Chicago is a really interesting city. It's huge, ridiculously so to this small town girl, and beautiful, but with that special something found only in the midwest. Anthony Bourdain has called Chicago the only other true city in America outside of New York. Having recently visited Chicago, I can't say if that's true or not. I did fall in love with the city; it's food (oh Three Little Pigs sandwich, I adore you), the architecture, and the lakeshore.
The Chicago of today is a far cry from the Chicago of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Then, Chicago was a dirty, dingy place, full of undesirable industry like the meat packing businesses of Armour and Swift and Pullman's train car company. Devil in the White City starts with the bidding for the location of upcoming 1893 World's Fair Exposition. America dearly wants to prove to the world that they are just as capable of throwing a glamorous event just like the French did with the 1889 World's Exposition. In a contest decided by the Senate, Chicago bested New York City and Washington, D.C. for the honor of hosting the 1893 Columbian Exposition. The 1893 Columbian Exposition was to mark the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus 400 years earlier. Two young architects were put in charge of transforming a marshy, swampy area on the lakeshore into the most glorious fairgrounds ever seen. These men were Daniel Burnham and John Root. They enlisted other architects from Chicago and around America to help make the World's Fair a success, most prominently Fredrick Law Olmsted. Daniel Burnham, as head of the construction team and fair overseer, is the main character of this portion of the book.
Devil in the White City follows the designing, building, and transformation of a formly undesirable park known as Jackson Park into a beautiful new city known as the "White City". Many things that we take for granted were first created and sold at the 1893 World's Fair, including Cracker Jacks, and Juicy Fruit gum. The World's Fair wasn't all bright and shiny though. There was a darker, more seedy side. The other half of the title, the Devil, refers to one of the most prolific and the first American serial killer, Dr. H.H. Holmes, aka Herman Mudgett. Holmes used the beauty and spectacle of the fair to lure his victims, typically young, lonely, beautiful women; to his hotel for the duration of their stays at the Fair. The story of Holmes is disturbing, creepy, and cannot possibly be real.
Devil in the White City is very interesting book. The back and forth between the stories of Daniel Burnham, a honest, hardworking man, and Dr. Holmes, very likely a sociopath, makes for engrossing reading. This was an intelligent, well-written account of one of the most interesting periods in American history and two very interesting men.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Cannonball 2.0 - Book 1 - The Pluto Files By: Neil DeGrasse Tyson
Pluto was always the weird kid on the edge of the solar system. Small, cold, barren, with a truly odd orbit that matched no other planet in the solar system. It's position as a planet has been debated since it's discovery by an American named Clyde Tombaugh in 1930. After the discovery, Pluto became America's favorite planet. A popular Disney character even had the same name. For every schoolkid prior to 2006, Pluto was the ninth and final planet in our solar system. It did not matter how odd or how ill-fitting the title planet was. Pluto was the final one and that was that.
Within the hardcore astronomy community, the sentiment towards Pluto's status was far different. Some believed that it was a planet and that was that. Others felt it's lack of commonality with other known planets, both the terrestrial and gas giants, made it's status as a planet questionable. Pluto had moons, a definitive characteristic of a planet, but they were not that different in size. It was near an asteroid belt, now known as the Kuiper Belt. The debate over Pluto was contained in the scientific community until 2000.
In 2000, Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York opened a fully renovated planetarium. There was something odd about about the new Rose Center. Pluto was reclassified with icy comets. Dr. Tyson quickly found himself at the center of a controversy few outside the astronomy community knew existed. He began to receive hate mail from people as old as 90 and as young as 7. Grade school children wrote him impassioned letters in defense of Pluto. Dr. Tyson stood his ground and argued that Pluto could not be a planet.
In 2005, new exploration tools discovered a Kuiper Belt object that was larger than Pluto, Eris. Should Eris be a planet? What happens to Pluto? In August 2006, the International Astronomical Union meet to clarify the definition of a planet. As a result of this meeting, poor Pluto was demoted. The Pluto Files is the story of Pluto's rise and fall as a planet, told by Dr. Tyson from his viewpoint at the center of the controversy. Included in the book are letters that he received during the controversy, most written by young schoolchildren. The Pluto Files was an interesting, well-written and often hilarious read. The book does not read like a scientific text, but more like a fictional story with the occasional geek speak. It was a quick read, clocking in at only 182 pages, including appendices of the various legislative actions taken in Pluto's favor.
Within the hardcore astronomy community, the sentiment towards Pluto's status was far different. Some believed that it was a planet and that was that. Others felt it's lack of commonality with other known planets, both the terrestrial and gas giants, made it's status as a planet questionable. Pluto had moons, a definitive characteristic of a planet, but they were not that different in size. It was near an asteroid belt, now known as the Kuiper Belt. The debate over Pluto was contained in the scientific community until 2000.
In 2000, Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York opened a fully renovated planetarium. There was something odd about about the new Rose Center. Pluto was reclassified with icy comets. Dr. Tyson quickly found himself at the center of a controversy few outside the astronomy community knew existed. He began to receive hate mail from people as old as 90 and as young as 7. Grade school children wrote him impassioned letters in defense of Pluto. Dr. Tyson stood his ground and argued that Pluto could not be a planet.
In 2005, new exploration tools discovered a Kuiper Belt object that was larger than Pluto, Eris. Should Eris be a planet? What happens to Pluto? In August 2006, the International Astronomical Union meet to clarify the definition of a planet. As a result of this meeting, poor Pluto was demoted. The Pluto Files is the story of Pluto's rise and fall as a planet, told by Dr. Tyson from his viewpoint at the center of the controversy. Included in the book are letters that he received during the controversy, most written by young schoolchildren. The Pluto Files was an interesting, well-written and often hilarious read. The book does not read like a scientific text, but more like a fictional story with the occasional geek speak. It was a quick read, clocking in at only 182 pages, including appendices of the various legislative actions taken in Pluto's favor.
Cannonball Read 2.0 - The Procrastinator's Second Shot
So, last year, two people from the lovely website Pajiba started a challenge: 100 books in 365 days. I started it late and did not make it through 20 books. I blame stupid school. Prisco, one of the founders finished the challenge. The other, Alabama Pink, lost her fight with leukemia and did not finish. We still miss her terribly. She was a kick ass lady. Several other challengers finished the challenge.
This year's incarnation is a little different. The lovely Nicole in in charge along with her assistant Rusty. This year, the challenge is 52 books between November 1st, 2009 and November 1st, 2010. Reviews are required for every book and some of them may be published on Pajiba. I am starting a smidgen late, but the semester is over and I have no real tests to study for now. Bring on the reading!
This year's incarnation is a little different. The lovely Nicole in in charge along with her assistant Rusty. This year, the challenge is 52 books between November 1st, 2009 and November 1st, 2010. Reviews are required for every book and some of them may be published on Pajiba. I am starting a smidgen late, but the semester is over and I have no real tests to study for now. Bring on the reading!
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