Downwind might be great for hunting, says Pulitzer-winning journalist D'Antonio (Heaven On Earth, 1991, etc.), but it's definitely not the place to be if you happen to live near the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington State. In 1942, the US government chose a sere plain in eastern Washington to locate its principal nuclear-experimentation facility. Once the feds had secured the land from its residents (a nasty enough story in its own right, as D'Antonio makes clear), the scientists at Hanford managed, in less than two years, to put together the first atomic bomb. Shrouded in secrecy and exempt from outside monitoring, Hanford went its plutonium-enriching way with the advent of the cold war. But with a soaring cancer rate, infant mortality on a mean upswing, and the appearance of deformed sheep, a small number of locals demanded an accounting. Though stonewalled by the government and menaced by strangers, they kept digging, and it's their story that D'Antonio handles in thrilling fashion: how they secured secret documents, convinced the wary to speak out, and subverted the system from within (one of the principals was an inspector at the facility), all while under the watchful eye of the military establishment. What these citizens exposed was appalling: huge pools containing highly radioactive sludge; poisoned soil; vast airborne emissions of toxic gases (``in 1959, Hanford had released more radioactive iodine during every day of operation than the Three Mile Island accident had in total'')—and many of those living downwind will end up paying the highest price. Even in the notorious company of Love Canal, Three Mile Island, and Savannah River, Hanford can lay claim to the ugliest legacy of all—and D'Antonio chronicles it with such force that his pages fairly buzz with his outrage. (Eight-page b&w photo insert- -not seen)
Pub Date: Nov. 3, 1993
ISBN: 0-517-58981-8
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1993
A rather odd assortment of old and new thoughts by Harvard's most articulate feminist biologist. Versions of these commentaries by Hubbard have been published previously or are soon to be published in a variety of books and journals. There's even an op-ed piece from the New York Times and a book review from the Village Voice. Hubbard has tried to impose order on this collection by grouping the selections into three parts and prefacing each with a brief explanation of how the individual pieces in it came to be written. In the first and most cohesive part, ``The Link Between Genes, Illness, and Behavior,'' she continues her campaign against genetic research detailed in Exploding the Gene Myth (1993). Such research, she asserts, not only fosters unwelcome dependence on questionable predictions and brings huge profits to makers of genetic tests, but it also takes time, attention, and resources away from broader problems. Indeed, she questions whether society should be focusing on high-tech solutions to any health problems while illness and death are often due to such preventable causes as malnutrition, poor sanitation, and poverty. Parts two, ``Women, Science, and Power,'' and three, ``Toward a Political Understanding of Science,'' continue the theme of The Politics of Women's Biology (1990). From a feminist stance, she examines how prominent scientists reinforce opinions that oppress women, and she takes a critical look at the interplay between scientific work and cultural and political ideologies. Hubbard's message- -that science must be shaped by the needs of ordinary people, not by the profit motives of a few—is persuasive, and though not likely to halt the human genome project, the book does provide interesting material for discussion in science and women's studies courses. Taken individually, the pieces are invariably clear and sometimes even compelling, but the book as a whole lacks cohesion and seems to be unsure of its purpose.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1995
ISBN: 1-56751-041-8
Page Count: 150
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
A sure sign that Lasch's latest (and, sadly, last) book deserves wide acclaim is that it will infuriate those who cling to conventional notions of left and right. Lasch remains as relentless a critic of liberal progressivism as he is of unfettered capitalism. In many ways, this sharp and penetrating study culminates his career as a social critic of the highest order. It's an articulate challenge to the anti-democratic notions of both market and statist liberals: Both, in Lasch's view, share an exalted sense of the professional and managerial class, thereby diminishing a vital middle class in this country. Throughout his many books, Lasch (The True and Only Heaven, 1991) notes, from his early work on liberals and the Russian Revolution through his biting analysis of self- styled radical intellectuals, he has always concerned himself with one overarching question: Does democracy have a future? More so than his earlier, often naysaying books, this wonderfully vigorous and urgent set of essays makes explicit Lasch's hope for a renewal of our best democratic values: the civil arts of public discourse and debate; an educational system that stresses commonality, not difference; and, quite simply, religion—one of the best disciplines against professional arrogance. For Lasch, to accept our inability to master a God-given world is the first step to a more realistic vision for humanity. The course of our century, as he argues with great historical nuance, has steered us from a sense of the ``common good.'' Our public spaces continue to dwindle, and the language of politics, journalism, and the academy no longer invites the average person into the argument, as democracy once promised. The ``democratic habits'' of ``self-reliance, responsibility, and initiative'' have degraded into a mad rush for social mobility. The common wellsprings for a civil society- -families, neighborhoods, traditions—are now seen as impediments to financial success or as oppressive representatives of sexism and racism. This brave piece of social criticism answers Lasch's critics with a message so simple and obvious, it's sublime. (First serial to Harper's)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-393-03699-5
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
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