They Laughed at Galileo

July 1, 2015

Jack's (Red Herrings and White Elephants) latest promises to deliver an amusing history of the success of great inventors in the face of opposition. Instead, the author presents a dense collection of anecdotes that devotes only a quarter of its content to humorous controversy. Most of the narrative is spent on baffling subjects arranged in no discernible order; famous actors who almost weren't famous; pop culture fads; and food that was neither invented nor laughed at (potatoes?). A chapter on inventors killed by their creations gives equal billing to a bizarre legend about a man who attempted to fly to the moon using fireworks attached to a chair and multiple Nobel Prize recipient Marie Curie, who died as a result of her work with radioactivity. VERDICT Jack provides excellent conversation starters for your next cocktail party. A lack of references or analysis makes this an occasionally amusing read with little substance; it is worth noting that a book almost exclusively covering only male innovators should stir up controversy.--Sara Fiore, Westhampton Free Lib., NY

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