Books I am currently reading
I have been reading some other blogs to see how this is done and notice that there is not a lot of useful information out there. I would like to believe that this blog will be something different but so far I have not thought of a way to make it stand out.
Just to get into the habit of posting I am going to list some of the books I am currently reading. When I finish them I may get around to reviewing them. A standard format for the review would encourage me to continue with the process and maybe eventually assemble some useful information that others will find interesting.
Currently I am reading the following books:
Non-Fiction:
Short Oxford History of Europe, The Early Middle Ages by Rosamond McKitterick
The title says it all. Europe from 400-1000
The Influence of Islam on Medieval Europe by W. Montgomery Watt
A series of lectures on Islamic (mostly Arab) contributuons to the developement of Europe
Warped Passages Unravelling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions by Lisa Randall
A explanation of current thinking in Physics especially cosmology and quantuum physics. I usually breeze through pop-science books like A Brief History of Time. This one is a little tougher than most but goes into modern theories in a deeper way. I will try to struggle through it to the end.
Fiction:
Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer
A story about a shipfull of aliens that come to Earth to investigate what they say is evidence of God's manipulation of Evolution. It is pro science and anti intelligent design but points out the many arguements from a physics point of view that seem to indicate that the Universe was designed to produce living things. It was entertaining, had good clear ideas and well developed characters. Good for an afternoon's reading.
These were not full reviews, just a list of books I haven't quite finished. In the future I will try to write a full review of say, one book a week.
Just to get into the habit of posting I am going to list some of the books I am currently reading. When I finish them I may get around to reviewing them. A standard format for the review would encourage me to continue with the process and maybe eventually assemble some useful information that others will find interesting.
Currently I am reading the following books:
Non-Fiction:
Short Oxford History of Europe, The Early Middle Ages by Rosamond McKitterick
The title says it all. Europe from 400-1000
The Influence of Islam on Medieval Europe by W. Montgomery Watt
A series of lectures on Islamic (mostly Arab) contributuons to the developement of Europe
Warped Passages Unravelling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions by Lisa Randall
A explanation of current thinking in Physics especially cosmology and quantuum physics. I usually breeze through pop-science books like A Brief History of Time. This one is a little tougher than most but goes into modern theories in a deeper way. I will try to struggle through it to the end.
Fiction:
Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer
A story about a shipfull of aliens that come to Earth to investigate what they say is evidence of God's manipulation of Evolution. It is pro science and anti intelligent design but points out the many arguements from a physics point of view that seem to indicate that the Universe was designed to produce living things. It was entertaining, had good clear ideas and well developed characters. Good for an afternoon's reading.
These were not full reviews, just a list of books I haven't quite finished. In the future I will try to write a full review of say, one book a week.
posted by DunScotus | 2:04 PM
2 Comments:
You're reading all those books at once? God, how do you keep track?
Post about what you think of Randall's Hidden Dimensions book... I'd like to know.
I try not to read more than one book at a time but if something is difficult (like the Warped Passages book) I get easily distracted. The Calculating God book I knocked off on a Saturday and so I should not say I am 'currently reading' it. The Oxford History of Europe book I read a chapter at a sitting. I alternate that with the Muslim Contributions to Europe in the Middle Ages. They compliment and give context to each other. Both of the latter are from the library so that helps me to focus on them as I need to finish them before they are due back.
In contrast to the library books, I own the Warped Passages book so there is not as much urgency to get it finished.
Now that you sort of requested a review of it, I have an incentive or excuse to focus on it. Thank you. I will try to make my next post about it. So far it is very interesting and gets into the details that most pop science books gloss over. The closest thing to it in book form I have read previously is "The Dancing Wu Li Masters" which it resembles only in subject matter. Wu Li Masters is way out of date and mixes in some unneccessary pseudo-new age mysticism. Warped Passages is more straight forward and seems up to date and cutting edge but I am not a cosmologist or physicist so I really have no basis for comparison outside of reading articles in Scientific American or Nova TV episodes on quantum physics.
By that standard Lisa Randall knows what she is talking about and explains it clearly. I am just having a little trouble integrating the information about the various classifications of particles and the differences between them (fermions vs. bosons, leptons, hadrons etc.) The bigger picture things like branes and extra dimensions I have a vague idea about and seem able to follow along on. Of course if she were to quiz me on the subtle differences between her work and other people in the same field I would not be able to tell you the differences between her point of view and theirs.
I am running on. I will have to make notes while I am reading and write up something coherent from the point of view of a curious layperson who is not a physics major.
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