biography of George Dyson and his father Freeman Dyson, the famous physicist; would have been better if more about Freeman Dyson, but good nevertheless; author shows the underlying similarities beneath the outward differences between father and son ( )

It's difficult to quantify this book, odd which basically is about physicist Freeman Dyson and his son George, who at the time of the book, was living in a treehouse in British Columbia, designing a huge canoe based on Aleut kayaks.

The father-son dichotomy between the man who promoted the idea of space colonization via nuclear-powered starships, and the twenty-something hippy mystic drives the narrative. It's an interesting read, and Brower has some cogent observations, but it doesn't really satisfy. It just wanders up and down the gulf between the two men the way George's super-kayak wanders up and down the Inland Passage ( )

An ideal book is you love physics and kayaking. Makes you want to buy a plane ticket to Vancouver and peddle up the Inside Passage. ( )

A study of scientist Freeman Dyson and his science/technology-historian son George Dyson, and the conflicts and common ground between their interests and outlooks. Slow-moving, but rich. ( )