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How can you write about someone under house arrest without telling the reader why the prisoner was arrested? There are multiple lacunae of this kind throughout the book, and this makes it a frustrating read. I had to Google a lot of back stories and biographies the author just didn't think were important enough to include.

It's essentially a bibliography divided into categories, with each chapter being just an introduction to the books that fall into that category. Taken at that face value, I guess it could be useful for further study, but it's not very good in and of itself.

Pretty turgid prose. Not the worst academic book I've ever read, but that's faint praise.

Since I'm not building a sundial, I have to admit I skimmed and skipped over the mathy parts. Fascinating subject, though.

Mediocre art and terrible writing by Bill Everett, from the years before he became a Marvel comics stalwart. Because the book is chronological, the art improves over time, but the poor writing remains constant.

$3 from Friends of the Library bookstore