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Summary: This book is MOM upside down...WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: Words fail to describe the Aurora. Photographs cannot capture their essence. Science wrestled with an adequate explanation. At the turn of the century, Kristian Birkeland used the latest technology to observe and measure auroral phenomena. His theories so astonished the scientific community that they were rejected outright. Not until fifty years later did satellite data confirm that Birkeland had gotten it mostly right.Kristian Birkeland was a bright and driven man, not afraid to implement his ideas, and persuasive enough to gather backing for them. He developed a number of industrial processes. Members of his team died & became disabled, battling the elements to extract knowledge. Lucy Jago tells his story well. She puts the reader into blizzards and hardship. She amazes us with the bull-headed denial of the British scientists who refused to consider Birkeland's theories, in spite of the evidence he provided. She helps us feel the growing isolation of this driven man. The book is based on primary historical sources, as well as secondary works. Jago opted not to clutter the text with footnotes, but provided a solid bibliography. Jago's book reminds us of an era when science was dangerous and uncertain. Research didn't take place in multi-billion dollar government laboratories. Funding was even more uncertain then than now. Kristian Birkeland had tremendous drive, courage and charisma--and Jago makes this available to us. At a deeper level, Birkeland's story challenges readers to examine their own lives. Birkeland's theory, one paid for in blood, was rejected by scientific peers because they could not open their minds wide enough to accept surprising information. Today we call this denial. We are left to ponder which truths we deny because they would disrupt our comfortable status quo. (If you'd like to discuss this book or review further, please click on the "about me" link above & drop me an email. Thanks!)
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