Alan W. Hirshfeld

The biographical note tells me that this author won an award from the Templeton foundation for an essay on the life of Michael Faraday in a "Power of Purpose" essay competition. This makes him immediately suspect. But, as I've been reading the book, I've failed to detect any red flags of distortion and special pleading, and the writing is actually rather good.

I have read another short biography of Faraday, "Michael Faraday: Apprentice to Science", so am already familiar w/ the basic story of his life.

Detailed partial review:

Preface
In which it is claimed that Faraday's religion made him so accepting of human fallibility that he readily acknowledged and accepted his own and that this made him a stronger scientist. Of course, you don't need religion for that, I'm sure aware of my fallibility.

Helpful quotation: "Religion provided motivation, not method, in Faraday's work." And a good thing, too!

The author likens him to Galileo, Newton, and Einstein because they were "free of blinding preconceptions about nature". I don't think this is true. They were just smart enough to develop their own, rather than absorbing the common views of their contemporaries. Think of Galileo and his determined opposition to the idea that the moon influenced the tides. So eager was he to oppose the commonly held view that the bodies in the heavens were special, divine, and determined events on the earth, that he derided Kepler's fairly reasonable arguments about the moon and the tides. There are examples for the others, as well.

Chapter 1: Improvement of the Mind
Tales of Michael Faraday, the aspiring young scientist and apprentice bookbinder. Working in the bookshop of the apparently very kind and generous Mr. Ribeau. Discovering Isaac Watts' "Improvement of the Mind", which seems to be full of good sense, at least from the quoted bits. Then comes James Tytler's 127 page article on electricity in the Encyclopedia Britannica. Good stuff, but already ten years old when Faraday was given it to bind. Then, just as Watts had told him to, and shortly before the outbreak of the War of 1812, Faraday attends his first science lecture. Faraday delivers his first scientific lecture, the notes for which still exist. (He uses "philosopher" to mean people who study scientific subjects.) Then he comes upon "Conversations in Chemistry" by Jane Marcet. Then he gets to attend a series of lectures by Sir Humphry Davy at the Royal Institution. Davy presents his theory of acids, in opposition to Lavoisier's oxygen (the world "oxygen" means acid-former) theory. Davy believes that muriatic acid (HCl) contains no oxygen and argues for an electrical basis of acidity. This idea was not so popular at the time, but is far closer to the one we believe now. About a decade previously Allesandro Volta had described to all how one might construct a battery and Faraday sets about building his own. Davy had a two thousand layer electric pile in the basement of the Royal Institution with which he performed electrolytic experiments and powered arc lamps.

Chapter 2: Perceptions Perfectly Novel
Michael Faraday and Humphry Davy intersect and take off for the continent. There is a discussion of Davy's meteoric rise and his move from the Pneumatic Institute to the Royal Institution where he is instantly made chief lecturer. Davy is resolute about risking his health in the pursuit of science, inhaling all sorts of toxic gases and occasionally blowing things up. Somehow, he still remains a hottie. Like many famous Englishmen, Davy struggled with being famous and accomplished but not really accepted into the highest ranks of society. Davy did a masterful experiment on electrolysis of water, gradually eliminating all impurities to finally confirm that water is nothing but H and O. He also did a bunch of cool experiments with electrolysis showing some effects that I don't understand. He has three separate vessels connected by asbestos wicks. On the far left, sodium sulfate, on the far right barium nitrate. Apply a current, and after a while the middle vessel contains barium sulfate. Why is that?… (mere)

Starlight Detectives presents the changes in astronomy from the eyes-only, refractor era to the development of the technologies that are the foundation of our modern science. In three sections, the book covers the nearly coincident development of astronomical photography, spectroscopy and the response to the new requirements these burgeoning fields placed on the telescope. The author illuminates the progress through the personal histories of the observers and inventors (many of whom were amateur astronomers), showing the friendships, collaborations and animosities which results in an enjoyable reading experience. We often get told the "what" we know, and with Starlight Detectives we learn how this body of knowledge came to be through the dreams and hard work of those who sought to learn more about the universe around us.

I often found myself at the end of a chapter wanting to read more but finding a natural break in the narrative to do so. The language is not technical but descriptive, making the subject accessible to any one with an interest. There are more detailed biographies of many of the people covered, but this is the first book that I have found that takes such an encompassing view of all 3 technologies and weave them into one great story.… (mere)

Astronomy has long been one of my favorite subjects to read about and Alan Hirshfeld's Starlight Detectives is an excellent addition to the tradition of telling the history of the science. Over a relatively short amount of time, astronomers have transformed the way we look at our place in the universe, and Hirshfeld captures that story in a narrative which is easy to follow and interesting to discover. We see how the field of astronomy profited from amateurs and professionals, how technology rapidly drove new discoveries, and how relatively unknown people have contributed to what we know about the galaxy and beyond.

The book itself is an easy read. Hirshfeld's writing is clear and engaging, but don't expect anything beyond a fairly straightforward approach to popular science. Hirshfeld's interest in the subject is obvious throughout and that contributes to a streamlined narrative which delivers a lot of information in a digestible format. Recommended for anyone interested in astronomy, history of science, or the history of specific technologies.… (mere)