I’m taking some flak in the comments to yesterday’s book recommendation request post, so let me illustrate what I meant with an example. Lots of people recommended the Andrew Lang Fairy books, which are freely available online. I looked at the first story in the first book, which is plenty entertaining, but also has this… Continue reading Against Pointless Racism in Children’s Stories
Category: Pop Culture
Fairy Tale Book Recommendations?
One of the books in SteelyKid’s regular rotation of books to read at naptime and bedtime is this book about a girl visiting characters from fairy tales to ask them what makes somebody happy ever after. It’s not the greatest, but she enjoys it. It occurs to me, though, that while the book references a… Continue reading Fairy Tale Book Recommendations?
Heavy Heavy Water
I make an effort to say nice things about pop-science books that I read, whether for book research or blog reviews. Every now and then, though, I hit a book that has enough problems that I have a hard time taking anything positive from it. I got David Bodanis’s E=mc2: A Biography of the World’s… Continue reading Heavy Heavy Water
Sports Reported Like Science
the Wall Street Journal, of all places, has a profile of college basketball analyst Bill Raftery and how he prepares to call games. This would be nothing more than Links Dump material, save for the fact that bits of it appear to have been written for the benefit of visiting aliens who have never seen… Continue reading Sports Reported Like Science
Jo Walton, Among Others [Library of Babel]
This is a difficult book to review, which is probably fitting, because it’s a very personal book. My reaction to it is largely personal as well, and may or may not be of any use to anyone else. Given the surprising number of people who had Opinions regarding my recollections of telecommunications, I almost think… Continue reading Jo Walton, Among Others [Library of Babel]
Guess-the-Lyrics: Unusual Rhymes III
A somewhat surprising number of people asked for a return of the guess-the-lyrics posts in the who are you? thread, and it seems like a good Friday activity. So, as with the previous rounds, each of the following gives a pair of rhyming (or at least intended-to-rhyme) phrases from a pop music song in my… Continue reading Guess-the-Lyrics: Unusual Rhymes III
It’s About Time by David Mermin
Subtitled “Understanding Einstein’s Relativity,” David Mermin’s It’s About Time is another book (like An Illustrated Guide to Relativity) that grew out of a non-majors course on physics that Mermin offers at Cornell. It’s also an almost-forty-years-later update of an earlier book he wrote on the same subject. And it’s been a really good resource for… Continue reading It’s About Time by David Mermin
The Past Is Another Country, and Vice Versa
I’m about halfway through Jo Walton’s Among Others, a fantasy novel set in Britain in 1979, featuring an unhappy teenage girl who finds relief in reading science fiction and fantasy, and becoming involved with SF fandom. It’s getting rave reviews from a lot of the usual sources, and the concept sounded interesting, so I grabbed… Continue reading The Past Is Another Country, and Vice Versa
Con or Bust Auction Signal Boost
Last year, Kate was one of the people who helped organize a fundraising auction to send a few people to Wiscon. It’s that time again, and she’s seeking donations for the auction: Last year, Con or Bust raised $6,183.89 and helped thirteen people of color attend WisCon. We weren’t able to meet all the requests… Continue reading Con or Bust Auction Signal Boost
Who Are You People?
I gave a talk today on blogs as a tool for science communication (basically the same as this one, with a few minor updates), and got asked “Aren’t the people who read science blogs mostly scientists already?” Which reminded me that it’s been a while since I did a “Who are you people?” post. So,… Continue reading Who Are You People?