So what is everyone reading?

[Chacmool]

I finally got a copy of Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. I'm about a third of the way through, and so far it's an interesting read. The translation seems a bit unidiomatic, though - I can't exactly put my finger on what is bothering me, but I wish I could have rather read it in the original Italian.

[Turtle]

____I never read that book, but some magazine or another published a nice piece on Focault a while back. He is a fascinating character & his work is as inspiring as it is cogent. The Rose Garden sports arena in Portland Or has a Foucault pendulum suspended from the roof of the atrium, complete with little hinged metal plates which it knocks down over the day's course.

___Does this book talk about his work with gyroscopes as well? Nice book pick Chacmool. :rant:

[Chacmool]

Does this book talk about his work with gyroscopes as well?

So far it has focused mainly on the Templars and their history. The book hasn't yet gone into much detail about Foucault and his work (except for a brief mention of the pendulum). I'll have to do some background reading, it seems :rant:

[GAHD]

hehe, How to prove the world is round, Pendulum and sand...

 

Most current on my reading list is "Casting Iron" by C. W. Ammen 1984

 

Oldish book, written in a very runabout, tell of personal experience kind of fashion. Refers to the practice as 'The Beast' a lot.

 

It's a good book for anyone looking to learn how to operate, or even build a few types of blast-furnace. The techniques can be applied to melting a variaty of metals, but it has limited use in alloying or other such preactices.

 

It is definatly not light on the practics of casting; with many examples of what can go wrong, explanations of why, and quick & easy fixes. It also goes into a lot of detail on mixing different 'Iron compositions', with everything from car engine blocks to Farm equipment.

[Tormod]

hehe, How to prove the world is round, Pendulum and sand...

 

Actually...wouldn't that only prove that it rotates? It could still be flat.

 

Anyway, just finished reading "Diamond dogs, Turqiose days" by Alastair Reynolds. Two short novels in one book, set in his Revelation Space universe. Great stuff.

[whoa182]

Reading:

 

- The 120 Year Diet: How to Double Your Vital Years

- Molecular Biology of the Cell

 

Just finished reading:

 

- The Longevity Diet: Discover Calorie Restriction - the Only Proven Way to Slow the Aging Process and Maintain Peak Vitality

- More than human

- The new quantum Universe

[greenprof]

Hi -

How was the new quantum universe? I just finished Simon Winchester's The Map that Changed the World, excellent. Just before that, Hitler's Scientists, gripping and very thought provoking. Both were for different reasons.

[Dark Mind]

Welcome aboard greenprof :). Maybe you could post an introduction in the Introductions Forum :D.

 

I've thought about reading Hitler's Scientists' before, and with this positive input I'll probably have to pick it up :). Not sure if we're thinking about the same book though, as there are many books by this title, at least that I've seen :lol:...

[CraigD]

Saints preserve me, I’m reading “The Shadow and the Flash: The Complete SF of Jack London Vol. 1”.

 

From its afterwards: “… London’s racism is even stronger than his socialist beliefs … London’s belief in spiritualist ideas … London was not an innovator … had little effect on the main current of the genre …”

 

They left out “London clearly had some unresolved issues with his father, and some strange ideas about women.”

 

212,496 words! And that’s just volume 1! If I make it through this, I’ll have demonstrated a stoical resolve I didn’t know I had.

[Buffy]

They left out “London clearly had some unresolved issues with his father, and some strange ideas about women.”

You're brave Craig! My mom studied him when she was getting a masters in history (California), and the guy had more than a few problems: He made Hemingway look like a teetotaler... Its also hard for us today to get our heads around how white folks--even those that were incredibly liberal--talked about minorities with a sort of benevolent superiority that now sounds incredibly racist. I think this really comes out in London.

 

Personally, I always though he was overrated, and that his best known stuff (e.g. Call of the Wild and White Fang), was his worst. What I liked best was his non-fiction-style stuff on the Klondike, but that's mainly personal-interest as I've got a bunch of gold-rush-types in my family going way back...

 

Chilly,

Buffy

[Buffy]

Oh and I just started re-reading "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" by Charles Mackay. I had an ancient copy of this long ago that I'd inherited but lost, and its one of my favorite books...a must read for everyone interested in popular culture, fads and why things go wrong....

 

Cheers,

Buffy

[pgrmdave]

I always liked To Build a Fire by Jack London, but I didn't read much of his work.

 

Currently, I'm reading Dust, by Charles Pellegrino.

[Jay-qu]

Im reading About Time by Paul Davies and Im really enjoying it!

[Tormod]

Im reading About Time by Paul Davies and Im really enjoying it!

 

Is that a new one? I read his "How to build a time machine" which was cool (except it failed to tell you how to build a time machine :hihi: ).

[Jay-qu]

no, not really it was first published in 1995. Apparently his 'god and the new physics' is really good also - its on my reading list

[cwes99_03]

As always I'm reading the bible, but I'm also reading Einstein's Universe by Nigel Caulder. It's ok, not technical at all, though it has stirred up a few questions for me to look into on SR.

[rockytriton]

Right now I'm on book 8 of Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series.