Rating: 
Summary: barely scratches the surface
Review: ... the subject matter is very intriging and deservesattention. However, Ms. Chang's book has no real insight into Tsien'slife.... The actual writting is also lackingg. The book is filled with dragging sentences that fails to excite the reader. I only recommand this book to readers who do not know anything about Chinese history or Tisen. It is to be used as an general and elementry reference only. Even then, there are still many holes....
Rating: 
Summary: Meticulously researched and superbly written...
Review: Am I inclined to believe that all foreign born or educated defense scientists (e.g., Tsien and J.R. Oppenheimer) should be presumed "seriously suspect until proven innocent"? If so, to me Chang's book would no doubt leave open the issue whether Tsien had had a Communist leaning, while he was an immigrant in the US from a Nationalist China -- before and during a 'sky rocketting' career which culminated in his roles as JPL Director/Co-Founder; MIT/CalTech full professors; American aerospace pioneer; and a top Pentagon consultant, who grilled Werner von Braun in Germany to write for the US government its report on German aeronautics/rochetry state of the art.To answer my own question, fortunately, I am not -- at least not consciously. So, let me justify my rating. Poignantly told with facts organized like an epic novel, Chang's story is the saga of a gifted and industrious "orphan" from endless wars and feudal corruption in China who came to Uncle Sam's neighborhood for schooling, then contributed greatly to Sam's household, but was spurned from it by house stewards for allegedly associating with "people who condone thievery"; who then continued to work hard to be useful to people who appreciated him (as his ambition had always been) in a new career which he again excelled in, after, in the only remaining option he saw, being taken in by a delighted relative Uncle Mao. As aristocratically brilliant, and yet democratically helpful to students/colleagues he saw as diligent, "why did he embrace the wicked Uncle -- of the proletariat masses of his kins?" you might ask. 'Cuz back in Uncle Sam's household, someone made him learn the lesson "You can't fight City Hall and expect to win." How about a harder question, from someone who has actually lived under a Fascist or Communist government? One minor warning, though: Perhaps due to her bilingual upbringing, Chang's sentences are sometimes a bit long and not as colloquial as an impatient American reader might expect of a good novel. I won't throw rocks in my own glass house; so, to me, this quirk does not detract from the book in the slightest. Bear with her through limited technical discussions, and enjoy! Remember Pygmalion in Greek mythology? A king could love the statue of a female figure so much that she came to life, to fall in love with him? If Tsien was innocent of the charge against him in the 50's America (you be the judge after reading Chang's book), isn't Tsien's "second life" as the leader of the successful Chinese ICBM project a modern-day antithesis of Pygmalion. Only this is not a mythical story, but real events which someday (with a chance however remote) may end disastrously for people on both shores of the Northern Pacific! As Chang told us, the decent and kind, President Carter in the 80's by executive decree rescinded the INS order of the 50's for deporting Tsien (in essence saying, "Oops, we made a mistake.") Tsien however is still waiting for someone in the US government to give a forthright official apology for having ungraciously kicked him out while he was a guest in Uncle Sam's house, as he said so essentially (leaving it for others to remember his extraordinary contributions). Before then, he would not accept CalTech's invitation to come to California for awards of "Distinguished Teacher" and "Distinguished Alumnus." Do most Americans who have read this book think the Communist charge against Tsien unwarranted (as President Carter must have, by his rescission decree)? If so, is it consistent with America's ideal of decency for some interested/concerned Americans to seek to make peace for their country with an aging ex-friend whom it turned enemy, and is it consistent with the US interest, in so doing, to disarm or merely soften whatever hostility toward USA his work may have bequeathed to his students and associates in China? Whether these issues can be resolved positively with effective actions, before Tsien's death (in the challenging backdrop of the Cox Report) will determine if the American and Chinese saga of Tsien Shue-sen will come to a happier ending, or will forever remain a most poignant tragedy in the modern history of Science and Politics. Many thanks, Iris, for helping us understand.
Rating:
Summary: Saga of a rocket scientist worthy of Hollywood
Review: Am I inclined to believe that all foreign born or educated defense scientists (e.g., Tsien and J.R. Oppenheimer) should be presumed "seriously suspect until proven innocent"? If so, to me Chang's book would no doubt leave open the issue whether Tsien had had a Communist leaning, while he was an immigrant in the US from a Nationalist China -- before and during a 'sky rocketting' career which culminated in his roles as JPL Director/Co-Founder; MIT/CalTech full professors; American aerospace pioneer; and a top Pentagon consultant, who grilled Werner von Braun in Germany to write for the US government its report on German aeronautics/rochetry state of the art. To answer my own question, fortunately, I am not -- at least not consciously. So, let me justify my rating. Poignantly told with facts organized like an epic novel, Chang's story is the saga of a gifted and industrious "orphan" from endless wars and feudal corruption in China who came to Uncle Sam's neighborhood for schooling, then contributed greatly to Sam's household, but was spurned from it by house stewards for allegedly associating with "people who condone thievery"; who then continued to work hard to be useful to people who appreciated him (as his ambition had always been) in a new career which he again excelled in, after, in the only remaining option he saw, being taken in by a delighted relative Uncle Mao. As aristocratically brilliant, and yet democratically helpful to students/colleagues he saw as diligent, "why did he embrace the wicked Uncle -- of the proletariat masses of his kins?" you might ask. 'Cuz back in Uncle Sam's household, someone made him learn the lesson "You can't fight City Hall and expect to win." How about a harder question, from someone who has actually lived under a Fascist or Communist government? One minor warning, though: Perhaps due to her bilingual upbringing, Chang's sentences are sometimes a bit long and not as colloquial as an impatient American reader might expect of a good novel. I won't throw rocks in my own glass house; so, to me, this quirk does not detract from the book in the slightest. Bear with her through limited technical discussions, and enjoy! Remember Pygmalion in Greek mythology? A king could love the statue of a female figure so much that she came to life, to fall in love with him? If Tsien was innocent of the charge against him in the 50's America (you be the judge after reading Chang's book), isn't Tsien's "second life" as the leader of the successful Chinese ICBM project a modern-day antithesis of Pygmalion. Only this is not a mythical story, but real events which someday (with a chance however remote) may end disastrously for people on both shores of the Northern Pacific! As Chang told us, the decent and kind, President Carter in the 80's by executive decree rescinded the INS order of the 50's for deporting Tsien (in essence saying, "Oops, we made a mistake.") Tsien however is still waiting for someone in the US government to give a forthright official apology for having ungraciously kicked him out while he was a guest in Uncle Sam's house, as he said so essentially (leaving it for others to remember his extraordinary contributions). Before then, he would not accept CalTech's invitation to come to California for awards of "Distinguished Teacher" and "Distinguished Alumnus." Do most Americans who have read this book think the Communist charge against Tsien unwarranted (as President Carter must have, by his rescission decree)? If so, is it consistent with America's ideal of decency for some interested/concerned Americans to seek to make peace for their country with an aging ex-friend whom it turned enemy, and is it consistent with the US interest, in so doing, to disarm or merely soften whatever hostility toward USA his work may have bequeathed to his students and associates in China? Whether these issues can be resolved positively with effective actions, before Tsien's death (in the challenging backdrop of the Cox Report) will determine if the American and Chinese saga of Tsien Shue-sen will come to a happier ending, or will forever remain a most poignant tragedy in the modern history of Science and Politics. Many thanks, Iris, for helping us understand.
Rating:
Summary: A well written and fascinating tale
Review: Chang has written a spellbinding biography of Tsien Hsue-shen, the father of the Chinese missile program. Meticulously researched and well written. A fascinating story which I find hard to put the book down once started. I highly recommend the book to anyone who interested in modern Chinese history as well as general readers.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating Book.
Review: Fascinating book about father of Chinese rocket program. Uneven in terms of storytelling. First half, anecdote. Second half, news report.
Rating:
Summary: our country dropped the ball
Review: I bought this book many years ago before Wen Ho Lee and James Yee and even though I found it difficult to read, I kept it as a reminder that being of Chinese origin adversely affects your comfort level and safety in this country. This book was very hard to read because the writing style was not the best for my style of reading so I didn't get her Nanking book which I know was also criticized for the writing style. If you didn't like the Nanking book, buy this book anyway because unlike the Nanking book, there aren't a lot of books about him out there and it's about a Chinese man who was not confused about what was happening. Regardless of whether he was right or wrong, smart or stupid, he was himself undiluted. I use the past tense but he's still alive though bedridden. He was on Chinese tv when China sent their first man into space. He watched a video of it and smiled.
Rating: 
Summary: shines a light on a murky time in history
Review: I must admit a bias - HS Tsien is my grandfather's cousin. As such, this book is for me the family history that noone would tell me. For other readers, I would say that most history books concentrate on the rise of the USSR as a power, and then *poof!* there's China...how did that happen? Chang's book reveals how China's emergence on the world stage as a military power resulted from the US's own stupidity and xenophobia. My one real complaint about the book is that Chang's writing seems to drive the book to a climax at the point of Tsien's return to China, and then peeters out while she recounts China's race to the ICBM. This inconsistancy makes one feel that Chang herself had lost interest in the story, which is unfortunate. This story is fascinating enough (for anyone interested in history, not just me) to wish that the entire book had been treated with the care that Chang shows Tsien's US phase. Anyways, one leaves the story with feelings of respect and regret for what could have been. Please note that HS Tsien is still a bogeyman for the US intelligence community - he was mentioned, as Qian Xuesen, in the 1999 Cox report during the Los Alamos spy scandal. As far as I know, HS Tsien is still alive.
Rating:
Summary: shines a light on a murky time in history
Review: I must admit a bias - HS Tsien is my grandfather's cousin. As such, this book is for me the family history that noone would tell me. For other readers, I would say that most history books concentrate on the rise of the USSR as a power, and then *poof!* there's China...how did that happen? Chang's book reveals how China's emergence on the world stage as a military power resulted from the US's own stupidity and xenophobia. My one real complaint about the book is that Chang's writing seems to drive the book to a climax at the point of Tsien's return to China, and then peeters out while she recounts China's race to the ICBM. This inconsistancy makes one feel that Chang herself had lost interest in the story, which is unfortunate. This story is fascinating enough (for anyone interested in history, not just me) to wish that the entire book had been treated with the care that Chang shows Tsien's US phase. Anyways, one leaves the story with feelings of respect and regret for what could have been. Please note that HS Tsien is still a bogeyman for the US intelligence community - he was mentioned, as Qian Xuesen, in the 1999 Cox report during the Los Alamos spy scandal. As far as I know, HS Tsien is still alive.
Rating:
Summary: an unanswered question
Review: Ms. Chang has an eye for intriguing subjects. This book had me engrossed immediately, and is well worth a read. At the end I felt like the big question of Tsien's loyalty went unanswered. Perhaps there will never be enough documentation to really know. Other reviewers seem sure that the U.S. government made a mistake, but I (and possibly the author as well?) am not so sure. I found it hard to accept that Tsien's enthusiastic embrace of Maoism, could come solely from a jaded pride and resentment from being deported. It's hard to say, and I applaud the author for not speculating too much on what can only be known by Tsien himself. I think this air of mystery is appropriate and makes the book all the more interesting. This subject is a goldmine for biographers and the surface has only been scratched. Possibly Ms. Chang would be interested in a follow-up work (some of Tsien's associates who were also accused) (?)
Rating:
Summary: Better read as a hastely put-together reference book.
Review: Obviously the author spent a lot of time collecting materials, but she failed to digest them. Too many mistakes in details, which greatly hurts credibility. It gives people a feeling of too much guess work, immature, and pretentive. A lot of good materials, though. Otherwise, that's definitely not a book you want to keep.
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