Books: Feynman, Woodward, Analogs, Contacts, Railrays, and Mockingbirds

Feynman by Ottaviani & Myrick

A biography of Dr. Richard Feynman, in comic book form. When it comes to the quirky anecdotes of Feynman's life, his autobiographies are probably better, but this is still a fun read, and a must for Feynman fans. Plus, an explanation of quantum electrodynamics in comics form. Recommended.

The Human Dilemma by Herbert N. Woodward

HNW was my grandfather. Alas, I never got around to reading this book before his death. Written in the 1960s, it's a study of human population problems, and how space colonization is one outlet which may preserve the human race in the face of looming global catastrophe. From forty years later, when we can see the population curve slowing down, and know Malthus was wrong, the book seems a bit misguided and naive, but it's still an interesting broad overview of the human condition in the past and future. Recommended.

Analog 1 and 2, edited by John Campbell

These are two 1960s collections of stories from Analog Science Fiction & Science Fact. They are mostly the stories Campbell could get cheap, meaning that I don't recognize most of the authors. They range from Thomas' Rashomon-like "The Weather Man", to the charming Amish-Muslim colony world tale "Blind Man's Lantern" by Lang, to the startlingly inappropriate "Good Indian" by Reynolds (in which getting some Seminoles stinking drunk is regarded as a clever and appropriate solution), to the arguably non-SF "Junior Achievement", to the clever "Monument" by Biggle. Some good stories, some bad, and there are better anthologies out there. Not especially recommended.

First Contacts: The Essential Murray Leinster

Oddly enough, one of the stories in this collection contains the same premise as Dickson's "Sleight Of Wit" from Analog 1. If first contact is made in deep space, can either ship trust the aliens with the location of their homeworld? With the existence of one's race on the line, is any reaction apart from murderous paranoia appropriate? And what's the solution? Both stories suggest the same thing: The solution is to trade spaceships, so that both sides have the same info. (I'm dubious, myself.)
Anyway, Leinster was a fine short story writer, working both in the very traditional adventure mode (such as in "Sideways In Time", in which alternate universes start mixing in 1930s America), or a more quirky style ("Sam, This Is You", in which a telephone repairman starts getting calls from his future). Recommended.

Rails Across The Galaxy by Offutt & Lyon

This novel has never been collected, and only appeared in Analog in 1982. I have a print of its cover art (by Freas) in my dining room. I recently re-obtained the issues it appeared in, as I remembered it fondly. I was mildly let down. It's a satire, set in the overpopulated, hyperinflated, very PC 1990s of the future. Our hero (a Tibetan/Jewish Harvard undergrad and CIA spy) finds himself at the center of First Contact, when an interstellar railway (running on black hole-pumped lasers) visits Earth. Most of the first contact team get screwed by the cunning alien traders, but our hero applies Earthling sneakiness and wins the day. Annoyingly sexist, drenched in the Cold War, and insultingly paranoid about Mexicans (one character is assumed to be an illegal immigrant solely because she looks Hispanic but only has an accent under stress — and it's implied Mexico has descended into cannibalism due to overpopulation). A few good ideas, but it tries to be cute in all the wrong ways. Not recommended.

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I hadn't actually read this since high school. It remains one of the Great American Novels. I note that Scout's first two initials are the same as my daughter's. (I read part of this to her while trying to get her to sleep one night.) Highly recommended, of course.