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Lee's Lieutenants: A Study in Command
Douglas Southall Freeman
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When Douglas Southall Freeman's original three-volume version of Lee's Lieutenants appeared in the 1940s, it marked a high point in Civil War history, and the books were lauded not only for their scholarship but for their elegant writing. This monument of Civil War literature has been skillfully abridged by one of the most noted present-day Civil War historians, Stephen W. Sears. The new one-volume abridgement retains the core material of the original and makes Freeman's fine writing available in a much more accessible format.
Book Description
Lee's Lieutenants: A Study in Command is the most colorful and popular of Douglas Southall Freeman's works. A sweeping narrative that presents a multiple biography against the flame-shot background of the American Civil War, it is the story of the great figures of the Army of Northern Virginia who fought under Robert E. Lee.
The Confederacy won resounding victories throughout the war, but seldom easily or without tremendous casualties. Death was always on the heels of fame, but the men who commanded -- among them Jackson, Longstreet, and Ewell -- developed as leaders and men. Lee's Lieutenants follows these men to the costly battle at Gettysburg, through the deepening twilight of the South's declining military might, and finally to the collapse of Lee's command and his formal surrender in 1865. To his unparalleled descriptions of men and operations, Dr. Freeman adds an insightful analysis of the lessons learned and their bearing upon the future military development of the nation. Accessible at last in a one-volume edition abridged by noted Civil War historian Stephen W. Sears, Lee's Lieutenants is essential reading for all Civil War buffs, students of war, and admirers of the historian's art as practiced at its very highest level.
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In this sweeping, colorful history, Douglas Southall Freeman chronicles the fates of the great figures of the Army of Northern Virginia who fought under Robert E. Lee. Lee's Lieutenants brings to life resounding victories and bitter defeats and reveals the tremendous costs of the Confederate military campaign -- from the earliest battles and the precipitous decline of the South's military might to Lee's formal surrender in 1865. Freeman describes the rise and fall of General Beauregard, the friction between Jefferson Davis and Joseph E. Johnston, and the triumphs of unlikely heroes at crucial times. His unparalleled descriptions of men and operations are enriched by insightful analyses of the lessons learned and their bearing on the future military development of the nation. The brilliance, bravery, foibles, and follies of Confederate commanders has always intrigued students of the Civil War. This single-volume edition of Freeman's monumental work provides a fascinating, authoritative perspective on their strengths and failures.
Customer Reviews:
If this whets your desire to know more...............2007-08-20
.....your time, and money, will be well used. Stephen Sears has done a one volume abridgment of one of the greatest works in the English language, and done it quite well. When this book came out in 1998, it filled a gap; Richard Harwell had written one volume versions of Dr. Freeman's other two masterworks back in the 1960's.
For the uninitiated, "Lee's Lieutenants" is the history of The Army of Northern Virginia told from the viewpoint of those who served under the command of General Robert E. Lee. Douglas Southall Freeman's magnum opus "R.E. Lee" had been published in the late 1930's; Dr. Freeman was afraid that the "other generals" would be forgotten [and some would have been], so he published the three volumes of "Lee's Lieutenant's" during WWII. It quickly became a standard work for historians, and for students at every military academy on Earth. It was required reading at West Point for years, and may still be.
The first two thirds of the volume focus on Stonewall Jackson, and the last one third on James Longstreet; that is proper. The others are not forgotten, which was the idea in the first place; John Bell Hood, A.P. Hill, D.H. Hill, JEB Stuart, Jubal Early, Dick Ewell, Billy Mahone, "Maryland" Steuart, Wade Hampton, Fitzhugh Lee, John Brown Gordon, etc., etc., etc. Dr. Freeman made the point that not every Confederate General was a hero, and that many mistakes were poured out of a bottle. Alas, he was right, BUT, there were far more good than there were bad and indifferent....
Following Mr. Harwell's model, Sears had cut out all the footnotes and appendices, most of the bibliography, and much of the dialog. For 99+% of readers, this book is all you will need, or want. It will give you an excellent overview in a well written manner. I own three copies. Still...But... The full three volumes are absolutely definitive. They are not difficult to find at a decent price ["R.E. Lee" is difficult, and "George Washington" impossible]; I own two sets. While I heartily recommend the full version, I have to recognize that most people don't need to go that far. Read this; it may make you want more, and the full story will make more sense if you've read this first.
A Great Read for the Civil War History Buff!.......2007-06-19
The abridged volume of Lee's Lieutenants is an excellent title for anyone interested in Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. I have looked at the original 3-volume series and the only difference as one earlier reviewer points out is that the footnotes have been taken out. Given that Douglas Freeman was the editor of a Richmond, Virginia newspaper, one would expect several pages of footnotes. However, the book's essence is still retained.
Freeman covers the army's life from the Seven Days' Campaign in early 1862 to the bitter end at Appamattox in April 1865. He mentions just enough detail of the battles for the reader to comprehend the importance and result of each engagement. The deeper focus is on the main officers in Lee's army and their relationship with Lee and each other.
The narrative is free flowing and is easy to read without being simplistic. Indeed, while the book is just over 800 pages, I found myself reading several pages on many occasions.
If you are looking for a book about the Confederate side of the Civil War's Eastern Theater, then this is your read! The only gripe I had was the few maps - there could have been more and could have been more detailed. However, there are plenty of books out there on specific engagements that can make up for the difference.
Read and enjoy. Highly recommended!
Nothing Else Compares.......2007-02-02
If this abridgement serves one purpose it will inspire a future historian to seek more knowledge on the subject. The three volume edition was and is read by all who have become the great Civil War writers of today. Here is the story (without the footnotes) of the famous Army of Northern Virginia and it's commander General Robert E. Lee. The story begins a year before Lee would take command and name the army that would take on so much of his character. Each page is filled with the story of a famous campaign, and the battles that resulted. Filtered throughout is each stage of the war in the east and the Confederate commanders that served under "Marse Robert." Jackson, Longstreet, Ewell, Hill (both), Early Alexander, Gordon. They are all here and so many more. You get to read how each leader developes and succeeds or fails and is usured off the stage. In and of it's self this book could be studied as a work on management and leadership. Every aspect of Lee's brillance and his flaws are covered. It is a bitter sweet story. So many of these men die as the story unfolds, and so does the Confederacy in the end. An added plus is you get to read the words written by one of the great authors and historinas in American literary history. Reading Freeman is a must if one is to have an understanding of the eastern theater, and the Army of Northern Virginia. Read the one-volume edition if you must, but a word of warning, you may get hooked and then there is no letting go
Why not go for the real thing?.......2005-09-19
Abridgements of great works in and of themselves are not a bad thing. As I read through this volume I could not but help noticing how poorly it reflected upon Freeman's original three volume work.
Douglas Southall Freeman's Magnum Opus is distorted quite significantly in this abridgement. If you have not read his original work I suppose this volume will suffice. But why settle? I frequently come across the original volumes at used bookstores for around $50-$60.
Mr. Freeman's writing is good literature apart from being great history. Though the original work is dated it still is a magnificient example of historical writing. Mr. Freeman's work is what got me interested in Civil War history.
The Classic Study of the Confederate War Effort.......2004-08-10
Douglas S. Freeman's (1886-1953) "Lee's Lieutenant's: A Study in Command, vol. 3 (first published in 1944 but available in an excellent new edition) is the final volume of his great study of the Army of Northern Virginia. It covers the Army from the Gettysburg Campaign, (June -- July, 1863) through the surrender at Appomatox in April, 1865.
This book is lengthy, (over 700 pages plus appendices) and I initially planned to read only the opening material on Gettysburg (about the first 200 pages) in which I have a special interest. I became fascinated with Freeman's writing and with his approach to the subject and had to finish the volume.
This book complements Freeman's earlier biography of Robert E. Lee, but its focus is on Lee's subordinates. Thus the long section on Gettysburg which opens the book considers in detail the actions and motivations of "Jeb" Stuart, Richard Ewell, and James Longstreet, three of Lee's chief Lieutenants. (A.P. Hill at Gettysburg gets less attention.) I had read materials critical of Freeman's account of Gettysburg before turning to his own writing. Even accepting much of the criticism, I was moved by Freeman's account of the Battle and I think I learned a great deal. Freeman is indeed critical of Longstreet but, in this late work, is much more measured and balanced than I had anticipated.
The book continues with excellent treatments of the War in the Eaastern theater following Gettysburg. Freeman offers eloquent and judicious comments on the importance of this Battle to the Confederate cause. He treats well the Mine Run campaign in the winter of 1863 and the campaign from the Wilderness to Appomatox under General Grant which doomed the Confederacy. Freeman also examines the detachment of James Longstreet's Corps from the Army of Northern Virgina following Gettysburg, and he is critical of Longstreet's leadership while serving in Tennessee.
One of the most important sections of this book is the introduction. In it Freeman gives a statement of his conclusions about the War and about the lessons he believes should be drawn from his study. There is also an excellent biographical prelude covering briefly each of the chief actors in Freeman's story. I found it useful to read the introduction first and return to it upon completing the book to focus on points Freeman was trying to make.
In addition to the treatment of Gettysburg, I found Freeman's treatment of the death of "Jeb" Stuart and his story of the final retreat to Appomatox particularly moving and well done.
Throughout the book, Freeman emphasises the toll combat took on the officer Corps of the Army. Stonewall Jackson's death at Chancellorsville was only the most severe blow to the leadership pool available to the Army. At Gettysburg and throughout the Wilderness Campaign beginning in 1864, the Confederacy lost heavily in gifted and able leaders that it could not adequately replace. The loss of command material, Freeman maintains, was a critical factor in the Confederate defeat.
The book is told almost entirely from the Confederate side of the line with little detailed consideration of the actions of the Union Army. Freeman obviously had a deep devotion to the South and to its cause in the Civil War. His book is still much more a work of history than of apologetics. His judgments of commanders and battles are fair and well stated. Freeman's study remains an indespensable source for understanding our country's greatest conflict.
Product Description
This is a three volume set of Lee's Lieutenants. 2395 total pages. Vol 3 has a tipped in map. Vol 1 & 2 published in 1943 (1942 copyright for Vol.1) and 1944. Definitive and exhaustive history of Lee's Lieutenants A Study In Command.
Book Description
In this novel interpretation of the initiation rite of Jewish boys beginning their religious schooling, Ivan G. Marcus presents a new anthropological historical approach to Jewish culture and acculturation in medieval Christian Europe. Marcus shows how Jews polemically transformed Christian religious symbols into Jewish counterimages to affirm the truth of Judaism and make sense of living in an intensely Christian culture.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting, well researched, thought-provoking.......2006-11-27
If you are very interested in the history of medieval European Judaism then this book is wonderful. Marcus departs from the usual methods of analysis (legal, textual, etc.) and looks instead to the meaning of ritual, in this case, rituals of childhood such as when boys began school. By carefully analyzing the various components of this ritual in medieval Ashkenaz, Marcus concludes that the ritual was in large part an innovative response to Christian conceptions of childhood. He also concludes that the dissappearance of the ritual and its replacement by the still prevalent Bar Mitzvah ceremony was a response to, again, changing conceptions of childhood in the wider Christian world. On the whole, Marcus takes us into easily-overlooked aspects of the lives of medieval European Jews; perhaps so easily overlooked because they were so ordinary (and therefore so important.) Reading this book will give you deeper insight into a host of mentalities that medieval European Jews carried vis-a-vis the wider Christian world, the meaning of childhood, the purpose of ritual, and more.
My warning is that the book is written for an academic audience, and is therefore not light reading, although I have seen much worse writing from academics. Secondly, the subject is a narrow one, so unless you are really engrossed by the topic of medieval European Jewry or the historical analysis of ritual in general, you might find this book less than interesting. (That is why I gave it four stars.)
Copies of Reviews Posted at Yale University Press.......2003-12-07
I was hoping to find a table of contents for this book on the amazon page, but lacking that I went to the Yale U Press website to read more about the book. I didn't find a table of contents but did find a collection of review excerpts. On the chance that they will be of interest to other potential buyers, I've copied the entire collection here. I've chosen four stars because the system required me to choose something and the reviews I've reproduced here were strong. Note: the source URL for this collection of review excerpts is:http://www.yale.edu/yup/books/076584.htm#top
Reviews
"This fascinating story of how young Jewish boys were introduced to formal Torah study in the Middle Ages presents a new perspective on many questions of medieval history. It will be of interest to scholars in Jewish studies, cultural studies, and anthropology."--William Chester Jordan, Princeton University
"Marcus brings anthropology to one of the heartlands of Jewish history: medieval Ashkenaz. The results are fascinating and full of implications for other realms of Jewish studies."--Harvey Goldberg, Hebrew University, Jerusalem
"Ivan Marcus' book is a brilliant, refreshing, and pathbreaking exercise in the application of cultural anthropology to medieval Jewish history. Discussing in detail one single rite de passage, Marcus presents the culture of medieval Jews as centered in their identity while at the same time open to reinterpreting themselves in light of the Christian surrounding culture. An outstanding new approach to Jewish history in Christian Europe, it will undoubtedly shape many future discussions on the most appropriate historical method for Jewish history."--Robert Bonfil, Hebrew University, Jerusalem
"In this short but exciting book, Professor Marcus examines one medieval Jewish rite of passage in depth--the ceremony marking the initiation of young boys into the cheder on Shavout--and, by utilising a cultural-anthropological approach, suggests a novel interpretation of Jewish identity during the Middle Ages. . . . This is a well-researched enterprise and is the product of many years of careful reflection by a master of his craft. . . . A book that should be read and enjoyed."--John Cooper, Jewish Chronicle
"[A] challenging book which offers an anthropological insight into cultural structures and core values that developed among medieval Ashkenzai Jewry. . . . The use of narrative, legal, poetic and ethnographic sources, and Hebrew and Latin manuscript illuminations contributes to a comprehensive and elaborated description of the ritual."--Sophia Menache, Patterns of Prejudice
"As a piece of scholarship . . . Rituals of Childhood is impeccable. . . . As a piece of anthropological reconstruction it makes for compelling reading."--Haim Chertok, Jerusalem Post Literary Supplement
"An important work, both instructive and entertaining. Marcus presents new information and ideas that can be enjoyed by the general reading public as well as scholars in the field of Judaica. . . . This work is well written, thoughtful, and fascinating."--James Seaver, History: Reviews of New Books
"What Marcus has done in this book is articulate the symbolic language that underlies these rituals and makes of them a coherent faith-statement. We need more such anthropological studies that will cross cultural lines and teach us how to read the language in which rituals are meant to speak. This is a helpful model of the kind of research that we hope other scholars will emulate."--Rabbi Jack Riemer, South Florida Jewish Journal
"Marcus . . . unravels the Jewish and Greco-Roman elements; compares contemporary Christian rites and images; and draws on narrative, legal, poetic, ethnographic, and pictorial resources as well as first-hand accounts."--Reference & Research Book News
"What the author has done in this book is articulate the symbolic language that underlies these rituals and makes of them a coherent faith-statement."--Rabbi Jack Riemer, Jewish Bookworld
"For too long West European Jewish history has been conceived in isolation from the larger society. With this boo, we return to the end of the nineteenth century when historians like Moritz Güdemann, sensitive to the process of Jewish acculturation, would not have started their histories without first taking into account what was happening in the surrounding Christian society."--Joseph Shatzmiller, History of Education Quarterly
"Marcus' book is an extremely important landmark in the scholarly study of Jewish-Ashkenazic folklore . . . and presents an unexpected breakthrough in hitherto untravelled directions. For this reason, as well as for the book's aesthetic and literary merits--the beautiful, lucid, and orderly constructed presentation--I shall not be exaggerating if I call it an exemplary, classic work, which will surely encourage further research in the field."--Israel Ta-Shma, Jewish Quarterly Review
"The author brings a rich mixture of the talents of scholar, detective, and anthropologist to his work, which is part of a growing field of worldwide interdisciplinary endeavour, viewing Judaism not only as the sacred, textual property of a highly literate rabbinical elite but also as a civilization, a way of life or a religious culture."--Tony Woolfson, Jewish Quarterly
"Marcus is breaking new ground in this study which attempts to elucidate the reasons, using anthropological and historical tools, for the appearance and disappearance in Ashkenaz of an initiation ritual for young children into the world of Torah study."--Harvey Hames, Journal of Jewish Studies
"The book is magnificent, richly detailed, and well argued throughout. .. . Highly recommended for all medieval historians as well as anyone interested in the processes of cultural interaction."--Daniel Boyarin, American Historical Review
"Students of medieval history, Jewish history, and cultural studies will profit from Marcus's accomplishment."--Stephen D. Benin, Religious Studies Review
Unjustified points throughout.......1999-05-15
Dr. Marcus should stick to what he does best, lecturing. This book tries to draw connections that are rarely justified, points that he may be successful in conveying to an audience in a lecture setting, but ones that seem totally off-the-wall in a book as brief as this one. Nevertheless, certain points do seem valid and interesting.
superb scholarshipjoyful to read as always by this professor.......1997-03-14
Professor Marcus writes exquisitely and fills his pages with fact, interpretation and analysis worthy or any scholar or student of history. He is a great teacher and an accomplished, satisfying writer. Recommended to everyone interested in the subject
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- Well written; accurate; exciting look at real world invention
- much misunderstanding
- An inside look at invention and the patent process
- Courtroom Combat in TechTown
- O.J. SimpsonAlso Won in Court
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Laser: The Inventor, the Nobel Laureate, and the Thirty-Year Patent War
Nick Taylor
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0684835150 |
Book Description
In 1957 Gordon Gould, then an obscure physicist and perennial graduate student, conceived one of the revolutionary inventions of the twentieth century -- the laser. But before he could submit a patent application, a prominent professor of physics whose office was next door to Gould's filed his own laser patent claims. Gould fought to reclaim the rights to his work, beginning a battle that would last nearly thirty years. Many millions of dollars, as well as the integrity of scientific claims, were at stake in the litigation that ensued. Laser is Gould's story -- and an eye-opening look at the patent process in America, the nexus of the worlds of business and science.
Gould was struggling to finish his Ph.D. thesis when he struck upon the concept for the laser, or Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Light waves, Gould realized, would form a single concentrated beam when reflected between two mirrors inside a gas-filled chamber. Even as he was sketching his invention, Gould foresaw the tremendous potential of the laser in industry, communications, and the military. For three days he feverishly documented his ideas in a notebook, which he had notarized in a candy store near his Bronx apartment.
A small technology firm took a great interest in Gould's laser and soon won a Defense Department contract to develop lasers for the military. Ironically, Gould was denied a security clearance because of his past communist associations, and so was unable to work on his own invention. He could only watch from the sidelines as colleagues tried to build a working laser in a desperate race with larger, better-funded research labs.
Meanwhile, Gould's rival, Charles Townes, had everything that Gould lacked, most notably important academic and government appointments and esteem in the scientific community. In the dispute between the two men, few doubted Townes's word, while nearly everyone scoffed at Gould's claims. But Gould's determination was unyielding, and he fought everyone who stood in his way, including the U.S. Patent Office, major corporations, and the entire laser industry, until he finally won. Gordon Gould, the courts ruled, had invented the laser.
Laser is a grand story of technology and law. Nick Taylor has extensively interviewed Gould as well as other key participants in the battle over the laser's invention and patents. In this riveting account of genius, rivalry, and greed, he shows just how difficult it is for the legendary lone inventor to prevail when the license to a valuable invention is at stake.
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The fascinating true story of Gordon Gould's successful thirty-year struggle to assert himself as the rightful inventor of the laser -- and a myth-shattering, behind-the-scenes account of the American patent process. The insight struck Gould with the force of revelation. He sat bolt upright in bed, marveling at its perfection. Soon he was at his desk, writing at the top of a page in his laboratory notebook, "Some rough calculations on the feasibility of a "Laser": Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation". So began the invention of the laser in 1957, a machine that changed industry, medicine and science, and much of modern life. Gordon Gould was a graduate student with a checkered past and a yen to invent, but he had a blind spot when it came to patent rights. And when a respected professor with an office next to Gould's electrified the scientific world with his own claims on the laser, Gould was in for the fight of a lifetime. For the next thirty years, Gould battled the U.S. Patent Office and manufacturers to enforce his rights as the laser's inventor. Rebuffed, he was even denied security clearance to work on his own invention because of a Communist background before finally being vindicated. Though gripping courtroom scenes, Laser tells of scientific rivalry, academic jealousy, and political intrigue during the McCarthy era. Nick Taylor provides startling insight into the patent process and reveals how government researchers and corporations have stolen the business and profits of discovery from the small inventor.
Customer Reviews:
Well written; accurate; exciting look at real world invention.......2005-10-26
If you ever had a fantasy about being the first to invent something completely revolutionary, outside of a corporate setting, and then getting a patent and having the industry come to you to get permission to make the invention, you must read this book, which will give you a rude reality check.
Having talked to experts about this book, the book is accurate about the patent process and the book is fair about giving credit to others who Gould used to come up with the laser (principally, Townes, who invented the maser, a predecessor of the laser, which works with microwaves).
The book gives a good scorecard of who are the major players.
The terrors of a Patent Office "interference" practice comes to light, and the bias of bureaucracy when they want to dig in their heels and favor one side over the other, simply because of bureaucratic inertia and spite.
The only downside is the book had one passage that was repeated verbatim, which means it was not carefully proofed, at least the copy I had.
The book makes one factual mistake: it says that under the new law, with the term of a patent being not 17 years from when the patent issues but 20 years from when the patent is filed, would have avoided Gould's problem (he had to wait 30 years to get his patent, with a lot of uncertainty). Actually however, the Patent Office today still has the potential for what Gould's problem was: it's called "interference", when two inventors legally claim to have invented the same thing. This was the heart of Gould's problem, with the Patent Office taking sides with other inventors who filed before Gould even though Gould had invented certain aspects of the laser first (the critical amplifier portion of a laser). Even today the Patent Office has a 'first to invent' not a 'first to file' system, unlike the rest of the world, supposedly to protect the small inventor.
much misunderstanding.......2005-04-12
Taylor's book attests to the difficulties and perils that individual inventors face, when they have few resources. Of course, rarely is the invention under dispute as pivotal as the laser, which is one of the distinguishing tools of the 20th century.
Several other reviewers have commented that Townes, Maiman,and Schawlow made huge contributions to the field. Yes, but not the invention of the laser. Their contributions came afterwards. Nor were those later contributions under contention by Gould. So when a reviewer makes the above remarks, it is a non-sequiter. Either the reviewer has totally misunderstood the book, or he is deliberately introducing irrelevancies because he can't get around the basic point.
This point was established after long litigation. Gould had clearly conceived of the idea, and had it timestamped. Under longstanding US Patent rules, that idea and its timestamp trumped all others.
Another point mentioned by several reviewers was that Ted Maiman at Hughes Research Labs was the first to reduce it to practice. That is, he was the first to make a functioning laser. But for decades, it has not been a requirement of the US Patent Office that the reduction to practice is necessary in order to be awarded a patent. This wasn't just some rule made up especially for Gould to benefit from. The gist of being awarded a patent is that you have to describe the invention in sufficient detail for someone skilled in the art to construct it. You [the inventor] do NOT have to construct it. Someone ELSE must be able to do so.
Think about it. In general, it is a key property of a patent. That not only the inventor, but someone else can produce the invention. A patent is not a secret recipe.
An inside look at invention and the patent process.......2002-07-13
This is a fascinating story. It takes the reader on a revealing ride through the sometimes mysterious world of physicists and inventors, patents, and the personal pain of losing "first rights." It doesn't stop there, however, but tells of a remarkable decades-long battle by G. Gould to uphold his 1959 patent and collect his "pot of gold"--the royalties now associated with the use of laser technologies.
Keep in mind that the story is interesting partly because it favors the viewpoint of "the little guy winning out in the end." In fact, the historical record has revealed many other sides that are not documented in "Laser," perhaps because of space or because the author didn't want to break the tempo of the narrative.
Some of the information not fully documented in "Laser" includes 1957 conversations between Gould and Townes about patent processes and technology and the fact that Gould has admitted he had access to Townes' and Schawlow's laser designs circulated late in 1958. There are also questions surrounding the claimed "classified" nature of Gould's projects for TRG. All of which would make good reading.
Hopefully Taylor's book will interest enough readers that the publisher will let the author update the record, showing that there are even more sides to this amazing story--that Gould was an ambitious graduate student partly motivated by a desire for fame and fortune.
If you're looking for a readable insight into the motivation for invention, the patent system, and mankind's determined quest for the honor to be called first, you will enjoy this book. And, with luck, perhaps there will be an update with the as-yet-undocumented twists and turns that make up "the rest of the story".
Courtroom Combat in TechTown.......2001-08-17
I had heard intriguing snippets about the strange story of Gordon Gould and the laser, so this book went automatically onto my reading list as soon as I learned that Taylor had written it.
If the laser were an ordinary device like the phonograph or the sewing machine, its undisputed father would be Theodore Maiman of Hughes Aircraft, who designed and built the first operational example (a strobe-pumped ruby rod) in 1960. In the realm of highly scientific inventions, however, things are not so straightforward. The line of credit, including honors and prizes, tends to favor the people who first publish guiding principles, whether or not they actually get anything to work. In the U.S. this point of view spills over into patents, and the initial winner in the race for a broad laser patent was not Maiman but Charles Townes, a distinguished physicist who had invented the maser (a coherent microwave amplifier) and published ideas for extending the concept to visible frequencies, i.e. creating an optical maser.
In 1957 a late-blooming Columbia graduate student named Gordon Gould was suddenly struck by an inspiration for solving the optical maser problem. He subsequently made a number of mistakes in judgment, but failing to document his work was not one of them. He carefully recorded his ideas in a signed and witnessed lab notebook. He even anticipated the acronym "LASER" (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation). Ironically, one of the professors he occasionally interacted with was Charles Townes.
Taylor's book covers the three-decade saga of Gordon Gould's fight for recognition by the United States Patent Office. In a sense the story pits a classic "loser" (Gould) against a classic "winner" (Townes). In the end, neither of those stereotypes matter. The final outcome is governed only by facts on record, the communication skills of the principals and their lawyers, and the sometimes murky mental processes of patent examiners and judges. The twists and turns that lead to that outcome, as expertly navigated by the author, provide a pretty good primer in practical patent law as well as in the basics of laser technology. The human side of the seemingly luckless Gould is also vividly explored. We see that he is usually underestimated by those who don't know him well, and admired by those who do.
The author is not neutral, but he is convincing, and also conscientious about providing a good factual basis for the reader to judge whether or not this landmark intellectual property case was justly decided.
O.J. SimpsonAlso Won in Court.......2001-02-05
Legal victory is not always a guarantee of truth. Sure, David going up against Goliath to win millions of dollars makes for a great read. In this case, however, it simply didn't happen that way. Schawlow, Townes, Maiman, et al. have contributed many, many other things to the field (in fact, Schawlow's Nobel was for research primarily in the 1970's). What has Gould done? He spent his time villifying and stealing credit (Schawlow and Townes never received royalty payments on the laser because of contractual obligations to Bell Labs). The best way to read this book is as a biased work of fiction.
Book Description
With the background of a scholar and the enthusiasm of a child, Gibbons explores the many pieces that support our environment such as caterpillar disguises, the origins of tumbleweeds, and fish that produce their own antifreeze. With compelling anecdotes and witty narrative, he celebrates the beauty of biodiversity and laments those that have become extinct.
Books:
- Manhattan Project: The Untold Story of the Making of the Atomic Bomb
- Marine: A Guided Tour of a Marine Expeditionary Unit
- Messengers of the Lost Battalion: The Heroic 551st and the Turning of the Tide at the Battle of the Bulge
- Military Flight Aptitude Tests, 6/e (Arco Military Test Tutor)
- Military Innovation In The Interwar Period
- Monte Cassino: The Hardest-Fought Battle of World War II
- Mounted Archers of the Steppe 600 BC-AD 1300 (Elite)
- October Fury
- Officer Candidate 6e (Arco Military Test Tutor)
- ON THE ROADS OF WAR: A Soviet Cavalryman on the Eastern Front
Books Index
Books Home
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