Feynman's science

Physicist Richard Feynman has been feted as a brilliant scientist and raconteur in a number of biographies in recent years. In Quantum Man,Krauss takes a different slant. He shows the progression of Feynman's science through out his life. He explores Feynman's interaction with other scientists,the plus and minuses of his need to work it all out from scratch,his brilliance, his stubbornness.

The result is a fascinating look at the work of a gifted physicist. While readers aren't asked to physics to understand the book, it is helpful to be familiar with the concepts being discussed.

Blueberry Years

My mother and I were blueberry pickers. Strawberries were too much getting down on the ground. And somehow the nape of your neck always gets burned picking strawberries. Blueberries are perfect. We'd head to the pick your own down by the Muskingum River with our big tupperware containers. The farmer would weigh and mark them, so the container could be subtracted at the end of day. Then out to the field to pick and talk over the bushes. Then home to eat and to freeze some to save the taste of summer.

So you now know that I'm predisposed to like Minick's Blueberry Years. However this memoir has great appeal to all readers of quiet memoirs. He tells his family's genetic love of the berries. He and Sarah decide to start a pick your own organic blueberry farm. I loved his reflection on the joys and work of their farm, trying to join the rural community, his neighbor Joe and the pickers.

The blueberry season is almost upon us, so get warmed up for your visit to the fields with Blueberry Years.