Books by Ronald Clark

Works of Man is a chronicle of man''s attempts from prehistoric times to the space age to exploit for his own purposes the slowly discerned laws of nature. Exciting, instructive, and eminently readable, this mine of information covers the broad sweep of technological achievements, from the invention of the wheel more than six millennia ago to the miniaturization of the electronic computer.Beginning with a description of the early builders in the days of ancient Babylon, continuing through to the end of the Roman Empire, the author goes on to explain the engineering principles that were gradually developed in the Dark Ages, enabling men to build the medieval cathedrals; to try to drain the Pontine marshes near Rome, the meres of Holland, and the British fenlands; and to raise the new military defenses that transformed warfare. Discussion of the work of Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo leads on to the development of steam as a new source of power, and to the growth of civil engineering that followed in Europe and the rest of the world. Further chapters cover the change from sail to steam; canals; railways; the use of electricity; the growth of manned flight; the rise of the plastics industry; nuclear engineering; and the problems of space exploration.

This is the eloquent and intimate biography of one of the most significant figures of the last century. Born into the high world of the Whig aristocracy, among people for whom Waterloo was still almost a personal memory, Bertrand Russell lived to inspire the campaign against nuclear warfare. Ronald Clark, with access to a mass of material, provides a fascinating and graphic portrait of the man and there is virtually no aspect of Russell's long life to which something new - and often unexpected - is not added by this remarkable book.

First published in 1972, Ronald W. Clark's definitive biography of Einstein, the Promethean figure of our age, goes behind the phenomenal intellect to reveal the human side of the legendary absent-minded professor who confidently claimed that space and time were not what they seemed. Here is the classic portrait of the scientist and the man: the boy growing up in the Swiss Alps, the young man caught in an unhappy first marriage, the passionate pacifist who agonized over making The Bomb, the indifferent Zionist asked to head the Israeli state, the physicist who believed in God.

First published in 1981, this is Ronald Clark's engagingly readable account of Queen Victoria's relationship with "Our dear Balmoral" and the life that went on there.The biography of Balmoral begins with the first visit to Scotland of the young Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert in 1842. Five years later, while bad weather envelops the Royal party in western Scotland, the son of the Queen's physician, convalescing in Old Balmoral, reports blazing sunshine from Upper Deeside. The death of his host shortly afterwards opens the way for the Royal acquisition of the Balmoral estate and the building of the new Castle in 1853-55.In the period up to Albert's death in 1861 Balmoral becomes the setting for many of the Royal couple's happiest moments as they revel in the beauties of the scenery, relish the picturesque pageantry of Highland life, enjoy their incognito expeditions into the surrounding country, and - in Albert's case - discover a passionate enthusiasm for deer-stalking. After the Prince Consort's death Balmoral becomes a mausoleum of memories, but also a source of strength enabling the Queen to survive her devastating loss. About the time of the Golden Jubilee of 1887 there is an Indian summer, with members of the Queen's extensive family rallying round and dances and entertainments displacing some of the black-crepe gloom. In 1896 there is the colorful visit of the Tsar, with his wife and daughter. The closing section links Victorian Balmoral with the life of the Castle today.

J. B. S. Haldane (1892-1964) was one of the most brilliant of British scientists - and one of the most controversial. A trail-blazing geneticist and physiologist, who used himself as his own guinea-pig, he was also a highly successful populariser of science, a dedicated Marxist, and a devotee of Hindu culture. His private life was often tempestuous: early in his career he was sacked from his Cambridge post after being cited in a divorce case - but reinstated on appeal; and his relations with scientific colleagues and the political establishment were normally acrimonious. Haldane's most important scientific research, on the mathematical basis of evolutionary theory, was done at University College London. Towards the end of his life he founded the Genetics and Biometry Laboratory at Bhubaneswar in India having become an Indian citizen in 1960.In writing this definitive biography, Ronald Clark was able to draw upon Haldane's private papers, as well as the reminiscences of the great man's friends (and enemies). Mr. Clark has written extensively on scientists and the application of science to modern life. His books include major biographies of Einstein and Freud.

In this biography the author fills in the gap left by political, economic and social historians and describes the personality of one of the most dedicated and single-minded political leaders of the 20th century. Ronald Clark is also the biographer of Bertrand Russell, Einstein and Freud.