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rafaela_borges's reviews
192 reviews
My World Line: An Informal Autobiography by George Gamow
adventurous
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.0
I have never heard of Gamow before but I'm glad I read this book. Stan Ulam's biography (which is also very good) mentioned him and made me curious about his personality. I can't say Gamow's book shed a light on it as much as I expected, but I still quite enjoyed reading about his funny anecdotes and stories about Russia (one of my favorite countries).
He had a very interesting life, but I was also very impressed by how well he explained scientific concepts. I know nothing about physics but he made it quite easy to understand his and his colleagues work. Of all the books I've read that were written by scientists (including Feynman), I think Gamow was the most successful as an educator, because he makes everything seem simple and fun. It's a fantastic skill and makes me wonder how it was like to have him as a professor.
Anyway, to me the highlights of the book were the stories about Russia, the dinner with Madame Curie, his first attempt at fleeing his home country, and Rutherford confronting him about a strange letter he received. I wish there was more about Lev Landau, who seems very fascinating, but very little was written about him.
The foreword written by Ulam (which also appears in his own autobiography) makes Gamow seems an extremely interesting character and quite different from other scientists (more multidimensional, not arrogant, socially well adjusted etc.). My World Line gives only a glimpse of it, but it's still very much worth it.
He had a very interesting life, but I was also very impressed by how well he explained scientific concepts. I know nothing about physics but he made it quite easy to understand his and his colleagues work. Of all the books I've read that were written by scientists (including Feynman), I think Gamow was the most successful as an educator, because he makes everything seem simple and fun. It's a fantastic skill and makes me wonder how it was like to have him as a professor.
Anyway, to me the highlights of the book were the stories about Russia, the dinner with Madame Curie, his first attempt at fleeing his home country, and Rutherford confronting him about a strange letter he received. I wish there was more about Lev Landau, who seems very fascinating, but very little was written about him.
The foreword written by Ulam (which also appears in his own autobiography) makes Gamow seems an extremely interesting character and quite different from other scientists (more multidimensional, not arrogant, socially well adjusted etc.). My World Line gives only a glimpse of it, but it's still very much worth it.
Medicina dos Horrores: a história de Joseph Lister, o homem que revolucionou o apavorante mundo das cirurgias do século XIX by Lindsey Fitzharris, Vera Ribeiro
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
4.5
Adventures of a Mathematician by S. M. Ulam
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
It's a very nice biography with fun anecdotes, insights about the scientific community, and reflections about technology and mathematics. My favorite parts were the ones about Ulam's close friendship with von Neumann. It was also very interesting to know more about the Polish school of mathematics, even though I don't know much about math and couldn't understand some parts, especially the final chapter that focus exclusively on it. And for me, Ulam is particularly interesting due to his very extroverted, optimistic nature, which affects the way he did mathematics, and I was quite happy to see how he managed to do some of his best work after almost dying of encephalitis.
Overall, reading this book was a very nice, enjoyable experience and Ulam is definitely an underrated scientist (in popular non-mathematical circles, I mean). I've been meaning to read von Neumann's biography and I hope it has more insight into their friendship.
Overall, reading this book was a very nice, enjoyable experience and Ulam is definitely an underrated scientist (in popular non-mathematical circles, I mean). I've been meaning to read von Neumann's biography and I hope it has more insight into their friendship.
A Passion for Poison: Serial killer. Poisoner. Schoolboy by Carol Ann Lee
dark
informative
medium-paced
4.25
Selfies by Sylvie Weil, Ros Schwartz
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
This is not the kind of book I usually read, but then I became interested in mathematicians and wanted to know more about André Weil, Sylvie's father. I finished his autobiography (which is beautifully written) and then ended up curious about Sylvie's books and wanted to see if I could find out more about him through them... which led me to Selfies 😊
I'm not going to lie: I wasn't expecting to like it, but not only do I love it, I also wish it was longer and had a sequel. I really couldn't stop reading it and I feel very sad and empty when it ended.
I love how she organized the story, first by introducing a famous self-portrait (often a painting), then describing how she would make one of herself, and finally she tells a story about an event of her life related to the theme of the self-portrait. I thought it was very creative and fun, and the stories were very diverse and engaging. I liked them all, my favorites being those about her son and the final one.
The only thing I'm a bit ambivalent about is the lack of pictures. I had to google the paintings described in each chapter, but on the bright side, it allowed me to picture it in my head first instead of "spoon-feeding" me the images. Maybe it would've been nicer if they had been included in the end of the book, but I guess it would make it more expensive too.
Now I hope I'll get the chance to read "At Home with André and Simone Weil" someday. Like her father, Sylvie is a very good writer, has a very unique style, and displays a lovely sense of humor and way to see and describe the world and her experiences.
PS.: Spoiler about the photobomb:
Since it was André Weil who made me interested in Selfies, the final chapter left me completely speechless! Based on what I've read about him, I thought that one of his few redeeming qualities was how much he seemed to love and be devoted to his wife and marriage, so I was quite shocked with Sylvie's discovery (although probably not as much as she was, ofc). And when she mentioned how similar her younger brother is to André, I got curious as to what he looks like, since Sylvie, Simone and André all have very distinctive facial features.
I'm not going to lie: I wasn't expecting to like it, but not only do I love it, I also wish it was longer and had a sequel. I really couldn't stop reading it and I feel very sad and empty when it ended.
I love how she organized the story, first by introducing a famous self-portrait (often a painting), then describing how she would make one of herself, and finally she tells a story about an event of her life related to the theme of the self-portrait. I thought it was very creative and fun, and the stories were very diverse and engaging. I liked them all, my favorites being those about her son and the final one.
The only thing I'm a bit ambivalent about is the lack of pictures. I had to google the paintings described in each chapter, but on the bright side, it allowed me to picture it in my head first instead of "spoon-feeding" me the images. Maybe it would've been nicer if they had been included in the end of the book, but I guess it would make it more expensive too.
Now I hope I'll get the chance to read "At Home with André and Simone Weil" someday. Like her father, Sylvie is a very good writer, has a very unique style, and displays a lovely sense of humor and way to see and describe the world and her experiences.
PS.: Spoiler about the photobomb:
The Apprenticeship of a Mathematician by Andre Weil
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
During my long, ongoing obsession with mathematicians and physicists, I've read quite a few things (mostly negative) about André Weil, whose famous sister, Simone, I knew nothing about. So I decided to check out his autobiography, which left me pleasantly surprised.
Weil knows how to write and paint a colorful picture of the places he has been, and he has smart (and sometimes quite funny) insights about different cultures and people. I love his irreverence, his intellectual curiosity and his sense of humor, which permeate the narrative. India has never caught my interest, but André made it sound so rich and alive. It's very beautifully written and informative! I wish it had been longer.
On the not-so-positive parts:
- The self-censorship. Given his famous arrogance, I wasn't expecting him to be open and vulnerable about some parts of his life he may not have been proud of. But it's quite odd how his wife just suddenly appears in his life, without him mentioning that she was married to another remember of Bourbaki when they got together. He also spent a few paragraphs using the Bhagavad Gita to explain/justify his decision to avoid the draft, which irked me and felt not so honest to me.
- I wish he had included his experiences in the US too. He said in an interview that he decided against it, because nothing interesting happened since he got a job in Chicago, but I disagree and wish he had had a more positive view of the second part of his life 😕 And being Brazilian, I definitely wanted more details about his years in São Paulo.
I missed reading about the less glamorous side of his life: his marriage and kids, his relationship with his parents after Simone's death (which he talks little about), his views (mostly negative, afaik) about the US and his colleagues in Chicago and Princeton, the future generations of Bourbaki members, Bourbaki's legacy, his frustrated desire to return to France, what made Japan and the Kyoto Medal so special to him, etc. I didn't feel like I got the full(er) picture I wanted, but it was worth the read.
(There isn't as much math as I thought there'd be, which I appreciate. I don't know much about it, so I prefer to read about his personal life and relationships. However, some people might be disappointed, especially because of the title)
Anyway, I loved his autobiography, but now I wish we also had a bio about André Weil written by a third party. He travelled a lot, served time in prison (where he made one of his best works lol), experienced different cultures, knew several languages (including Sanskrit), was very erudite, had a very interesting famous sister who died too young, possessed a famously difficult personality, engaged in the good old academic bullying, made controversial choices (wrt the draft, the Taniyama-Shimura-Weil conjecture, etc.)... In some ways, he reminds me a lot of Oppenheimer and I could read a 700-page long book about him as well.
I also can't wait to read his daughter's book "At Home with André and Simone Weil" someday, even if it's not the proper biography we need. Sylvie Weil is a good writer too, although of a different kind.
Weil knows how to write and paint a colorful picture of the places he has been, and he has smart (and sometimes quite funny) insights about different cultures and people. I love his irreverence, his intellectual curiosity and his sense of humor, which permeate the narrative. India has never caught my interest, but André made it sound so rich and alive. It's very beautifully written and informative! I wish it had been longer.
On the not-so-positive parts:
- The self-censorship. Given his famous arrogance, I wasn't expecting him to be open and vulnerable about some parts of his life he may not have been proud of. But it's quite odd how his wife just suddenly appears in his life, without him mentioning that she was married to another remember of Bourbaki when they got together. He also spent a few paragraphs using the Bhagavad Gita to explain/justify his decision to avoid the draft, which irked me and felt not so honest to me.
- I wish he had included his experiences in the US too. He said in an interview that he decided against it, because nothing interesting happened since he got a job in Chicago, but I disagree and wish he had had a more positive view of the second part of his life 😕 And being Brazilian, I definitely wanted more details about his years in São Paulo.
I missed reading about the less glamorous side of his life: his marriage and kids, his relationship with his parents after Simone's death (which he talks little about), his views (mostly negative, afaik) about the US and his colleagues in Chicago and Princeton, the future generations of Bourbaki members, Bourbaki's legacy, his frustrated desire to return to France, what made Japan and the Kyoto Medal so special to him, etc. I didn't feel like I got the full(er) picture I wanted, but it was worth the read.
(There isn't as much math as I thought there'd be, which I appreciate. I don't know much about it, so I prefer to read about his personal life and relationships. However, some people might be disappointed, especially because of the title)
Anyway, I loved his autobiography, but now I wish we also had a bio about André Weil written by a third party. He travelled a lot, served time in prison (where he made one of his best works lol), experienced different cultures, knew several languages (including Sanskrit), was very erudite, had a very interesting famous sister who died too young, possessed a famously difficult personality, engaged in the good old academic bullying, made controversial choices (wrt the draft, the Taniyama-Shimura-Weil conjecture, etc.)... In some ways, he reminds me a lot of Oppenheimer and I could read a 700-page long book about him as well.
I also can't wait to read his daughter's book "At Home with André and Simone Weil" someday, even if it's not the proper biography we need. Sylvie Weil is a good writer too, although of a different kind.