dang, Meg Lowman is such a bad-ass impactful scientist! I was in total wonderment about all of her innovations and her persistence in the face of rampdang, Meg Lowman is such a bad-ass impactful scientist! I was in total wonderment about all of her innovations and her persistence in the face of rampant misogyny and harassments in the field of science.
I did enjoy her explanation of her research projects although by the end of the book I was skimming a bit as I felt she got a little to far into the weeds so to speak...more
Very readable non-fic book about how our evolutionary past can manifest in some common afflictions. The author is a teaching professor and it shows - Very readable non-fic book about how our evolutionary past can manifest in some common afflictions. The author is a teaching professor and it shows - he breaks down things well and uses helpful metaphors and humor to explain all the science. For me, the jokeyness was on the edge of being annoying, but overall it was good/ok.
Last year, I read so many books that had an intersectional POV, that it was kind of glaring to me how this author had an overall white, male, and most especially an American middle class POV. It wasn't like 1950s terrible or anything, it was just something I noted. ...more
I enjoyed the intertwining of personal history and scientific discovery. You can tell that Simard is such a keen observer, and how much it thrills her to make connections and discoveries. There is so much generosity of spirit in this book!...more
If this had been a longform article instead of a book, I would have enjoyed it more, as the author was prone to so much repetition. In some ways it reIf this had been a longform article instead of a book, I would have enjoyed it more, as the author was prone to so much repetition. In some ways it reminded me of many self-help books where everything is laid out in the first chapter or so and then the rest of the book is padding and repetition.
I do appreciate Loeb's thesis about the possibility that an intelligent-being-made extraterrestrial object has already passed by earth, and his caution to scientists and laypeople a like to keep an open mind and follow what evidence we have without discarding "far-fetched" possibilities. I can't say that I totally understand all the science discussed in the book, but I do think Loeb made it as accessible as he could
What I liked less: 1.his soapboxing about academia 2.his assertion that the question of "are we alone" is among the most important and profound of all questions 3.his assertion that if we find solid evidence that there is other life out there, that suddenly all of humanity will be humbled and we'll stop fighting each other 4.his insistence that we should be pouring billions of dollars into this endeavor 5.his belief that we owe it to humanity's future to see if we can extend our ability to life outside earth in case we wreck our planet 6.regarding points 3,4,5: would it not be a better use of money for us to use those billions of dollars/brain power/natural resources such as metal and glass to try to solve the climate crisis? and if he believes in point 3 so much, why didn't the first photo of our fragile blue planet from the 1960s end the Cold War? Stop us from polluting? Stop countries from vying to control space and creating space junk? I appreciate his optimism, but I think it is poorly placed 7. He lauds one of the creators of the atomic bomb for "helping to end the war with Japan swiftly" with no mention of the deaths of civilians - uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh okay
also I laughed out loud when I read his list of references at the end: hundred of articles, all authored by...himself...more
I have not read the original text-only version of this book so I am reviewing this graphic novel version as its own thing. Somehow I missed that this I have not read the original text-only version of this book so I am reviewing this graphic novel version as its own thing. Somehow I missed that this was a "vol 1" and not the complete graphic version of the original text. Not sure if this is going to end up being 2 volumes or more. If the creators are going for 2, I think they could have pared things down in this one in order to make it a single volume, but then again I suppose publishers will be making more money if there are more volumes.
I did find that the book got repetitive at times, even without some of the re-caps - and I also felt like there was too much filler at times. What that looked like was pages of dense text followed by pages of almost no text. I do like graphic novels to have a variety and rhythm of pattern, but I felt in this case some better editing could have benefited and I found myself skimming at times because I could tell that the information was redundant. It took me a month to read this thing!
The images were largely literal illustrations or metaphorical elements meant to make the information accessible and entertaining, but I was often wanting more informational visuals, such as more graphics showing us where we were in the timeline of sapiens history.
I wasn't always a fan of of the storytelling and visual choices, particularly a running gag called "Sapien Bill" which was meant to look kind Fred Flintstone / stereotypical 50s version of "cave people". Bill and his wife were portrayed as white people, and I think this was part of the stereotype joke that was attempted. The rest of the graphic novel portrayed Neanderthals and Sapiens as dark skinned people and attempted to be as accurate as one can be about beings for which we only have skeletons. I just found the "Bill" segments to be both jarring and unappealing in aesthetics and tone. I think a different gimmick would have worked better.
I did learn a lot, and some of the illustrative/narrative choices were whimsical and fun. The book is also very of-the-moment with a COVID-19 reference!
Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review....more
A fun fast read, if a little repetitive. I am a sucker for "list humor" (Key & Peele, I'm looking at you) so anytime Shane shared lists of weird AI-crA fun fast read, if a little repetitive. I am a sucker for "list humor" (Key & Peele, I'm looking at you) so anytime Shane shared lists of weird AI-created names I was there for it!
I suppose you could have gleaned much of this information from visiting the author's website AI Weirdness but I did find it helpful to have all these disparate ideas around AI knitted together.
Some of it wasn't a surprise - like the fact that AI can behave with discrimination or bias because it's learning from biased data made by biased humans - but it was still interesting to have more specifics. ...more
I see that it took me 10 months to finish this book - not because the writing wasn't engaging but because I wanted to take the time to read and absorbI see that it took me 10 months to finish this book - not because the writing wasn't engaging but because I wanted to take the time to read and absorb each essay (and also because it wasn't a library book I was in less of a rush, which was nice). I really loved the writing, and how each essay could stand alone but how they were also interconnected. I liked the meditative space that the book gave me permission to have. I appreciate the generosity of spirit and the hopefulness, especially when it comes to the challenges of climate change and other environmental degradations.
I finished the book on Canada's first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, which felt very fitting....more
I guess there was so much of this book that was written so beautifully that when it lapsed into bogged-down asides that it made me feel disappointed. I guess there was so much of this book that was written so beautifully that when it lapsed into bogged-down asides that it made me feel disappointed. I think a bit of pruning and editing would have really elevated this book to an all-time favorite. I get it though, Popova wants to illustrate the full web of connection between science and poetry, between contemporary luminaries, between secret lovers and secret queer folks, between people of the past and people yet to come. I'm guessing that she may have actually wanted this book to be longer and that she did actually trim it back, but I think it could have been done so more.
I did really enjoy learning about some amazing ladies that should be household names, and I did enjoy much of the soap opera revelations about thrupples and polyamory in the lives of famous people who I picture by their serious Victorian era photographs or portraits. And I did appreciate how much of a web of connection does bind many people and advances in art and science.
I got the feeling that Popova is the kind of person who keeps what was called a "commonplace book" (kind of a scrapbook for quotes and passages you like). I am not usually a person who takes notes during or after reading, but I did write down a handful of quotes and poems from this book....more
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