Bold Science: Seven Scientists Who Are Changing Our World

By Ted Anton

Book Overview

Science is at a crossroads. Cold War-era easy money for grand-scale projects has become a thing of the past. And yet, in this new environment, science seems to be reinvigorating itself, moving away... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0716735121
• ISBN13: 9780716735120
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: W H Freeman & Co
• Length: 193 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.0" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Gets both the science and the personalities right

I picked up this book based on Ted Anton's reputation, but concerned that it might be one of those "great people in science" type books that are foisted on junior high students as Bar Mitzvah presents. I needn't have worried. Anton makes the personal details vivid (cold winter hours in the observatory, the struggles to write computer code) but spends equal time making sure we understand the science involved. I just wish there were an update so I could find out how these discoveries have held up.

The Francis Ford Coppola of Science Writing

Bold Science, a hegegraphy of profiles about seven famous scientists and how they work,reads like vinettes from a Coppola film. I am surprised that Hollywood has missed this riveting view into the world of the technical, political, and social worlds of the sciences. After all, they made a film of Susan Orlean's The Orchard Thief. Anton, a professor who has taught me much about writing at DePaul University, builds a strong narrative by weaving character details with facts about hard core scientific discovery and tales of the political struggle to obtain grant funding in the latter part of the 20th Century. This should be a must read on every intro to science course list. Anton interviews Craig Venter, the geneticist, Susan Greenfield, the neuroscientist, Geoff Marcy, the astronomer, Polly Matzinger, the immunologist, Saul Perlmutter, the cosmologist, Gretchen Daily, and Carl Woese. Like Tom Wolfe, Norman Mailer, Truman Capote, and Hunter Thompson before him, Anton follows these seven characters until he is able to weave a compelling narrative around the science they do. The result: he shows seven people who love science and defy the mysterious nature of the scientist documenting their humanity.

It Deserves 6 Stars, Not 5

This is the best collection of its kind I've ever read, and one of the 10 best non-fiction books I've ever read on any topic. I ran across this book as part of my research on creative organizations and people, and was stunned by the quality. The scientists are quirky and fascinating, and Anton's writing and editing is as good as it gets. Anton is the Red Smith of science writers.