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Michael Faraday and the royal institution. The genius of man and place
B.C.) to the Ur III Period (ca 2006 B.C. following traditional dating). Chapters centre on topics: e.g., ‘Patterns of Settlement and Agriculture’ and ‘Writing and the Arts’. When S. N. Kramer published ‘The Sumerians’ 28 years ago, he concentrated on textual evidence; Dr Crawford concentrates on archaeological evidence. She describes and illustrates Ur III buildings, but does not attempt to explore the details of Ur III administrative practices. The book is also not a history: neither king lists nor chronology charts appear. Sumer and the Sumerians is a good refresher course for anyone whose studies of Mesopotamian archaeology have faltered over the last 20 years. It threads a detailed and fairly non-controversial course through the sites, finds, and theories relating to Sumerian Mesopotamia with emphasis on the publications between 1970 and 1987 (almost 80% of the bibliography). Ideas, theories, and reworkings of earlier excavations from these publications are well summarized and blended with descriptions of excavations. Occasional original insights, such as ideas on the use of the ‘private chapel’ in the Tell Asmar Temple of the Rulers, are a bonus The truly beginning student will not find this book easy reading, however. A bigger book than this was needed to both illustrate and discuss Sumerian archaeology in detail. Archaeological discussion centres on buildings and objects which need to be seen to be understood. Typically pages 88-92, discussing Akkadian and Ur III architecture, describe five public buildings, but illustrate only two. The archaeological novice must go to specialized publications for the other three. What is needed are references to a compendium of plans and pictures from all major sites; the problem is that such an up-to-date reference work does not yet exist. In the meantime Sumer and the Sumerians makes a good start at filling a long-standing need for a good archaeological summary of fourth and third millennium B.C. Mesopotamia. Harriet Martin
them here: the first serious discussion of objective curve building and dating methodologies; a comprehensive review of the magnetic properties of baked clay and soil; sampling and measuring techniques for archaeomagnetism; retlections on the future trajectory of archaeomagnetism; and a discussion of the sensitive symbiosis which this field requires between archaeologist and geophysicist. The authors have succeeded in preparing a volume which complements existing texts on archaeological chronometry. Mark Noel The Lord of Uraniborg: a Biography of Tycho Brahe. By Victor E. Thoren with contributions by John R. Christiansen. Pp. 523. Cambridge University Press. 7997. f40.00, us $59.50.
Tycho Brahe was a key figure in the history of astronomy, not least because of the observing instruments he designed so well, had constructed with such precision, and used in a way which allowed him to minimize instrumental errors. This last was a technique he himself introduced during the latter part of the 16th century and which has been adopted in science ever since. Excepting a compendium of papers about Brahe, the last complete biography was that of Johann Dreyer written in 1890, and Professor Thoren’s volume is much to be welcomed. Beautifully written in modern American style, it contains much new research, not a little by Professor Thoren himself. This includes a superb analysis of Brahe’s theory of the motion of the Moon; a vast amount of enlightening information about 16th century Danish nobility into whose ranks Brahe was born - but against which he rebelled; and new insight into his forced departure from his island observatory Uraniborg. With its useful glossary of astronomical terms, excellent appendices (among which are translations by John Christiansen of Brahe’s letters from 1599until his death in 1601) this is now, without doubt, the standard biography of one of astronomy’s significant figures. Colin A. Ronan
Archaeomagnetic Dating. Edited by Jeffrey L. Eighmy and Robert S. Sternberg. Pp. 446. University of Arizona Press. 1997. US $60.00.
Michael Faraday and The Royal Institution. The Genius of Man and Place. By Sir John Thomas. Foreword by Sir Brian Pippard. Pp. 234. Adam Hilger, Bristol. 1991. Paperback f 72.50.
The technique of archaeomagnetic dating is based on the remarkable phenomenon whereby certain artifacts or features constructed in antiquity are found to retain an ancient record of the Earth’s magnetic field. The method germinated from seed sown by Thellier and Aitken to the stage where service dating has become available in Europe within the last decade. This volume contains a harvest of papers by 13 practitioners whose declared objective is not the definitive textbook but rather a review of current topics in magnetic dating with special reference to case studies in North and Meso-America. Archaeological scientists with a magnetic attraction are encouraged to ignore the regional bias, for they will find much to interest
This book celebrates Faraday’s close relationship with the Royal Institution as much as it does his scientific achievements. As the author explains, Faraday’s ‘scientific and spiritual presence’ confers ‘a unique aura that pervades the whole place’. The opening chapters deal with the history of the RI and Faraday’s way into science; the closing chapters with Faraday’s enormous contribution to the RI’s mission to disseminate and popularize science and technology. But the meat in the sandwich is, of course, Faraday’s contribution to science and technology. Sir John Thomas provides a comprehensive chronological account of almost everything Faraday did which has been important to modern science. Since the book is aimed at
192
non-scientists, it is a pity that he concentrates so exclusively on results, conveying little of the excitement, playfulness and riskiness of the research itself. The book also promotes a misconception: given that Faraday had a long apprenticeship in one of Europe’s leading laboratories and his tour of the continent with Davy introduced him to many of its leading scientists, it is misleading to claim (as the publisher’s cover blurb does) that he was self-educated. Even though this book is an appreciation rather than a scholarly work, it would have been helpful to include information about sources for the many excellent illustrations and suggestions for further reading about this extraordinarily productive man and the sciences he helped shape. David Gooding
Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. Volume 36. Pp. 670. The Royal Society, London. 7990. f79.00 (U.K.), f84.00 (Overseas).
This invaluable series began, as Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society, in 1932. The very first issue included notices of such giants as A. A. Michelson, the first American to be awarded a Nobel Prize (1907); Albert Brachet, the Belgian embryologist; and Sir David Bruce, parasitologist famous for his linking of sleepingsickness with the tsetse fly. With the completion of the present volume 1280 memoirs have been published. As some of the earliest Fellows to be remembered were born before the middle of the 19th century, the series as a whole is a remarkable record of outstanding achievement in science spanning more than a century. It is by no means only a record of achievement by British scientists, for many of them had close contacts with overseas colleagues, which are duly recorded. Additionally, the Royal Society has long had a special category of fellows, the Foreign Members. The present volume includes 25 memoirs, with an average length of 24 pages (including a portrait and comprehensive list of publications). Four relate to Foreign Members (E. M. Lifshitz, R. Courrier. N. I. Semenov and Sewall Wright). The Emperor Hirohito of Japan was also very much a foreign member, but was in fact elected to full Fellowship in 1971 under Statute 12. In a monograph which has been meticulouslv researched though perhaps rather reticient about his imperialist activities - E. J. H. Corner describes him as ‘a born naturalist who had to be emperor’. Among so many other excellent contributions it is perhaps invidious to single out any for special mention. Margaret Gowing’s tribute to Lord Hinton will surely please all those who knew him. Belated. for he died in 1983, it was worth waiting for written authoritatively and with deep understanding. Unexpectedly, there is a link between these two seemingly disparate characters Hinton made several visits to Japan from 1956 and - though at exactly 2 metres high and broad in proportions, he towered over his hosts - was immensely popular. The
them here: the first serious discussion of objective curve building and dating methodologies; a comprehensive review of the magnetic properties of baked clay and soil; sampling and measuring techniques for archaeomagnetism; retlections on the future trajectory of archaeomagnetism; and a discussion of the sensitive symbiosis which this field requires between archaeologist and geophysicist. The authors have succeeded in preparing a volume which complements existing texts on archaeological chronometry. Mark Noel The Lord of Uraniborg: a Biography of Tycho Brahe. By Victor E. Thoren with contributions by John R. Christiansen. Pp. 523. Cambridge University Press. 7997. f40.00, us $59.50.
Tycho Brahe was a key figure in the history of astronomy, not least because of the observing instruments he designed so well, had constructed with such precision, and used in a way which allowed him to minimize instrumental errors. This last was a technique he himself introduced during the latter part of the 16th century and which has been adopted in science ever since. Excepting a compendium of papers about Brahe, the last complete biography was that of Johann Dreyer written in 1890, and Professor Thoren’s volume is much to be welcomed. Beautifully written in modern American style, it contains much new research, not a little by Professor Thoren himself. This includes a superb analysis of Brahe’s theory of the motion of the Moon; a vast amount of enlightening information about 16th century Danish nobility into whose ranks Brahe was born - but against which he rebelled; and new insight into his forced departure from his island observatory Uraniborg. With its useful glossary of astronomical terms, excellent appendices (among which are translations by John Christiansen of Brahe’s letters from 1599until his death in 1601) this is now, without doubt, the standard biography of one of astronomy’s significant figures. Colin A. Ronan
Archaeomagnetic Dating. Edited by Jeffrey L. Eighmy and Robert S. Sternberg. Pp. 446. University of Arizona Press. 1997. US $60.00.
Michael Faraday and The Royal Institution. The Genius of Man and Place. By Sir John Thomas. Foreword by Sir Brian Pippard. Pp. 234. Adam Hilger, Bristol. 1991. Paperback f 72.50.
The technique of archaeomagnetic dating is based on the remarkable phenomenon whereby certain artifacts or features constructed in antiquity are found to retain an ancient record of the Earth’s magnetic field. The method germinated from seed sown by Thellier and Aitken to the stage where service dating has become available in Europe within the last decade. This volume contains a harvest of papers by 13 practitioners whose declared objective is not the definitive textbook but rather a review of current topics in magnetic dating with special reference to case studies in North and Meso-America. Archaeological scientists with a magnetic attraction are encouraged to ignore the regional bias, for they will find much to interest
This book celebrates Faraday’s close relationship with the Royal Institution as much as it does his scientific achievements. As the author explains, Faraday’s ‘scientific and spiritual presence’ confers ‘a unique aura that pervades the whole place’. The opening chapters deal with the history of the RI and Faraday’s way into science; the closing chapters with Faraday’s enormous contribution to the RI’s mission to disseminate and popularize science and technology. But the meat in the sandwich is, of course, Faraday’s contribution to science and technology. Sir John Thomas provides a comprehensive chronological account of almost everything Faraday did which has been important to modern science. Since the book is aimed at
192
non-scientists, it is a pity that he concentrates so exclusively on results, conveying little of the excitement, playfulness and riskiness of the research itself. The book also promotes a misconception: given that Faraday had a long apprenticeship in one of Europe’s leading laboratories and his tour of the continent with Davy introduced him to many of its leading scientists, it is misleading to claim (as the publisher’s cover blurb does) that he was self-educated. Even though this book is an appreciation rather than a scholarly work, it would have been helpful to include information about sources for the many excellent illustrations and suggestions for further reading about this extraordinarily productive man and the sciences he helped shape. David Gooding
Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. Volume 36. Pp. 670. The Royal Society, London. 7990. f79.00 (U.K.), f84.00 (Overseas).
This invaluable series began, as Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society, in 1932. The very first issue included notices of such giants as A. A. Michelson, the first American to be awarded a Nobel Prize (1907); Albert Brachet, the Belgian embryologist; and Sir David Bruce, parasitologist famous for his linking of sleepingsickness with the tsetse fly. With the completion of the present volume 1280 memoirs have been published. As some of the earliest Fellows to be remembered were born before the middle of the 19th century, the series as a whole is a remarkable record of outstanding achievement in science spanning more than a century. It is by no means only a record of achievement by British scientists, for many of them had close contacts with overseas colleagues, which are duly recorded. Additionally, the Royal Society has long had a special category of fellows, the Foreign Members. The present volume includes 25 memoirs, with an average length of 24 pages (including a portrait and comprehensive list of publications). Four relate to Foreign Members (E. M. Lifshitz, R. Courrier. N. I. Semenov and Sewall Wright). The Emperor Hirohito of Japan was also very much a foreign member, but was in fact elected to full Fellowship in 1971 under Statute 12. In a monograph which has been meticulouslv researched though perhaps rather reticient about his imperialist activities - E. J. H. Corner describes him as ‘a born naturalist who had to be emperor’. Among so many other excellent contributions it is perhaps invidious to single out any for special mention. Margaret Gowing’s tribute to Lord Hinton will surely please all those who knew him. Belated. for he died in 1983, it was worth waiting for written authoritatively and with deep understanding. Unexpectedly, there is a link between these two seemingly disparate characters Hinton made several visits to Japan from 1956 and - though at exactly 2 metres high and broad in proportions, he towered over his hosts - was immensely popular. The