Magic Universe: The Oxford Guide to Modern Science

Magic Universe: The Oxford Guide to Modern Science
Average customer rating:

Superstrings and green whiskers

Good book. Highly recommended

Calder Makes Current Science Come Alive

Amazing book

Spanning all of science

Magic Universe: The Oxford Guide to Modern Science
Nigel Calder
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Science | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Magic Universe: A Grand Tour of Modern Science

The Quantum World: Quantum Physics for Everyone

Deep Down Things: The Breathtaking Beauty of Particle Physics

Concepts of Modern Mathematics

The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe

ASIN: B000KHXC1W

Book Description

Magic Universe brings current science to the general reader in an imaginative and wholly original way. It offers an exhilarating tour of the horizons of knowledge, from quarks to linguistics, climate change to cloning, and chaos to superstrings, presented as a set of self-contained stories. The stories are arranged as A - Z entries, but this is not a conventional encyclopedia. Each story unfolds in a totally unpredictable way, seamlessly crossing disciplines, and told in engaging, accessible language. Here is a celebration of the reunion of the many subdivisions of science now in progress. 'The magic of the Universe reveals itself in the interconnections', Calder tells us. 'A repertoire of tricks let loose in the Big Bang will make you a planet or a parakeet. In some sense only dimly understood so far, the magic works for our benefit overall, whilst it amazes and puzzles us in the particulars. Natural conjuring that links comets with life, genomes with continental drift, iron ore with dementia, and particle physics with cloudiness, mocks the specialists.' The stories can be read and enjoyed in any order. Perhaps you will start with Alcohol - 'genetic revelations of when yeast invented booze'. Or Prions -'from cannibals and mad cows to new modes of heredity and evolution'. Or maybe Higgs bosons - 'the multi-billion-dollar quest for the mass-maker'. Wherever you begin - and you can begin anywhere - you can be sure of an engrossing and a surprising voyage of discovery. As Nigel Calder puts it, the best of science is romantically exciting, and also illuminating - so why trouble busy readers with anything that isn't?

Customer Reviews:

Superstrings and green whiskers.......2005-09-05

This is a remarkably interesting series of science essays (the author calls them 'short stories'). Even if I had not read the back of the book's dust jacket, I would have known that Nigel Calder was a former writer for the ebullient British weekly, "New Scientist." He's got their opinionated, breezy, clear style of writing. "Magic Universe" scintillates. It is easy to understand. The author does not linger overly long on even the most fascinating topics (actually, this brevity is sometimes frustrating).

There are several ways of working through the book. There is the 'spider-web' method as illustrated by the book's end-papers, where all of the subjects are ultimately linked together. For instance, I started onto a subject path with "Volcanic Explosions (where will the next big one be?)" which led to "Hotspots (are there really chimneys deep inside the Earth?)" which pointed to "Plate Motions (what rocky machinery refurbishes the Earth's surface?)" which sent me back to "Extremophiles (creatures that thrive in unexpected places)."

According to the author, the "spider's web" celebrates a reunion of the many subdivisions of science that is now in progress..." but I'm getting dizzy flipping back and forth. Let's try an alphabetic read-through for awhile, starting at "Extremophiles"--> "Flood Basalts (can impacting comets set continents in motion?)"--> "Flowering (colourful variations on a theme of genetic pathways)" --> "Forces (a pointer entry)."

Wait a minute, here's an interesting entry about something called the 'Casimir force (the attractive force between two surfaces in a vacuum).' I've never heard of it, even though I'm a faithful cover-to-cover reader of "New Scientist." Where does it point? To "Plasma Crystals." What is a Plasma Crystal? Isn't that an oxymoron? Let me just follow this topic a little further...

Warning: if you like good writing, especially concerning outré, outer-edge-of-science topics, you might not be able to put down "Magic Universe" until you've read every 'short story' in this book. From first-hand experience, the author knows that "thrilling discoveries can tip-toe in, almost unnoticed to begin with."

There were many thrilling discoveries for me. Consider those plasma crystals. They opened up many windows in astronomy for me, including a new look at the method by which planets form.

Nigel Calder also believes that the surest way to shorten this book's life would be to "report only the consensual opinions of the late 20th century." To drive home this point, let me quote from his article on "Superstrings (Retuning the cosmic imagination):" "A scandalous fact was not lost on the bystanders. This was the lack of even the smallest shred of direct evidence for the validity of either superstring or M-theory as a description of the real world." What can a great science writer like the author do, but refer to Lewis Carroll's White Knight: "But I was thinking of a plan/ to dye one's whiskers green, /And always use so large a fan /That they could not be seen."

Do superstrings exist? Are they composed of green whiskers? Read, "Magic Universe" and you'll be pondering similar, mind-bending theories.

Good book. Highly recommended.......2005-08-31

I have been reading this book whenever I can make some time. The endeavour is to keep myself abreast of the latest that human civilisation has to offer, as far as scientific achievemnts are concerned. I must say the book is written very well and especially Nigel's breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding are remarkable.
For a person like me, having lost touch with pure science for the last 15 years or so this is almost a revelation.
However, I can't hand this book over to my son, 10 year's old for example. The concepts are, naturally too advanced. If, however, Nigel is reading this review I urge him to write an illustrated encyclopedia on Modern science, so he can reach out to more people, more children. His knowledge and depth of understanding, gained during his entire life devoted to science, is too much to lose for human civilisation.

Calder Makes Current Science Come Alive.......2005-05-07

Nigel Calder is a lifelong science journalist. He has spent 49 years explaining big scientific discoveries to the public, and is perhaps best known for his award winning science documentaries for BBC TV.

This book is an obvious labor of love consisting of 119 chapters in 705 pages, averaging 5.9 pages per entry. I suspect he has written about most (if not all) of these subjects in the past, judging from the familiarity and ease with which he handles each item. For $4.50 plus postage (used through Amazon) one could not find a better, cheaper science resource book. Time and again after bringing us up to date in a given chapter, Calder tells us about new research, imminent plans for a new satellite or new technology which will exponentially increase our knowledge base within only a few short years. In Nigel Calder's world, what an exciting time to be alive!

It will take a while, but I guarantee reading this book will be well worth your time. "Magic Universe" can be read straight through (the chapters are in alphabetical order), each new subject being pot luck, or start anywhere you like. At the end of any given chapter, you will be directed to 2-5 related chapters, thereby maintaining continuity in that particular field.

Calder is brilliant in the depth of his knowledge. While presenting the inevitable scientific controversies, he does not hesitate to show his biases. I approve of his license to do so and believe this quality of his writing adds color and vitality.

By the way, did you know that one of the naturally occuring forms of carbon has 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons, just like a soccer ball? This little gem from the chapter "Buckyballs and Nanotubes" gained entry into a 10th grade chemistry paper my son was writing.

On a personal note, I have endeavored to increase my science literacy during the past 2 years. One of the better books I started with was Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything." Calder's book is more complete, more knowledgeable, and is pure gold. I do not have a higher recommendation for a mid-range comprehensive science book. I believe if this book (and Bryson's) were somehow included with (or substituted for) the usual textual materials in high schools, there would be a significant increase in candidates for majors in science of all types in college.

Congratulations, Nigel Calder, on this superb effort.

Amazing book.......2005-01-17

Almost all my free time during the past two weeks has been devoted to reading this extraordinary book. I thought that I would read just a selection of the (119) essays (over 700 pages!) on the cutting edge of science, but after reading two or three I was so enthralled that I turned to the beginning and read all the way through. Why? Simply because this is easily the most readable and knowledge-packed book on science that I have ever read.

The range of topics (organized alphabetically from "Alcohol" to "Volcanic Explosions") that science writer extraordinary Nigel Calder reports on is impressive, from the very small at the subatomic level to the very large at the edge of the universe, to the very old near the beginning of the Big Bang, to the very new as the genomes of species are being read. The depth and breath of Calder's knowledge is extraordinary, but that's not the best part of this frankly amazing book. What Calder does so very well is convey that knowledge in a way that makes science fascinating.

He calls his essays "stories." He usually begins with a bit of atmosphere, letting us know where the research is being done and who the people are making the discoveries. And then he may dip back into time and give us a brief historical precis. After that Calder takes us right up to the very edge of discovery, and sometimes even beyond, as he tries to make sense of where the research is going and what effect it will have on our lives. His prose is full of excitement and fascination, and yet he is no pie-in-the-sky enthusiast. Indeed, as he says in the Introduction, he's wary of scientific hype and dogmatism, and aware "that thrilling discoveries can tiptoe in, almost unnoticed," and so his tone is sober and largely objective.

The result is no modest accomplishment. Very few other people in the world could have written this book. Perhaps no one else could have. Calder's requisite knowledge comes from a lifetime of reading, editing and reporting on science in the press, in magazines and on television. He negotiates a fine path between pleasing scientists and those who read about science. He must be both accurate and intelligible--and, as far as I can tell, he is both to an amazing degree.

Yet there is, as he allows, a certain subjectivity inevitable in such a momentous task--the task of guiding the educated reader to a knowledge of what is happening in a host of scientific disciplines. The science must not only be reported on, but it must be interpreted; and, as anyone who has ever interpreted anything more difficult than the leaves at the bottom of a tea cup knows, the interpretative waters are murky and full of danger.

Before I suggest a couple of places where Calder may have gone wrong--and believe me no one could write a book like this and not be wrong in at least a dozen places--let me say that I would not have--could not have--read this book unless I was enormously impressed with what I was reading. One does not devote so many hours to one book--especially considering the reading schedule that I have--without the belief that the time is very well spent.

I am not qualified to critique Calder's interpretation of what is likely to come from a bigger and faster supercollider, or whether epigenetic heredity can explain the rapid development of new species, or a hundred other ideas that Calder comments on. Even those people at the horizon of a particular discipline cannot be sure. But I very much like the fact that Calder sometimes takes a critical stance and sometimes dares to put his reputation on the line by evaluating the discoveries. He has no chair at university to maintain, nor is he in the employ of any organization or government. So he is free to say what he wants as long as it is intellectually responsible. In fact, that is one of the most agreeable features of his writing.

When he avers that "Evolution proceeds mainly as a result of changes in the control of pre-existing genes," (p. 414) as he assumes a nongradualist view of evolution, one can agree or disagree, but be glad that he does indeed interpret the work being done. However when he takes a tone that suggests, as he does several times in the book, that environmentalists are largely alarmists while reminding us that so far Malthus has been wrong, one must demur. Or when he tells "conservationists" that "a sensible policy" (for reducing the killing of African animals for bushmeat) would be to "help... [indigenous people] find alternative sources of affordable protein," one wonders why he misses the better advice of helping them to find better methods of birth control. Artificially feeding a population that has grown too large for its larder is not going to solve the problem in the long run, and indeed is only going to extend the pain to generations to come.

These quibbles aside, this is a book not to be missed, a delight, an adventure in reading, and easily one of those books that the scientific-minded person most certainly would like to have on that desert island.

Let me close with an example of Calder's understated, dry wit. He is talking about Homo erectus. He writes, "Although this species then spread successfully across Eurasia, and was a skilled predator, it went on making the same old hand-axes for more than a million years--which suggests a certain lack of imagination." (p. 411)

One more. Here he is being sly as he refers to "a vacuum at the heart of biology, which leaves the survival of the fittest as an empty tautology. The survivors are defined as the fittest because they survive..." (p. 47)

Spanning all of science.......2004-06-07

Nigel Calder is a distinguished polymath and author, whose interests for years have spanned all of modern science. Here, he demonstrates his intellect and eloquence in 756 pages of compelling prose.

You can't fail to be impressed by how well he covers both the biological and the physical sciences. It is really tough to do both well. Perhaps Calder is a good successor to the late Isaac Asimov.

Book Description

This brilliantly written book unlocks the astounding implications of Einstein's revolutionary theories on the nature of science, time and motion. It far surpasses any previous explanation of Relativity for laymen.

Customer Reviews:

UNDERSTANDING AN IMPORTANT WORLDVIEW.......2007-07-17

The book "EINSTEIN'S UNIVERSE" by NIGEL CALDER is a very good choice as a primer, not simly to learn facts, but to understand the intricate and conclusive ways of thinking of the genius ALBET EINSTEIN, whom our world owes so much. The chapters are clearly anounced by their titles, and each chapter starts with a summery of fife lines, wich can also be rered after
finishing the chapter for personal confirmation, but also, if the reader
is looking for some item long after he read the book.
As the book is written in an easy to read english, i enjoyed its reading very much.

Good, but not the best, and a little outdated.......2005-12-16

I though that Calder did an excellent job of simplifying relativity theory, which I suppose was his goal. I found myself wishing that he had not simplified quite so much, and explained WHY things happen instead of WHAT happens, as he tends to do sometimes. In addition to that, this book is a little behind the times when it comes to theories (though Calder can hardly be blamed for that, seeing as he wrote it before these new theories were developed). Overall, it is a good introduction to relativity theory, very easy to understand, but you will probably need another deeper book or two to really get a grasp on it.

The Universe Made Simple? Fascinating!.......2003-10-31

How does one go about taking our immense universe--with all its galaxies, quasars, neutron stars, etc.--and put it into words that a high school senior could understand? Not only that, but include all of Albert Einstein's mind boggling theories on the universe and still make it interesting to read?

Ladies and gentleman, I give you Einstein's Universe. A book written by Nigel Calder. Mr. Calder delves deep into the inner workings of two of the most complex things known to man, the universe and Einstein's brain. He does so with great confidence, writing in the first person, as if it were Einstein himself explaining his theories. This leads to a feeling of intimacy while reading about the creation of the universe and many other topics related to the giant realm we call home. Nigel Calder does a superb job of presenting the theories and the evidence, and then always proceeding to explain how it all fits together.

If you've got a hankerin' for something juicy sweet to read, and enjoy pondering the ways of the great big black thing way up there, I highly recommend Einstein's Universe. Enjoy!

Relativity Made Easy!.......2001-11-08

For a long time I've desired an understanding of relativity. Having just finished this book, I have achieved my goal -- without struggling with impossible equations. Thank you, Nigel Calder.

Due to the complex subject, this book isn't a particularly easy read. But the author keeps it very interesting and does as good a job as possible in translating the theories into understandable concepts. If you want to understand how gravity, time, space, energy, and mass are all tied together via relativity, then this book is for you.

There is an incredible amount of information packed into the pages. The famous equation E=Mc2 has never meant anything to me, but after reading just the first 25 pages of this book, I was able to explain to my wife the meaning and significance of the equation and some of the thought processes that led Einstein to develop it! I feel so much smarter now!

There were only a few places where I thought the author could have done a better job explaining some concepts, and some illustrations here and there would have been helpful. But if you are capable of understanding the Doppler effect, you are capable of understanding the major concepts of relativity.

Now I feel ready to tackle the basics of quantum theory!

Descriptive and Energetic.......2001-09-23

Mr. Calder has done an outstanding job writing a book about relativity that non-physicists can read and enjoy. Mr. Calder writes with such clarity, such tangible descriptions, and such succinct summaries of the theory that the reader can begin to incorporate the implications of the theory into one's own worldview.

For instance, the author devotes much time and energy describing the possibilities of the universe being either open or closed (essentially, will the universe expand indefinitely, or will it eventually contract). By the time Mr. Calder begins to describe the metaphysical implications of these possibilities, the conscientious reader is already prepared to explore them on his own.

This ability to communicate science with such clarity as to allow a lay reader, whom I certainly am in physics, to be able to consider the implications of science, is a great complement to the author. Unfortunately, I am a hostage to much of what I read in science, so often having to rely on the author to describe the science as well as its implications.

In addition to summarizing and communicating extremely difficult material very well, Mr. Calder also writes with a great deal of energy and excitement. The author clearly shares his excitement about the subject matter to the reader.

Book Description

This is a marvellously engaging tour covering the whole of modern science, from transgenic crops to quantum tangles. Written by one of the most experienced and well-known names in science writing, it is also assuredly reliable science. Although arranged for convenience and quick reference as a collection of topics in alphabetical order, it is very different from any conventional encyclopedia. Each topic tells a story, making the book eminently browsable. Packed with information, yet carrying its immense learning lightly, this is a book that would appeal to anyone with the slightest interest in how the world works.

Customer Reviews:

An exhilarating ride on the Merry-go-round of science.......2005-09-01

This is a remarkably interesting series of science essays (the author calls them 'short stories'). Even if I had not read the back of the book's dust jacket, I would have known that Nigel Calder was a former writer for the ebullient British weekly, "New Scientist." He's got their opinionated, breezy, clear style of writing. "Magic Universe" scintillates. It is easy to understand. The author does not linger overly long on even the most fascinating topics (actually, this brevity is sometimes frustrating).

There are several ways of working through the book. There is the 'spider-web' method as illustrated by the book's end-papers, where all of the subjects are ultimately linked together. For instance, I started onto a subject path with "Volcanic Explosions (where will the next big one be?)" which led to "Hotspots (are there really chimneys deep inside the Earth?)" which pointed to "Plate Motions (what rocky machinery refurbishes the Earth's surface?)" which sent me back to "Extremophiles (creatures that thrive in unexpected places)."

According to the author, his spider's web "celebrates a reunion of the many subdivisions of science that is now in progress..." but I'm getting dizzy flipping back and forth. Let's try an alphabetic read-through for awhile, starting at "Extremophiles" --> "Flood Basalts (can impacting comets set continents in motion?)"--> "Flowering (colourful variations on a theme of genetic pathways)" --> "Forces (a pointer entry)."

Wait a minute, here's an interesting entry about something called the 'Casimir force (the attractive force between two surfaces in a vacuum).' I've never heard of it, even though I'm a faithful cover-to-cover reader of "New Scientist." Where does Casimir's force point? To "Plasma Crystals." What is a Plasma Crystal? Isn't that an oxymoron? Just let me just follow this topic a little further...

Warning: if you like good writing, especially concerning outré, outer-edge-of-science topics, you might not be able to put down "Magic Universe" until you've read every 'short story' in this book. From first-hand experience, the author knows that "thrilling discoveries can tip-toe in, almost unnoticed to begin with."

This book held many thrilling discoveries for me. Consider those plasma crystals. They opened up many new windows in astronomy for me, including a fresh look at the method by which planets form.

Nigel Calder also believes that the surest way to shorten this book's life would be to "report only the consensual opinions of the late 20th century." To drive home this point, read what he has to say about superstrings: "A scandalous fact was not lost on the bystanders. This was the lack of even the smallest shred of direct evidence for the validity of either superstring or M-theory as a description of the real world."

What can a good science writer like the author do with an unproven theory?

Quote Lewis Carroll, of course: "But I was thinking of a plan/ to dye one's whiskers green, /And always use so large a fan /That they could not be seen."

Do superstrings exist? Are they composed of green whiskers? Read, "Magic Universe" and you'll be pondering similar, mind-bending theories.

Average customer rating:

CALDER'S UNIVERSE
Jean Lipman
Manufacturer: The Viking Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000QAWLSI

Average customer rating:

Calder's Universe
Jean Lipman
Manufacturer: Viking Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000UELLVS

Average customer rating:

Calder's Universe
Jean Lipman with Ruth Wolfe
Manufacturer: Harrison House with the Whitney Museum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IFKO30

Average customer rating:

A delightful Book showing the many sides of Calder

Calder's Universe
Jean Lipman , and Ruth Wolfe
Manufacturer: Running Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Museums & Collections | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Fables of Aesop According to Sir Roger L'Estrange, with Fifty Drawings by Alexander Calder
The Essential Alexander Calder
The Surreal Calder
Alexander Calder and His Magical Mobiles
Calder: Gravity and Grace

ASIN: 0894717774

Customer Reviews:

A delightful Book showing the many sides of Calder.......2000-10-31

I looked for a long time for a Book on Calder before I found this beautiful, yet well priced Volume. It's all here from the Toys and the wonderfully playful "Calder's Circus", to the Mobiles and Stabiles, with Jewelry, Household Objects, Bronzes, Tapestries, Rugs, Sculptures and much more in between. There are many wonderful photographs which showcase the wide array of Calder's Art and of course Calder himself. Also included are a timeline, a useful Bibliography and an interesting "Who's Who in Calder's World." At $ 32.00 this book is a must buy of one of America's most important and influential Artists of all time.

Average customer rating:

Calder's universe
Alexander Calder
Manufacturer: Running Press in cooperation with Whitney Museum of American Art
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | History & Criticism | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0894716522

Average customer rating:

Comets: Speculation and Discovery
Nigel Calder
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Astronomy | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Comets, Meteors & Asteroids | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Cosmology | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Solar System | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0486278794

Book Description

Entertaining, irreverent volume, first published in 1981 as the hoopla over the scheduled arrival of Halley’s comet heated up. An exhilarating illustrated journey through centuries of conjecture and discovery, the volume considers the nature of comets: their heads, tails and orbits; fantastic theories associated with the phenomena, the possibility that a comet might have done in the dinosaurs, and much work. Lucid, sane and delightfully written.

Average customer rating:

Einstein's Universe
Nigel Calder
Manufacturer: New York: Wings Books, 1982
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NXJ4PG

Book Description

View the Table of Contents. Read Chapter 1.

"Best work of non-fiction about Virginia or by a Virginia author."
—Manasas Journal Messenger

"Edds's powerful telling of Washington's experience uses court documents, personal interviews, and a variety of other sources to illustrate the political and social circumstances surrounding this extraordinary case. This book invites the reader to think about how due process is carried out and implemented. An Expendable Man is a valuable study of not only the Virginia legal system, but also that of the United States."
—Virginia Libraries

"Explores the dark side of the system of capital punishment. The book not only goes into great detail in recording Earl Washington, Jr.'s near-execution but also incorporates some history of the Virginia legal system."
—Criminal Justice Review

"The book is provocative for its vivid characterization and its study of the death penalty's inherent flaws."
— Newport News Press

"Somewhere between the personal narratives found in H. Bruce Franklin's collection Prison Writing in 20th-Century America, the critical work of Mumia Abu-Jamal, and the recent profusion of sociological studies of America's accelerated prison economy, An Expendable Man gives us a moving portrait of a broad-based struggle on behalf of one man, and implies ways in which the halls of justice might become more just."
—Trial & Error

"Careful documentation. Edge-of-the-seat human drama. An exploration of loopholes in judicial safeguards against wrongful executions. An Expendable Man contains all of these—and more."
—The Virginian-Pilot

" An Expendable Man forcefully describes how a number of deeply committed people resurrected the hope of an innocent man. Edds's narrative painstakingly follows the sinuous protocols of due process in America. An Expendable Man gives us a moving portrait of a broad-based struggle on behalf of one man, and implies ways in which the halls of justice might become more just."
—Rain Taxi

"One of the unique features of the book is its detailed explanation of the death penalty procedure in Virginia, which is second only to Texas in its number of executions."
—Library Jounal

"A fascinating story, told colorfully and with the law and justice the final victor."
—New York Law Journal

"With chilling clarity, Margaret Edds peels back the layers of the legal, judicial and social orders to explain how an innocent man comes within nine days of execution."
—William Raspberry, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Washington Post

"Earl Washington's story reveals the dark side of a system that is not known for admitting its mistakes. We have a lot to learn from this case, which highlights many of the problems we see over and over again in cases of wrongful conviction."
—Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chief sponsor of The Innocence Protection Act

"Margaret Edds' book on Earl Washington shows the heavy handedness with which our society deals with those it deems expendable. It demonstrates how the politics of the death penalty skews our moral compass and how a small group of volunteers toiled for many years to set it straight for one expendable man. Whatever your position on the death penalty, if you want to know how it actually works, read this book."
—Sister Helen Prejean

"In An Expendable Man, Margaret Edds gives a whole new meaning to the 'Virginia Reel,' sending the reader spinning off into dizzying fits of confusion and rage. As she carries us deeper and deeper into the Virginia justice system, one almost understands how helpless Earl Washington must have felt in the hands of those intent on killing him for something he didn't do. Edds here exposes criminal justice in Virginia as a triumph of style over substance, laying bare the ease with which the `seat of democracy' became a fortress of hypocrisy."
—Mike Farrell, actor and human rights activist

"Whether you support or oppose the death penalty, you need to understand what almost happened to a man named Earl Washington. Margaret Edds tells his tragic, arresting story with remarkable sensitivity and a clear-eyed understanding of the stakes not just for Earl Washington, but for all of us."
—Larry J. Sabato, director of the Center for Politics, University of Virginia

How is it possible for an innocent man to come within nine days of execution? An Expendable Man answers that question through detailed analysis of the case of Earl Washington Jr., a mentally retarded, black farm hand who was convicted of the 1983 rape and murder of a 19-year-old mother of three in Culpeper, Virginia. He spent almost 18 years in Virginia prisons—9 1/2 of them on death row—for a murder he did not commit.

This book reveals the relative ease with which individuals who live at society's margins can be wrongfully convicted, and the extraordinary difficulty of correcting such a wrong once it occurs.

Washington was eventually freed in February 2001 not because of the legal and judicial systems, but in spite of them. While DNA testing was central to his eventual pardon, such tests would never have occurred without an unusually talented and committed legal team and without a series of incidents that are best described as pure luck.

Margaret Edds makes the chilling argument that some other "expendable men" almost certainly have been less fortunate than Washington. This, she writes, is "the secret, shameful underbelly" of America's retention of capital punishment. Such wrongful executions may not happen often, but anyone who doubts that innocent people have been executed in the United States should remember the remarkable series of events necessary to save Earl Washington Jr. from such a fate.

Customer Reviews:

Superb Reporting.......2004-02-26

Margaret Edds does a superb job of telling the story of how an innocent man, Earl Washington, was put on Virginia's death row and ended up spending 18 years in prison. I know she does a superb job because some years ago, when Washington had still not been pardoned but when things were looking hopeful, I researched this case and wrote a series of articles about it in the Culpeper News, the small-town paper in the town where Washington had been tried and convicted in January 1984.

Edds is a professional reporter and writes like one, with very little commentary on the facts. As a result, the facts speak very powerfully for themselves. And what commentary Edds does offer I agree with. But I would quibble a bit. The main point she tries to make is that the errors made in this case were not unusual but a part of the system, that while a series of extremely lucky circumstances led to Washington's exoneration, there are likely many innocents who will never be freed. So far, I agree. But Edds also suggests that no one did anything really egregiously wrong, that everyone just did their job in a flawed system and the result was tragic.

I beg to differ. Earl Washington was set up by the cruel and dishonest acts of the police and prosecutors. One of the policemen responsible for what happened in 1983 and 1984 is currently Sheriff of Culpeper, and Edds goes very easy on him. Read my articles and Edds' book and see what you think.

Yes, we need to reform the system, but we also need to hold individuals responsible, and ultimately this book has that effect. A brilliant job of reporting!

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books