God Made The Dinosaurs (2003) by M. & C. Carroll. This brightly illustrated guide to dinosaurs is designed to be delightful to all children. well, mo God Made The Dinosaurs (2003) by M. & C. Carroll. This brightly illustrated guide to dinosaurs is designed to be delightful to all children. well, most children. I was surprised to learn from reading this that only good Christians have made discoveries in the field of dinosaurs. There are lots of other books on this subject out there, many more broad minded than this. They generally reflect the contributions of people from all races and creeds. ...more
When the Heavens Went on Sale: The Misfits and Geniuses Racing to Put Space Within Reach (2023) by Ashlee Vance. I found this to be more of a cheerle When the Heavens Went on Sale: The Misfits and Geniuses Racing to Put Space Within Reach (2023) by Ashlee Vance. I found this to be more of a cheerleading ramble than a serious look into the “Race for Space” ownership that is currently happening. I appreciate that several private companies are working hard to master space travel, but what does that mean to the vast majority of the population of the Earth? Not much. I know NASA scientists and the corporations that worked with them have paved the way to our modern age (cell phones and the computers that are an integral part of them, and so much, much more) but I get the feeling that only a select few of these pioneers will garner profits from this race. There were several very interesting parts within the book, but the majority of it felt like press releases, smooth-talking sales people pitching their spiel for the masses. And a lack of introduction to the real science behind all of this left me wanting more. Granted, no company wants to give up it’s hard labored secrets, but give us a little bit of something. There are profiles of the companies that are working to bring down the cost of payloads to space, but I’m not planning to ship anything there so a lot of this is lost on me. I suppose I should have spent more time thinking about what “The Misfits, etc” meant on the cover. Looking at it now I realize this book was to be just a pep rally for the big names involved in the project. I should have passed on this one. ...more
THE BAD FOOD BIBLE: HOW AND WHY TO EAT SINFULLY by Aaron Carroll, M.D. is a careful, measured and well reasoned look at many of the foods we have bee THE BAD FOOD BIBLE: HOW AND WHY TO EAT SINFULLY by Aaron Carroll, M.D. is a careful, measured and well reasoned look at many of the foods we have been told are bad for us. Dr. Carroll is a professor of Pediatrics and the director of the Center for Health Policy and Professionalism Research at the Indiana University School of Medicine. He has coauthored three prior books about food and nutrition. He is a contributing writer to the New York Times UPSHOT blog and is host for “Healthcare Triage” on YouTube. In short, he is well versed in his field, respected by many, and a leading voice in clarity in all things medical. With THE BAD FOOD BIBLE, Dr. Carroll takes on eleven different foods, reveals what has been said about their positive or negative effects on the health of those imbibing, and reveals the truth as to what should be said about them. Coffee, and sugar (diet soft drinks), MSG, meat butter and eggs as well as a few others are discussed. He talks about the prior research done into the study of these foods, and looks at the people who funded a lot of the studies, and presented their “facts” and “conclusions”. As with most things that get spread through the news, it is the sensational that makes the headlines. When there is a small link that shows giving product A to lab rats produces a negative effect three out of seven times, it is easy to translate that into fast breaking news that product A causes cancer, tumors, lesions or any manner of nasty, nasty things. Perhaps it is the lab environment itself that produces such a stressful environment on the poor rats. Could it be that the “negative effects” are caused by the cages, the antiseptics, the rationed food and any of a thousand external things rather than the inclusion of the experimental food. I know if I were caged up long enough, seen others like me experimented on, dissected and discarded, I would have plenty wrong with me. In reasoned arguments, dealing with all the facts, Dr. Carroll explains why these foods will not kill you and do not lead to terrible diseases, obesity, and the decline and fall of Western Civilization. But as with everything else, moderation is the key. A measured amount of alcohol is good for you, but not three bottles of whiskey a day. I won this book through Goodreads....more
THE TROUBLE WITH REALITY: INSIDE THE DISTURBING WORLD OF QUANTUM THEORY by New Scientist magazine, is a book that will move you. Either it will move THE TROUBLE WITH REALITY: INSIDE THE DISTURBING WORLD OF QUANTUM THEORY by New Scientist magazine, is a book that will move you. Either it will move you to try to understand the concepts surrounding subatomic particles, their interactions and how this is leading to a greater understanding of the world, or it will move you to cuss a blue streak, hurl the book at the wall and storm off to get several strong drinks. Or both. I will admit that I didn't understand this book on the first read. I got a little more warm to the concepts after the third or fourth go through, but I still don't understand it all. I suppose I'm too grounded in the reality of family and work and trying to enjoy a summer day than wondering how the universe works in such minute ways. This is a very good introduction to the field of quantum mechanics, although the part of the book cover that says "Instant Expert" is misleading. Instant expert? Really guys? No one is an instant expert in this field. In fact it feels as if the only experts are those who have given up trying to understand it and have accepted the strange and seemingly arbitrary rules associated with this alien world within. Take the multiple universe concept. Every action you take causes multiple other universes to form, some in which you have taken the action, others where you did not, other where the situation was avoided, etc., etc., etc. Do you cut the blue wire or the red? Universes arise. Did you notice the yellow wire? More universes. Did you let the drop of sweat drip off your nose, shake your head to free it into space, use the back of your hand to wipe it away, or notice it at all. Multiple, multiple, multiple. Every decision you make, or don't make, or should have made but didn't think of, leads to multiple pathways in multiple universes. Utopias are created and hells are unleashed, all though your decision. But it is not just your decisions, it is everyone's decisions. And with the concept of the multiverse, you never know what you have unleashed in all the rest of the universes. And you don't know if you are a part of the original or merely some bizarro offshoot from what was meant to be reality. Come to think of it, that might help explain the state of American politics in 2017. And it is not just humans, but all living things, all contributing to the ongoing creation of trillions and trillions and trillions of other universes. The concept is overwhelming. Which leads us back to one of the first tools in the logisticians box of tricks. Occam's Razor. The theory of multiple universes makes us all into gods creating no one knows what out there (or in here or around the dimensional corner) and with or without the rules we come to recognize here. If there really is a here. So perhaps we could lay off the multiple realities for a bit and start working on quantum teleportation because that is something I can get behind. At least I can here in this dimension. This is not the easiest book I have ever read, but then the thoughts are so contrary to what we and see and sense that it must be extremely difficult to grasp, even for a talented physicist. Don't feel bad if you don't understand everything, or anything, that is talked about here, because I don't. The authors have done their best is bring a mind-boggling series of thoughts into an everyday world and, to a great extent, they have succeeded. But even Einstein didn't understand this stuff. I won this book through Goodreads....more
**spoiler alert** PHENOMENA: THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT'S INVESTIGATIONS INTO EXTRASENSORY PERCEPTION AND PSYCHOKINESIS by Annie Jacob**spoiler alert** PHENOMENA: THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT'S INVESTIGATIONS INTO EXTRASENSORY PERCEPTION AND PSYCHOKINESIS by Annie Jacobson is a detailed reveal of just what the title says it is. From the late i940s and early fifties, through today, our government spend millions of dollars and untold number of man hours working on this Mental Cold War. The Russians were rumored to have people who could move things using just their minds, project themselves out of their bodies, remotely view places, things, documents and secret locations while in this state and possibly manage to win the Cold War without firing a shot. The powers that were in out military at that time couldn't take the chance that this was real and so dove into this research head first, while keeping it undercover. PHENOMENA is a very detailed look into everything that was being done and the personalities that were behind it all. You might be a true believer or a total skeptic like the vast majority of the scientists involved were, but there are details and results here that will leave you scratching your head. From Uri Geller to NASA astronauts, international heads of state and the highest ranking military personnel around the world and including people you have never heard of, this is a exhaustive but very well written and entertaining look at our government at work. Is it real? That is for you to decide, but this book will leave you wondering about it all. Well written, deeply researched with revealing interviews of key players, here is a guide to a normally unseen history of the Cold War....more
LIGHTS OUT by Ted Koppel is a report on the possibility, and preparedness for, an attack on the power system in America. It is all encompassing, deta LIGHTS OUT by Ted Koppel is a report on the possibility, and preparedness for, an attack on the power system in America. It is all encompassing, detailed, well researched and scary as hell. This is a book that everyone in the electrical power organization, as well as all politicians with the authority to plan for what feels like the inevitable attack, should read. There are three sections to the book. A Cyberattack details what has already happened against our power grid, and the responses to it. Mr. Koppel (The Emmy and Peabody award winning journalist) interviews those in power and researches into what it would take to attack us through this means, the major players who would stand to gain, and the wild cards. A Nation Unprepared details the lack of planning, foresight or the wishful thinking of agency after agency. It appears we are a nation of reactors, willing to pitch in to fix something once it has happened, but we are not so good at preparing for possibilities. To be fair, the range of possibilities spans a universe of events, happenings and accidents, and to prepare for everything eventually means nothing would get done today. The third section focuses on what people are doing to prepare for the worst. You've heard of them, read about them, know some of them, maybe even are them. They are the Preppers and they come in all varieties and causes. These are the individuals who have taken it upon themselves to get ready for what might be coming. They are not going to rely on any government to get them through an extraordinary, life threatening event. They, in the American spirit, believe and rely on themselves, their family and their friends. LIGHTS OUT is a well tempered report aimed at alerting all of America to a very real possibility. Mr Koppel leaves it to the reader to reply in whatever manner they see fit. As for me, I'm thinking about solar panels on my south facing roof. I might not be a bad thing to get off the grid a bit. I won this book through the GoodReads program....more
SPACEMAN by astronaut Mike Massimino is a delightful autobiography of a man who most people recognize as the actor playing the role of an astronaut o SPACEMAN by astronaut Mike Massimino is a delightful autobiography of a man who most people recognize as the actor playing the role of an astronaut on "The Big Bang Theory." He is the astronaut who gives Howard the nickname "Froot Loops" and has been seen in several episodes. This is typecasting at it's finest. Professor Massimino (Georgia Tech) is a NASA trained astronaut with two Hubble repair missions to his credit. This is the story of how a starry eyed New York kid who wanted to either fly in space or pitch for a New York team somehow, rather incredibly managed to do both, although the space thing managed to happen long before the pitching happened. At 6' 4" he was rather too tall. His eye sight is poor. Despite a Bachelor's degree from Columbia, two Masters and a PhD from MIT, he wasn't in aeronautics or any other degree program you would normally associate with NASA. He was never a test pilot or in the military although he did later learn to fly. Despite all that, he did accomplish his dream of NASA. And later, he got the chance to toss out the opening pitch at a Mets game. This book is a warm, almost child's eye view of his incredible life up to this point. And that wistfulness of the child can be found in almost every page bringing an endearing quality to the tale. As we read along we get the sense that Dr. Massimino has never strayed too far from the child who saw the first landing on the moon and said, "I want to do that" This is a loving look at family and friends, the NASA family that supports each other no matter what, the family of his parents and his wife and children, and the loving bonds that united all of them. It is a story of great success and heart-breaking loss, as when the shuttle Columbia came apart on reentry, taking close friends with it. But most of all this is a story of hope and faith and the determination to work against the odds while following a dream. When you read this book you will have no doubt why this is the current face of NASA. And you will wonder where your inner child went, and why you didn't listen a little closer to their hopes and dreams. I won this book through the GoodReads program....more
THE MAN WHO FORGOT HOW TO READ by Howard Engel is yet another treatise on the odd and confusing thing we call the brain. Having suffered a minor stro THE MAN WHO FORGOT HOW TO READ by Howard Engel is yet another treatise on the odd and confusing thing we call the brain. Having suffered a minor stroke while sleeping, novelist Engel discovered to his great dismay he could no longer read. As the letters of his morning paper shifted from one script to another, the full range of his despair crept upon him. This is the true tale of a writer who could still write, but couldn’t read what was on the page he just produced. This is his story of struggle to master his affliction and attempt to resume a normal life. He has mastered the writing process once again, but this titanic struggle plays out with all the humanity and gutsiness one hopes to muster if faced with a similar problem. When I first picked up the book I thought it was another tale by Oliver Sacks and was pleased to find that A) it wasn’t and B) there was an afterward by Dr. Sacks. Along the narrative way we see Mr. Engel struggle to revert back a semblance of his normal life, and in his journey he struck up a friendship with Dr. Sacks. While the good doctor did not assist in the therapy through which Mr. Engel struggled, it was good to read his comments on the situation. This is a harrowing tale that unfortunately could strike anyone of us. If only we all had the determination and drive shown by this author the future might seem less off-putting. This was simply a mesmerizing tale of a triumphant battle against what would appear to be an impossible roadblock. Turn to this story for inspiration. ...more
Jack Reacher is back and this time it is PERSONAL. Reacher gets pulled into an international investigation after the president of France is the targe Jack Reacher is back and this time it is PERSONAL. Reacher gets pulled into an international investigation after the president of France is the target of a sniper attack. There are only a select group of shooters capable of hitting from the distance and one is an ex-soldier that Reacher had sent to prison 16 years before. He is out for a year and now missing. Soon Reacher is teamed up with a young CIA agent and the pair is shipped off to Paris where they meet up with members of the Russian and British agencies, both on the track of possibilities from their own countries. After a quick shoot-out, it is on to London for the final confrontation, if Reacher and the CIA can stay ahead of gangsters, both foreign and domestic, as all as the mechanizations of several intelligence apparatus. Once again things aren’t all that them seem and alliances are mercurial. One of the fun things about the Reacher character is he does not take bullshit from anyone. He can listen calmly to the worst string of lies and then, just as calmly, walk the talker back through it all, exposing every detail of what they were trying to hide. Although he is a big, brawny guy, it is his mind that is his most potent weapon and here it is in high gear. There are some scenes here that are surreal in nature, giving the reader the need for an extra boost in the imagination department. This may not be as action packed as some of the previous Reacher novels, but even the slower points in the book have a subtle drive to them, and when the action does happen, look out! When it is firing on all cylinders, PERSONAL is as fast a paced action novel as they write. This was a Goodreads win, one that made me set aside the other books I was reading and immediately jump into, devouring it in a day. Now I suppose I’ll have to slow down and read it again. ...more
PHYSICS FOR ROCK STARS: MAKING THE LAWS OF THE UNIVERSE WORK FOR YOU by Christine McKinley is probably the most fun I’ve ever had while reading a boo PHYSICS FOR ROCK STARS: MAKING THE LAWS OF THE UNIVERSE WORK FOR YOU by Christine McKinley is probably the most fun I’ve ever had while reading a book about physics. And I have probably learned more about force, motion, pressure, fluid dynamics, lift, drag, friction, thrust and just about every variable there is when it comes to defining the universe. Oh, and how to rock a mike. I liked the name of the book right off the bat, but then I started reading about Ms. McKinley’s high school adventures down the rabbit hole of the arcane, dark science of dark matter and nature and enjoyed every minute of it. Each chapter takes on a different aspect of the field, breaks it down and defines it through some outrageous examples, yet manages to relay the information right to the center of your mind. Even the sleepiest of students would find a boost in their academic careers by reading this, perhaps chapter by chapter, before entering a kindred themed science class. Ms. McKinley, duel purposed mechanical engineer and television host, makes it entertaining to learn. I think I was fortunate to have had many teachers who could both enlighten and entertain; this book can help those do neither. I gave this book four stars only because I think I will like her next book even more and you can't go up from five. Give it 4.5 stars....more
Simply put, THE ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF INSECTS is a beautiful book, once you get past the “yuck” factor of the nasty little beasties on review. I fo Simply put, THE ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF INSECTS is a beautiful book, once you get past the “yuck” factor of the nasty little beasties on review. I found it fascinating while most of those who surround me on a daily basis and are interested in what I am currently reading took one look and quickly walked away. That is their loss as the book is a wonderful view into an alien world that surrounds us and impacts our lives every day. Mr. Phillips spent his entire life collecting and cataloging and, using the scanning electron microscope, photographed a vast array of insect life. As the author of over 200 papers in scientific journals and having had his photographs appear in hundreds of scholarly works, he has taken the best of it all and encapsulated it here in a beautifully designed and easy to read book. Separated into chapters dealing with the various structures of the insects involved (i.e., the wing, the leg, the thorax, etc.), each system has detailed photos, about 150 in toto, each with accompanying sidebars revealing just what you are seeing in the illustration, as well as a well informed talk about what each system does, how it assists the animal to accomplish certain goals, and in some cases how it has allowed the insects to adopt to every changing situations and environments. This is a well-done book, classically beautiful in its design, layout and information presentation. Both a coffee-table book and a scientific paper, THE A & A OF INSECTS is well recommended to both the scholar and the well read amateur. I won this prize through Goodreads. ...more
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