The Genius and The Man

By MICHAEL MCWHINNEY *

The life of a genius has long been a topic of interest to both writer and reader, and in many cases a famous man's life has been crystallized by an intelligent biography. In the last few years figures in science and medicine have become favorite subjects. Genius is a difficult word for even the ablest author to make meaningful; too often the superlative inhibits the biographer, so he creates not biography so much as eulogy. Too often a genius emerges as only a superman, and nothing more. The "hero" is built to such momentous proportions of greatness that the child, with his wonderful knack for perception, quite logically reasons that being a genius has nothing at all to do with being a man.

It is gratifying and refreshing, therefore, to find an intelligent biography such as Kathryn E. Harrod's MAN OF COURAGE (Messner, $2.95. Ages 10 to 16) in which the life story of Dr. Edward Trudeau is fascinatingly and, more important, believably told. Dr. Trudeau is a name that will probably be unfamiliar to many young readers. Miss Harrod's narrative of his personal struggle with tuberculosis and his eventual founding of the Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium at Saranac Lake, N. Y., is filled with such realities as courage coupled with uncertainty and a sense of determination tempered by a sense of humor. She has written a readable biography of a man who emerges from the pages first as a man, second as a figure of greatness.

ARTHUR J. BECKHARD'S ELECTRICAL GENIUS (Messner, $2.95. Ages 12 to 16), the story of Nicola Tesla, is certainly one of the best children's bi- ographies I have ever read. Tesla — erratic, conceited, unfriendly — would be a difficult subject for many biographers because he does not fit into the established stereotype of genius that authors seem to have evolved. He is not a person that the reader will really like at all. And yet Beckhard presents his as, if not likable, at least a completely understandable character. The outstanding feature of this book is its style. The author obviously has a respect for his young reader's intelligence. There are insights here that may escape some readers and, conceivably, may discourage others. For this is a book that requires more than average concentration and an avid appreciation of good storytelling.

Emma Gelders Stern's BLOOD BROTHERS (Knopf, $3. Illustrated by Oscar Liebman, ages 9-to 12) is, despite its unfortunate choice of title and jacket drawing, an interesting and well-written account of four lives. The subjects are William Harvey, whose theory of blood circulation revolutionized medicine; Marcello Malpighi, the discoverer of capillaries; Karl Landsteiner, who originated the typing and grouping of human blood; and Charles Drew, who perfected the use of blood plasma and the organization of blood banks. Although Miss Stern has had to condense much material, she has succeeded in making each man come to life.

One can imagine the task of selective condensation necessary in Philip Cane's GIANTS OF SCIENCE (Grosset & Dunlap. $2.95. Illustrated by Samuel Nisenson. Ages 9 to 14), in which he sketches the achievements of fifty scientists. Obviously the result is encyclopedic (three pages is a typical length for the individual biography). But as a convenient, interesting and informative reference book this volume is a fine addition to any young reader's library. The accounts of the most significant accomplishments of each man are consistently straightforward and precise.

Edward F. Dolan Jr.'s GREEN UNIVERSE (Dodd, Mead, $3.50. Ages 10 to 14) is the story of Alexander von Humboldt, probably the eighteenth century's best-known explorer, who was an extraordinary scientist as well. This is a breathtaking narrative of his travels to the outposts of the world. But von Humboldt remains too much the hero type and the reader is unable and quite unwilling to visualize him as a great man who lived not so long ago.

This difficulty in making a character real and meaningful as a human being is even more striking in Patricia Lauber's THE QUEST OF GALILEO (Garden City, $2.50. Illustrated by Lee J. Ames. Ages 8 to 10) and Beulah Tannenbaum and Myra Stillman's ISAAC NEWTON (Whittlesey. $3. Illustrated by Gustav Schrotter. Ages 10 to 12). These authors have surrendered to what can best be termed "formula biography" — in which the sequence is: shy, thoughtful youth; headstrong, truth-seeking young man; wise, tireless adult; old man who is already a legend. It must be a successful formula since it is used so often. But I can't believe that comes close to being a fair analysis of so many different individuals.

Although these last two books are careful to include all major contributions of Galileo and Newton, neither man emerges as the vibrant person he must have been in life. I should note, however, that Miss Lauber's handsome book on Galileo has striking illustrations by Lee J. Ames which serve as artistic clarifiers of many of Galileo's complex discoveries. But last year's "Galileo and the Magic Numbers" was a more interesting, factual approach to a complicated subject than is Miss Lauber's. Sidney Rosen managed to give to Galileo a dimension and human significance that he has not completely succeeded in giving to Phillip von Hobenheim in DOCTOR PARACELSUS (Little, Brown, $3.50. Illustrated by Rafaello Busoni. Ages 10 to 14). Although Mr. Rosen has written a thorough and often provocative biography of a sixteenth-century doctor who was far ahead of his time, the young reader will feel that he has only a slight impression of the man as an individual.

I'm afraid there's a similar fault in two otherwise excellent books: Madeleine P. Grant's LOUIS PASTEUR (Whittlesey. $3.25. Illustrated with photographs and with drawings by Clifford Geary. Ages 10 to 14), and Arthur Beckhard's ALBERT EINSTEIN (Putnam's, $2.50. Illustrated by Charles Beck. Ages 10 to 14). Both books are affectionate biographies which include every major scientific detail in two great lives. But Miss Grant's picture of Pasteur as a man is only adequate: he is pictured as another one of those "superhuman geniuses" that, by now, the young reader must find rather tedious. Arthur Beckhard has not delineated Einstein nearly so successfully as he has Nicola Tesla. However, these two books present the facts of their subjects' lives and present them well.

Perhaps when a biographer goes beyond the statement of fact and explores the man as a genius, he may have a significant biography. When he explores the genius as a man, he may have a great one.

* A member of the faculty at Trinity School, New York City, Mr. McWhinney has taught both science and English.