Strange Brains and Genius: The Secret Lives of Eccentric Scientists and Madmen - Softcover

Pickover Ph.D., Senior Scientist Clifford A

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0688168949 ISBN 13: 9780688168940

Publisher: William Morrow & Company, 1999

Synopsis

Never has the term mad scientist been more fascinatingly explored than in internationally recognized popular science author Clifford Pickover's richly researched wild ride through the bizarre lives of eccentric geniuses. A few highlights:

"The Pigeon Man from Manhattan" Legendary inventor Nikola Tesla had abnormally long thumbs, a peculiar love of pigeons, and a horror of women's pearls.

"The Worm Man from Devonshire" Forefather of modern electric-circuit design Oliver Heaviside furnished his home with granite blocks and sometimes consumed only milk for days (as did Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison).

"The Rabbit-Eater from Lichfield" Renowned scholar Samuel Johnson had so many tics and quirks that some mistook him for an idiot. In fact, his behavior matches modern definitions of obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette's syndrome.

Pickover also addresses many provocative topics: the link between genius and madness, the role the brain plays in alien abduction and religious experiences, UFOs, cryonics -- even the whereabouts of Einstein's brain!

About this title

Review:

"Bucky Fuller though big, Arthur C. Clarke thinks big, but Cliff Pickover outdoes both." --Wired

"Filled with 200 years of eccentric genius. This is lively and immensely enjoyable scientific history." --Publishers Weekly

"Pickover's originality has found itself the perfect topic." --Ian Stewart, Scientific American)

From the Publisher:

WHERE IS EINSTEIN'S BRAIN?
In this unusual and penetrating work, internationally recognized science popularizar Clifford A. Pickover takes us on a wild ride through the bazaar lives of brilliant but eccentric geniuses in science and philosophy, and explores the intriguing link between genius and madness. Meet legendary science Henry Cavendish, who determined the chemical composition of air and water-and who literary fled from people who looked at him while talking ... world explorer Francis Galton, who quantified everything he saw -including the curves of bodies . . . inventor Nikola Tesla, whose achievements rival Thomas Edison's-and who adored pigeons and feared women's pearls. These and many other suprises await: discussion of UFO's, cryonics, epilepsy, aliens, Feynman, Darwin, Van Gogh, Howard Hughes-even the whereabouts of Einstein's brain!

Clifford A. Pickford is a lead columnist for the brain-boggler column in Discover magazine. He holds a Ph.D. from Yale University and is the author of many acclaimed books on the intersection of science, computers, creativity, and art. Features of CNN, The Discovery Channel, and elsewhere, Dr. Pickover holds numerous patents and is currently a research staff member at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center. He Lives in New York State.

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0688168949
• ISBN 13: 9780688168940
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352