Dennis Flanagan (1919–2005)

Published in 1988, I recall reading this very quickly, and enjoying it. The author was for a long time the editor of Scientific American. The political considerations mentioned about science policy, are now dated, and there are other more detailed treatments of the many topics discussed here. Of great interest are the poems, one by W.H. Auden and another by John Updike, inspired by reading Scientific American. Auden was inspired by an article on the microscopic inhabitants of the human skin, and wrote a holiday poem to his friends "A Very Happy New Year / to all for whom my ectoderm / is as Middle-Earth to me". Updike was inspired by an article on solid matter, and wrote a long poem called "The Dance of the Solids"… (más)