Tracy's comments
(member since Dec 27, 2008)
Tracy's comments from the Science and Inquiry group.
(showing 1-20 of 38)
Finished last night. Excellent book! Tyson is now on my list of favorite science authors.
I'm fifty pages into it. Tyson is great! He's like Carl Sagan with a sense of humor. I'm truly enjoying it.
Couldn't make up my mind, so I'll vote for two:
Islands in the Sky: Bold New Ideas for Colonizing Space
How to Live on Mars: A Trusty Guidebook to Surviving and Thriving on the Red Planet
These are some of the best images from the Cassini spacecraft. #15 is my new desktop wallpaper.
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/04...
I was wondering the same. I'm still interested, and been hoping it would pick back up.
Was I the only one who read "Botany of Desire"? It was very good, and got more "sciency" in the later chapters.
Diana wrote: "hey sorry. I"m in m..."
I liked Evolution in Four Dimensions and Endless Forms Most Beautiful.
Here's my vote
Ancient Medicine Sciences of Antiquity by Vivian Nutton
An Amazon reviewer called it "surprisingly lively and readable for an academic tome". Sounds like my kind of book.
Just finished Ch 1. Interesting so far, but not very sciencey. The introduction gave me the impression that this would be the history of domestication from the view-point of a plant, yet Ch 1 was mostly a biography of Johnny Appleseed. So while it's good, Pollan isn't pulling of what was promised.
Susanna wrote: "How about Stiff The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers?"
That was an excellent book. Hillarious and disgusting, yet still respectful.
Has anyone read Twinkie Deconstructed? It always has such mixed reviews, so I've been bypassing it, but it still sounds interesting.
Canary wrote: "I believe there is a good chance but I read a few months ago in Discover magazine that we will never be able to travel into outer space for long!!"
Do you know which issue that was? I haven't been reading them cover to cover lately, so I missed that one.
Short History of Nearly Everything is #1 on this science book list:
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/692.S...
Bryson has a great sense of humor, but I can't believe he beat out Carl Sagan!
William, I just saw your new avatar. It's a mammal, but that's as far as I got.
Amy wrote: "I just came across this book and it looked very interesting to me:
[b:Endless Forms Most Beautiful The New Science of Evo Devo|39096|Endless Forms Most Beautiful The New Science of Evo Devo|Sean ..."
That was a very good book. I've also read The Making of the Fittest. Not as good as Endless Forms Most Beautiful, but Carroll would be hard pressed to top that one.
Carolyn wrote: "Though I am a major fan of botany books anyway"
Not recommending this for the April read, but Carolyn, I found a real treasure on Amazon awhile back. Kessinger Publishing reprinted Julius Von Sachs's "History of Botany, 1530-1860). It's photocopied from a 1906 edition, but it was all there and in excellent shape. The only problem was the print was small.
It was an excellent book. I'm glad Kessinger made it available again.
Peter, I also like the idea of discussing "Origin of the Species".
Dan, I'm glad you listed Carl Zimmer. I always enjoy his articles in Discover magazine. I'll vote for one from the Feb. poll that I thought looked good, The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World
I would say over all, I still enjoyed the book. Well the first third of it anyway. He did leave many of his ideas half-baked. Also, he did such a nice job showing Priestley's religious, political, and scientific sides, but he never tied them together. This could have been three separate books the way it was written.
I did like his idea about the role of coffee and coffee shops in stimulating the intellectual community. If he's right, just think what Red Bull and the internet are going to do.
Susanna wrote: "On the whole Pluto thing - I was just amused that kids these days will be learning the same planets as my grandparents did - Mercury through Neptune."
My kids were angry. I keep telling them that Pluto is still there, it's just not called a planet anymore. It's not like the scientists blew it out of the sky, LOL. For those with kids, I found a book explaining Pluto to children. It included a nice history of astronomy also.
When is a Planet Not a Planet : The Story of Pluto
