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Isaacson is definitely guilty of writing very readable but shallow biographies. Can you recommend any deep biographies about scientists or engineers?
by spaetzleesser 6y ago
Isaacson is definitely guilty of writing very readable but shallow biographies. Can you recommend any deep biographies about scientists or engineers?
- keiferski 6y agoAll of Ray Monk's biographies are supposedly excellent. I have only read the Wittgenstein one, but he also wrote some books on Bertrand Russell (philosopher/mathematician) and Oppenheimer (scientist.)
- cambalache 6y agoYeah, Isaacson revered as a great biographer, is like Jobs being lauded a great engineer. Anyway, here are some recommendations, hopefully you can pick one or two you still dont have: Einstein -> Subtle is the lord, Abraham Pais (Already mentioned) Newton -> Never at rest, Richard Westfall (Already mentioned) Galileo -> Galileo, John Heilbron Oppenheimer -> Inside the centre (Ray Monk), more technical: "Robert Oppenheimer, a life" A. Pais Euler -> Euler: The Master of Us All, William Dunham (This is less a biography more like a compedium, still recommended) Archimedes -> Archimedes, E.J Dijksterhuis(As many on this list, this is considered the seminal biography) Dirac -> The strangest man ,Graham Farmelo (This is a popular account by a good writer). Dirac: A Scientific Biography, Helge Kragh. More technical.