An impressive chronicle of human progress.
A broadcaster, historian, and lecturer at Cambridge, Falk reminds us that scholars no longer consider the centuries after the fall of Rome as the Dark Ages. Rather, “the medieval reality…is a Light Age of scientific interest and inquiry.” The author concentrates on Europe, where literacy was a church monopoly largely confined to monasteries. The greatest of these were wealthy institutions with branches, libraries, and schools whose scholars took part in an international community, which also included Muslims and Jews. Eschewing historical superstars—Roger Bacon makes a few appearances—Falk builds a story around John Westwyk, an obscure 14th-century monk who composed (or most likely copied) manuscripts on astronomical instruments, designed and built others, and traveled widely, making observations along the way. The author makes a convincing case that medieval times produced major advances in technology, mathematics, and education as well as some correct but many more fanciful explanations of natural phenomenon. Important inventions included spectacles, the compass, and Arabic numerals, but almost all of what passed for research confined itself to a single field: astronomy, which had always included astrology and would do so well into the Enlightenment. Fascinated by the heavens, medieval researchers produced precise descriptions of its movements and detected the minuscule variations in the earthly day and year. Much of this was in the service of astrology and the timing of holy days, but it had genuinely practical use in the creation of calendars. Although lacking telescopes, they designed exquisitely complex clocks and astronomical instruments—astrolabes, armillary spheres, equatoriums—that were both impressively accurate and works of art. Falk excels at bringing alive the personalities, theological doctrines, cosmology, and often cutthroat monastery politics of the era, but most readers will prefer to skim the lengthy descriptions of the construction and operation of medieval astronomical devices.
An impressive chronicle of human progress.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-324-00293-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
Alternately admiring and critical, unvarnished, and a closely detailed account of a troubled innovator.
A warts-and-all portrait of the famed techno-entrepreneur—and the warts are nearly beyond counting.
To call Elon Musk (b. 1971) “mercurial” is to undervalue the term; to call him a genius is incorrect. Instead, Musk has a gift for leveraging the genius of others in order to make things work. When they don’t, writes eminent biographer Isaacson, it’s because the notoriously headstrong Musk is so sure of himself that he charges ahead against the advice of others: “He does not like to share power.” In this sharp-edged biography, the author likens Musk to an earlier biographical subject, Steve Jobs. Given Musk’s recent political turn, born of the me-first libertarianism of the very rich, however, Henry Ford also comes to mind. What emerges clearly is that Musk, who may or may not have Asperger’s syndrome (“Empathy did not come naturally”), has nurtured several obsessions for years, apart from a passion for the letter X as both a brand and personal name. He firmly believes that “all requirements should be treated as recommendations”; that it is his destiny to make humankind a multi-planetary civilization through innovations in space travel; that government is generally an impediment and that “the thought police are gaining power”; and that “a maniacal sense of urgency” should guide his businesses. That need for speed has led to undeniable successes in beating schedules and competitors, but it has also wrought disaster: One of the most telling anecdotes in the book concerns Musk’s “demon mode” order to relocate thousands of Twitter servers from Sacramento to Portland at breakneck speed, which trashed big parts of the system for months. To judge by Isaacson’s account, that may have been by design, for Musk’s idea of creative destruction seems to mean mostly chaos.
Alternately admiring and critical, unvarnished, and a closely detailed account of a troubled innovator.Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2023
ISBN: 9781982181284
Page Count: 688
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
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Gibbins combines historical knowledge with a sense of adventure, making this book a highly enjoyable package.
A popular novelist turns his hand to historical writing, focusing on what shipwrecks can tell us.
There’s something inherently romantic about shipwrecks: the mystery, the drama of disaster, the prospect of lost treasure. Gibbins, who’s found acclaim as an author of historical fiction, has long been fascinated with them, and his expertise in both archaeology and diving provides a tone of solid authority to his latest book. The author has personally dived on more than half the wrecks discussed in the book; for the other cases, he draws on historical records and accounts. “Wrecks offer special access to history at all…levels,” he writes. “Unlike many archaeological sites, a wreck represents a single event in which most of the objects were in use at that time and can often be closely dated. What might seem hazy in other evidence can be sharply defined, pointing the way to fresh insights.” Gibbins covers a wide variety of cases, including wrecks dating from classical times; a ship torpedoed during World War II; a Viking longship; a ship of Arab origin that foundered in Indonesian waters in the ninth century; the Mary Rose, the flagship of the navy of Henry VIII; and an Arctic exploring vessel, the Terror (for more on that ship, read Paul Watson’s Ice Ghost). Underwater excavation often produces valuable artifacts, but Gibbins is equally interested in the material that reveals the society of the time. He does an excellent job of placing each wreck within a broader context, as well as examining the human elements of the story. The result is a book that will appeal to readers with an interest in maritime history and who would enjoy a different, and enlightening, perspective.
Gibbins combines historical knowledge with a sense of adventure, making this book a highly enjoyable package.Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781250325372
Page Count: 304
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 28, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
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