Rating: 
Summary: Slow going
Review: I stumbled upon this book at one of the many geek sites I visit on the web and immediately ordered it. When it arrived I read it straight through. While I consider myself a trivia geek I had never heard about Alfred Lee Loomis. Alfred was a brilliant man who enjoyed success in several areas. After making millions in banking and finance he pursued his true love in science. We are indebted to him in several areas which contributed to our winning the second world war. This is a good read about a fascinating person who made a major contribution that changed the world.
Rating: 
Summary: A quiet hero
Review: I stumbled upon this book at one of the many geek sites I visit on the web and immediately ordered it. When it arrived I read it straight through. While I consider myself a trivia geek I had never heard about Alfred Lee Loomis. Alfred was a brilliant man who enjoyed success in several areas. After making millions in banking and finance he pursued his true love in science. We are indebted to him in several areas which contributed to our winning the second world war. This is a good read about a fascinating person who made a major contribution that changed the world.
Rating: 
Summary: Intriguing history
Review: I went to the World Book Encyclopedia to look for information about Alfred Lee Loomis. There was none. I wondered as I read this wonderful, well researched biography if maybe I was being led to believe that Loomis was the author's invention and that he was not as important an historical figure as he appeared to be. When I read the testimonials of those individuals who wrote about him or who the author interviewed, I readily became convinced that I was reading the story of a legend who was so private about his accomplishments that he had been forgotten. That is, until Jennet Conant completed this fascinating historical account that kept me spellbound through the last words of the epilogue, biography, and acknowledgements. Although Loomis did not literally invent radar or the atomic bomb, it was his scientific and patriotic interest that helped mold the events that led to their development. As a physician, I was fascinated by his development of the clinical application of the electroencephalogram as well as ultrasonography, each of which is currently well utilized in modern medical diagnostics. Among other scientific associations, the "L" in Loran is directly associated with the "L" in Loomis as the development of Loran was essentially his idea. And all this from an amateur physicist who by training was a Harvard educated attorney and investment banker. I will not discuss here where the name "Tuxedo Park" originates since the story will tell you the intricacies of life in the elite gated community that few until now have associated with such original and illustrious scientific discoveries. Anyone with a penchant for history that so touched all of our lives will also be spellbound by this superbly written account of a man, his associates, and the events that just may have led to the preservation of American and western world democracy.
Rating:
Summary: For students of military and science history alike
Review: In the years before World War II, eccentric Wall Street money man and amateur scientist Alfred Lee Loomis brought together scientists to enjoy a gilded world of money and privilege called Tuxedo Park. His laboratory rivaled all others public and private, and ultimately contributed to American technological advances that resulted in a positive outcome to World War II. Tuxedo Park will appeal to audiences from leisure readers to students of military and science history alike.
Rating:
Summary: Imagine the Allies losing WWII
Review: Jennnet Connant did a wonderful job in research for this book. There is no doubt that without the brilliance, money, and passion which Alfred Lee Loomis possessed that World War II would have been won by the Germans and Japaneese. This book is a quick read and should lead you to other areas of interest.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating peek into history
Review: Loomis should be up there with the WWII giants including the Manhattan project gang. Really interesting if you want to understand some of the things that were going on behind the scenes while our country was stumbling around trying to get ready to fight WWII.
Rating:
Summary: A Must (Will) Read
Review: My review is a bit premature as I've not yet read the book; however, I've been able to hear first hand of the life and times and some of the goings-on at Tuxedo Park from the perspective of Alfred Loomis' youngest of three sons, Henry Loomis - my step-father.I'll read the book as soon as I get my copy - but be assured that some of the stories you'll read are nothing short of amazing. The atmosphere of Tuxedo Park was enlightening, original, and stimulating. Henry was a product of it. He went on to become Directory of Voice of America and later President of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It must be in the blood... Tuxedo Park was a magical place, and I look forward to learning more about it. I know I'll be amazed.
Rating:
Summary: Life changing....what a life this man lived.
Review: Never have I read something so exciting, meaty, romantic and adventurous. This is the life I can only imagine living. Loomis had it all, good looks, intelligence, but most of all...class and style. His way of life gives insight into what good breeding is all about. More than that, his ability to use common sense in dealing with business, and science and every aspect of his life and relationships gave me the confidence to venture out a little further and try and reach for the apple way up at the top of the tree. Reading this book forever changed my life and I tried to find a way to send the author, Jennet conant, a letter telling her that but I could not find her address on the website, so I guess this will have to do. Jennet, even after death, Alfred Loomis continues to succeed, your story is worthy of his calibre. Beautiful.
Rating:
Summary: Conant fails to tell the truth about Loomis: uncritical
Review: Nowhere in the book does Conant talk about how Loomis used his regulated utility holdings to subsidize the unregulated holdings... and he charged regulated customers for the subsidiaries' huge profits. The Public Utilities Holding Companies Act (PUHCA) of the 1930's was enacted and made illegal the very things that Loomis made his fortune on. Check out the SEC for PUHCA. But there is no mention of this. Conant writes a biased and uncritical account of one of her relatives. Bad.
Also, many scholars attribute the Public Utility Holding Companies with causing the Stock Market Crash of '29. And Loomis was at the head of this. Nowhere does Conant mention this.
Also poorly written. Incoherent writing style that blends scientific writing with prose. makes for muddled and unnatural reading. Also fails to describe sufficiently, important scientific advances discussed in the book, namely the Cyclotron, which I had to go look up what it was. bad
Rating:
Summary: Agile intellect, Agile implementation in the 30's and 40's
Review: The most recent book was "Tuxedo Park"
It is about a man, Alfred Loomis, who is a banker and a self-made
Physicist. He had several homes in Tuxedo Park, NY about forty miles from the city.
He made his millions as an investment banker in the 20's and got out before the crash
In the thirties he setup one of his mansions as a Physics lab
He started work with other physicists on various projects on his own money
The most important effort was the Radar Systems, secondly the Loran
Loomis was a great friend of Lawrence out of Berkeley and
Henry Stimson the Secretary of War for Roosevelt
The book describes a man and mind utilizing agile technology to
succeed in a most bureaucratic world
GREAT READING
| 
