Download or read book The Schlumberger Adventure written by Anne Gruner Schlumberger and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2019-08-15 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “My purpose in writing the present book is to give the ‘human side’ of the story of the men whose achievements spread the Schlumberger method to the four corners of the globe.” — from the Preface by Anne Gruner Schlumberger The author, whose father Conrad Schlumberger and uncle Marcel Schlumberger invented “electrical prospecting” and founded what became Schlumberger Ltd., now a worldwide leader in oilfield services, describes the travails of the early days of the company. What began in the basement of the Ecole des Mines in Paris with a “black box” (the potentiometer), was further developed at the family home of Val-Richer, and perfected at Péchelbronn, France’s only oil field where “coring” (logging) was born, eventually became known to the entire world. Anne Gruner Schlumberger tells what that journey was like for her father and uncle and other geological researchers and engineers whose resourcefulness and perseverance were tested in remote areas of the world where they toiled under harsh conditions to convince skeptics of the validity of their new exploration methods. The little enterprise the two brothers started in 1919 has become in 1982 when The Schlumberger Adventure first appeared a multinational corporation employing 85,000 people in some 78 countries and listed on the stock exchanges of New York, Paris, London and Amsterdam.

Download or read book This Is Schlumberger written by Schlumberger and published by Schlumberger. This book was released on 2017-09-01 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book assembles the historical facts, people, and culture of Schlumberger as it recognizes the 90th anniversary of the first well log conducted in Pechelbronn, France, in 1927. It is a story that began with Conrad and Marcel Schlumberger, the sons of a successful French businessman in the textile industry. Originally, their father Paul was drawn more to the study of science and did not think the world of business would suit him. When Paul took over the family firm with great success, he did not abandon his interest in the sciences. Instead, he imparted his thirst for knowledge to his sons and provided the financial support they needed to pioneer a new field, subsurface metrology, the science of measurement. Armed with their father’s support, Conrad and Marcel set out on a journey that would have a lasting effect on the oil and gas industry. Today Schlumberger is the world’s leading provider of technology for reservoir characterization, drilling, production, and processing to the oil and gas industry. Working in more than 85 countries and employing approximately 100,000 people who represent over 140 nationalities, Schlumberger supplies the industry’s most comprehensive range of products and services, from exploration through production, and integrated pore to pipeline solutions that optimize hydrocarbon recovery to deliver reservoir performance. Schlumberger seeks to become the best-run company in the world by leveraging its established strengths in technology, people, and size and focusing its actions in four areas—growth, returns, integrity, and engagement. Schlumberger has weathered the vagaries of the oil and gas industry by maintaining a clearly defined identity, investing the time to understand its customers and investors, and possessing a willingness to change. The qualities that have defined the company for the last 90 years will serve it well as we look to the future in an industry that, at the time this book was published, was navigating the longest industry downturn in the past 30 years. Though the industry’s cyclic nature is a familiar one, the current situation is not the result of lower demand or other external factors that characterized previous downturns. This unique downturn has caused many consequences for the oil and gas industry, and Schlumberger hopes to lead the way to the future.

Download or read book Saving Abstraction written by Ryan Dohoney and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019-09-16 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Saving Abstraction: Morton Feldman, the de Menils, and the Rothko Chapel tells the story of the 1972 premier of Morton Feldman's music for the Rothko Chapel in Houston. Built in 1971 for "people of all faiths or none," the chapel houses 14 monumental paintings by famed abstract expressionist Mark Rothko, who had committed suicide only one year earlier. Upon its opening, visitors' responses to the chapel ranged from spiritual succor to abject tragedy--the latter being closest to Rothko's intentions. However the chapel's founders--art collectors and philanthropists Dominique and John de Menil--opened the space to provide an ecumenically and spiritually affirming environment that spoke to their avant-garde approach to Catholicism. A year after the chapel opened, Morton Feldman's musical work Rothko Chapel proved essential to correcting the unintentionally grave atmosphere of the de Menil's chapel, translating Rothko's existential dread into sacred ecumenism for visitors. Author Ryan Dohoney reconstructs the network of artists, musicians, and patrons who collaborated on the premier of Feldman's music for the space, and documents the ways collaborators struggled over fundamental questions about the emotional efficacy of art and its potential translation into religious feeling. Rather than frame the debate as a conflict of art versus religion, Dohoney argues that the popular claim of modernism's autonomy from religion has been overstated and that the two have been continually intertwined in an agonistic tension that animates many 20th-century artistic collaborations.

Download or read book Boom Crisis Heritage written by Lars Bluma and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2021-10-11 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Boom – Crisis – Heritage, these terms aptly outline the history of global coal mining after 1945. The essays collected in this volume explore this history with different emphases and questions. The range of topics also reflects this broad approach. The first section contains contributions on political, social and economic history. They address the European energy system in the globalised world of the 20th and 21st centuries as well as specific social policies in mining regions. The second section then focuses on the medialisation of mining and its legacies, also paying attention to the environmental history of mining. The anthology, which goes back to a conference of the same name at the Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum, thus offers a multi-faceted insight into the research field of modern mining history.

Download or read book Electromagnetic Seabed Logging written by Stéphane Sainson and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-03-30 with total page 549 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seabed logging (SBL) gathers the electromagnetic methods of marine subsoil exploration and more specifically those dedicated to the exploration of oil and gas at sea. Appeared in 2000, these techniques, with more than 500 industrial jobs, present after 15 years of commercial success a discovery record rate of nearly 90 % and seem now to turn the world in the offshore exploration field. Proposing a serious index of the presence of hydrocarbons , electromagnetic SBL coupled with seismic reflection survey is probably the first reliable method for direct detection of hydrocarbons. Complementing the structural concepts of oil exploration used since the 1920s, the SBL now radically modifies the approach and the philosophies of exploration especially those then including drilling and well logging activities. Electromagnetic Seabed Logging: a new tool for oil and gas prospecting, which original publication in French was in 2012, presents these methods, its principles, advantages, limitations, instruments, modeling and applications. It is also designed to be a tool for a reflection on the use of electromagnetic energy for the exploration in a conductive medium as sea water thus setting the theoretical and practical limits of these investigations for future developments. This book is intended of course for the geophysicists and the petroleum geologists, but also for the earth scientists, the reservoir engineers and the log analysts

Download or read book Dynasties written by David S. Landes and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2007-09-25 with total page 499 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the author of the New York Times bestseller The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, a fascinating look at the crossroads of kin and coin David S. Landes has earned a reputation as a brilliant writer and iconoclast among economic historians. In his latest acclaimed work, he takes a revealing look at the quality that distinguishes a third of today's Fortune 500 companies: family ownership. From the banking fortunes of Rothschild and Morgan to the automobile empires of Ford and Toyota, Landes explores thirteen different dynasties, revealing what lay behind their successes-and how extravagance, bad behavior, and poor enterprise brought some of them to their knees. A colorful history that is full of surprising conclusions, Dynasties is an engrossing mix of ambition, eccentricity, and wealth.

Download or read book The French in Texas written by François Lagarde and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 557 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A surprising history of explorers, pirates, priests, artists, and more: “The best overall study of the French experience in Texas ever assembled.” —Jack Jackson, editor of Texas by Terán The flag of France is one of the six flags that have flown over Texas, but all that many people know about the French presence in Texas is the ill-fated explorer Cavelier de La Salle, fabled pirate Jean Lafitte, or Cajun music and food. Yet the French have made lasting contributions to Texas history and culture that deserve to be widely known and appreciated. In this book, François Lagarde and thirteen other experts present original articles that explore the French presence and influence on Texas history, arts, education, religion, and business from the arrival of La Salle in 1685 to the dawn of the twenty-first century. Each article covers an important figure or event in the France-Texas story. The historical articles thoroughly investigate early French colonists and explorers; the French pirates and privateers; the Bonapartists of Champ-d’Asile; the French at the Alamo; Dubois de Saligny and French recognition of the Republic of Texas; the nineteenth-century utopists of Icaria and Reunion; and the French Catholic missions. Other articles deal with French immigration in Texas, including the founding of Castroville; Cajuns in Texas; and the French economic presence in Texas today—the first such study ever published. The remaining articles look at painters Théodore and Marie Gentilz; sculptor Raoul Josset; French architecture in Texas; French travelers from Théodore Pavie to Simone de Beauvoir who have written on Texas; and the French heritage in Texas education. Includes more than seventy photos and illustrations

Download or read book Marfa written by Kathleen Shafer and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2017-10-11 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A small town in the vast desert of West Texas, Marfa attracts visitors from around the world to its art foundations and galleries, film and music festivals, and design and architecture symposiums. While newcomers sometimes see it as "another Santa Fe," long-time residents often take a bemused, even disapproving attitude toward the changes that Marfa has undergone since artist Donald Judd came to town in the 1970s and began creating spaces for his own and other artists' work. They remember when ranching and the military formed the basis of the town's economy, even as they acknowledge that tourist dollars are now essential to Marfa's sustainability. Marfa tells an engaging story of how this isolated place became a beacon in the art world, like the famous Marfa Lights that draw curious spectators into the West Texas night. As Kathleen Shafer delves into the town's early history, the impact of Donald Judd, the expansion of arts programming, and the increase in tourism, she unlocks the complex interplay between the particularities of the place, the forces of commerce and growth, the textures of local culture and tradition, and the transformative role of artists and creative work. Bookending her story between two iconic artworks—the whimsical Prada Marfa and the crass Playboy Marfa—Shafer illuminates the shifting cultural landscape of Marfa, showing why this place has become a mecca for so many and how the influx of newcomers has transformed its character.

Download or read book Double Vision written by William Middleton and published by Knopf. This book was released on 2018-03-27 with total page 817 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: **NAMED ONE OF THE BEST ART BOOKS OF THE DECADE BY ARTNEWS** The first and definitive biography of the celebrated collectors Dominique and John de Menil, who became one of the greatest cultural forces of the twentieth century through groundbreaking exhibits of art, artistic scholarship, the creation of innovative galleries and museums, and work with civil rights. Dominique and John de Menil created an oasis of culture in their Philip Johnson-designed house with everyone from Marlene Dietrich and René Magritte to Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns. In Houston, they built the Menil Collection, the Rothko Chapel, the Byzantine Fresco Chapel, the Cy Twombly Gallery, and underwrote the Contemporary Arts Museum. Now, with unprecedented access to family archives, William Middleton has written a sweeping biography of this unique couple. From their ancestors in Normandy and Alsace, to their own early years in France, and their travels in South America before settling in Houston. We see them introduced to the artists in Europe and America whose works they would collect, and we see how, by the 1960s, their collection had grown to include 17,000 paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, rare books, and decorative objects. And here is, as well, a vivid behind-the-scenes look at the art world of the twentieth century and the enormous influence the de Menils wielded through what they collected and built and through the causes they believed in.

Download or read book Sacred Modern written by Pamela G. Smart and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Renowned as one of the most significant museums built by private collectors, the Menil Collection in Houston, Texas, seeks to engage viewers in an acutely aesthetic, rather than pedagogical, experience of works of art. The Menil's emphasis on being moved by art, rather than being taught art history, comes from its founders' conviction that art offers a way to reintegrate the sacred and the secular worlds. Inspired by the French Catholic revivalism of the interwar years that recast Catholic tradition as the avant-garde, Dominique and John de Menil shared with other Catholic intellectuals a desire to reorder a world in crisis by imbuing modern cultural forms with religious faith, binding the sacred with the modern. Sacred Modern explores how the Menil Collection gives expression to the religious and political convictions of its founders and how "the Menil way" is being both perpetuated and contested as the Museum makes the transition from operating under the personal direction of Dominique de Menil to the stewardship of career professionals. Taking an ethnographic approach, Pamela G. Smart analyzes the character of the Menil aesthetic, the processes by which it is produced, and the sensibilities that it is meant to generate in those who engage with the collection. She also offers insight into the extraordinary impact Dominique and John de Menil had on the emergence of Houston as a major cultural center.

Download or read book Steinmetz Engineer and Socialist written by Ronald R. Kline and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2019-12-12 with total page 381 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Charles Proteus Steinmetz (1865-1923) died suddenly at the height of his fame, his face was as familiar to Americans as that of Babe Ruth, Henry Ford, or Jack Dempsey. Newspapers quoted his views on religion, politics (he was a Socialist), science, and future technological wonders. All were intrigued by the Horatio Alger tale of the penniless, hunchbacked German immigrant who rose to fame as the Wizard of Science, chief engineer at General Electric, and symbol of the new breed of scientists who daily surpassed the feats of Thomas Alva Edison. This intellectual biography follows Steinmetz from his education in Germany to his rise as General Electric’s chief consulting engineer. Steinmetz obtained nearly 200 patents; he made his most important contributions in electrical energy loss (or hysteresis), the understanding and wider use of alternating current, and high-voltage power transmission. General Electric became Steinmetz’s home, his identity, and a platform from which he stepped onto the wider stage of world affairs. As leader of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, Socialist councilman in Schenectady, New York, and part-time professor at Union College, Steinmetz attempted to “engineer” society in the direction of a technocratic utopia by promoting welfare capitalism, Lenin’s electrification of the Soviet Union, and other schemes — all with limited success. In a life filled with contrasts, perhaps even Steinmetz himself, a prominent Socialist serving as chief engineer of a major corporation, was not always able to separate the myth from the man. Steinmetz: Engineer and Socialist was the subject of the 2014 PBS documentary film, “Divine Discontent.” “Well informed by recent studies of similar mythologizing, Kline explains both the rise and decline of Steinmetz’s popular reputation.” — Robert Friedel, Science “Kline’s explanations are lucid and he offers broader insights about science and technology that will interest all cultural historians.” — Mark Pittenger, Journal of American History “Steinmetz not only provides the first comprehensive, technically sophisticated analysis of Steinmetz’s engineering achievements, but also carefully examines his influential political and social writings, and judiciously dissects the making of the ‘Wizard of Schenectady’ legend.” — David Sicilia, Reviews in American History

Download or read book From the American System to Mass Production 1800 1932 The Development of Manufacturing Technology in the United States written by David Hounshell and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2023-11-25 with total page 745 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “In From the American System to Mass Production, David A. Hounshell has provided a detailed, thoughtful, and comprehensive examination of American industrial technology from the early 1800s through the 1930s. Lavishly illustrated with 19th-century prints and more recent photographs of factory interiors and industrial products, this important work traces the direct and indirect routes down the road toward modern American industrial civilization. For business and labor historians and for historians of American technology and industrialization, Hounshell’s book will fill many gaps in the history of the technical contours of modern industrial America... [the book] begins with an examination of the origins of the American system of manufactures in government and private arms production and then moves to the sewing machine, woodworking, agricultural equipment, bicycle, and automobile industries. It touches on the important inventors and innovators and describes their fundamental contributions in these American industries. Most of the principal figures and institutions are covered: Simeon North, Eli Whitney, Thomas Blanchard, John H. Hall, and Samuel Colt in armories, Eli Terry and Seth Thomas in the clockmaking industry, the Wheeler and Wilson, Willcox and Gibbs, and Singer sewing machine firms, the Singer woodworking plant, the McCormick Reaper works, the Columbia, Pope, and Western Wheel Works bicycle companies, and the Ford and General Motors automotive corporations... Hounshell’s work is a major contribution to the social history of technical innovators and their innovations... All in all, From the American System to Mass Production is an impressive work. In his documentation of the history of American industrial technology, Hounshell has demonstrated the slow evolution and the near-failure of large-scale, capital-intensive, and work-degrading industrial systems. Whereas other historians of technology have tended to tread too lightly on the social dimensions of technical change, Hounshell has provided an excellent social analysis of the networks of innovators and their role in the diffusion of armory practices and other industrial advances from industry to industry.” — Technology and Culture “Mr. Hounshell is an enthusiastic, lively writer, yet very careful scholar. He is cautious in his conclusions and candid about what is debatable. He offers several sides of every issue; he does not judge particular technologies as good or bad... What stands out in this history is how slowly what appears to be a sensible, productive and efficient system of manufacturing was adopted, chiefly because it required a change in the mind-set of managers, changes in skills and work habits of workers, and disciplined procedures and practices throughout the plants.” — New York Times Book Review “David Hounshell’s history of the evolution of American production methods has few rivals; in execution of the theme, it has none... Hounshell carefully documents the development, transfer, and modification of the technology of the manufacture of interchangeable parts from firm to firm and industry to industry... A series of excellent technical photographs and Hounshell’s own field trials support his argument.” — Science “[A] meticulous study of mass production’s roots and early flowering... An able researcher, [Hounshell] follows the trail of early manufacturing ideas and shows how they were gradually perfected and diffused throughout different industries before converging in Ford’s miracle at Highland Park.” — Wall Street Journal “[An] important study which offers a convincing reinterpretation of the development of mass production in the United States. [Hounshell] has combined substantial new archival research with a synthesis of the mass of new work completed by others in the past three decades.” — Journal of Economic History

Download or read book Swope of G E The Story of Gerard Swope and General Electric in American Business written by David Loth and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2023-04-19 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “[A] sympathetic but objective biography... Swope the man was quite typical of the executives who managed great American business enterprises a generation or so after their establishment. He had the necessary talents — the total commitment to the job and company, the forceful drive, the passion for reliable data, the ‘fondness for figures’, and the precise and analytical way of thought. He differed in that he was more aware of the needs of his employees and the role his enterprise played in the larger society. More like the present generation in this respect, he was still not an organization man. At G.E., no team fashioned policy. Swope alone made the decisions.” — Alfred Chandler, The Economic History Review “[A] decidedly valuable and creditable [book]... the author very skillfully unfolds the basic facts of Swope’s career... [he] adroitly and succinctly unfolds Swope’s career against the background of the times... It is a tribute to Loth’s ability and courage that he has succeeded in conveying so much information in so short a study... one of the best businessman biographies of the past decade.” — George S. Gibb, The Business History Review

Download or read book Formation Evaluation with Pre Digital Well Logs written by Richard M. Bateman and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2020-02-08 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Formation Evaluation with Pre-Digital Well Logs covers the practical use of legacy materials for formation evaluation using wireline logging equipment from 1927 until the introduction of digital logging in the 1960s and '70s. The book provides powerful interpretation techniques that can be applied today when an analyst is faced with a drawer full of old "E logs." It arms the engineer, geologist and petrophysicist with the tools needed to profitably plan re-completions or in-fill drilling in old fields that may have been acquired for modern deeper and/or horizontal drilling. - Includes more than 150 figures, log examples, charts and graphs - Provides work exercises for the reader to practice log analysis and formation evaluation - Presents an important source for academia, oil and gas professionals, service company personnel and the banking and asset evaluation teams at consultancies involved in reserve and other property evaluation

Download or read book The Wind and Beyond Theodore von K rm n Pioneer in Aviation and Pathfinder in Space written by Theodore von Kármán and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2022-05-22 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “[A]n autobiography that, happily, is an engrossing, full-bodied reflection of the man, a neatly balanced combination of technical insights and always pertinent, often irreverent anecdotes... an upbeat tale of a man who had a great love of life and a well-merited sense of achievement, told with genuine gusto and fascinating detail.” — Richard Witkin, The New York Times “It is the triumph of this book that it manages to combine a chatty, anecdotal, and highly readable tale of a distinguished scientist’s everyday life with a substantial number of penetrating insights into the creative process.” — I. B. Holley, Jr., Science “The present biography is eminently readable, sometimes puckish, and von Karman himself is rather inspiring in his faith in science.” — Kirkus “Every paragraph grips the reader’s attention... a book almost impossible to put down until it is read.” — Aerospace Historian “This account of von Kármán’s life and his contributions to the science of aerodynamics is most fascinating reading.” — The Science Teacher “Every page of this superb classic is infused with von Karman’s humanity. As his narrative makes clear, he was not simply a clever technician but a man of character whose vision advanced the aerospace sciences and fostered international cooperation.” — Aviation History

Download or read book The Rise of Robert Millikan Portrait of a Life in American Science written by Robert H. Kargon and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2020-11-08 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “I do not consider myself to be Robert Millikan’s biographer. This book is not a full record of Millikan’s life or even of his scientific career. It is an essay, very selective, on themes that are illustrated and illuminated by Millikan’s life in American science. It is, as well, a portrait of the development of a scientist... Robert Millikan was among the most famous of American scientists; to the public of the 1920s, Millikan represented science. The first American-born physicist to win the Nobel Prize, Millikan was a leader in the application of scientific research to military problems during World War I and a guiding force in the rise of the California Institute of Technology to a preeminent place in American scientific education and research. His life is therefore peculiarly suited to illuminate and provide texture for the vast changes that have taken place in science during the twentieth century. In this extended essay, I employ the biographical mode to explore several important aspects of this theme. Millikan was successively a teacher, researcher, administrator, entrepreneur, and sage. By describing the novel roles that he assumed, I suggest how science grew in complexity and carved out an essential place for itself in our general culture.” — Robert H. Kargon, from the Preface of The Rise of Robert Millikan: Portrait of a Life in American Science “Professor Kargon... has given us a sympathetic account of Millikan’s scientific career, including his great triumphs, his rearguard actions to defend untenable positions, and the eventual rejection or revision of every major result or standpoint. But he is more concerned with Millikan’s influence on the developing American physics community and with Millikan’s role in advancing American science generally and American higher education... Together with the chemist A.P. Noyes and the astronomer G.E. Hale, Millikan... believed in an American scientific destiny... This picture of American science is presented with great insight, tremendous learning, and wit... Professor Kargon’s book strikes a happy balance between being an interpretive story of a scientific life and a social history of science in America. Every reader interested in science or in the place of science in society will come away from this book with new information, important insights and a better understanding of the growth of scientific ideas and institutions in the twentieth century.” — I. Bernard Cohen, Nature “With the publication of this volume by Kargon, readers now have new and valuable access to much material about Millikan that was previously unavailable... Kargon states that he is not writing a biography of Millikan but rather a portrait of the man and the scientific scene in early 20th-century America... he has succeeded well in this endeavor... the book is well written, and readers who are already reasonably conversant with 20th-century developments in physics will find much that is illuminating... a genuine contribution to the history of science.” — Katherine R. Sopka, American Scientist “[H]ere is an admirable piece of work... Kargon has not sought to make his readers like his subject, but only to understand his scientific style, his achievements, and his character, and to perceive how his life was ‘a microcosm of new roles assumed by the scientist during the course of the twentieth century’... Kargon’s [...] insights [are] important, and his book [is] deserving of a careful study. “ — Robert C. Post, The American Historical Review “A useful corrective to Millikan’s self-portrait that reveals some of the blemishes, as well as the embellishments, of an important life in American science.” — Robert W. Seidel, Science “For over thirty years, the only overview of Millikan’s life available to the layman was his own selective autobiography. That book either omitted or told only one side (sometimes biased by hindsight) of many important controversial episodes associated with his achievements and views... Kargon’s portrait-essay deals with some of these neglected incidents in a well-written and coherent manner aimed at a wide readership.” — John L. Michel, Technology and Culture “A very readable work with the virtue of containing a great deal of information in a brief compass. Kargon’s book deserves and will receive a wide audience as the successor to its subject’s autobiography... [Kargon] also merits credit for interesting discussions on Millikan as a statesman, administrator, and spokesman for science... a clearly first-rate narrative...” — Nathan Reingold, Isis “Admirably, Kargon combines institutional with intellectual history... Kargon offers a fascinating discussion of Millikan’s and George Hale’s contributions to war research, the California Institute of Technology, and the Mount Wilson Observatory. Kargon rightly stresses the collaborators’ links with the leaders of finance and industry developing Los Angeles... as a brief sketch of Millikan the scientific institution builder, Kargon’s book deserves the wide audience he seeks.” — Peter Galison, The Journal of American History “The book leaves us in no doubt about [Millikan’s] ability, but does not gloss over his occasional obstinacy or his wishful thinking about past errors, matters on which some histories tend to be silent. Millikan was not a revolutionary who started new ideas, but the author stresses — rightly — the importance of men like him for the progress of science.” — Rudolf Peierls, The New York Review of Books “A gem of a book — thought-provoking, insightful, highly interesting reading.” — Lawrence Badash, University of California, Santa Barbara “The author skillfully weaves the story of Millikan with the story of modern science in a book that will be well received by a variety of audiences from professional historians of science to the general public.” — Choice “Kargon’s background in physics serves him well in placing Millikan’s work in its theoretical context, in the analysis of the work itself, and in generally managing to capture both the intense excitement and the routine involved in testing the ideas of the giants of that period in physics... Kargon... has certainly opened enough questions in this perceptive work — in addition to the large number that he has settled; and he has demonstrated an important use for the biographical mode. The general American historian as well as the historian of science can profit from reading this volume.” — George H. Daniels, The Historian “Robert Millikan’s scientific career, his character, and his roles as teacher, administrator at the California Institute of Technology, entrepreneur, and public figure are the topics covered in this biography. Even in discussing Millikan’s later decline as a front-line scientist, author Robert Kargon treats the scientist with compassion and fairness and portrays him as a many-faceted, often controversial man with doubts and uncertainties at the height of his fame... The high school physics student will find this book engaging and insightful in its description of a scientist struggling with science, self, and society.” — A. Cordell Perkes, The Science Teacher “[V]ery well researched and written. Robert Kargon gives an excellent picture of the rise of American physics, from the years when every aspiring young American physicist wanted to go to Germany to study, to the years when every aspiring young European physicist wanted to come to the United States for the same purpose. He clearly understands science, yet knows how to present its history so that it is interesting and meaningful to non-scientists. He tells not only of Millikan’s triumphs, but of his doubts as well; of his discoveries, and also of his mistakes... All in all, this is an excellent book, strongly recommended to the reader who is interested in the history of American science, and in the life of an outstanding practitioner of it.” — Donald E. Osterbrock, The Wisconsin Magazine of History

Download or read book The Autobiography of Robert A Millikan written by Robert Andrews Millikan and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2020-09-30 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “The Autobiography of Robert A. Millikan is one of the most outstanding works of its kind done by an American man of science. The treatment is lucid and brings out in clear relief not only the activities of the man himself but of those, and there are many, with whom he has associated and collaborated in the fields of teaching, research, and administration. The autobiography is that of a dynamic personality associated with patience, persistence and enthusiasm. The treatment is free from egotism and refreshingly frank and forthright.” — B. J. Spence, American Journal of Physics “Robert Andrews Millikan is one of the most distinguished physicists in the world and his autobiography will interest not only the entire scientific world, but the reading public at large... It is refreshing and helpful for younger [scientific] workers to read... that only after many discouraging attempts did [Millikan’s] great researches on the determination of the electronic charge and his proof of the Einstein photoelectric law emerge.” — Robert S. Shankland, Physics Today “It is seldom that a man is so successful in getting his personality into his own writing about himself... The book is much more than the record of the life of one man,... it is a history of the physics of his time, and as such will find its place among the other histories of the most memorable decades that physics has yet experienced.” — P. W. Bridgman, Science “[A] history of twentieth-century physics as viewed through the eyes of one of its chief participants... The book is a necessity in the education of our younger physicists. It is very valuable to all those who have any part in public affairs.” — Dinsmore Alter, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific “Physicists everywhere will find Millikan’s autobiography a narrative of absorbing interest.” — J. G. Wilson, Science Progress “An interesting account of a busy scientist’s career and absorbing descriptions of major advances of 20th-century physics to which Millikan made essential contributions. A rare history of a civilized, happy man.” — Scientific American “Interestingly written and [...] not devoid of flashes of humor.” — Paul R. Heyl, The Scientific Monthly