The book is a mix of biography, Naval history, Civil War history, and science history. Both Maury and Henry were known for their work in Europe as well as the US. Maury was in some ways the first oceanographer and a pioneer in tracking and predicting weather and corresponded with Robert FitzRoy of the Royal Navy on that subject. Henry was interested in the relationship between electricity and magnetism and the SI unit of inductance is named the henry for him. He was also the first Secretary of the Smithsonian and was very interested in weather phenomena as well.

I enjoyed reading about these scientists but was not really fond of the writer's style. It had , in places, the feel of a YA book and I felt she injected her opinions a little too much. However, I did come to agree that Henry was the better man in his personal and professional life and Maury was his own worst enemy.