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Summary: Science is about creating yourself
Review: This book is a brilliant illustration of George Bernard Shaw's philosophy: "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." As a professional scientist struggling to reconcile the freedom of thought required to produce truly innovative research and the constraints of institutional science, I found this book very stimulating. Lovelock's depiction of a bright, adventurous, and independent scientific path will be a wonderful inspiration to all vocational scientists.
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Summary: The Life of an Independent Scientist
Review: This is a remarkable book by and about a remarkable man. Big science is now the norm so that few working scientists manage to survive on their own. But Jim Lovelock not only survived but was responsible for a number of outstanding scientific achievements.
I met Jim when he was a consultant to Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in the 1970's. I was a physicist with an intense interest in all things biological, and in charge of the scientists and engineers devising instruments to try to detect life on Mars. Jim immediately impressed me with his quiet manner and understanding of the problems. A year later, I visited his laboratory in his cottage at Bowerchalke, near Salisbury, England and met his first wife, Helen.
This book is autobiographical, discussing in depth his early life and how he gradually became so well regarded in the scientific community that he was sought after as a consultant around the world. I can hear Jim's voice in this book. Peter Simmonds, who worked with Jim in Britain and at JPL once said, "Jim carries a little bird on his shoulder who tells him exactly what to say." It seemed like that when he was able to make a pungent comment clearing up a difficulty that had plagued us for days.
This is a remarkable book as it tells with great clarity what Jim thought of many of the people he worked with. The names include many of the great scientists working on the environment and other problems of the age. He's kind in his assessment of some of them, I think.
Read this book if you want to understand what makes a great scientist: ability, knowledge, study, intuition and imagination. Read it as a gripping story of one man's life as an independent scientist. Read it, also, to learn how much Jim contributed to our understanding of the world's environment as we know it today.Dennis Le Croissette, Ph.D.
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