Chandra by Kameshwar C. Wali

A good book about Chandrasekhar, the greatest Indian astronomer and Nobel prize winner in physics. Coming from India, he went eventually to the University of Chicago and was mainly at Williams Bay. His love-hate relationship with Eddington severely hampered and delayed the recognition of his work. His story is reminiscent of that of Ramanujan, though with a happier ending.

The Defeat of the Spanish Armada by Garrett Mattingly (1959)

A definitive account from primary sources of the greatest military battle to that time. From my reading it seems that the weather was not the deciding factor, but the superior performance of the English ships. The Spanish had the harder task and were poorly supplied and had many inferior ships. The book goes into excruciating detail about the political context. King Philip of Spain seems a most interesting character as does of course Drake.

A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe

Very good till the end with a realistic unsatisfying ending, great characters. About manhood in all its forms, strength and weakness, fear, courage.

Skunk Works by Ben R. Rich

An interesting book about stealth technology and high altitude high speed recon. The SR-71 and the B1 and B2 and the Stealth fighter and the pressures and joys of top secret high stakes gambling with the fickle U.S. government as an unequal partner. The basic thesis is that if the bean-counters and bureaucrats let the engineers alone, anything is possible!

The Los Alamos Primer by Robert Serber

This is a reconstruction of the lectures which were given to the scientists when they came to Los Alamos for the Manhattan Project. The lecture notes are given and explained in a different type face in the light of more recent knowledge. It is a great little book. What is striking is that the science was rather well known from the outset and it was the execution and engineering that was the monumental feat. This is a unique glimpse by one who was there, and source documents open to view, inaccuracies and brilliance on display in the best tradition of American science.

The Pleasure of Finding Things Out by Richard P. Feynman

Interesting and some historic and seminal ideas, molecular computing, h istory of Los Alamos, the Challenger inquiry. I find his philosophizing shallow and naive. His view of science is so overconfident and naive (again, it seems the best word; uncritical might be even more accurate). He seems not to see that all statements about science are philosophical and not scientific. He seems to claim that when a scientist looks at science and culture he is looking at both scientifically. As opposed to non-scientists, who look at science ignorantly and the world unscientifically.

The Rise of the Greeks by Michael Grant

I read most of this. Reminds me of the fossil record, deciding about cultures from pieces of clay pots but most of it is quite plausible. I'm sure it is careers of research distilled and well-written.