Book review - Amazing ... But False
By Julie Flay
"Amazing ... But False" (ISBN 1402737912) by David Diefendorf is an interesting collection of trivia - commonly known 'facts' which are actually myths or partial myths. It's an interesting read, but does have many mistakes.
The book claims "considerable thought went into the selection of [Neil] Armstrong as the American who would be the first man to walk on the moon" by NASA. There's also a myth, not in the book, that Armstrong was chosen because he was a civilian, unlike most of the astronauts who came from military backgrounds.
The real truth, according to chief astronaut Deke Slayton, is Armstrong came up next in the rotation. Armstrong was the backup for astronaut Frank Borman on the Apollo 8 mission and with the normal rotation order that put him inline to become the commander of Apollo 11. Because the Saturn V rocket worked well on the Apollo 8 and 9 missions it was decided that Apollo 10 would be a dress rehearsal and Apollo 11 would be the first attempt to land on the moon. Apollo 10 couldn't be a moon landing attempt because its Lunar Module spacecraft was too heavy. So several separate factors (the performance of the Saturn V rocket on its early flights, the development of the Lunar Module and the order astronauts were assigned), resulted in Apollo 11 as the first attempt to land on the moon and Neil Armstrong as its commander.
Another myth is "Magellan was the first person to circumnavigate the globe." The book correctly states that Magellan was killed in the Philippines, approximately two thirds of the way through his journey, so he never made it around the world. But the book claims that Sir Francis Drake was the first to circumnavigate the globe which is false. While Magellan didn't make it home, 18 members of his crew made it back to Europe, led by Juan Sebastián Elcano. They were the first to circumnavigate the globe.
However, depending on what technicalities you wish to include there are a couple of people who could justifiably be considered the first to circumnavigate the globe.
Some historians believe Magellan's personal slave-servant, Enrique de Malacca, deserves the title of the first person to circumnavigate the globe. During an earlier voyage Magellan captured Enrique in the East Indies. Magellan took him back to Portugal and Enrique joined Magellan for his world voyage. So by the time Magellan's ships reached the East Indies Enrique technically became the first person to traverse the world, albeit in two separate journeys.
Using similar logic Magellan visited every time zone around the world before he died. He had been in the East Indies on previous voyages (travelling to the East from Europe), and on his historic westbound journey passed the same longitude before he was killed.
In any case certainly the 18 members of Magellan's crew who successfully made it back to Europe have the undisputed record of the first people to circumnavigate the world in a single voyage - six decades before Sir Francis Drake.
Another problem I had with the book was the 'myth' about many inventors. According to the book the Wright Brothers, Edison, and Bell didn't invent the airplane, light bulb, and telephone. The book claims in each case that others were working on similar inventions and some had more progress, but the better known figures were just in the right place at the right time or just made improvements over what others had done. That's true, but the bottom line is history records the inventor as the one who made something successful. Just because somebody builds upon other ideas does not take away from their accomplishments.
My favorite piece of trivia which I didn't know was some Scotts do wear underwear under their kilts.
Overall even with these mistakes the book is an excellent read and enjoyable if you love trivia. You may even find out something new. The book retails for $12.95.
Links
Order the book from Amazon.com.
A website about circumnavigating the globe.
About the author
Julie Flay is a trivia buff with two bookcases filled with various trivia books.
copyright 2008 neatinformation.com. All Rights Reserved.
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