Posted by Carlos on June 17, 1998 at 15:38:47:
In Reply to: details, science, etc. posted by rpcman on June 17, 1998 at 15:07:48:
This is the opposite of what I like to look for. In Galileo at Work: His Scientific Biography there was too much (dated) science in it for me. I wanted to find out about Galileo the person, what made him tick, what formed his genius, etc. This is where the details fascinate me. I like to see how these people were shaped to become what they became, how their environment influenced them, etc. The details, if provided correctly and critically, are what make (to me) a good biography great.
What interests me, and what I mean when I say I want "more science" is the thought process up to the moment of discovery - that "aha" moment when it all clicks and a new discovery is made or theory formed. The mental leap that the true geniuses can make intrigues me. Einstein, when he was trying to extrapolate his special theory of relativity to the general theory had his tremendous insight about the nature of gravity; the biography I mentioned describes that moment well. I still don't know how he did it, but at least I know what he went through to arrive at that concept.
This book, one of my favorites, has some of those kinds of stories.