I’ve said a number of harsh things here about the bad attitude of people who consider themselve Intellectuals toward math and science. After reading this New Yorker discussion about a Young Adult novel, I may need to change my stance a bit. It’s not that they’re better than expected when it comes to math and… Continue reading Intellectual Ignorance Knows No Bounds
Category: Books
The Age of Entanglement by Louisa Gilder
I made a run to the library last week on one of the days I was home with SteelyKid, as an excuse to get out of the house for a little while. I picked up three books: Counterknowledge, The Devil’s Eye by Jack McDevitt (an Antiquities Dealers Innnnn Spaaaaaace novel, and a good example of… Continue reading The Age of Entanglement by Louisa Gilder
Science: 3.8% Notable
Last year, around this time, I posted a rant about the lack of science books in the New York Times‘s “Notable Books of 2007.” While I was out of town last week, they posted this year’s list. So, have things improved? Yes and no. They do, in fact, have two books that are unquestionably science… Continue reading Science: 3.8% Notable
Re-Reading Tolkien at Tor
A while back, Kate started doing a chapter-by-chapter re-read of The Lord of the Rings on her LiveJournal. Life intervened, though, and the project fell by the wayside. She’s re-started it, this time as part of the Tor media empire. So far, there’s an introductory post and a discussion of the foreword and prologue, with… Continue reading Re-Reading Tolkien at Tor
Spaceman Blues, by Brian Francis Slattery [Library of Babel]
I’ve gotten out of the book-logging habit, but Spaceman Blues is good enough that I feel compelled to write about it. I had heard of the book some time back– I believe I recall Patrick Nielsen Hayden saying nice things about it at some con or another– but the packaging didn’t really give me a… Continue reading Spaceman Blues, by Brian Francis Slattery [Library of Babel]
Me On TV (On the Internet)
As mentioned briefly the other day, I recorded a Bloggingheads.tv Science Saturday conversation with Jennifer Ouellette on Thursday. The full diavlog has now been posted, and I can embed it here: This was the first time I’ve done one of these, and it was an interesting experience.
Many-World vs. Multiverse
In the recent discussion of Many-Worlds and making universes, Jonathan Vos Post asked what science fiction treatments of the idea I like. The answer is pretty much “none,” because most SF treatments are distractingly bad. For example, last night I finished Neal Stephenson’s Anathem, a whopping huge brick of a book setting up an incredibly… Continue reading Many-World vs. Multiverse
Weird Windows by Various Authors
I tagged Ethan Zuckerman’s post abpout video “windows” to other places in a links dump recently. The idea is to put big video screens and cameras in fast-food restaurants around the world, and provide virtual “windows” into other restaurants in other countries. In talking about the idea, Ethan threw out a great aside: (If I… Continue reading Weird Windows by Various Authors
DonorsChoose Payoff: “Favorite” Book
Another question from a generous donor, in this case Natalie, who asks: As for my question, how about “who is your favorite author, and why?” or, if you’d rather, “what’s your favorite book, and why?” This is a difficult question, because it’s subject to a sort of quantum projection noise. That is, my “favorite book”… Continue reading DonorsChoose Payoff: “Favorite” Book
College Novels
Over at Tor.com, Jo Walton has a post titled “College as magic garden: Why Pamela Dean’s Tam Lin is a book you’ll either love or hate”. Tam Lin, for those who don’t know it, is a version of the old ballad set at a liberal arts college in the upper Midwest (I believe it’s based… Continue reading College Novels