Readings
Several of my friends have started putting their
reading lists or movie
diaries online, and I think that's a great idea. There are millions of
books,
papers, movies and television shows circulating in our civilization,
and no-one
currently has the werewithal to read them all. So it is important that
those of us who do read do more than just read; we should reflect upon
what we read,
evaluate it for content, pass along the gems of wisdom contained
within, and
when something rises above the froth, recommend it to others.
Current Reading List
Upcoming Titles
Titles on Hold
To Be Reviewed
Ayn Rand, Laurel Hamilton, Patricia Briggs, Will McCarthy, and more...
May 2009
- May 9, 2009: How to Re-imagine the World by Anthony Weston
- May 8, 2009: The Age of Spiritual Machines by Ray Kurzweil (audiobook, abridged
- May 3, 2009: The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells (radio play adaptation by Thomas E. Fuller)
- May 1, 2009: The Weapons Shop by A.E. van Vogt (radio play adaptation by the Atlanta Radio Theater Company)
April 2009
- The Time Machine by H.G. Wells and A Glitch in Time by Brad Strickland (adapted by the Atlanta Radio Theater Company)
- The Dunwich Horror by H.P. Lovecraft and the Arkam Home Companion by Brad Strickland (adapted by the Atlanta Radio Theater Company)
- At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft (adapted by the Atlanta Radio Theater Company)
- The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft (unabridged audiobook)
- The Dunwich Horror by H.P. Lovecraft (unabridged audiobook)
- Lost in Transmission by Wil McCarthy
- Consciousness: a Very Short Introduction by Susan Blackmore
March 2009
- Shop Girl by Steve Martin (unabridged audiobook)
- The Golden Section by Scott Olsen
- The Encheridion by Epictetus
February 2009
- Spark Notes: The Fountainhead
- From Stimulus to Science by W.V.O. Quine
January 2009
- The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand (unabridged audiobook)
- An Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology by Ayn Rand
Prior to 2009
Reviews
An amazingly human book about physics. In deeply
personal terms, Heisenberg
tells how he grew from a war-tossed youth to an elder statesman of
physics.
His thesis is that physics is more than just experiments, numbers and
math;
instead, it is a deeply social process of discussion among physicists
trying
to understand the world experiment reveals around them. He weaves an
idyllic picture of the interchange among the physicists of his
generation, portraying the quantum mechanics as emerging not from dry
scientific discussions but from
vigorous literary, philosophical and religious interchanges, shared
excitement
and brassy poker games, and invigorating hiking, mountain climing and
sailing
adventures. Heisenberg carefully picks out key conversations during his
life that ultimately led to the Uncertainty Principle that bears his
name, interwoven
with key turns of events that illuminate the slow disintegration of
Germany leading up to World War II. We watch the idealistic, musical
Youth Movement of his childhood degenerate into an edgy conversation
with a Hitler Youth member who overhears Heisenberg playing. We see his
despair as he is conscripted into the atomic bomb program and tries to
steer it towards
nuclear piles, rather than nuclear bombs. And we follow him through
harrowing bike rides through the lines, the rescue of an old man from a
burning house, the shock of an avalanche and an encounter with an
unexpectedly friendly American bear.
Truly an amazing book.
Other Historical Readings
More to come... |
Research
Articles
Classes
Software
Classic
Weblog
Wiki
Store
f@nu
fiku
Fiction
Personal
About
Contact
|