The Northern Lights: The True Story of the Man Who Unlocked the
Secrets of the Aurora Borealis by Lucy Jago. Alfred A. Knopf,
$24, 297 pages. The Chapel Hill News April 28, 2002 Honoring an
Overlooked Scientist By Phillip Manning "It's easy to recognize
pioneers," a venture capitalist once told me, "they have arrows
in their backs." In fact, pioneers in high-tech businesses often
don't get their due. Followers routinely reap the rewards of the
original inventor's sweat and imagination. In scientific
research, though, I thought accomplishment might be rewarded
more fairly. Silly me; the awarding of prizes for research is an
intensely political process, and groundbreaking scientists
sometimes fare no better than pioneers in business. In the "The
Northern Lights" (Knopf, $24), Lucy Jago tells the sad story of
Kristian Birkeland (1867-1917), the Norwegian physicist who
devoted his life to discovering the source of the northern
lights. The lights, of course, are mysterious streamers of red
and green fireworks that