Description

Book Synopsis
Alfred W. Lawson (1869-1954) was a professional baseball player, inventor of the airliner, leader of a movement in the 1930s calling for the abolition of banks and interest, and founder of a utopian community, the so-called Des Moines University of Lawsonomy. This unusual institution, constantly embroiled in controversy in the 1940s and early 1950s, was dedicated not only to teaching Lawson's novel religious and scientific ideas but also to initiating a reform of human nature. Throughout this multifaceted and colorful biography Henry gives special attention to Lawson's development as a utopian thinker and reformer, providing a thorough treatment of the poignant saga of the controversial and doomed community in 'Des Moines'. Every phase of Lawson's incredible career is linked to main currents of American life and culture, resulting in an entertaining and sympathetic account that reveals how the self-styled Magic Man of Baseball, Columbus of the Air, Wizard of Reason, and First Knowledgian, for all his claimed and actual uniqueness, was nonetheless a product clearly ""Made in America.

Zig-Zag-and-Swirl: Alfred W. Lawson's Quest for

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    A Paperback / softback by Lyell D. Henry

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      View other formats and editions of Zig-Zag-and-Swirl: Alfred W. Lawson's Quest for by Lyell D. Henry

      Publisher: University of Iowa Press
      Publication Date: Publication Date: 30/06/2009
      ISBN13: 9781587294662, 978-1587294662
      ISBN10: 1587294664
      Also in:
      Industry and industrial studies

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      Alfred W. Lawson (1869-1954) was a professional baseball player, inventor of the airliner, leader of a movement in the 1930s calling for the abolition of banks and interest, and founder of a utopian community, the so-called Des Moines University of Lawsonomy. This unusual institution, constantly embroiled in controversy in the 1940s and early 1950s, was dedicated not only to teaching Lawson's novel religious and scientific ideas but also to initiating a reform of human nature. Throughout this multifaceted and colorful biography Henry gives special attention to Lawson's development as a utopian thinker and reformer, providing a thorough treatment of the poignant saga of the controversial and doomed community in 'Des Moines'. Every phase of Lawson's incredible career is linked to main currents of American life and culture, resulting in an entertaining and sympathetic account that reveals how the self-styled Magic Man of Baseball, Columbus of the Air, Wizard of Reason, and First Knowledgian, for all his claimed and actual uniqueness, was nonetheless a product clearly ""Made in America.

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