Tuxedo Park : A Wall Street Tycoon and the Secret Palace of Science That Changed the Course of World War II

A great book. Not knowing much about the men and women behind the scenes of WWII, this was a great journey through a man's life at the center of kick starting a process that led to the Allies gaining superior military technology just in time to have an decisive impact. One walks away wondering how much longer WWII would have lasted if not for men such as Loomis. The book reads with ease and little is needed to introduce it beyond the book's front and back covers. The main takeaway is that a 'tycoon' with a passion for science and a high degree of intelligence took the organizational and people skills he developed at the cutting edge of the business world during the 1920s and proceeded to spend the 1930s merging business sense with scientific curiousity into a network of relationships that, as WWII drew near, was converted into an orchestrated practical application of scientific research to modern military warfare. I found the book less about Tuxedo Park than about a brilliant application of what is best in capitalism and democracy to overcoming threats to a free society (some from within). At the same time, the debate as to whether autocratic methods in the name of freedom would be justified today or under slightly different conditions could be further explored. Loomis did the right thing at the right time. But could others just as easily claim the same high ground in the name of more borderline projects?

I am one of the few persons left alive who knew Mr. Loomis. I am in my 80's, Mr. Loomis is accurately portrayed in this fantastic work. This book was very well planned and researched. I am completely satisfied. Alfred is kindly revealed in these pages as he was, a contributor, a man of vision and most of all a man who cared to see good come out of anything to benefit people who wanted good. Alfreds interest in science was based on helping people. I also know Alfred did not want any popularity except for which was inevitable. This book was inevitable. We can give Alfred credit for helping in a huge way as victors of World War II. Read another good book that reveals a bit more especially how this science was applied to defeat the Japanese at Midway and much more, SB: 1 or God by Karl Maddox.

With her biography of Alfred Lee Loomis through her book, "Tuxedo Park", Jennet Conant has given those interested the best view yet of this extraordinary man. I have read many books regarding Wall Street when Mr. Loomis was a player, and many other books on the exchange of information between Great Britain and The United States during World War II, specifically on radar and atomic weapons. The name Loomis is a vague one at best, happily Ms. Conant has remedied this gap in the historical record and delivers a great deal of knowledge about the man and his talents.Exceptional would be an appropriate word to describe this man. A major financier on Wall Street, he not only was unhurt by the crash of 1929 he benefited from it. While enjoying after dinner conversation he could also play multiple games of chess with his back to the boards, carrying on both the conversation and the multiple games in his mind's eye alone. Clearly a man with a formidable intellect, it is not altogether shocking that after making a huge fortune on Wall Street, he walked away from it and the boards he served on to pursue other interests, interests that would have a major impact on the outcome of the Second World War.A capitalist to his core, when the need arose for development of important scientific research he routinely would take the money from his own pocket. Over the years this amounted to huge sums of money, and much was spent long before there was the urgency of war. He encouraged and financed the best minds in physics, literally feeding and housing them in a house turned private laboratory in one of the country's wealthiest enclaves Tuxedo Park. Write down any name from Einstein to Fermi to a host of Nobel winners and they all spent time at his homes on many occasions.And this man was just not a wanna-be with deep pockets. Whether it was innovations with radar, cyclotrons, or getting the armed forces to sit up and pay attention to devices they were in desperate need of, or gathering the money and talent to do whatever was required, he was the facilitator, and he literally made it happen. He also understood the science he was assisting.Without his organizing the manpower and the facilities to produce devices that were recently just science fiction, the tools that were so critical to winning the war would have taken years to develop if left to the federal government. The armed forces were of little help as they were inherently protective of their own turf and distrustful of the other branches and especially of the, "long hair", physicists. He also bridged the gap of distrust when the British wanted to share innovations The United States was nowhere near to developing. Fortunately diplomacy was almost as offensive to him as a federally run science project, so when the diplomats were arguing he would go off in to a corner and start swapping information.There were two events described in the book that are priceless. They not only illustrate all that is wrong with bureaucra

I went to the World Book Encyclopedia to look for information about Alfred Lee Loomis. There was none. I wondered as I read this wonderful, well researched biography if maybe I was being led to believe that Loomis was the author's invention and that he was not as important an historical figure as he appeared to be. When I read the testimonials of those individuals who wrote about him or who the author interviewed, I readily became convinced that I was reading the story of a legend who was so private about his accomplishments that he had been forgotten. That is, until Jennet Conant completed this fascinating historical account that kept me spellbound through the last words of the epilogue, biography, and acknowledgements. Although Loomis did not literally invent radar or the atomic bomb, it was his scientific and patriotic interest that helped mold the events that led to their development. As a physician, I was fascinated by his development of the clinical application of the electroencephalogram as well as ultrasonography, each of which is currently well utilized in modern medical diagnostics. Among other scientific associations, the "L" in Loran is directly associated with the "L" in Loomis as the development of Loran was essentially his idea. And all this from an amateur physicist who by training was a Harvard educated attorney and investment banker. I will not discuss here where the name "Tuxedo Park" originates since the story will tell you the intricacies of life in the elite gated community that few until now have associated with such original and illustrious scientific discoveries. Anyone with a penchant for history that so touched all of our lives will also be spellbound by this superbly written account of a man, his associates, and the events that just may have led to the preservation of American and western world democracy.