The Northern Lights

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating - I was surprised!
Review: I didn't hold out hope for this one - surprise! It was a fascinating blend of biography and the historical events involved in explaining the Northern Lights. Yet more amazing were some of the historical elements that gave background. Jago does a nice job on magnetism as well as on reflecting back on Birkeland's forsightedness in terms of modern physics. This man is truly an unsung hero of physics.

If you teach science you will find many exerpts to share with your classes...especially about weather instruments and magnets. As a biography of a scientist/explorer it is equally rich for pulling out portions to share with classes.

Rating:
Summary: A Single-Minded Pursuit of Truth
Review: This book documents the life story of Kristian Birkeland, a Norwegian genius scientist at a time when Norwegian scientists were rarely taken seriously. Birkeland spared no cost and no risk to explore and document the phenomena known as Aurora or Nothern Lights. He was the first person to really understand and explain auroras. His theories of space which developed from studying auroras have been proven true long after his death'he was well ahead of his time.
Birkeland was an inventor, often distracted from what he loved best to work on projects that might help him to fund his expensive study of space and northern lights, as well as zodiacal lights near the equator. He pursued his varied projects with such single-mindedness that all else in his life went on the chopping block, including ultimately, his life itself.
The book is well-written and as readable as a scientific novel. Lucy Jago has previously worked on documentaries, and her research sometimes verges on the overly-detailed. Her hard work is obvious. The story in itself is a fascinating history of scientific study and the many obstacles that present along the way.