Rochester Scientific Thinkers Book Group

While Romanticism in Great Britain is known mostly as an artistic, literary, & intellectual movement, rapid and revolutionary scientific discoveries were an underlying catalyst to the era's vaunted sense of "wonder." It was also a period when remarkable individuals working alone could make major contributions to knowledge. Historian & biographer Holmes conveys the history of Romantic-era science through vivid biographies of a few such individuals. Notable among them are Joseph Banks, a botanist whose experiences in Tahiti were life-changing; William Herschel, the eccentric astronomer who (aided invaluably by his devoted sister, Caroline) discovered the planet Uranus; & Humphrey Davy, an intrepid chemist who conducted gas inhalation experiments on himself. These and others are depicted against the cultural tapestry of an age of idealism, which was both fueled and threatened by the advances of science. The subject makes this book most relevant for readers of general science and history of science, but its engaging narratives of the period appeals to a broader readership.
14 copies in the library system including seven 2008 editions, four 2010 editions & Playaway format.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGHiXPw5JA4 5 min
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2FS9brqfG0 18 min audio only
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU7OH6KPGiM 55 min
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krIG3_1WSHs 30 min

Subtitled: the true story of an alien craze that captured turn-of-the-century America. In this captivating and vivid history, journalist Baron recreates the mania for Mars that gripped America over a century ago. He recaps heated debates between eccentric intellectuals over the existence of intelligent life on the planet—indicated in the minds of some by straight lines, interpreted as canals, observed crisscrossing its surface. The most prominent of these “battling egos” was Percival Lowell, a Boston heir who established his own observatory; he theorized that Mars’s canals were an irrigation system preserving a dying planet. Alongside H.G. Wells’s War of the Worlds and Nikola Tesla’s claim to have intercepted an extraterrestrial communication, Lowell’s fantastical lectures depicting “the pathos and heroism of this great civilization fighting to survive” sparked a Mars craze. Baron astutely examines the societal shifts that account for the Martian fixation, among them the rise of a yellow press that craved sensationalistic stories, a new wave of exploration and invention (the Wright brothers’ flights; expeditions to the North Pole), and divisive earthbound struggles like the Spanish-American War that rendered Mars—an imagined “Planet of Peace”—as a symbol of hope. While Baron points to the dangers of conspiracy theories and bunk science, he also presents the saga as one of infectious optimism that inspired subsequent generations of science fiction writers and scientists. It’s an enthrallingly bizarre and surprisingly poignant account of humankind’s limitless willingness to believe.
7 copies in the library system.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbDv9RXqqfY 47 min
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GicT79H8Ws 32 min audio only
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgwmlXpAk-g 51 min audio only

Larson's page-turner juxtaposes scientific intrigue with a notorious murder in London at the turn of the 20th century. It alternates the story of Marconi's quest for the first wireless transatlantic communication amid scientific jealousies and controversies with the tale of a mild-mannered murderer caught as a result of the invention. The eccentric figures include the secretive Marconi and one of his rivals, physicist Oliver Lodge, who believed that he was first to make the discovery, but also insisted that the electromagnetic waves he studied were evidence of the paranormal. The parallel tale recounts the story of Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen, accused of murdering his volatile, shrewish wife. As he and his unsuspecting lover attempted to escape in disguise to Quebec on a luxury ocean liner, a Scotland Yard detective chased them on a faster boat. Unbeknownst to the couple, the world followed the pursuit through wireless transmissions to newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic. A public that had been skeptical of this technology suddenly grasped its power. In an era when "wireless" has a whole new connotation, young adults interested in the history of scientific discovery will be enthralled with this fascinating account of Marconi and his colleagues' attempts to harness a new technology. And those who enjoy a good mystery will find the unraveling of Dr. Crippen's crime, complete with turn-of-the-century forensics, appealing to the CSI crowd. A thrilling read.
28 copies available in library system including 5 on CD & 3 in large print.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcNhErN5y4Y 42 min review
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMrH5cOPNFE 4 min review
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66lbAFOQNN0&t=50s 63 min

The past and future of a coveted fabric. Geneticist Prasad delivers a vibrant cultural and scientific history of an amazing natural fiber: silk. From a diet of mulberry leaves, the caterpillars extrude threads that form a cocoon, protecting them as they transform into moths. The extraordinary properties of this thread became the basis of cloth-making by Neolithic Chinese farmers, who bred and harvested the silkworms and also used the eggs, larvae, pupae, and feces in traditional medicines, dyes, fertilizers, and flavoring. However, silk-making did not originate only in China. Archaeological expeditions to India have found evidence of silk in artifacts made between 2450 and 2000 B.C.E.—from other distinct types of moths across the subcontinent. Besides tracing the earliest evidence of silk production, Prasad creates richly detailed portraits of the many 17th-, 18th-, and 19th-century naturalists who devoted themselves to investigating the mysterious process of metamorphosis, the anatomy of silkworms, and the properties of silk threads, making intrepid journeys in search of caterpillars. Although prized for the shimmering luster that made it a hugely profitable commodity in international trade, silk—especially spider silk—is also extremely strong, making it useful for suturing and dressing wounds and for military use, including creating crosshairs, parachutes, and bullet-proof vests. The forcible silking of spiders gave rise to various contraptions whereby spiders would be immobilized and stimulated to produce extrusions 52 times finer and “nearly three times stronger, more elastic, and more durable than the moth’s.” A colorful, wholly absorbing narrative tapestry. A Smithsonian Magazine Best History Book of 2024.
8 copies in library system
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYBTMmmcWUw 33 min https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMZZIzAYpF4 14 min
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjPTXUnEq1I 40 min audio only
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqHQHdgMHAY 50 min
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqHQHdgMHAY 8 min