What science book is your most recent read? What do you think about it? Pt. 1

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

I've read Spook and Stiff, and enjoyed both of them. (Stiff is about dead people.)

[Melissa]

I've been working my way through Creating Freshwater Wetlands lately to help guide one of my work-related projects. I doubt this ia book anyone would just pick up to read, as it is a practical text, albeit a good one.

So if you are planning on working on a wetland any time soon, I can recommend this book.

[Gofita]

I just finished Carl Sagan's The Demon Haunted World. Fantastic read. He talks about the baloney detection kit aka critical thinking and even talks about logical fallacies. I learned a lot want to read some of this other works.

[Sasha]

Last science-related book I read was The Scientists: A History of Science Told Through the Lives of Its Greatest Inventors. Thought it was excellent.

I have Demon Haunted World but haven't read it yet, Heather; glad you liked it. His Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God is one of my favorite books.

I've also read and enjoyed Roach's Stiff; I'll get to Packing For Mars at some point.

[Gofita]

I just picked up Stiff by Roach and listened to her interview on the podcast Skepticality about her latest book Packing For Mars.

[David]

Heather wrote: "I just picked up Stiff by Roach and listened to her interview on the podcast Skepticality about her latest book Packing For Mars."

Heather, How did you like "Stiff"? I was thinking about listening to it, as an audiobook.

[Gofita]

David wrote: "Heather wrote: "I just picked up Stiff by Roach and listened to her interview on the podcast Skepticality about her latest book Packing For Mars."

Heather, How did you like "Stiff"? I was thinkin..."

I actually haven't picked it up yet to read it...just bought it last weekend and am looking forward to reading it soon. But I hear that all of her books are funny and informative. Really looking forward to it!

[Sasha]

Stiff's a ton of fun. Not exactly, like, crucial reading, but you'll dig it. Everyone does.

The wife didn't like Spook as much - thought it was a lamer subject. I haven't read anything but Stiff.

[Sarah Jane]

I just read Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void. It was great!

[Gofita]

Sarah Jane wrote: "I just read Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void. It was great!"

Oh good. I think I'll wait till it's in paperback, but looking forward to it!

[Sasha]

I'm with you, Heather. I'll read it, but probably not terribly soon.

[Jimmy]

How about a video selection: Addicted To Plastic by Ian Connicher. It's available online for free. I think the video is the same as listening to an audio book. Well worth the effort for anyone in the family.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

I liked Spook as well as Stiff. The bit about a North Carolina court that took ghost testimony back in the 1920s I found very amusing. Also, ectoplasm.

[S.]

I enjoyed Stiff...funny and informative is a good way to describe her style.

[Mike]

I just received At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson. Three chapters in - it's pure Bill! Full of remakable facts and obscur connections (as usual). The man must never forget a word that he has read! I don't think it is as good as A SHort History of Nearly Everything but it is worth a read.

[Patricrk]

I just finished by Bill Bryson This is a mixed bag collection of essays by members of the Royal Society and while it started slow I found it enjoyable.

[Gofita]

Mike wrote: "I just received At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson. Three chapters in - it's pure Bill! Full of remakable facts and obscur connections (as usual). The man must..."

I'm looking forward to this one as well. I haven't read anything from him that I haven't thoroughly enjoyed!

[tana]

Temple Grandin's books "Animals make us human" and "Animals in translation" are also very interesting.

[Sasha]

Oh, I want to read those wicked bad.

[David]

tana wrote: "Temple Grandin's books "Animals make us human" and "Animals in translation" are also very interesting."

I really enjoyed "Animals in Translation". Quite an interesting point of view.

[Kirsten]

I'm working on How the Mind Works and eying one of Brian Greene's books.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

Brian Greene is good.

[David]

Kirsten wrote: "I'm working on How the Mind Works and eying one of Brian Greene's books."

Kirsten, how do you like "How the Mind Works"? (I plan to read it real soon.)

[Sasha]

Susanna wrote: "Brian Greene is good."

He is. He basically wrote Hawking's new one (Grand Design) ten years ago.

[Gofita]

Alex wrote: "Susanna wrote: "Brian Greene is good."

He is. He basically wrote Hawking's new one (Grand Design) ten years ago."

His new book looks really good, too The Expanse of Reality: Parallel Universes and the Search for the Deep Laws of the Cosmos. Looks like this one comes out the end of January.

[Sasha]

Oh cool Heather, thanks for pointing that out to me. Looking forward to it.

[tana]

I, too, am reading Bill Bryson's book "At Home". It is fascinating as usual for Bill, but my favorite is still his book on returning to the USA: "I'm a Stranger Here Myself" which is hilarious.

[Kirsten]

Kirsten, how do you like "How the Mind Works"? (I plan to read it real soon.)

I'm really enjoying it. It goes quickly and he talks about a lot of things that I never really connected, but now that he mentions it, they make a lot of sense. I'll be very interested to hear what you think of it.

Do you guys recommend a particular Brian Greene book?

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

The Fabric of the Cosmos is good.

[Sasha]

I've only read his Elegant Universe, but I think that's his best-known work, would you agree Susanna? I dug it.

[Kirsten]

I just picked up a copy of the The Fabric of the Cosmos as they were out of The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory. If it goes well, I'll be reading both of them. I've been told it's shameful how little I know about physics.

[Sasha]

By whom? Nobody knows anything about physics!

[Kirsten]

Many of my friends have been teasing me about the fact that for all the science I have studied in my life, I've been avoiding physics like the plague.

I managed to get through high school and earn my degree without taking it, but now grad schools are telling me it's time to bite the bullet, so I'll be taking it next semester.

[Sasha]

I'd say if you tackle Elegant Universe and Brief History of Time you'll have a good foundation.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

Older, but In Search of Schrodinger's Cat: Quantum Physics And Reality is also good.

[Kirsten]

Excellent. I have until January 10th, so I should be able to make it through both of those in that time. I appreciate the advice, because there is definitely a reason I've been avoiding physics.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

Believe me, I can relate. I'm terrible at math. But I find theoretical physics really interesting; it just has to be explained to me in a form other than just equations.

[Kirsten]

Another Excellent book! Pinker's style is so lucid and illuminating that I couldn't put that one down while reading it. Also greatly enjoyed "The Blank Slate".

That's a good one too. I have The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature on my shelf to read at some point too. Pinker spoke at my freshman matriculation, and guest taught at my freshman colloquium which started my interest in reading his books.

1109068 Believe me, I can relate. I'm terrible at math. But I find theoretical physics really interesting; it just has to be explained to me in a form other than just equations.

I'm trying to like physics, I really am. I'm not terrible at math, but I do math differently. I arrive at the same answer as other people, but not the same way. It drives teachers nuts.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

I never have learned to subtract. I can get to the right answer, but I don't do it like everyone else.

[Greg]

Alex wrote: "Susanna wrote: "Brian Greene is good."

He is. He basically wrote Hawking's new one (Grand Design) ten years ago."

I loved The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos. I'm looking forward to reading his new one, The Hidden Reality.

[Adam]

Kirsten wrote: "Excellent. I have until January 10th, so I should be able to make it through both of those in that time. I appreciate the advice, because there is definitely a reason I've been avoiding physics."

If you're only at the stage where you're basically learning elementary (or Newtonian) mechanics, then you won't really use anything you've read in the higher level popular physics books. The ability to do that physics (well all physics really) is to build a mathematical model of the situation described, then use various mathematical techniques to arrive at the conclusion correctly. Some people are very good at building the mathematical model, some are good at math, but unless you can do both simultaneously Physics will be quite difficult.

If you're delving back to a high school physics level, which at my school is called General Physics, they'll approach most things conceptually and use rudimentary Algebra and Trigonometry. However, the next level after that is Calculus based Physics, which, if you haven't done anything with Vector Calculus could wind up making the whole thing very difficult to understand (it was for me when I took it without knowing Vector Calculus). Though you can still get by depending on how massively a school scales those classes... not sure if you'd be doing it at the graduate level. Graduate Level physics can be very involved stuff.

[Kirsten]

I will be taking undergrad physics. Once I get to grad school I'll be back to environmental science, and probably never take a physics class again.
Now I'm really terrified.

I never have learned to subtract. I can get to the right answer, but I don't do it like everyone else.

We can have the alternative math club!

[Melissa]

When I took the undergrad series of physics, I found it challenging, but not something to be afraid of. Having a good handle on algebra/trig will go a long way to help, as will staying on top of it all the time and not falling behind.

Calculus based physics was much more difficult for me, even having just completed three semesters of calculus.

[Sasha]

I just started Isaac Newton by James Gleick today. So far it's terrific.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

Just got Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void for an early Christmas present.

Thanks, Daddy!

I got several books, actually, so I'm in the enviable position of picking and choosing what I want to read next. ::hugs self and new books::

[Sasha]

Yay for Christmas! Stacks and stacks of books!

[Kirsten]

Yay for stacks and stacks of books! I have gotten a bunch thus far, with a giftcard for more...I love having half my family be full of PhDs.

I'm jealous, Susanna, my dad is allergic to books.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

I come from a family of book addicts. This is a good thing.

But my mother thinks we have 5000 books in our house! I don't think she's exaggerating.

[Sasha]

I now want to go count our books. That's not a healthy urge, right?

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

Great for insomnia...