Intended Audience
Trade
LCCN
2012-012253
Dewey Edition
23
Reviews
"Senechal draws from scholarly archives and her own experience working with Wrinch to draw a portrait of this complicated, intriguing, and frequently overlooked polymath. [Readers] who persevere will discover a 'scary smart' scientist, mother, teacher, and feminist whose 'life was her work, [and] her work her life.'" -- Publisher's Weekly "It is tremendous that Senechal has excavated this story. She offers a gripping portrait of an era and of a scientist whose complications acquire a tragic glamour. It is a cautionary tale for which we must supply the moral ourselves." -- Nature "Ever heard of Dorothy Wrinch? Me neither. But Marjorie Senechal will change that in her biography I Died for Beauty (named after a poem by Emily Dickinson).. . . Senechal sensitively documents Wrinch's later life - the few flashes of brilliance illuminating career marginalisation; and the tragedy of her daughter's death. But it is with the big ideas from early on that Senechal argues Wrinch should join the ranks of great names we should remember." --New Scientist "[An] altogether excellent biography . . . I Died for Beauty: Dorothy Wrinch and the Cultures of Science is absolutely fantastic in its entirety--poignant, rigorously researched, absorbingly narrated, impossible to put down. Do pick it up." --Brainpickings, "Senechal draws from scholarly archives and her own experience working with Wrinch to draw a portrait of this complicated, intriguing, and frequently overlooked polymath. [Readers] who persevere will discover a 'scary smart' scientist, mother, teacher, and feminist whose 'life was her work, [and] her work her life.'" --Publisher's Weekly "It is tremendous that Senechal has excavated this story. She offers a gripping portrait of an era and of a scientist whose complications acquire a tragic glamour. It is a cautionary tale for which we must supply the moral ourselves." --Nature, "Senechal draws from scholarly archives and her own experience working with Wrinch to draw a portrait of this complicated, intriguing, and frequently overlooked polymath. [Readers] who persevere will discover a 'scary smart' scientist, mother, teacher, and feminist whose 'life was her work, [and] her work her life.'"--Publisher's Weekly "It is tremendous that Senechal has excavated this story. She offers a gripping portrait of an era and of a scientist whose complications acquire a tragic glamour. It is a cautionary tale for which we must supply the moral ourselves."--Nature "Ever heard of Dorothy Wrinch? Me neither. But Marjorie Senechal will change that in her biography I Died for Beauty (named after a poem by Emily Dickinson)....Senechal sensitively documents Wrinch's later life--the few flashes of brilliance illuminating career marginalisation; and the tragedy of her daughter's death. But it is with the big ideas from early on that Senechal argues Wrinch should join the ranks of great names we should remember."--New Scientist "[An] altogether excellent biography...I Died for Beauty: Dorothy Wrinch and the Cultures of Science is absolutely fantastic in its entirety--poignant, rigorously researched, absorbingly narrated, impossible to put down. Do pick it up."--Brainpickings "Senechal's work is well-researched and stems from a place of deep personal interest... This book ensures that Wrinch's legacy will not fade, and that her contributions and colorful life will be remembered."--ACA RefleXions, American Crystallographic Association, "Senechal draws from scholarly archives and her own experience working with Wrinch to draw a portrait of this complicated, intriguing, and frequently overlooked polymath. [Readers] who persevere will discover a 'scary smart' scientist, mother, teacher, and feminist whose 'life was her work, [and] her work her life.'" --Publisher's Weekly, It is tremendous that Senechal has excavated this story. She offers a gripping portrait of an era and of a scientist whose complications acquire a tragic glamour. It is a cautionary tale for which we must supply the moral ourselves., "Senechal draws from scholarly archives and her own experience working with Wrinch to draw a portrait of this complicated, intriguing, and frequently overlooked polymath. [Readers] who persevere will discover a 'scary smart' scientist, mother, teacher, and feminist whose 'life was her work, [and] her work her life.'" -- Publisher's Weekly "It is tremendous that Senechal has excavated this story. She offers a gripping portrait of an era and of a scientist whose complications acquire a tragic glamour. It is a cautionary tale for which we must supply the moral ourselves." -- Nature "Ever heard of Dorothy Wrinch? Me neither. But Marjorie Senechal will change that in her biography I Died for Beauty (named after a poem by Emily Dickinson).. . . Senechal sensitively documents Wrinch's later life - the few flashes of brilliance illuminating career marginalisation; and the tragedy of her daughter's death. But it is with the big ideas from early on that Senechal argues Wrinch should join the ranks of great names we should remember." --New Scientist, "Senechal draws from scholarly archives and her own experience working with Wrinch to draw a portrait of this complicated, intriguing, and frequently overlooked polymath. [Readers] who persevere will discover a 'scary smart' scientist, mother, teacher, and feminist whose 'life was her work, [and] her work her life.'"--Publisher's Weekly"It is tremendous that Senechal has excavated this story. She offers a gripping portrait of an era and of a scientist whose complications acquire a tragic glamour. It is a cautionary tale for which we must supply the moral ourselves."--Nature"Ever heard of Dorothy Wrinch? Me neither. But Marjorie Senechal will change that in her biography I Died for Beauty (named after a poem by Emily Dickinson)....Senechal sensitively documents Wrinch's later life--the few flashes of brilliance illuminating career marginalisation; and the tragedy of her daughter's death. But it is with the big ideas from early on that Senechal argues Wrinch should join the ranks of great names we shouldremember."--New Scientist"[An] altogether excellent biography...I Died for Beauty: Dorothy Wrinch and the Cultures of Science is absolutely fantastic in its entirety--poignant, rigorously researched, absorbingly narrated, impossible to put down. Do pick it up."--Brainpickings"Senechal's work is well-researched and stems from a place of deep personal interest... This book ensures that Wrinch's legacy will not fade, and that her contributions and colorful life will be remembered."--ACA RefleXions, American Crystallographic Association, "Senechal draws from scholarly archives and her own experience working with Wrinch to draw a portrait of this complicated, intriguing, and frequently overlooked polymath. [Readers] who persevere will discover a 'scary smart' scientist, mother, teacher, and feminist whose 'life was her work, [and] her work her life.'"--Publisher's Weekly"It is tremendous that Senechal has excavated this story. She offers a gripping portrait of an era and of a scientist whose complications acquire a tragic glamour. It is a cautionary tale for which we must supply the moral ourselves."--Nature"Ever heard of Dorothy Wrinch? Me neither. But Marjorie Senechal will change that in her biography I Died for Beauty (named after a poem by Emily Dickinson)....Senechal sensitively documents Wrinch's later life--the few flashes of brilliance illuminating career marginalisation; and the tragedy of her daughter's death. But it is with the big ideas from early on that Senechal argues Wrinch should join the ranks of great names we should remember."--New Scientist"[An] altogether excellent biography...I Died for Beauty: Dorothy Wrinch and the Cultures of Science is absolutely fantastic in its entirety--poignant, rigorously researched, absorbingly narrated, impossible to put down. Do pick it up."--Brainpickings"Senechal's work is well-researched and stems from a place of deep personal interest... This book ensures that Wrinch's legacy will not fade, and that her contributions and colorful life will be remembered."--ACA RefleXions, American Crystallographic Association
CLASSIFICATION_METADATA
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Dewey Decimal
510.92 B
Table Of Content
Part I Dorothy Wrinch Chapter 1. Prologue Chapter 2. Culture clash at Cold Spring Harbor Chapter 3. Symmetry Festival Chapter 4. Dot Part II Logics Chapter 5. The Wrangler Chapter 6. Dear Mr. Russell Chapter 7. The Summation of Pleasures Chapter 8. Scientific method Part III Biology in Transition Chapter 9. The Spicules of Sponges Chapter 10. Homes are Hell Chapter 11. Metamorphoses Chapter 12. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest Notes and References for Part III Part IV Proteins and the Imagination Chapter 13. Hornet Buzz Chapter 14. The Cyclol Model Chapter 15. What Is She Doing Here? Chapter 16. "Linus and Dorothy," the Opera, with Talkback Part V The Rosetta Stone of the Solid State Chapter 17. Crystals Chapter 18. X-rays and Insulin Chapter 19. Structure factors Chapter 20. Amherst College Wife Part VI I Died for Beauty Chapter 21. The Sequel Chapter 22. Strange Doings at Sandoz Chapter 23. Swan Song Chapter 24. Epilogue Cast of Characters Appendix Acknowledgments Notes and References Index
Synopsis
Dorothy Wrinch, a complicated and ultimately tragic figure, is remembered today for her much publicized feud with Linus Pauling over the shape of proteins, known as "the cyclol controversy." Pauling emerged victorious and is now seen as one of the 20th century's greatest scientists. History has proven less kind to Wrinch. Although some of Wrinch's theories did not pass the test of time, her contributions to the fields of Darwinism, probability and statistics, quantum mechanics, x-ray diffraction, and computer science were anything but inconsequential. Wrinch's story is also the story of the science of crystals and the ever-changing notion of symmetry fundamental to that science.Drawing on her own personal relationship with Wrinch as well as the papers archived at Smith College and elsewhere, Marjorie Senechal explores the life of this brilliant and controversial figure in I Died for Beauty. This biography provides a coherent biographical narration, a detailed account of the cyclol controversy, and a personal memoir of the author's relationship with Wrinch. Senechal presents a sympathetic portrait of the life and science of a luminous but tragically flawed character., A biography of the complex and fascinating Dorothy Wrinch, her much publicized scientific feud with Linus Pauling, and her contributions to science, In the vein of A Beautiful Mind, The Man Who Loved Only Numbers, and Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA, this volume tells the poignant story of the brilliant, colorful, controversial mathematician named Dorothy Wrinch.Drawing on her own personal and professional relationship with Wrinch and archives in the United States, Canada, and England, Marjorie Senechal explores the life and work of this provocative, scintillating mind. Senechal portrays a woman who was learned, restless, imperious, exacting, critical, witty, and kind. A young disciple of Bertrand Russell while at Cambridge, the first women to receive a doctor of science degree from Oxford University, Wrinch's contributions to mathematical physics, philosophy, probability theory, genetics, protein structure, and crystallography were anything but inconsequential. But Wrinch, a complicated and ultimately tragic figure, is remembered today for her much publicized feud with Linus Pauling over the molecular architecture of proteins. Pauling ultimately won that bitter battle. Yet, Senechal reminds us, some of the giants of mid-century science - including Niels Bohr, Irving Langmuir, D'Arcy Thompson, Harold Urey, and David Harker - took Wrinch's side in the feud. What accounts for her vast if now-forgotten influence? What did these renowned thinkers, in such different fields, hope her model might explain? Senechal presents a sympathetic portrait of the life and work of a luminous but tragically flawed character. At the same time, she illuminates the subtler prejudices Wrinch faced as a feisty woman, profound culture clashes between scientific disciplines, ever-changing notions of symmetry and pattern in science, and the puzzling roles of beauty and truth., In the vein of A Beautiful Mind, The Man Who Loved Only Numbers , and Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA , this volume tells the poignant story of the brilliant, colorful, controversial mathematician named Dorothy Wrinch. Drawing on her own personal and professional relationship with Wrinch and archives in the United States, Canada, and England, Marjorie Senechal explores the life and work of this provocative, scintillating mind. Senechal portrays a woman who was learned, restless, imperious, exacting, critical, witty, and kind. A young disciple of Bertrand Russell while at Cambridge, the first women to receive a doctor of science degree from Oxford University, Wrinch's contributions to mathematical physics, philosophy, probability theory, genetics, protein structure, and crystallography were anything but inconsequential. But Wrinch, a complicated and ultimately tragic figure, is remembered today for her much publicized feud with Linus Pauling over the molecular architecture of proteins. Pauling ultimately won that bitter battle. Yet, Senechal reminds us, some of the giants of mid-century science--including Niels Bohr, Irving Langmuir, D'Arcy Thompson, Harold Urey, and David Harker--took Wrinch's side in the feud. What accounts for her vast if now-forgotten influence? What did these renowned thinkers, in such different fields, hope her model might explain? Senechal presents a sympathetic portrait of the life and work of a luminous but tragically flawed character. At the same time, she illuminates the subtler prejudices Wrinch faced as a feisty woman, profound culture clashes between scientific disciplines, ever-changing notions of symmetry and pattern in science, and the puzzling roles of beauty and truth.
LC Classification Number
QA29.W75S56 2012
Copyright Date
2012
ebay_catalog_id
4
