would productively engage in. I can't meditate, in a disciplined fashion, on science or technology issues for more than a few minutes.
September 25, 2025
A detailed biography about a complex man who was involved in so many advanced physics projects from the development of radar in WWII to the Manhattan Project to figuring out what probably ended the age of dinosaurs. It's unfortunate that his personality conflicted with many others in the science community, tarnishing his reputation somewhat and probably preventing some of the recognition due him.
My only criticism of the book is that I have read better-written biographies, and this one had too many pages of "he did this and then he did that and then..." It was hard to follow the technical details as the subject matter switched around so frequently.
My only criticism of the book is that I have read better-written biographies, and this one had too many pages of "he did this and then he did that and then..." It was hard to follow the technical details as the subject matter switched around so frequently.
June 1, 2025
This interesting and informative biography provides a broad overview of the professional and personal lives of Luis W. Alvarez. The career of this brilliant but controversial physicist spanned from wartime innovations to groundbreaking discoveries in particle physics and paleontology. The book explores his genius, ambition, and complex legacy.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
January 4, 2026
Good writing for the actual biographic portions with some fun details. Not my favorite science descriptions. I have a PhD in chemistry and somehow couldn't follow half the experiments being talked about because it was such a discombobulating mixture of actual science and dumbed down explanations. Either describe the science fully or keep it to surface level metaphors - the mix just did not work for me at all, though maybe it would for some other readers.
December 11, 2025
John Von Neumann, Sherman Fairchild and Luis Alvarez had an outized impact on science and technology in the twentieth century, but are not as broadly recognized as they should be outside of their field. This book attempts to remedy the latter.
It is a meticulous collection of work, research and events in Alvarez' incredible life. If anything, it lacks color and character given the amazing source material — from the Manhattan project to the pyramids to the dinosaurs' extinction, to insider government consultant (as a JASON scientist), and oftentimes cranky professor, Alvarez painted a picture larger than life, but somewhat disappointingly, the feeling does not come across here.
I liked the older, Sloan Foundation sponsored biography better, but this is a more complete work where it comes to factual information. it just comes across a little dry, like a lab notebook with "why" and personal motivations omitted. This reads like the biography of a robot.
It is a meticulous collection of work, research and events in Alvarez' incredible life. If anything, it lacks color and character given the amazing source material — from the Manhattan project to the pyramids to the dinosaurs' extinction, to insider government consultant (as a JASON scientist), and oftentimes cranky professor, Alvarez painted a picture larger than life, but somewhat disappointingly, the feeling does not come across here.
I liked the older, Sloan Foundation sponsored biography better, but this is a more complete work where it comes to factual information. it just comes across a little dry, like a lab notebook with "why" and personal motivations omitted. This reads like the biography of a robot.
July 24, 2025
Intriguing man. I enjoyed the overview of the Manhattan Project and the K-T hypothesis. The book's main fault is that it is written as if the reader has a detailed knowledge of nuclear physics. One can get lost in the weeds.
November 25, 2025
It was well researched, but the author didn’t explain the physics well at all. I think it would take a physicists to do that. I knew Luie while I was in graduate school at Berkeley. The book help me put his somewhat abrasive personality in context.
September 23, 2025
Great biography!
October 6, 2025
Wonderful history of an incredible time in physics!
October 19, 2025
This is a very entertaining biography, with many insights and points to reflect on. Luis Alvarez was perhaps not the most likable character in the physics community. His decision to testify against Oppenheimer, directly disobeying Lawrence, is shown here to have been a calculated political decision, despite his pretensions otherwise. The decision paid him dividends in governmental influence and helped with his later projects.
The story of his last big project, in paleontology and geology, is so fascinating and is told so rivetingly well in this book.
The story of his last big project, in paleontology and geology, is so fascinating and is told so rivetingly well in this book.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews