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Dennis Flanagan passes away.
While googling for information on Mr Dennis Flanagan I saw the obit in NY Times (17 Jan 05) that Mr. Dennis Flanagan, passed away on Fri 14 Jan at his home.
He was best known for his work entitled "Flanagan's Version - A spectator's guide to science on the eve of the 21 st century". He was 85 years.
The book (published in 1988) has been described as:
A richly anecdotal romp across the disciplines of science - done with great clarity and charm - CARL SAGAN
.. to provide a wise and informed commentary for lay persons on the astounding discoveries and insights achieved by scientists in our own fateful times. - KURT VONNEGUT.
Starting from a definition of science (Science is what scientists do) and trying to define what scientists do as teaching and answering questions that aren't found in text books and encyclopedias (think of that), Mr Flanagan takes four major areas on physics, biology, geology and technolgy (The human species creates itself) and then ends the book with a chapter entitled "The dangerous charm of cranks". The book is worth reading for this chapter alone which is highly relevant even today.
Mr. Flanagan started life as a sports researcher for LIFE magazine and was editor of Scientific American for more than 3 decades. During World War II he wrote the captions for Robert Capa's immortal photos of Omaha Beach. (This information from the obit which has some other interesting information).
With more than 100 refrences in Google, Mr Flanagan's book would rank high with other books that seek to explain modern epochs and events to lay persons.
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