The Technologists (edition 2012)

My original review can be seen here:
http://www.amazon.com/review/R1A4PYWRSGMWKB

Please note: Read and reviewed in February 2012 from a copy provided by Amazon Vine in exchange for an honest review.

My Synopsis: In 1868, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) had been in operation for four years, and the first class was preparing for their graduation. "Technology" was a new word, and people were as skittish about the results of technology as more ancient people were of witchcraft - unionists raged against the idea of machines taking away work from people, more traditional colleges and universities raged against the ideals of the "ungodly" sciences being taught at MIT and, more sinisterly, someone began to use mysterious technologies to cause a series of disasters across Boston. Suspicion fell almost immediately, of course, upon the people who worked and studied at MIT. A small group of students, including the sole woman studying at MIT at the time, set out to discover what has caused the trouble and to stop in, in order to save not only the reputation of their college, but also the lives of many of the residents in Boston. Will they succeed?

My Thoughts: I read Pearl's earlier work, "The Dante Club," and really loved it, so had high expectations for this book. The mystery and suspense did not disappoint, nor did the details and research that went into the book. I had a hard time, however, connecting with the characters, and so often found myself enraged by the attitudes of the people in the story that I didn't really enjoy my time reading it. That's not, however, necessarily a bad thing - a strong reaction like that means that the author knows how to create a reaction, and that is important in writing a strong novel. People interested in the history of Boston, the history of the development of technology, and people who enjoy a suspenseful thriller will all enjoy this book. ( )

This was an entertaining book with the plot based on real science. Since the science was circa 1868, and since I am currently rereading my old college physics book, I was able to appreciate the finer points of that part of the story. However, there were two aspects of the book that bothered me. The first is the genre. Even though I write about parallel universes, writing something so historical and well described and then changing the past without any apology ... well. I mean, isn’t there a contradiction between the effort to make something realistic and possible, which Mr. Pearl does quite well, and then tossing it into the stream of time with too big a splash? I guess I prefer alternate futures to alternate pasts. The second problem was the style. I found it disturbingly disjointed at a sentence to sentence level, as if the overall picture was fine but I had started looking at it pixel by pixel and could see those that were left uncolored. But then, I like details, and perhaps filling in all the blanks for the reader would have been too much.

Having looked up the author's quite impressive credentials, you'd better take my criticism of his style with a grain of salt. :-) ( )

Not really a thriller, this is a very well written fictional account of the early days of one of the most revered institutes. Loved it. ( )

This is an ingenious historical thriller from an author who has made his name with highly literary novels featuring key men of letters from the American 19th century addressing violent crime in Boston.

This new novel uses the birth of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and its rivalry with Harvard as the basis of an intriguing and complex scientific mystery. A team of students at MIT are the only people able to fully understand the wave of science-based terrorism striking Boston and use their newly acquired scientific methods and skills to understand the strange events happening across the city and ultimately to solve the mysteries of who and why.

The social mores of mid-19th century Boston are played out very well and that they seem strange to modern readers is a clear reflection of how society has changed in the last 150 years. Some of the relationships - the misogynist aristocrat-type and the proto-feminist chemist, for example - clearly telegraph their eventual untangling. In general, the characters ring true and the cast is just large and varied enough to keep the reader guessing to the end.

With a less literary bent than his earlier books, Pearl has produced a fresh and exciting novel that makes this a standout in the field. ( )

A group of college chums race against time to save Boston from the evil engineering mind of ..... who cares. But more about that later.

The year is 1868 and the first ever batch of students is about to graduate from the recently founded Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This very beginning was tentative to say the least with the populace suspicious of the sinister scientific progress and Harvard inmates nervous of close quarter competition. Students were plucked from Army units, local railroad works and steam engine factories. We follow a couple of them as they try to protect the institute from accusations of having causes the spectacular and mysterious events lately. True to life the very first women college student, engineer and future scientist also joins the team of otherwise typical English proto-dons.

It must be said that the alchemical explosions and other events have been fiendishly plotted and come across as completely believable if they weren't just a tad over the top. Ironically within the elaborate afterword there is no mention as to how realistically destructive the inventions truly could have been. Chemical engineering and mass destruction is unfortunately the most interesting part of the novel. The characters blend together and none of them stand out as real human beings. Sure they are brave or cowardly or some other such typical description but the author doesn't go beyond that.

There are plenty of suspects but in the end the author ticks them off one by one but no matter how elaborately the next potential is unmasked as innocent we don't really believe any of their motivations. Especially not the motivation of the one who in the end is responsible. But at that point you don't care but just want the novel to be over with.

Many passages in the book do not contribute one bit to the story and don't even function as red herrings or much needed mood amplifiers. The best example of this is the chapter 'Farewell, Boston', which describes the choices and resulting experiences of one incredibly trivial character. It is even difficult to remember where he first appeared. This novel is full of such bits and pieces and it makes reading the story tedious. Characters who had much potential are either quietly moved off stage or killed off.

The many chemical and engineering ideas were wonderful and some of the diabolical inventions were diabolically invented by the author. But it seems that that's where most of the effort went and where it really counts (the flawed but interesting characters) the author stopped working. ( )

I was hoping this would be an historical novel with some fantasy/alternative history elements. There was no fantasy (probably just wishful thinking on my part), but some alternative history. The alternative elements actually make up the main plot, while the real historical Boston of the era is not fleshed out well. Publisher's Weekly called it "atmospheric" and "filled with a cast that's a virtual who's who of the 19th century." (I quote from memory.) What book did they read? Not this one. Wrong on both counts. The story reads like The Hardy Boys Go to College. It's a whodunnit, and when the final reveal comes, I groaned with disbelief, since the evil Experimenter who has been wreaking havoc in Boston was not capable of doing the things he did. He didn't have the knowledge. Maybe I missed something, but it just did not pass my BS filter. Also, one of the acts of sabotage (involving the water supply) seemed completely impossible.

I think the book could have been a lot better if the characters had been more flesh and blood, if there had been more personal background on the main POV character, more visual immersion and detail...I don't know, something to make you feel you were reading about real people in historical Boston in the 1860s. Instead, it was just a (long) Harry Potterish book without the magic.

I did admire how well the author used the proper language and slang of the time. But that alone does not a historical novel make. Now I'm wondering whether to bother reading his more famous book, The Dante Club... ( )

Historical mystery based in Boston, Massachusetts in the 1860's. This about several students in the first graduate class of The Technology Institute who investigate the strange seemingly impossible happenings in town. It begins with Boston Harbor disaster.
Read for LTER. I had read all other Matthew Pearl. This is not my favorite Pearl. This book was based on engineer students and it seemed overly detailed about their experiments. The story seems to get lost along the way. It took a very long to read as the plot kept wandering. I wish it had been shorter. It took me close to 6 months to wade my way through the story. ( )

Distrust of science, fueled by deeply held religious beliefs and abetted by pandering politicians grips a citizenry coming to grips with a number of inexplicable disasters. While this has modern resonance in our current tussles over creationism and climate change, Matthew Pearl’s recent effort focuses on 1860’s Boston and the first graduating class of MIT. This deeply engaging tale starts with death, chaos, fire and wreckage in Boston Harbor with the inexplicable failure of ships’ compasses. Is this the hand of a vengeful God punishing a populace or the more prosaic yet evil machinations of a technological mastermind? As disasters mount, an intrepid band of MIT undergraduates feverishly work to avert further mayhem. I’ve enjoyed Pearl’s previous efforts and this ripping story held my interest throughout. Like in The Dante Club and The Poe Shadow, Pearl peppers his fiction with real life characters such as Professors Rogers and Agassiz to add immediacy. I work about a block from MIT’s original location and loved the evocative descriptions of post-Civil War Boston. Even if you’ve never walked these streets, you will be drawn into this suspense filled page-turner. Tech Rules! ( )

Although charming, this book drags a bit. It feels like the author took extra time to get to the end. ( )

THE TECHNOLOGISTS

Boston, 1868. The Civil War may be over but a new war has begun, one between the past and the present, tradition and technology. On a former marshy wasteland, the daring Massachusetts Institute of Technology is rising, its mission to harness science for the benefit of all and to open the doors of opportunity to everyone of merit. But in Boston Harbor a fiery cataclysm throws commerce into chaos, as ships’ instruments spin inexplicably out of control. Soon after, another mysterious catastrophe devastates the heart of the city. Is it sabotage by scientific means or Nature revolting against man’s attempt to control it?

The shocking disasters cast a pall over M.I.T. and provoke assaults from all sides—rival Harvard, labor unions, and a sensationalistic press. With their first graduation and the very survival of their groundbreaking college now in doubt, a band of the Institute’s best and brightest students secretly come together to save innocent lives and track down the truth, armed with ingenuity and their unique scientific training.

Led by “charity scholar” Marcus Mansfield, a quiet Civil War veteran and one-time machinist struggling to find his footing in rarefied Boston society, the group is rounded out by irrepressible Robert Richards, the bluest of Beacon Hill bluebloods; Edwin Hoyt, class genius; and brilliant freshman Ellen Swallow, the Institute’s lone, ostracized female student. Working against their small secret society, from within and without, are the arrayed forces of a stratified culture determined to resist change at all costs and a dark mastermind bent on the utter destruction of the city.

Studded with suspense and soaked in the rich historical atmosphere for which its author is renowned, The Technologists is a dazzling journey into a dangerous world not so very far from our own, as the America we know today begins to shimmer into being. ( )

On a foggy night in 1868, all the ships in the Boston Harbor find that their compasses and other instruments inexplicably spin out of control, and because of the poor visibility, several ships collide. Shortly thereafter, the glass in the windows of the businesses in the central city begins to melt! The glass windows become liquid, but then as they drain out of their frames they reconstitute into glass and shatter as they hit the ground, causing some death and a fair amount of destruction. In an effort to identify the cause of the disasters, the city fathers contact Harvard’s leading scientist, Professor Agassiz, a biologist who has not yet bought into that new absurdity, Darwin’s theory of evolution. Fat chance that this guy will solve the problem. [In real life, Agassiz even once defined a species as “a thought of God,” declaring that “Natural History must in good time become the analysis of the thoughts of the Creator of the Universe.” Darwin’s Origin of Species, he insisted, “contributed nothing new to the understanding of nature.”]

It so transpires that there is another academic institution of higher learning in Boston, M.I.T., but it is only four years old in 1868 and is not held in the same high regard as Harvard. In fact, Harvard students openly distain the technocrats, whom they consider less cultured. The boys from M.I.T. are eager to show the police their scientific knowledge, but police aren’t interested, and in fact, they warn the young scientists to stay away from the case. So the boys (and one woman - also a real historical character) have to do their investigating secretly so as not to be discovered by the very people they are trying to help.

The story takes some fairly interesting twists and turns, but the whole premise is highly implausible and the science isn’t even good science fiction. The author, Matthew Pearl, seeks to recreate the atmosphere of 19th century Boston by having the characters speak in a very stilted, fustian manner. For example, much of the writing is like this:

"Hammie had unleashed his wrath before Marcus could reach him. ‘Take your rocks and rioting elsewhere, you ruffians! All the scum of the trades with their bluster won’t frighten a Tech man.’’’

And pity Ellen Swallow, in real life MIT’s first woman student, whose memory has been defiled with bad dialogue:

"When I was at Vassar, the girls were as full of slang as any boy I ever heard. Every sentence began with ‘I vow!’ until I could only dream of cotton in my ears and solitude.”

My heavens, Miss Swallow, I too would only dream of cotton in my ears and solitude.

Evaluation: Pearl’s earlier book, The Dante Club, was more successful in evoking the historical aura, and featured a much more plausible and interesting plot. I finished this book, but it was not a fascinating read.

(JAB) ( )

Really enjoyable read! DH & I listened to this as an audiobook. It was sometimes a little hard to follow as it switched from one time frame to another, but I had the feeling that was due to our choice of an audio version, without the visual cues a written (DTB or ebook) would have provided. Loved the historical background! Without having a lot of detail on it, it seemed authentic and the science seemed legitimate. I was not aware of the rivalry between Harvard & MIT, and I liked hearing the reader's interpretation of the different voices & accents. A long book but highly recommended. ( )

The year is 1868 and the brand-new Massachusetts Institute of Technology is hoping to graduate its first class. A fierce and ugly rivalry is going on with that school across the river, Harvard.

Matthew Pearl uses the factual struggle of the scientists and students to overcome religious and social prejudice against science itself, against new technology (even the word is troublesome to some), and against putting that scientific knowledge into the hadns of the common man as the background for a fascinating suspense story. It's always interesting to see how slowly things change, if at all: the arguments presented here sound remarkably like the same arguments today.

The city of Boston is apparently under attack from Mother Nature gone wild or a mad scientist running amok. One night, ships crash into the harbor and into each other, causing injuries, loss of cargo, and the beginning of a panic. Shortly after this, all glass, be it windows, doors, clock covers, melts in a small section of the city, this time causing a death in addition to the other problems. The plot of the book involves the young men (and one youing woman) of M.I.T. trying to solve these scientifc puzzles before any more mayhem occurs.

Pearl uses a combination of real M.I.T. students and some fictional characters to create an engrossing picture of upper education in Boston during the immediate post-Civil War era. He really brings both his characters and setting to life.

I truly enjoyed this book despite an alomost total lack of knowledge in the fields of chemistry and physics. ( )

Reading The Technologists by Matthew Pearl is a great reminder why cross-genre novels are popular these days. The appeal of a novel that is more than a mystery, more than a thriller, and more than a work of historical fiction creates a fairly broad reader base. Not only that, but it creates a much more satisfyingly intricate and robust story. The Technologists is definitely that. With its commentary of class and gender distinctions, presentation of historical fact merged with intriguing fiction, and a killer mystery, the complexity of the scientific sections is offset by its sympathetic characters and thought-provoking descriptions of Bostonian societal norms, creating a novel that will attract a wide swath of readers and more importantly, keep their interest.

With a novel written about the first students at MIT and titled The Technologists, one knows immediately upon picking it up that it is going to be heavily laden with scientific discussions and events. Science and technology in any novel can be tricky to write, as a reader needs to be able to understand the science mentioned and, in the case of science fiction, needs to be able to believe the possibilities of such technology. Thankfully, Mr. Pearl is up to the challenge. Most of the scientific descriptions involve issues that are considered common knowledge today, or at least are mentioned in most high school chemistry, geography, and physics classes. For those discussions that may be a little more complicated, Mr. Pearl uses the characters to explain the science in a fashion that is informative without being condescending. In addition, for a reader who may be struggling with some of the science behind the action, the nods to scientific discoveries that are common knowledge today but were in their infancy at the time in the novel, e.g. food science, bacteriology, robotics, create light-hearted moments of superiority. The Technologists allows the reader to remember just how far the world of science has come in a relatively short time span.

What does come as a surprise when reading The Technologists is the antagonism between Harvard and MIT. This is one area in which Mr. Pearl tried not to stray from fact as much as possible, and it is fascinating to discover how patronizing and smug the Harvard students and faculty were towards the fledgling college. For a city, nay a country, that prides itself on being equal opportunity for all, even though it struggles in the execution, the divide between the haves – those able to afford college – and the have-nots – those forced to work for a living – was almost insurmountable. Although modern readers may expect such a divide due to money and the overall cost of receiving any sort of post-secondary education, the astonishment in The Technologists comes at the attitudes. Those not considered part of “society” were considered inferior and therefore not acceptable material for any college or university, and heaven help the poor soul who attempted to rise above their position. It is a shocking and disturbing display of the fundamental attitudinal differences between the “one percenters” and the rest of society. It also creates an unprecedented amount of empathy for the poor students at MIT who faced ridicule, lack of actual diplomas, and uncertain futures to pave the way for a new type of education.

The overall story of The Technologists is full of the most subtle twists and turns. Just when a reader thinks the story is going in one direction, the plot twists into a new one. This allows the resolution of the mystery to remain shrouded, providing a surprising and satisfying ending to the story. Mr. Pearl ladens his plot twists with well-described details and thoughtful insight into his characters. The fact that a majority of the students involved were either real or are based on actual students allows Mr. Pearl to create fairly three-dimensional characters that do much to enhance the overall story. Through the requisite descriptions and scientific discussions, Mr. Pearl is able to maintain decent pacing, as there are only a few moments where the story bogs down in the details. Thankfully, he writes himself out of such danger traps to create a story that is fairly fast-paced with a fine balance between attention to detail and action.

The Technologists is a fun romp through Boston after the Civil War at a time where science was advancing in unprecedented leaps and bounds. Not only is it a thrilling mystery, it also provides readers with a fascinating look at the issues facing the creation of one of the most respected colleges today. While much of the action is fictional, Mr. Pearl’s notes provide an excellent breakdown of the fictional liberties he took versus the historical details he kept pure and unadulterated. Even though the blend of fact and fiction is not necessarily seamless due to the nature of the fictional pieces, the accurate factual events create a more robust and believable story. The end result is a creative, engaging, and informative historical technological mystery.

Acknowledgments: Thank you to LibraryThing's Early Reader Program for my review copy!

Historical mystery set in 1868 Boston. Unlikely heroes are MIT's first graduating class. Science and engineering play a key role, as does their uncertain acceptance by society. ( )

It is 1868, and Boston is hit with a series of catastrophes: compasses of ships in the harbor go awry simultaneously, glass in the business district suddenly melts. Suspicion falls on science. The fledgeling Massachusetts Institute of Technology is vulnerable, to fears of the public and sneers of Harvard. Three MIT students vow to save the reputation of their school, meeting as The Technologists in a basement laboratory, conducting experiments to uncover the physics and chemistry behind the catastrophes. They are soon joined by the sole female student, who has been consigned to the laboratory next door, prohibited from attending classes. Meanwhile the police have put their faith in Louis Agassiz of Harvard.

I expected to be caught up in the story, but 100 or so pages along the characters remained more cardboard stock than human, going through the right motions and uttering the right words to sketch the historical context, but not quite fully living within it. I stuck through the entire 468 pages because of all the positive reviews, and, well, there were moments: cameo appearances, romance, geekiness. Not science fiction; the science stays within the bounds of the time. Sort of historical fiction, but with significant non-historical events. The template seemed more Harry Potter, without the magic.

(read 2 Jul 2012)

Frankly, if it wasn't for one nagging thing, I'd give The Technologists by Matthew Pearl a full-on five star review. It was (nearly) everything I look for in a mystery/suspense book - fascinating, documented historical happenings, lively characters, strange and unusual events, unsympathetic treatment of the "bad guy," twists and turns, and a push against the stereotypical treatment of women of the times.

So what is that one nagging thing keeping me back from full-on ranting and raving? Well - it's a simple thing really...

The story took forever to gain momentum. Seriously, 150 pages in and I was wondering when something, anything, was going to start to pull together. I understand that a good mystery needs a solid foundation, for all the bare bones to be put together in a way that will make for an explosive ending, but I couldn't figure out what the heck was going on until the Technologists club was formed.

Now, once that club was formed things began to make sense. Marcus Mansfield was a fantastic lead character. He had a sympathetic background story, set in the Civil War (which makes it doubly interesting). He wasn't a "rich boy," rather a guy that was making it on his own. He was inquisitive, insightful, and an all around great character.

Hammie, the clueless rich kid was also great - I never knew where I, as the reader, was supposed to stand with regard to his placement in the group until the end of the story. Bob Richards showed remarkable growth in character, Edwin Hoyt fulfilled his role perfectly, and then there was Ellen Swallow.

Oh people, how I loved this character. A chemist, Ellen Swallow attends MIT in the company of a school filled with men, and she keeps to her own for very good reasons. However, she might just be the smartest one in the group and how I loved the wit and wisdom she brought to the group.

I do recommend this one, but understand that good things take time to mature. The end result is worthwhile (it surprised me, I didn't see it coming!), and most of all, the afterward by the author about the history of MIT is worth the read in and of itself. ( )

One fine day, when the compasses on all the ships in Boston Harbor went haywire......and a while later, all the glass (on Bank Street) melted.....it became obvious that “something was up”, and not just the sky

it’s 1868...shortly after the Civil War

The first class of THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY is about to graduate....and all Hell breaks loose!!

Fear and Ignorance among the general populace......The Hardy Boys meet Harry Potter (meet The Technologists)....Harum scarum pyrotechnics.....corporate greed.....Creationists.....Richy rich Harvard Boys....and one lone female with the brains to attend MIT, albeit sub rosa (“in the basement”)

I loved this book......for the fact that, while it is Historical in content...and I’m sure the research is/was flawless.....but more so, because it was such a damned “fun” read

I haven’t read anything else by Mr Pearl...though The Dante Club has been lurking hereabouts for quite a while, and i do want to read it, now

Recommended for those who won’t be nitpickers or Grouchy Guses.....who want a good story that also makes one think a bit...about our own attitude toward technology/innovation...and Education/Intellectualism....the more things change, they really do stay the same

4 Stars

**This was a Net Galley** ( )

A lot of the reviewers on LT have given good descriptions of the basic story in The Technologists so I'll just say that I enjoyed the novel, the history of Boston and MIT and the glimpses of the attitudes prevalent among various groups about science and what it can and can't do. It left me thinking that I might like to read one of Pearl's other novels before long.

I'm wondering if all of Pearl's novels are this over the top and I am failing to remember correctly, or this one was different. A great job on the historical end of things, obviously a great deal of research went into this book, like all of his works. Yet the story was just a little too unbelievable for me...the terrible things that happen to Boston in the book just are a little too unrealistic for me...kinda bugged me. I suppose he was trying to be fantastic(al?). Fun read none the less; won't stop me from getting his next one. ( )

My long-awaited intro to Pearl is a mixed bag

I’ve had a galley of Matthew Pearl’s The Dante Club sitting on my bookshelf since before it was published. How long ago was that? That’s how long I’ve been meaning to get around to reading the man. Story of my life. Hurrah! I have finally met this goal!

Set in 1868, this period thriller opens with an act of terrorism. Early one Boston morning, several ships’ compasses and other instruments fail. In the fog, they crash into each other and the wharves. There is pandemonium, destruction, and loss of life. The cause and perpetrator of this mayhem is unknown. This is the first of several incidents that virtually bring the city to its knees. All the attacks seem to involve science, and this is at a time when there’s a great distrust of science in general.

1868 also happens to be the year of the first graduating class of MIT. Pearl’s protagonists, who are determined to secretly solve the mystery and save the city, are several members of the small student body, most of whom are underdogs in one way or another. At the very heart of the tale is working-class charity student Marcus Mansfield. Mr. Pearl has created a mostly appealing ensemble, but I don’t honestly think that character development is his greatest strength. It is clear that historical accuracy and research is. I’m not enough of a history buff to tell you if every single aspect of this novel is accurate, but I was doing a lot of Googling as I read, and there was a tremendous amount of real history worked very effectively into the plot. And the time and place was fascinating—especially to me, having lived in Boston for a number of years. Thank you, Mr. Pearl, for the time machine. Additionally, the science used in the plot was clever and inventive.

About the novel’s plot… Well, it’s complex and convoluted—perhaps a bit excessively so. I found my credulity becoming increasingly strained as the novel proceeded. There were some coincidences late in the game that I found annoying as well. Elements of the story were overly melodramatic. And the dénouement, when it came, was satisfyingly full of surprises and reversals, but I wonder if Mr. Pearl took things just a step too far. There were so many surprises and reversals that it felt like it took forever to finally get the truth!

Did I enjoy reading this novel? Yes I did, unquestionably. But I do feel it had flaws, and overall, after looking forward to reading this author for so long, I was just the slightest bit disappointed. Since this is my only experience of his work, it’s possible this wasn’t the best book with which to start, and I look forward to reading more of him in the future. ( )

Rating: one ill-tempered star (p54)

I gave up on this boring, clanking, juddering steampunk-lite edifice of rusty cogs and leaking pipes when I read one character from MIT's first graduating class saying to another that their technological age had an engine but no engineer.

Ugh.

I started the book with serious interest, based on some good reviews of people whose taste I trust, and on my great desire to see technology applied to problem-solving in extreme situations (the reason I read thrillers). I was wincing from the first scene, where a naked "charity scholar" swims in Boston's Charles River, then is dragooned by his buddies to crank up a rowing scull, and then there is engineered (bad pun, sorry) a confrontation with one of the men's acquaintance from Harvard. It was both too much information, and too little characterization. The utterances of the parties to this watery contretemps simply made no difference to me, I felt they were there to further some Point the author wanted to make.

Anyway. Mr. Pearl and I are not a good fit. I've tried his Dante book, and foundered about 60pp in, then I read his Dickens book to about the same place. We do not seem to be made for each other. As his books are tremendously successful commercially, he won't miss my money, and as his critical reception is rapturous, he won't miss my praise.

I will miss the interesting ideas all of his works to date have served rather unappealingly. Who loses? Me. Which makes me really grumpy. ( )

This historical thriller is set in 1868 Boston and features very early students and staff at MIT as characters. At first, that was kind of a cool idea, but by the end it just seemed a little silly. ( )

This is a perfect example of the kind of book I adore. First, college campus back in the olden days. Second, mystery. Third, history, especially since Pearl based his characters off of real students at the university. Basically, I ate it up and it was awesome. There were so many times when I was like, "OMG it's this person!!" only to find that, in fact, the culprit was still lurking in Boston's shadows somewhere. Love.

I adored the setting, in 1800s Boston, right after the Civil War. I also loved the characters, and how Marcus had fought in the Civil War. He is scared by it, but trying to make a better life for himself. His friends, Bob, Edwin, and Miss Swallow, were all instantly likeable, like they were friends of mine as well as Marcus. I also loved Hammie, who tries so hard to be a part of their group and is often hilarious. The Institute of Technology also has its rivals over at Harvard, and I loved the scenes where they bickered and basically tried to one-up each other.

This is the kind of book you want to talk about as you're reading it. I kept being like, "OMG, I can't believe this is happening! OMG could it be?!" But of course I had no one to discuss this with.

All in all, I adored this book, as you can probably tell. This was my first time reading anything by Matthew Pearl, and I can't wait to pick of The Dante Club, which is my friend's favorite book of his. ( )

Boston, 1868, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is about to graduate its first class. Founded four years before, the school has endured the mocking of its neighboring and well-known school, Harvard University, but is coming into its own.

On a foggy night at the harbor, a terrible accident takes place resulting in the wreckage of several ships. The accident is blamed on faulty compasses, which were reported to spin wildly at the time several of the ships were pulling into port causing the catastrophe. Some individuals believe it might be the work of some strange phenomenon and others a madman. The police aren’t sure who to turn to for answers --- Harvard with its gravitas or the new upstart school with the means for experimentation. When a second odd event, glass melting spontaneously in an area in downtown Boston, causes the death of a popular actress, the police turn to an esteemed Harvard professor to find the answer. However, students from the Institute of Technology also decide to investigate knowing their means of experimentation will result in a faster answer and hopefully bring calm to the city.

Marcus Mansfield, and several of his colleagues including the first female student of the Institute, re-form The Technologists, a defunct club at the school, and begin their investigation in a secret basement laboratory experimenting with every known compound to find the answers they need. Racing to put an end to the madness now griping the city, they search for a madman using technology to prey on the fears of everyone.

Rivaling investigations take place between the two schools --- old Harvard with an eminent scholar at the helm ready to explain how man has brought about the accidents and the Institute of Technology ready with chemicals and formulas to counter the out of date arguments of the old university. The police aren’t sure who to turn to and finally decide on the tried and true Harvard University but find the arguments put forth aren’t stopping the bizarre occurrences. When Marcus and his friends are able to find explanations for the events, the police aren’t willing to listen. When they finally begin to understand, it may be too late to save everyone and the city from total destruction.

The geek in me loved the science in this book. The Technologists is true to its name in that regard. Marcus Mansfield, a former soldier and factory man, is an example of the old world meeting the new. He understands technology and the fears of the men who work in the shops. The idea that man has brought down the wrath of God on himself with his experimentation adds some nice tension but unfortunately, isn’t explored in much detail as the real culprit starts to come into focus.

One of the more interesting characters in the book, Ellen Swallow the first female student at the school, adds to the outdated thoughts that man with his new experiments is testing the limits of his creator by allowing a woman to study, not only among men, but science. Her steadfast mind proves she can more than hold her own among her peers though. She might take a minute to grow on you as a character but she’s definitely one of the more notable ones.

I became a fan of Pearl’s with The Dante Club. I enjoyed the way he married technology and fear in this book and think fans of his earlier works will find The Technologists an enjoyable read as well. ( )