Customer Reviews

Acid Tongues and Tranquil Dreamers: Eight Scientific Rivalries That Changed the World

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White promotes an eight-round match of leading contenders to explain one of the ways science and technology produce champions. Each match in this series explains how rivalries among scientists developed and what long-term effects the conflicts had for science and for the rest of us. Some of these issues remain almost solely personality clashes, such as the priority question over calculus between Newton and Leibnitz. Others, the choice of AC over DC for electrical power distribution and which nation would be the first to build a nuclear bomb, are meaningful to us all. Offering brief descriptions of the issues and personalities, each of the essays is a good synopsis of the science. The personality sketches are given with a strong emphasis on the contender's childhood where it can be derived. Although the relevance of the childhood foundations seems contrived in most cases, the information provides a "human" background of people who often seem remote from us.

The topics and personalities are so disparate that a general assessment is difficult, if not impossible for this work. To his credit, White has focussed on fundamental questions and not been distracted by side issues. He is at pains to be "fair", avoiding judgmental approaches and emphasising long-term impact of the conflict's resolution. If the personality involved is too obtuse, stubborn or devious to withstand White's scrutiny, he makes it clear that the problem lies with that individual. However, as he admits, he's not the only one doing the judging. Aristotle's views of nature inexplicably dominated Western European thinking for two millennia because his proposed "four basic elements" could be merged with nearly any philosophy. Only reason backed by empirical evidence would overcome this long tradition.

The variety of topics forces some selectivity in evaluating White's effort, but one essay may be exemplary. In describing the Monkeys and Men debate as a clash between Charles Darwin and Robert Owen, White stumbles badly. There was little "rivalry" in this so-called debate, since Owen simply flatly refused to accept species "transmutation". Since this concept was held by many educated people, Owen was already out of his time. White notes Owen's strategy of remaining anonymous, but doesn't criticise it. Since that was Darwin's chief objection to Owen, this is an amazing omission. Darwin's real problem, natural selection applied to humanity, was the major stumbling block to universal acceptance to his concept. White deals with that issue only in passing, and that incorrectly [Darwin mentioned "man and his beginnings" but once in Origin, not White's "few"]. He lauds Owen as England's "leading biologist", a questionable claim at best. Yet in his description of the clashes between Owen and Huxley, he avoids their confrontation over the hippocampus in ape brains, in which Huxley demonstrated his superior research abilities in Owen's own field. In dealing with Darwin's community of supporters, White mis-names Joseph Hooker as "John Hooker", even in the Index. How a biographer of Darwin could make this gaffe remains an enigma. Why, when Daniel C. Dennett has published the finest analysis of Darwin's Idea, White turns to an obscure work on science ideas for a quote from this eminent scholar is almost a greater mystery.

White's collection targets a few direct confrontations since the Enlightenment to show how important of science has become to us. The "current wars", "reaching for the moon" and "the race for the prize" which revealed how DNA is structured [not "discovered" as White puts it] have impacted how meaningful science is to us. Except for some terrible editorial sloppiness ["prevarication and "procrastination" are not synonyms] the book is a readable and important work in that regard. White demonstrates how clashes over how natural forces work doesn't invalidate science. Instead, it is the root of the scientific method - postulation, examination and refutation or acceptance. He shows well the struggle science must engage in to reveal nature's secrets. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Learn about some of the science and technology that shaped history through the intense stories of serious rivalries. The author also discusses some of the psychology and benefits of competition.

You can read the chapters in any order - start with your favorite subject and work your way through. Accessible to a wide audience.

The topics are very well researched - huge bibliography and index to help you learn more.

Highly recommended, especially for a science or history class.

This was a great book on scientific history. It may be a little hard for completely non-technical people to follow. However, the "scientific rivalries" theory is more of an organizing principal than a well-developed theory. That's okay. The matching of rivals keeps it interesting and memorable.