Starship & the Canoe

This is a biography of a son and father who are interested in two different and in a way similar passions. Overall the storytelling was mundane and lacked emotions. The writing was ok but I found this book boring and not worth reading since there are so many other great books to read.

You get a look at what makes these two Dysons who they are. A bit more emphasis on George Dyson, the son. If you want a deeper view of Freeman then get "Disturbing the Universe". Like one other reveiwer, this is one of the better views of what the generation gap of the 60's was really about and how it effected those who lived through it.

If someone asked me to recommend a book to explain the Sixties this would be it. George Dyson, son of well-known physicist Freeman Dyson, was raised in a rarefied academic atmosphere. He walked away from that life at sixteen, not because of random rebellion but because this truly was what he needed to do. In this book author Kenneth Brower alternates the telling of the divergent lives of these two men. As a result he captures the generational tension of an era. Freeman Dyson was a product not only of the Fifties but of the flowing optimism of those years that today seems unimaginable. Truly, back then if one could think it then it was possible. One of the ideas Freeman thought possible was project Orion, a huge space vehicle propelled by external nuclear explosions. In the beginning years Freeman actually expected to journey across the solar system in Orion. George's life was nearly the diametric opposite of his father's. He wound up on the Canadian Pacific shore, living in a tree house and designing ocean-going canoes. The irony is that he found a universe to explore in his canoes - the coasts and islands of the Canadian Northwest and Alaska. In a fractal sense, both physically and culturally, George's universe was as infinite as his father's. And while he continues to explore it to this day, his father never got into his universe more than the cruising altitude of a 737. I am nearly the same age as George, long enough into my life to wonder what I've done with it. Frankly, I envy not just George's vision but his ability to follow it. I admire his father's pursuit as well. In much of the story there is clear tension between father and son, yet in the end some sort of meeting of minds happens. Even though this book was written over twenty-five years ago it offers a still-fresh notion of the gulfs between people, and how our failures in bridging these distances cause us to forsake a real future.

As both an outdoor loving ocean kayaker and an ardent supporter of space exploration, I found this book a synthesis of two different worlds that are difficult to unite in today's political climate. This book was way ahead of its time.

Brower's story of the two Dysons- Freeman, the Nobel-winning father, and George, the independant, dreamer (or so it seems) son, makes for great reading. I first picked this book up when it came out back in the mid 70s, and I've found myself rereading it every few years since and regularly recommending it to friends. Freeman Dyson dreamed of a huge spacecraft with near limitless power to carry entire cities to the far reaches of the universe; George dreamed of great voyaging kayaks carrying people across seas and oceans. While Freeman never did build his ship, George did indeed build his. After you've read this book, get George Dyson's "Baidarka",a beautiful illestrated history of these elegant ships and of George's own projects- including basic plans for building your own, should you choose.