Acid Tongues and Tranquil Dreamers

Wired

Michael White...enriches each story with analysis, solid scientific explanation, and detailed biographies of each combatant...accessible...engaging.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

"Scientific discovery is based upon the excitement of argument... the overwhelming effect [of which] has been to propel science forward." In several of the eight rivalries White (Isaac Newton: The Last Sorcerer, etc.) compares in this captivating work, the competition is more than personal: the fate of nations (e.g., the Allies versus the Axis powers in the battle to develop the atom bomb) and of industry (Thomas Edison versus Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse in the fight to harness electricity; Bill Gates and Microsoft versus Larry Ellison and Oracle in the struggle to dominate cyberspace) hang in the balance. While each story could stand on its own, White's skill at interweaving important themes across time and among rivalries brings the whole work together. For example, less than a century after Galileo encouraged scientific experiment and exchange, Isaac Newton stymied progress by keeping his discovery of calculus to himself. When he learned that a young German mathematician named Gottfried Leibniz had reached the same conclusions, Newton was furious. Charles Darwin, on the other hand, realized that science could only benefit from cooperation among its practitioners and from public awareness. Just before releasing his 1859 masterpiece, On the Origin of Species, to the world, Darwin befriended a young scientist named Alfred Wallace, who was also working on a theory of evolution. Together, they published the first scientific paper on the subject. Mixing intrigue, espionage and human drama, White has created an arresting narrative that should engage readers beyond fans of popular science. 15-city NPR campaign. (Mar. 1) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A solid account of some memorable squabbles reminds readers that scientists are as prone to turf wars and ego trips as any other mortals. British author White, whose credits include biographies of Newton, Darwin, and Einstein, begins with a quick overview of early scientific controversies, in particular the conflict between astronomers and the Catholic Church. He then examines eight particular rivalries. Newton, who quarreled with anyone who questioned his preeminence, saved his greatest venom for Leibnitz, who seems to have discovered calculus at almost the same time as his English rival. In the long run, Leibnitz's clearer notation became the standard. The chemists Lavoisier and Priestly backed rival theories of combustion. Priestly actually discovered oxygen, but insisted on interpreting it in terms of the outmoded phlogiston theory. It was the Frenchman's broader (and ultimately, correct) theories that led to the development of chemistry as an exact science. Similarly, Darwin's opponents, most of whom opposed evolution on religious rather than scientific grounds, lost the argument mainly because their theoretical position was in effect a dead end for the biological sciences. Sometimes being right isn't enough; Tesla won his argument (as hotly contested as any) with Edison over the choice between alternating and direct current for distribution of electricity, but his complete lack of worldly acumen made him a marginal figure. In modern times, White also looks at the races to build the nuclear bomb and to find the structure of DNA, as well as the ongoing commercial competition between Bill Gates and his rivals. In each case, he looks on the bright side, making the argumentthatcompetition spurs progress and forces the scientists involved to work at their best. Sometimes clumsily written, but an interesting look at the human element in science.