Woolley, Benjamin

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Woolley, Benjamin

PERSONAL:

Male.

ADDRESSES:

Home—London, England. Agent—Anthony Sheil, Gillon Aitken Associates, 18-21 Cavaye Pl., London, England SW10 9PT.

CAREER:

Broadcaster and journalist for the British Broadcasting Corporation.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Arts Journalist of the Year Award; Emmy Award for commentary, for television program Three Minutes to Impact.

WRITINGS:

Virtual Worlds: A Journey in Hype and Hyperreality, Blackwell (Oxford, England), 1992.

The Bride of Science: Romance, Reason, and Byron's Daughter, McGraw-Hill (New York, NY), 1999.

The Queen's Conjurer: The Science and Magic of Dr. John Dee, Adviser to Queen Elizabeth I, Henry Holt (New York, NY), 2001.

Heal Thyself: Nicholas Culpeper and the Seventeenth-Century Struggle to Bring Medicine to the People, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2004, published as The Herbalist: Nicholas Culpeper and the Fight for Medical Freedom, HarperCollins (London, England), 2004.

Savage Kingdom: The True Story of Jamestown, 1607, and the Settlement of America, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Benjamin Woolley is a British journalist and broadcaster who is especially interested in the interactions between science and society. Much of his writing has involved historical figures whose interests in art or science come into conflict with others in some way. As New Statesman critic Kathryn Hughes put it, the author's writing has worked at breaking down the wall "that has historically held science and art apart." Woolley's first book, Virtual Worlds: A Journey in Hype and Hyperreality, is atypical for him in that it involves current scientific and philosophical issues in what William L. Ashline described in Style as an overview of "recent technological, scientific, and philosophical developments" in virtual reality. Since then, the author has concentrated on biographies of people who lived as far back as the sixteenth century.

Woolley's The Bride of Science: Romance, Reason, and Byron's Daughter is about Augusta Ada Byron King, the daughter of famous nineteenth-century poet Lord Byron and a woman who later worked with Charles Babbage and wrote what some people consider the first computer program for Babbage's famous Analytical Engine, a precursor to the modern computer. King, who was raised by her mother, Annabella Milbanke, and never knew her famous father, suffered a number of health and psychological troubles because of her mother's fanatical insistence that her daughter not be like her father. Toward this end, she forced King to study math and science to the exclusion of all things imaginative and artistic. Despite this, King still developed an imaginative mind, as witnessed by her later creative work with Babbage. "Debate continues over Ada's real contribution to the Analytical Engine," reported Thomas A. Trainor in American Scientist. While the author does not weigh in on that debate, he instead provides "a wealth of historical detail to inform our opinion." Whatever her contribution to science, however, the author demonstrates that King was "a symbol of her age," according to a Publishers Weekly reviewer.

After The Bride of Science, Woolley completed two historical works about intriguing scientists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: Nicholas Culpeper and John Dee. The Queen's Conjurer: The Science and Magic of Dr. John Dee, Adviser to Queen Elizabeth I describes how Dee came to prominence in England as a mathematician, astrologer, scientist, alchemist, physician, and philosopher, and how his many talents made him a valued advisor to the crown. However, when Dee started working with medium Edward Kelley in order to contact angels, fairies, and other supernatural spirits, he quickly lost the queen's favor and the respect of the intellectual community. In Woolley's book, the author portrays Dee sympathetically, asserting that he was not foolishly duped by Kelley, as many believe today, but rather that his desire to explore the spiritual world was a reaction to "the demotion in human stature in the cosmos that resulted from Copernicus and the voyages of discovery," as Nicholas H. Clulee explained in Renaissance Quarterly. The author has written "a fascinating account," declared Hughes. Other reviewers, such as a critic for the Economist, enjoyed the author's "subtle and sympathetic portrait," and Library Journal contributor Eric D. Albright lauded this "compilation and consolidation of current and past research."

In Heal Thyself: Nicholas Culpeper and the Seventeenth-Century Struggle to Bring Medicine to the People Woolley highlights another controversial scientific figure. Although very little is known today about Culpeper's personal life, his Culpeper's Complete Herbal is an important medicinal work that was the first English text to offer readers instructions on how to use herbal remedies to treat their own illnesses. The reason the book made Culpeper, who was killed during the English Civil War, so controversial during his day was that at the time the attitude of medical professionals was to keep their knowledge secret from the general public. Culpeper's beliefs ran contrary to the medical establishment. Bringing together social, medical, political, and religious history in his book, Woolley "paints a colorful portrait" of Culpeper, according to Donna Chavez in Booklist. Library Journal critic Andy Wickens declared the biography to be "impeccably researched and engaging," and a Publishers Weekly writer felt that the author does "a wonderful job" by placing Culpeper in a historical context.

In 2007 Woolley published his next book, Savage Kingdom: The True Story of Jamestown, 1607, and the Settlement of America. The book delivers a comprehensive look at Jamestown, England's first permanent settlement in America. Using primary sources, Woolley tells the story through quotes and extensive research. He closely examines the sometimes dysfunctional relationships that existed in the settlement and the influences from England that could have destroyed Jamestown. He also gives extensive details of the settlers' encounters with Native Americans; throughout the book, he remains a neutral author, offering no analysis or personal commentary. Critics responded to Woolley's latest book positively, citing his thorough reporting and research as a highlight. The author's "meticulous research provides new insights" into the story of Jamestown, wrote Library Journal contributor Douglas King. Others praised Woolley's skill at writing and storytelling. Savage Kingdom is full of "direct, engaging prose," observed Robert Stewart in a review for Spectator.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Scientist, July, 2001, Thomas A. Trainor, review of The Bride of Science: Romance, Reason, and Byron's Daughter, p. 375.

Biography, summer, 2003, Barbara Howard Traister, review of The Queen's Conjurer: The Science and Magic of Dr. John Dee, Adviser to Queen Elizabeth I, p. 523.

Booklist, January 1, 2001, George Cohen, review of The Queen's Conjuror, p. 880; August, 2004, Donna Chavez, review of Heal Thyself: Nicholas Culpeper and the Seventeenth-Century Struggle to Bring Medicine to the People, p. 1885.

Canadian Bulletin of Medical History, January 1, 2005, Peter Morrell, review of The Herbalist: Nicholas Culpeper and the Fight for Medical Freedom, p. 186.

Contemporary Review, December, 2004, review of The Herbalist, p. 379.

Economist, March 24, 2001, review of The Queen's Conjurer, p. 2.

Library Journal, January 1, 2001, Hilary Burton, review of The Bride of Science, p. 122; February 1, 2001, Eric D. Albright, review of The Queen's Conjurer, p. 123; July, 2004, Andy Wickens, review of Heal Thyself, p. 110; May 1, 2007, Douglas King, review of Savage Kingdom: The True Story of Jamestown, 1607, and the Settlement of America, p. 90.

New Scientist, April 3, 2004, "Natural Rebel," p. 50.

New Statesman, April 2, 2001, Kathryn Hughes, review of The Queen's Conjurer, p. 54; February 23, 2004, Bee Wilson, review of The Herbalist, p. 49.

Publishers Weekly, November 20, 2000, review of The Bride of Science, p. 56; January 8, 2001, review of The Queen's Conjurer, p. 59; June 14, 2004, review of Heal Thyself, p. 54.

Renaissance Quarterly, spring, 2002, Nicholas H. Clulee, review of The Queen's Conjurer, p. 340.

Science News, April 13, 2002, review of The Bride of Science, p. 239.

Spectator, February 17, 2007, Robert Stewart, review of Savage Kingdom.

Style, summer, 1995, William L. Ashline, review of Virtual Worlds: A Journey in Hype and Hyperreality, p. 333.

Times Literary Supplement, May 14, 2004, "Juniper, Rosemary, Chisel and Saw," p. 6.