A bright tale of a life dedicated to science, well stocked with dramatic moments and discoveries.
A scorching profile of a brilliant physicist whose proper recognition was long delayed thanks to sexism, antisemitism, and personal betrayal.
In a career much like her older contemporary Marie Curie’s, Meitner was a relentless researcher subjected to rabid prejudice against women in the sciences. Nevertheless, she was rewarded some grudging, minimal support through her world-changing discoveries. She had the further obstacles of being Jewish in Hitler’s Germany—and of working closely and fruitfully for decades with Otto Hahn, who, as Moss carefully documents, then pressured her to quit the Berlin institute he headed rather than shield her from the Nazis, neglected to mention in his lecture after being awarded a Nobel Prize that she had provided the essential insights about nuclear fission that explained his experimental results, and repeatedly dismissed her as bitter. Despite being a Nobel also-ran no fewer than 48 times, Meitner made multiple attempts to mend fences with Hahn, even while taking him to task for joining the postwar German apologists. Meanwhile, she twice narrowly escaped capture on her flight from the Third Reich, worked with Allied intelligence during the war, and went on to become a pacifist who, like Einstein, was horrified at the way nuclear energy was weaponized. She cuts a small, neat, shy figure in the scene-setting graphic panels that open each chapter, but her intellect and determination shine on every page.
A bright tale of a life dedicated to science, well stocked with dramatic moments and discoveries. (author’s note, timeline, glossary, biographical profiles, notes, bibliography, image credits, index) (Biography. 11-14)Pub Date: April 5, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4197-5853-9
Page Count: 264
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: Jan. 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
Intrepid explorer Lourie tackles the “Father of Waters,” the Mighty Mississippi, traveling by canoe, bicycle, foot, and car, 2,340 miles from the headwaters of the great river at the Canadian border to the river’s end in the Gulf of Mexico. As with his other “river titles” (Rio Grande, 1999, etc.), he intertwines history, quotes, and period photographs, interviews with people living on and around the river, personal observations, and contemporary photographs of his journey. He touches on the Native Americans—who still harvest wild rice on the Mississippi, and named the river—loggers, steamboats, Civil War battles, and sunken treasure. He stops to talk with a contemporary barge pilot, who tows jumbo-sized tank barges, or 30 barges carrying 45,000 tons of goods up and down and comments: “You think ‘river river river’ night and day for weeks on end.” Lourie describes the working waterway of locks and barges, oil refineries and diesel engines, and the more tranquil areas with heron and alligators, and cypress swamps. A personal travelogue, historical geography, and welcome introduction to the majestic river, past and present. (Nonfiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 1-56397-756-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
If Freedman wrote the history textbooks, we would have many more historians. Beginning with an engrossing description of the Boston Tea Party in 1773, he brings the reader the lives of the American colonists and the events leading up to the break with England. The narrative approach to history reads like a good story, yet Freedman tucks in the data that give depth to it. The inclusion of all the people who lived during those times and the roles they played, whether small or large are acknowledged with dignity. The story moves backwards from the Boston Tea Party to the beginning of the European settlement of what they called the New World, and then proceeds chronologically to the signing of the Declaration. “Your Rights and Mine” traces the influence of the document from its inception to the present ending with Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. The full text of the Declaration and a reproduction of the original are included. A chronology of events and an index are helpful to the young researcher. Another interesting feature is “Visiting the Declaration of Independence.” It contains a short review of what happened to the document in the years after it was written, a useful Web site, and a description of how it is displayed and protected today at the National Archives building in Washington, D.C. Illustrations from the period add interest and detail. An excellent addition to the American history collection and an engrossing read. (Nonfiction. 9-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-8234-1448-5
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2000
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