Review by jf47 -- Space Has No Frontier
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jf47
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Review by jf47 -- Space Has No Frontier
[Following is a volunteer review of "Space Has No Frontier" by John Bromley-Davenport.]
As a science enthusiast, I was thrilled to read Space Has No Frontier by John Bromley-Davenport. This thoroughly enjoyable biography of radio astronomer Sir Bernard Lovell provides fascinating glimpses of World War II and cultural and scientific trends over many decades. During an enviable 98-year life, Lovell became incredibly accomplished personally and professionally. However, rather than simple praise, a spectrum of ups, downs, near missteps, and happy chance are presented. This creates a believable, realistic, and very readable portrait of a remarkable life.
The book can be roughly divided into four parts. We first learn of Lovell’s childhood, his fascination with cricket and music, and a general lack of enthusiasm for school. Lovell seemed destined to take over the family business. However, a chance field trip to listen to a local physicist inspired him to take a university route. He finished his PhD and was at his first academic job shortly before the start of World War II. World War II activities are the second major portion of this biography. Like many scientists at the time, Lovell was drawn into war related work. He played a major role in the development of airborne radar, helping the Royal Air Force tremendously. The third portion of the book focuses on his prime as a scientist. Originally inspired by the idea of using radar to detect cosmic rays, he ended up spending decades developing a world famous observatory. Finally, the book concludes with more stories of Lovell and his family in his final decades, and his active life overall.
I found myself admiring Lovell very much, but the best parts of this book described his foibles. The Jodrell Bank Observatory was completed years behind schedule and at a cost far beyond originally envisioned. To be fair, no such facility had been built before and a host of new engineering and construction challenges had to be overcome. Lovell took a path that would make any modern project manager cringe. Basically he had an optimism that money would somehow appear, and a drive to keep moving forward with construction that didn’t always turn out well. Actually, Lovell did his best and the author argues that his university unfairly made him a scapegoat at times when publicity turned exceedingly sour. Regardless, the reader sees that imperfect people can achieve great things.
My only real complaint with this book was a description of an experiment to measure the distances between planets and the Sun using the Jodrell Bank equipment. The book describes scientists finding the Earth-Venus distance to be approximately 93 million miles. This caught my attention as it is the usual quoted average distance from Earth to the Sun. Looking up the original research, I speculate that the author and editor became confused. The Earth-Venus distance was measured, but was used to check the distance from the Earth to the Sun (i.e., one astronomical unit or 93 million miles). Although the editing and writing are overall excellent, this did stand out as a little awkward.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I found myself consistently interested in all of the stories, and I very much enjoyed the author’s style. Although I have some familiarity with astronomy, radio astronomy is a subspecialty and it was fascinating to read about its origins. I highly recommend this book to anyone.
******
Space Has No Frontier
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
As a science enthusiast, I was thrilled to read Space Has No Frontier by John Bromley-Davenport. This thoroughly enjoyable biography of radio astronomer Sir Bernard Lovell provides fascinating glimpses of World War II and cultural and scientific trends over many decades. During an enviable 98-year life, Lovell became incredibly accomplished personally and professionally. However, rather than simple praise, a spectrum of ups, downs, near missteps, and happy chance are presented. This creates a believable, realistic, and very readable portrait of a remarkable life.
The book can be roughly divided into four parts. We first learn of Lovell’s childhood, his fascination with cricket and music, and a general lack of enthusiasm for school. Lovell seemed destined to take over the family business. However, a chance field trip to listen to a local physicist inspired him to take a university route. He finished his PhD and was at his first academic job shortly before the start of World War II. World War II activities are the second major portion of this biography. Like many scientists at the time, Lovell was drawn into war related work. He played a major role in the development of airborne radar, helping the Royal Air Force tremendously. The third portion of the book focuses on his prime as a scientist. Originally inspired by the idea of using radar to detect cosmic rays, he ended up spending decades developing a world famous observatory. Finally, the book concludes with more stories of Lovell and his family in his final decades, and his active life overall.
I found myself admiring Lovell very much, but the best parts of this book described his foibles. The Jodrell Bank Observatory was completed years behind schedule and at a cost far beyond originally envisioned. To be fair, no such facility had been built before and a host of new engineering and construction challenges had to be overcome. Lovell took a path that would make any modern project manager cringe. Basically he had an optimism that money would somehow appear, and a drive to keep moving forward with construction that didn’t always turn out well. Actually, Lovell did his best and the author argues that his university unfairly made him a scapegoat at times when publicity turned exceedingly sour. Regardless, the reader sees that imperfect people can achieve great things.
My only real complaint with this book was a description of an experiment to measure the distances between planets and the Sun using the Jodrell Bank equipment. The book describes scientists finding the Earth-Venus distance to be approximately 93 million miles. This caught my attention as it is the usual quoted average distance from Earth to the Sun. Looking up the original research, I speculate that the author and editor became confused. The Earth-Venus distance was measured, but was used to check the distance from the Earth to the Sun (i.e., one astronomical unit or 93 million miles). Although the editing and writing are overall excellent, this did stand out as a little awkward.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I found myself consistently interested in all of the stories, and I very much enjoyed the author’s style. Although I have some familiarity with astronomy, radio astronomy is a subspecialty and it was fascinating to read about its origins. I highly recommend this book to anyone.
******
Space Has No Frontier
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Reconfigurement by E. Alan Fleischauer
