Review_NONFICTION
78 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ JULY 29, 2019
the subject further —and won a Medal of
Freedom for his service during and
immediately after WWII, including
developing propulsion systems to allow
fighter planes to lift off of aircraft carriers,
debriefing German rocket designers, and
reporting on the effects of the Hiroshima
and Nagasaki
bombings.
Johnson covers
Zwicky’s
numerous pro-
fessional feuds
fairly, noting
both when
Zwicky was in
the right and
wrong, and
doesn’t hesitate
to mention Zwicky’s more bizarre pro-
posals, like the earth-burrowing “terrajet,”
or his refusal to accept some now widely
accepted concepts—notably, the expanding
universe. A few brief chapters on the
current search for dark matter, interspersed
throughout, come across as out of place,
given Zwicky’s limited involvement with
the field. Otherwise, this study stands as
an evenhanded examination of a pugnacious
and imaginative genius, and it should spark
new interest in Zwicky, particularly among
space and rocketry enthusiasts. (Sept.)On the Lam: A History of Hunting
Fugitives in America
Jerry Clark and Ed Palattella. Rowman &
Littlefield, $36 (248p) ISBN 978-1-4422-6258-4
This engrossing, detailed account from
associate professor of criminal justice Clark
and journalist Palattella (Mania and
Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong: Inside the Mind of
a Female Serial Killer) follows the history
of bail from Ancient Rome to the creation
of the U.S. Marshals Service and the FBI,
organizations that have hunted fugitives
since the 1930s. Despite the American
public’s admiration for some outlaws—
from Jesse James to Bonnie and Clyde and
Robert Burns, who actually wrote I Am a
Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang! while
being a fugitive—people have been helpful
in the capture of many of those on the lam,
the authors note. Law enforcement agen-
cies, which began crowdsourcing in the
1930s with the publication and posting
of the FBI’s Most Wanted list, have used
TV to appeal for information about fugi-“Wichita Lineman” is the world’s greatest
unfinished song. (Sept.)The World Beneath:
The Life and Times of Unknown
Sea Creatures and Coral Reefs
Richard Smith. Apollo, $35 (312p) ISBN 978-1-
948062-22-0
Packed with vibrant images of sea life
large and small, scientist and photographer
Smith’s volume is a splendid and thorough
look beneath the surface of the ocean.
Expressing his “passion and wonder for
coral reefs and the astounding variety of
creatures that call them home,” Smith
relates that, over the course of an extensive
career in marine biology, he has “seen fish
that wouldn’t even stretch across a dime
and others that are longer than two London
buses” and “spent hours scouring an algal-
covered rock face to find an unnamed
relative of the sea horse in New Zealand.”
Early chapters deal with how reefs work,
introducing elements such as coral colonies
and plankton, and focusing on the so-called
Coral Triangle, near eastern Indonesia,
the Philippines, and Papua New Guinea.
Smith’s countless photos of angelfish,
butterfly fish, and the like help to illustrate
the area’s extraordinary biodiversity. Later
sections touch on climate change and “other
anthropogenic disturbances” that have
caused significant harm, including wide-
spread coral bleaching linked directly to
rising sea temperatures and witnessed by
the author himself during scuba expedi-
tions. In this impressive work, Smith
effectively showcases much of what the
marine world has to offer, while also
reminding audiences how important it is
to preserve and protect that world. (Sept.)Zwicky: The Outcast Genius Who
Unmasked the Universe
John Johnson Jr. Harvard Univ., $35 (336)
ISBN 978-0-674-97967-3
Science journalist Johnson (Peppermint
Twist, coauthor) presents a well-rounded
biography of the brilliant, contrarian scien-
tist Fritz Zwicky (1898–1974). Zwicky,
who as a young man left his homeland of
Switzerland for California and became a
Caltech physics professor in 1927, is
perhaps most famous for his work on
supernovas. He is also credited with
conceiving of dark matter—though after
suggesting its existence he did not pursueHe recounts that, as a boy in Sarasota, Fla.,
he dreamed of a life of adventure; when he
was 16 he earned his pilot’s license and
travelled alone to the mountains of Nepal.
He entered the Air Force Academy in 2000;
on Christmas Eve 2009, he flew his first
combat mission in Afghanistan. Two years
later, he left the military to pursue new
adventures. After traveling in the
Himalayas, he went to graduate school in
journalism and decided that a career in
“conflict journalism” would supply the
excitement he still longed for. He also
found love with Lilly, a Ukrainian woman
whom he married. All the questions about
his attraction to war are dismissed in favor
of love: “In the end, that’s what I need
more than war.” The essays skip around in
time, which can make it difficult to keep
track of events, and the philosophical
questions can seem more like occasionally
deployed literary devices than objects of
sustained contemplation. This will appeal
more to readers looking for tales of world
travel and war zones than those looking
for a reflection on the military life. (Sept.)The Wichita Lineman: Searching
in the Sun for the World’s
Greatest Unfinished Song
Dylan Jones. Faber & Faber, $16 trade paper
(274p) ISBN 978-0-5713-5340-8
Jones (David Bowie) delivers an enthu-
siastic, though tedious, fan note to a song
that Rolling Stone ranked as the 16th
greatest country song of all time. Glenn
Campbell made Jimmy Webb’s “Wichita
Lineman” famous in 1968 (he recorded the
song before Webb had finished writing it),
and Jones devotes an inordinate amount of
space tracing Campbell’s work as a studio
musician and his rise to solo stardom on
the heels of his hit record “Gentle on My
Mind.” Jones then offers a chronicle of
Webb’s songwriting career, from his early
days at Motown to “MacArthur Park,”
which became a disco hit with Donna
Summer in 1978. Following the opening
chapters—which offer little new infor-
mation about Campbell or Webb—Jones
finally attempts to analyze the song’s
enduring power, noting that the loneliness
of the lyrics (“I need you more than want
you/ and I want you for all time”) is echoed
in the melody that travels through a series
of haunting changes. Jones’s passion is
evident, but he never truly explains why