Rush - A Review

RUSH

by

Stephen Fried

A Review

I am not a history fan, but an earlier published review drew me to this book and I asked to review it for myself. I am glad that I asked and that my request was granted.

Dr. Benjamin Rush was the only medical school trained physician to sign the Declaration of Independence. He was not among the top tier of the founding fathers - but he did much to support and encourage the Washingtons, the Franklins, the Adams, and the others that led the new United States of America during its formative years. For many he was their doctor, for most he was their confident and friend.

Rush follows the life of Benjamin Rush, MD, from his birth in rural Pennsylvania in 1745 to his death in Philadelphia in 1813. He was educated and opinionated. He was a frequent writer - both of published works and many (still) unpublished pieces that have assisted historians to understand the years preceding and following the revolutionary war. Fried has done a superb job of drawing the reader into Rush’s life - as he looks at his family, colleagues, and work. The book concludes with an examination of the influence Rush had on fields as diverse as politics, education, medicine (particularly mental health), and literature. This includes a brief reference to the creation of the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago named after Dr. Benjamin Rush.

Reading much like a well-written novel, anyone with an interest in early American History, Medicine. Religion (Rush might be thought of as an original Evangelical), Education, and politics, will find this book to be a delight. Even though it is longer than most books I review (I even took a few days break to read a more typical book to change my pace), it was well worth my time. It is well documented (the last 1/5th of the book consists of notes and references) and might drive some readers to dive further into the history and impact of this man who touched so many of the founding father’s lives in the late 18th and early 19th century.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions are mine alone.

Mathematics the Truth

Mathematics the Truth

by

Malcolm Cameron

A Review

An interesting book that begins with an error on its cover makes this reader doubt the usefulness of the book. First of all, the error - the author’s name, as best I can tell, is spelled wrong. Now, this does not define the entire book, but does make one want to read it carefully.

I did find the book of interest. It is written to a beginning master’s level mathematician. It might be handled by a well-equipped calculus student with a bit of exposure to differential equations, ultimately the focus seems to be helping the student jumping into his final years of training to see the parallels between mathematics and the physical world. The author firmly that this connection to the physical world should become the real motivation for studying mathematics:

Currently mathematics is taught like Latin, without motivation, restricted to the period from Euclid in the BC to the Renaissance. Those few proceeding to university mathematics and mathematical physics are re-educated without the benefit of previous orientation while the rest are abandoned to popularisations. This is not right …

The author attempts to weave mathematics with these physical concepts that either underlay or that are supported by the mathematical truths. The book, obviously, does not a cover entire field of math or physics, but enough parallels are drawn to aid the student or teacher to take these initial thoughts further.

I do wish the book included a bit more documentation, allowing the student to continue his or own self-study of the topics presented. Too much material is presented as “common knowledge” that might be so to the fully trained mathematician, but not to the student making progress through the field. That being said, the book is readable - provided the student has a basic understanding of the mathematics. However, once the reader reaches the point where his mathematics training has progressed, a set of good math texts will be needed to fill in some of the gaps.

Physicists and mathematicians would do well to find ways to add this book to their courses as a supplementary text. Those already in the field will find the book to be of help understanding the contribution each has made to their respective fields.

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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions are mine alone.