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World-Changing Genius, Creativity, and Teamwork someone if shot in the heart.” It was the which had already been removed fol- perfect riposte. Selman writes of Gunn, lowing the original decision. World-Changing “He didn’t blink, breathe deeply, or God Sent Me is self-published, and move a muscle, and that’s what proba- the lack of a firm editorial hand is in- Genius, Creativity, bly let me know that I had him” (232). termittently detectable. Generally fol- It probably impressed the district court lowing a straight chronological nar- and Teamwork judge, too, who in his decision referred rative, Selman’s writing is serviceable KENDRICK FRAZIER to the “overwhelming presence” of the and often engaging, although there are disclaimer. occasional patches of purple prose: for Subsequently, the school board de- example at one point he writes, some- cided to appeal the decision. It is dis- what ridiculously, “The life I was living appointing that Selman’s account of the was in a comfortable but contaminated following events is comparatively unde- Petri dish where the leprosy of theocracy tailed. On May 25, 2006, a three-judge was threatening to break out and become panel of the Eleventh Circuit Court of epidemic” (17). Fans of Leo Rosten will Appeals vacated the district court’s judg- be amused by Selman’s pervasive use of ment because of concerns about the evi- expressions from Yiddish, accompanied dence and remanded the case for further by helpful glosses, although “farblond- evidential proceedings. Selman accuses jet” is oddly spelled as “fablunjet” (175). the panel of bias but provides no expla- There is no index and no bibliography, The Innovators: How a Group of Hack- nation of his reasoning—although it is and references appear variously in foot- ers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the true that Judge Ed Carnes, who wrote notes and in running text, which is mildly Digital Revolution. By Walter Isaacson. the decision, was (and is) one of the frustrating. Simon and Schuster, 2014. ISBN 978-1- most conservative judges on the court. Kitzmiller v. Dover was a success: it 4767-0869-0. 542 pp. Hardcover, $35. Similarly, Selman hints that the decision is increasingly rare for anyone to pro- for the appellees to be represented not pose a formal policy that would require by their trial lawyer, Michael Manely, or even allow the teaching of creation- but by “attorneys with vast amounts of ism—whether biblical creationism, cre- appeal experience” (presumably Jeffrey ation science, or intelligent design—in Bramlett in particular) was misguided, alter Isaacson’s The Innovators the public schools. As a result, a new but again provides no explanation of his is his fascinating narrative wave of antievolution activity, in which Whistory of the digital revolu- reasoning. Selman also understates the role policies are proposed to belittle evolu- tion—focusing on the people (“hack- of Kitzmiller v. Dover in forcing the tion—as “controversial” or as “a theory, ers, geniuses, and geeks”) who created school board to settle. Richard Katskee not a fact”—is in the ascendancy, and the digital age we all live in now. and Eric Rothschild, who successfully disclaimers like Cobb County’s are Even more so than in his Ben- litigated the Kitzmiller v. Dover case in traditionally a favored way of imple- jamin Franklin (2003, excerpted in 2005, joined the Selman v. Cobb County menting such policies. Selman v. Cobb the March/April 2004 SKEPTICAL team in 2006 and brought with them County was not the first challenge to INQUIRER), Einstein (2007), and his two of their expert witnesses—Kenneth the constitutionality of evolution dis- best-selling Steve Jobs (2011), Isaac- R. Miller and Brian Alters—as well as claimers, but it was the most recent, son here synthesizes huge amounts of Eugenie C. Scott. Additionally, a host and the decision in the case was the published and online material (plus in of amicus curiae briefs from scientific, most compendious. So God Sent Me is this case dozens of his own interviews educational, and religious organiza- especially welcome as a timely reminder with all the key contemporary figures) tions were submitted supporting the of the resilience of the antievolution in reader-friendly ways and then de- plaintiffs. Thus reinforced, and with movement and of the necessity of con- scribes the people and their works in n the Kitzmiller v. Dover victory under tinued vigilance and resistance. his own vivid, personal style. their belts and available as precedent, The chapter organization is a the Selman v. Cobb County team was model of chronological clarity: the Glenn Branch is deputy director of the ready to pose a formidable challenge computer, programming, the tran- National Center for Science Education. He in a retrial. Seeing the writing on the sistor, the microchip, video games, recently reviewed Kostas Kampourakis’s wall, the school board caved, signing a the Internet, the personal computer, broad settlement agreement in Decem- Understanding Evolution for The American software, online, and the Web. This ber 2006 not to restore the disclaimers, Biology Teacher. blandly disguises the human drama 60 Volume 39 Issue 5 | Skeptical Inquirer REVIEWS ] contained within. The perhaps sur- Usually these innovators worked electronic digital computer built in the prising hero with which he bookends in teams, which proved crucial. From late 1930s never fully worked and, trag- this elegant work is Ada, Countess of Babbage and Ada Lovelace; to John ically, was left forgotten in a basement Lovelace (1815–1852), the daughter of Mauchly and J. Prosper Eckert and storage room.) Lord Byron. As a self-driven mathema- their ENIAC computer (the latter Plenty of individual genius is in ev- tician, she worked with Charles Bab- two top Isaacson’s list of people who idence in the digital revolution (Alan bage, envisioned much about the mod- deserve credit for inventing the com- Turing and John von Neumann are ern computer, and is still revered today. puter); to John Bardeen and Walter other important examples), but even Another hero is Vannevar Bush, who Brattain (transistor, William Shockley more important is the necessity of sur- pushed for government-industry-uni- being a rare example of a non-team- rounding oneself with colleagues of versity collaborations after World War complementary skills and personalities II and conceived of a world-brain com- to bring innovations from idealized puter that anticipated the modern net- concept to actual fruition. Theoreti- worked digital age. Even more important is the cians need pragmatic engineers; vision- CEO of the Aspen Institute and a necessity of surrounding aries need detail-oriented managers. former managing editor of Time, Isaac- Another subtheme is the marriage of son is a master at humanizing whatever oneself with colleagues of science and the arts to make comput- topic he writes about. That is especially complementary skills ers and networks usable and interactive important dealing with a topic that and personalities to bring and attractive to the human eye and could, if not handled adroitly, be overly innovations from idealized mind. Still another is the demonstrated technical and cause eyes to glaze over. In just a few sentences or paragraphs, concept to actual fruition. repeated fruitfulness of focusing on hu- he vividly reveals what makes each of a man-computer interactions, combin- hundred or so brilliant contributors to ing the strengths of both, in compar- the digital age different and unique. ison with the less-successful endeavor Isaacson finds ways to bring person- of artificial intelligence (trying to get alities to life and illuminate the inno- player); to Gordon Moore, Robert computing to mimic or replace human vators’ passions, vision, creativity, and Noyce, and Andy Grove (Intel); Steve thinking). drive. The Innovators is scientifically Jobs and Steve Wosniak (Apple); Bill For those fascinated with the history and technologically substantive (his Gates, Paul Allen, and Steve Balmer of ideas and the human creativity and explanation of transistor is one of the (Microsoft); Larry Page and Sergey teamwork required to convert inven- clearest I’ve ever read) and yet highly Brin (Google); and countless others— tions to world-changing innovations, I readable—and that’s a rare combina- over and over the team concept proves think you will find, as I did, The Inno- n tion. And he has an uncanny ability to essential to bringing new ideas to frui- vators a remarkable book. understand and connect all the many tion. ARPANET and the Internet were technological, historical, and personal also designed by collaborative teams. strands of the story and weave them (John Atanasoff had no team with him Kendrick Frazier is editor of the SKEPTICAL into one fine tapestry. at Iowa State and therefore his partly INQUIRER. Subscribe to the digital edition of the SKEPTICAL INQUIRER and read SI on your iPad, iPhone, or Android device! Download your FREE sample issue today! Skeptical Inquirer | September/October 2015 61.
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