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3.0 

The Starship and the Canoe

By Kenneth Brower & Neal Stephenson
The Starship and the Canoe by Kenneth Brower & Neal Stephenson digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

The Starship and the Canoe is neither a wilderness survival manual nor a book of blueprints. It is another of those rare books impossible to define: the kind that seeks you in time. And you will know it, live it, and consult it thereafter simply by name.” --Chicago Sun-Times

“Brower’s superbly written book clutches at one’s imagination.” --Publishers Weekly

“In the tradition of Carl Sagan and John McPhee, a bracing cerebral voyage past intergalactic hoopla and backwoods retreats.” --Kirkus Reviews

Originally published in 1978, The Starship and the Canoe is the remarkable story of a father and son: Freeman Dyson is a world-renowned astrophysicist who dreams of exploring the heavens and has designed a spaceship to take him there. His son George, a brilliant high school dropout, lives in a treehouse and is designing a giant kayak to explore the icy coastal wilderness of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Author Kenneth Brower describes with stunning impact their lives and their visions of the world. It is a timeless tale framed by modern science, adventure, family, and the natural world.

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2 Reviews

3.0
Smiling Face with Heart-Eyes“A beautiful book about science, nature, and a remarkable family. Freeman Dyson, one of the most brilliant physicist of the 20th century, spent his life imagining the use of nuclear bombs to power spaceships—among many other things. His son, George, decided to use his mind to build canoes. A quiet story of father and son, and their disparate yet equally fascinating paths, is at the same time drama, science tutorial, and natural epic. The descriptions of the inland passages, orcas, Glacier Bay, and long travels by ancient craft are amazing if you love the sea and wilderness. You will also learn about Project Orion, an almost forgotten chapter of the space race that seems suddenly more relevant in 2024.”

About Kenneth Brower

Kenneth Brower’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Audubon, National Geographic, The Paris Review, Smithsonian, Sierra, and numerous other magazines. His other books include Wake of the Whale, A Song for Satawal, The Winemaker’s Marsh, The Wildness Within, and other titles about the environment and natural places. He lives in Berkeley, California.

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