Review: Graphic Science - Seven Journeys of Discovery

Graphic Science - Seven Journeys of Discovery by Darryl Cunningham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There is a quote on the front of the book that says: "It can take other authors whole books to say what Darryl can say in a single illustration". This is not entirely fair. The illustrations are simple and the chapters give brief snippets from the lives of seven scientists. I say that not to condemn the book but to praise it. I think it does an outstanding job of giving just enough information to pique interest and it certainly made me interested enough to hit the internet after each chapter and do a bit more research on the people in Graphic Science. Darryl Cunningham gave just enough, in an engaging and interesting manner, to make me want to find out more. Job done!

My only criticism would be the author's confusion over science and religious belief. In the chapter on Mary Anning he states, "...this was to be the last era in which religious belief and science would be compatible.". Clearly this is nonsense or "scientist" and "atheist" would be synonyms. Interestingly, I read this book shortly after reading Galileo's Daughter which argued that, contrary to modern expectations, Galileo was a good Catholic and quotes one of his letters where he says, "...I think in the first place that it is very pious to say and prudent to affirm that the holy Bible can never speak untruth - whenever its true meaning is understood.". He ends the same letter with this summary: "That the intention of the Holy Ghost is to teach us how one goes to heaven, not how heaven goes.". Despite the popular understanding of what happened to Galileo, it can be argued that he was more than able to reconcile his religious belief and his scientific discoveries.

That aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it as an introduction to some lesser known but important characters in science.

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Review: Galileo's Daughter

Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It took me a while to finish this book but not because I wasn't enjoying it and not because it was a heavy read... It just seemed to take a long time and I'm not sure why.

It was really enjoyable. All the time I was reading it, I would talk to people and find my self starting sentences with, "I'm reading this book about Galileo...". I suspect most people only know the headline: religion versus science. This book makes it clear it that is a horrendous over-simplification. For instance, Galileo's Daughter suggests that Galileo was a good Catholic who worked hard to make sure his book did not fall foul of church doctrine. It also made me aware that science, as we know it now didn't exist: Galileo was inventing it in the face of opposition from his peers (e.g. most people know about the famous experiment where he dropped two balls off the Leaning Tower of Pisa but I didn't realise that many of his contemporaries refused to accept the evidence, preferring instead to cling to the wisdom of the ancients). But is also hinted that for all his brilliance he was not always wise: for example, he seemed to enjoy humiliating his rivals and perhaps it was not wise to put the words of the pope in the mouth of a character called "Simplicio" (which, in Italian suggests "simpleton").

The reason for the book's title is that it prominently features letters sent to him from his daughter. While the insight into covent life was interesting, I must admit I would have been quiet happy to have missed that aspect of the book.

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Review: The Masters of Sitcom: From Hancock to Steptoe

The Masters of Sitcom: From Hancock to Steptoe by Christopher Stevens
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The author argues that Galton and Simpson were not just “Masters of Sitcom” but that they invented (or at least re-invented) sitcom. When they first started writing, British comedy required a straight man to provide a set-up and a funny man to deliver the punchline. Galton and Simpson, along with Hancock, set out to change that.

In Hancock’s Half Hour, though, there would be no joke-telling, punchlines or music-hall patter. The writers were intent on getting rid of catchphrases, songs, running gags, musical interludes and sketches. This was a type of comedy as radical as the realist theatre that would sweep the English stage in the late fifties: natural, honest and unflinching.

As they did so, the author argues they changed the face of comedy and traces a direct line from Steptoe And Son to The Royale Family. Whether you buy into that thesis or not (and I'm inclined to give some of the credit to people like Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes) the real strength of this book is in the quotes from Galton and Simpson scripts. More than half the book is straight Galton and Simpson and that alone makes it worth a four star review.

I liked the insights given into their writing process. For example, on what is probably Hancock’s most famous line:

“A pint... that’s very nearly an armful!” It started off as, “A pint... that’s an armful!” and then one of us said, “Nearly an armful,” and the other one said, “Very nearly an armful.” It’s funnier, because it’s more precise.

It is imprecisely precise… and that’s why it’s funny. What’s missing though is much of an insight into the relationship with their actors… for example, with Hancock. Clearly a man with mental health issues and yet rather than help him, they seemed to pick at the wound. Given his insecurities, it seems a bit of an omission to reproduce the following without comment:

HANCOCK: I’ve been living a lie. (Dramatic) Geraldine, I have never said a funny thing in my life.
GERALDINE: When do we get to the lie?
TONY: All those funny things you hear me say aren’t me at all. I employ a ventriloquist. He stands off stage thinking up funny jokes while I stand here opening me mouth. (Emotional) Yes, Hancock the funny man is nothing but a great big dummy.
GERALDINE: When do we get to the lie?

Hmm! Insensitive? Ignorant? Evil? I can’t help but feel it was just plain nasty yet the author offers no comment.

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Review: Hidden Figures: The Untold Story of the African American Women Who Helped Win the Space Race

Hidden Figures: The Untold Story of the African American Women Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I saw the film and assumed the book would be similar, i.e. a “based on a true story” semi-fictional account. But no. This is more of a history book than an historical novel. It is meticulously researched, but told in a somewhat plodding style. The people, brought to life so clearly in the film, are lost in the historical detail. It is a pity that such an interesting and compelling story is not told in a more interesting and compelling way.

That said, I still enjoyed the book and found much of the detail fascinating and occasionally horrifying. For instance, I was aware of the American civil rights movement in the 1960s but the description of the protagonists’ experiences in Hidden Figures brings to life the scandal of institutionalised racism as well as the (not so) petty indignities that were suffered day and daily. As a teacher, a couple of examples stood out. I was astonished to read that, in one school, the white janitor was paid more than the black teachers... including the headteacher. And, in relation to the state of Virginia’s reaction to a Supreme Court ruling that schools were to be integrated, the attitude of a white parent is frightening:

“In the fall of 1958, Virginia’s governor Lindsay Almond chained the doors of the schools in localities that attempted to comply with the Supreme Court’s Brown decision. Thirteen thousand students in the three cities that had moved forward with integration—Front Royal, Charlottesville, and Norfolk—found themselves sitting at home in the fall of 1958. “I would rather have my children live in ignorance than have them go to school with Negroes,” one white parent told a reporter. ...white students as well as black paying the price for the state’s racial crusade.”

Frightening because I suspect that level of intolerance is not far below the surface in our society today. When I read how nine black children, trying to go to school, had to be protected by the US Army from: “...the screaming, spitting, bottle-throwing white crowd that surrounded them.” I was reminded that it was not so long ago that a similar situation played out in Northern Ireland.

As a Computing teacher, I enjoyed reading about a time when computers were people. I also liked some of the small details. For example, I have clear memories of the TV pictures from Mission Control, with its rows of white men facing a huge map of the world but was amused to learn that the progress of the Mercury capsule was tracked by: “...a little cutout of a Mercury capsule, suspended on a wire.” Brilliant! High-tech meets Heath Robinson.

More interesting than enjoyable and more three and a half than four stars but still worth reading.

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Review: Out of the Darkness

Review on Goodreads:

Out of the Darkness: The transformation of one of Scotland's most violent prisoners by Anthony Gielty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Interesting read. I know the author and it is hard to believe the Anthony today was ever the Tony in the book.

Account of gang culture and prison life that both facinating and horrifying. Even more incredible is the story of the transformation that faith in God brought to Anthony's life.

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