Reviews for Science Plus 2002: Level Green

The average rating for Science Plus 2002: Level Green based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-09-18 00:00:00 Joseph Vendetti I'm throwing in the towel. I'm sorry. I hate quitting a book, especially one with such interesting and personally relevant subject material, but I'm just not making any progress. I plan to pick it up again in the future. For now, I'll review the part of it I did read. The prologue of this book was mind-blowingly cool. I have worked for the Smithsonian for three years, and I had no idea that the Castle burned at one point. This whole chapter, the events, and supporting material were exceptional. The writing was well-done, and the story was captivating. I was feeling very encouraged for the book at this point. However, I maybe shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. The history of the fire sets up the context for the book. Namely, that most of Smithson's diaries, documents, and collections were lost in the fire, so that we know almost nothing about his life, which is why no comprehensive biography of him has ever appeared, and why he has a reputation of being a complete mystery, even to the Smithsonian he endowed. Heather Ewing does a valiant job trying to replace that missing material. She mines newspapers, legal records, other people's letters, and the marginalia of Smithson's books for any glimpse into his personality, mind, and personal history. She obviously did a prodigious amount of research and the book is copiously foot-noted. However, she also just didn't have enough to work with. At points, her stories are very thin and very conjectural. (Smithson must have known so-and-so because there's a record of him attending a Royal Society meeting, and here's what Smithson may or may not have thought of him.) It's all very interesting, but it ends up being mostly context and conjecture. In the end, we don't know much more about Smithson, though we do know more about his cultural and historical environment, which is useful in a limited capacity. It makes for a pretty dry slog of a read. Ewing did her best. She's obviously a consummate researcher and a good writer. Through no fault of her own, she just didn't have enough source material to write the book she wanted to write.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-03-13 00:00:00 Brian March Most people have heard of the Smithsonian Institution. Not many know a lot about James Smithson, the man who left the money to the United States government to start it. Turns out, there's a good reason-- more than one, actually. I knew the vague basics that I'd picked up from going to the Smithsonian several times. James Smithson was a wealthy Englishman who left his fortune to America and funded what eventually became the Smithsonian. Among the reasons the man is shrouded in mystery are the fact that the papers he left to the museum were almost completely destroyed by a freak fire in 1865. Then later, when they tried to study his body for clues about the man, there was a mishap with the tools to open the tomb, and that caught fire, too. Sounds like something for a fantasy novel, doesn't it? Also, in addition to spotty record keeping back in the late 1700's, there's the further complication that he wasn't born Smithson, but rather James Macie. The man who would be Smithson was the illegitimate son of English nobility, and, while he desperately wanted it, was never acknowledged. He grew up with his mother, a very litigious woman. He became fascinated by science, and went on to make contributions in the fields of geology and chemistry. Smithson had frail health, but didn't let that stop him from traveling to get his own specimens. He didn't always make the best-timed choices in his travels, and was captured and held prisoner during the Napoleonic Wars. Between his unrecognized background and experiences in France, you can see why he might not leave money to England or France. The fact that he left it to America is even more striking considering he never came to the country, and had no relations here. It's a well researched book, but the author can't work miracles. We don't know when he was born. A lot of his travel records are missing. There's not a definitive cause of death for Smithson, or his adopted nephew, who might have inherited and prevented the Smithsonian from ever coming into being. It's kind of a historical mystery, and one with few definitive answers. Recommended for anyone who likes history.