David’s Comments (group member since Dec 13, 2009)

David’s comments from the Science and Inquiry group.

Yay! The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood has come in at the library!

Unfortunately, The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood is not yet available from our library. I am listed as #5 out of 36 holds--and the 5 copies that the library ordered back in March have not yet arrived. I plan to read the book, but it won't be this month.

It looks like Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers is the poll winner for the June Book.

Patricrk wrote: "can't find the poll "

Sorry--it was buried at the bottom of the list of polls. The poll should be
here.

Melissa wrote: "Perhaps you meant to say the poll would close on April 30, David?"

err... yes! I've corrected the date. Thanks!

Four excellent books have been nominated for the June Book of the Month. Please take a moment to review the choices and vote for the book you would really like to read. This poll will close on May 30, so vote soon!

Four excellent books have been nominated for the June Book of the Month. Please take a moment to review the choices and vote for the book you would really like to read. This poll will close on April 30, so vote soon!

Betsy wrote: "David, looks interesting. Does it have a lot of graphics? I'm wondering how it would do on a kindle. Graphics are included in a kindle edition, but they're usually pretty small, and currently no..."

Betsy, yes. Many of the puzzles and brain exercises involve graphics.

I just finished reading The Playful Brain: the Surprising Science of How Puzzles Improve Your Mind. The author, Richard Restak, is a neuroscientist who has written 19 books. This book is a fast, easy read with lots of puzzles that explore different categories of thinking. Restak shows some evidence that practicing puzzles like these can help improve one's thinking abilities, and reduce mental deterioration later in life. Highly recommended!

Donegal wrote: "Valerie wrote: "How did the tie for May get broken? It might be a good idea to enquire as to whether people want to have the second book that tied be June's read, or not."

I think it's set up so t..."

That's right--it was a tie between The Information A History, A Theory, A Flood and The Physics of Star Trek. So both books will be our "book of the month" in May. (Unfortunately, only one book or the other can show up on the Science and Inquiry home page in the "Upcoming" feature.)

Kirsten wrote: "I'd like to nominate Consilience The Unity of Knowledge by Edward O. Wilson. I've been eying this book, it looks good, and I love Wilson's work."

What a coincidence! I just bought a (used) copy of this book a couple of months ago, and I just haven't gotten around to reading it yet. It looks like a great book by a very famous author!

It's time to nominate books for the June Book Club Read. Please post your nominations here. Nominations will be open until April 26, then I'll open up the poll for a few days.

Cheryl in CC NV wrote: ".... But maybe we could wait a bit. And maybe we could plan monthly reads an extra month ahead to give us a chance to move up the waiting list ..."

Cheryl, we are already choosing monthly reads a month ahead. Personally, if I think that a book is going to be obsolete in a year or two, I don't want to waste my time reading it. Fortunately so far (crossing my fingers!) we haven't chosen any books that will become obsolete soon. :-)

Very interesting--thanks, Betsy!

Kirsten wrote: "The wait list in my local library system for The Information A History, A Theory, A Flood is 134 patrons long. That's definitely not going to be here in time for May."

I had actually requested that my local library order this book several months ago. They ordered it, but by the time they ordered it and I looked at the library catalog, there was already a long waiting list!

This is a problem that bothers me, concerning the nomination of brand new books. I suggest that we hold off from nominating brand new books, until they have had a chance to "settle down" in the library systems.

Bob wrote: "...On the basis of what I've seen you're reading I think you would love Arctic Dreams. It's classified in the Science genre here, but is primarily Environment-Nature. It's beautifully written. Just came to me out of nowhere that I should recommend it!"

I agree, Bob; Arctic Dreams is a wonderful book.

I've heard some good things about Matt's suggestion, Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory And the Search for Unity in Physical Law, though I haven't read it myself.

Thanks, Melissa. I've heard conversions of all sorts of naturally-occurring data converted into "music". It's pleasant for a short while.

Melissa wrote: "I'll start by nominatingThe Immense Journey: An Imaginative Naturalist Explores the Mysteries of Man and Nature. It's been around for a long time, and it's been recommended to me man..."

Loren Eisley is a great author!

Ellyn wrote: "Hi,
I'm a high school Physics teacher. Looking to find interesting books for my Honors students to read. They have 15 minutes each week to read in my class. I would like to start a bookshelf in my..."

Ellyn,
For fascinating accounts of recent big physics experiments, I would suggest:
The Edge of Physics

Although it's not only about physics, I would also suggest A Short History of Nearly Everything, which is great for reading in 15-minute snippets.

Two astronomy-related books with a lot of overlap, but are fun to read are:
Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries and Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End . . .

...and the book we just read conveys the excitement of discovery, How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming