Variety Of Men
C. P. Snow (1905–1980) was an English novelist and physicist, notable for his insights into the intersection of science and the humanities. His most recognized work, “The Two Cultures,” posits a divide between the intellectual realms of the sciences and the arts, arguing that this split hampers societal progress. Snow’s own life and career were emblematic of this divide; he straddled both worlds, serving as a government scientific adviser while also garnering acclaim as a novelist.
His fiction often explores themes of moral conflict, societal responsibility, and the human experience. As such, Snow’s contributions extend beyond literature into cultural critique, making him a pivotal figure in 20th-century thought. His reflections on education, scientific ethics, and cultural disparity remain relevant, inviting readers to contemplate their own positions within these evolving landscapes.
Reading Biographies of people whom you admire is appealing because if you admire and appreciate someone you tend do develop a certain type of curiosity towards their personal lives. In Variety Of Men C.P. snow tries to portray the difference and similarities across different figures whom we all know from across different fields and how they interact with each other and others around them specially with Snow himself.
Reading this book you realize the multifariousness of the world renowned physicist, chemists, authors and politicians, and one thing that surprised me was most of the figures whom Snow decided to talk about in this book know each other and they might have even sat across a table with each other at some point I am not sure if this is only a me thing but realizing that each and everyone was working on his own craft while knowing and acknowledging the existence of another great mind across the globe was something that caught me off guard, and this is magnified now with the advent of social media and the internet too.
I would say this book shouldn’t be taken at face value, given what snow said in the introductions to this specific work
“I wrote the book for fun not because the grandeur of most of my subjects, though of course that helped. The real fun was the variety of human beings”
and he did also state that he researched to support his claims but most of it is what he observed.
The only one that Snow has never met in person and just wrote about in this book from his thorough research and friends of friends whom they were close to was Stalin and even that turned out great.
It is interesting to see how Rutherford was a ferocious reader of books while he also worked on his research in his lab, G.H Hardy and his love of cricket and his quirks and ways on analyzing people before interacting with them, H.G Wells hate towards literary critics and his way with his novels and his acquaintances, Einsteins ZWANG and his attitude towards his work and his love-life, Lloyd Georges outlook towards life and his preferences in literature (was not a fan of fiction, because most serious novels had sad endings), Winston Churchill’s upbringing and his decision making coupled with his habits, Robert Frost’s attitude and outlook on life, love and his craft, Dag Hammarskjöld’s personal interests and conversations and insane time management, Stalin’s upbringing and preferences of literature and decision making.
I could go on and on from the notes I have take from the book about all this figures but something that I did notice across all is the feeling of insecurity and at times the narcissism, but mainly the love and time they dedicated to the craft or the goal they were working towards.
This book was not perfect, in many ways there were times I certainly felt Snow was just projecting his thoughts but something about this book that captivates me is the messy and disorganized lives everyone was leading, it stands to show that no one is perfect, no one has it figured out everyone is stumbling and failing through and through but there was one common thing, they kept it to themselves what they wanted to do and they did it, they made it clear to themselves where they wanted to go and got there in the end. It’s kind of assuring and beautiful to know that your not the only one who don’t have it figured out but if you know what you really wanted to do and kept hammering your way through eventually you will get there.
While this was not a biography of all the men mentioned, it makes you feel closer to all of them. Indeed Stalin was a dictator and history books have a lot to tell us about him but he is also an avid reader who grew up in an abusive household, Einstein’s contributions to physics definitely revolutionized the field, but he was also struggling with love and had his own qualms about his works and where he is standing. It is quiet the observation. This is a book I think you should checkout, even if you are slightly interested in any of the men mentioned above and are just curious about who they are as a person.
Random quotes I collected from the book in no particular order
“We are living in the heroic age of physics”
- Rutherford
“No one should ever be bored; one can be horrified, or disgusted, but one can’t be bored”
- G.H Hardy
“Now I know that I must be pretty near the end. When people hurry up to give you honorific things there is exactly one conclusion to be drawn”
- G.H Hardy
“Dying is a messy business anyway”
- H.G Wells
“When I was still rather a precocious young man, I already realized most vividly the futility of the hopes & aspirations that most men pursue throughout their lives. Well being & happiness never appeared to me as an absolute aim. I am ever inclined to compare such moral aims to the ambitions of a pig”
- Einstein
“I believe in Spinoza’s God who reveals himself in the harmony of all being, not in a God who concerns himself with the fate & actions of man”
- Einstein
“Only a life lived for others is worth while”
- Einstein
“The best creative work is never done when one is unhappy”
- Einstein
“it is our conception of death which decides our answers to all the questions that life puts to us. That is why it requires its proper place and time — if need be, with right of precedence. Hence, too, the necessity of preparing for it.”
- Dag Hammarskjold
“Courage?” On the level where the only thing that counts is a man’s loyalty to himself, the word has no meaning “Was he brave ?” — ‘‘No, just logical
- Dag Hammarskjold