Whatya reading currently?

[miraja2]

Originally Posted by Danzig

mccullough is excellent.
i also recommend alexander hamiltons bio by ron chernow. fantastic book, great subject.

Stuff like that is okay, if that is the kind of stuff you like. I'm not going to tell people what to read, but if you are really interested in history I would suggest reading stuff written by actual historians instead.
Neither McCullough nor Chernow are trained historians and it shows in their work. They are both good writers, and that is why they win awards like the Pulitzer, but the quality of their scholarship is more than questionable.
Ellis - who you also mentioned - actually IS a PhD and his work is (not surprisingly) a little bit better.
If you are really interested in something like the American Revolution and Early Republic however, I would reccomend reading the stuff from real scholars like Rosemarie Zagarri, Woody Holton, T.H. Breen etc. It might not always be as cleverly written as the stuff the journalists like Chernow produce, but the level of analysis dwarfs anything these untrained people attempt.

What was written by Miraja above is a huge problem in Science.
But writers like Asimov, Gould, Dawkins, are all writers
that have done real science. Same for Sagan. Even though
he got a little maudlin at times with the sci fi. Also RIP.

Sagan wrote a great book on what science is and is not
that should be read by all who like the power of logic and
reasoning, "The Demon Haunted World". Of course one could
conclude that the book is terribly flawed, look who recommends it.

[hockey2315]

Love Sagan. . . Have you read Smolin's "The Trouble with Physics"? I have it but can't decide if I feel like reading it yet. . .

Originally Posted by hockey2315

Love Sagan. . . Have you read Smolin's "The Trouble with Physics"? I have it but can't decide if I feel like reading it yet. . .

No. But now I am going to look it up.

I think the one I mentioned is Sagan's best nonfiction.
It really is so well written and reasoned out. Should
be required reading for all those that go to card-readers
or astrologists. And those probed by Aliens.

[hockey2315]

Originally Posted by pgardn

No. But now I am going to look it up.

it's anti-string theory. . .

Originally Posted by hockey2315

it's anti-string theory. . .

Yes I read about it.
The stuff is very difficult for me.
Quantum mechanics is also very difficult.
The big and the small end of Physics are tough
for things like us in the middle.

It really is just modeling based on some data
and lots of math. It is very counterintuitive to
our everday analogies. So much so that it is
given names that very often innaccurately portray
what the physicists are actually trying to get across.

As an example:
The word Wave in Physics is a very difficult concept.
It seems easy enough, water, waves, but E-M waves
are so much different. But its the best description...

acchhh its kind of like just naming phenomena automatically messes
up the real idea. I dont know if that makes any sense but it
does to a biochemistry guy turned physics teacher.

[hockey2315]

I know what you mean. . . string/m theory, quantum mechanics, etc... are very counterintuitive and hard to understand unless you're a theoretical physicist. . . I'm more concerned with the implications of those types of theories rather than the actual science because I'm a philosophy major. . .

[hi_im_god]

Originally Posted by pgardn

No. But now I am going to look it up.

I think the one I mentioned is Sagan's best nonfiction.
It really is so well written and reasoned out. Should
be required reading for all those that go to card-readers
or astrologists. And those probed by Aliens.

demon haunted world should be required reading for all.

i'd add the two richard feynman books, "surely you're joking, mr feynman!" and "what do you care what other people think?".

the former for the head. the latter for the heart.

Originally Posted by hi_im_god

demon haunted world should be required reading for all.

i'd add the two richard feynman books, "surely you're joking, mr feynman!" and "what do you care what other people think?".

the former for the head. the latter for the heart.

This is getting a bit scary.
Richard Feynman is also really good.

This is sort of the reason I started this thread.
I knew people were out there ...

Horse Racing can attract some very diff. types.
Kinda weird. Im not sure why. Sort of artsy, sort
of science I guess. Just dont have the time to understand
as much as I should.

[Oaklawnfan]

Hawai'i Magazine. Man it really sends me out there. I love the stories about the Paniolo on Parker's Ranch. You know, they go to the sports bars at 7am their time to watch horse racing.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by miraja2

Stuff like that is okay, if that is the kind of stuff you like. I'm not going to tell people what to read, but if you are really interested in history I would suggest reading stuff written by actual historians instead.
Neither McCullough nor Chernow are trained historians and it shows in their work. They are both good writers, and that is why they win awards like the Pulitzer, but the quality of their scholarship is more than questionable.
Ellis - who you also mentioned - actually IS a PhD and his work is (not surprisingly) a little bit better.
If you are really interested in something like the American Revolution and Early Republic however, I would reccomend reading the stuff from real scholars like Rosemarie Zagarri, Woody Holton, T.H. Breen etc. It might not always be as cleverly written as the stuff the journalists like Chernow produce, but the level of analysis dwarfs anything these untrained people attempt.

i read a little bit of everything, minus science fiction and romance novels. i have some history books here as well, both american and european.

i forgot to also recommend the two books on hitler, 'hubris' and 'nemesis' by ian kershaw. also 'constantine's sword' by james carroll.

i have american creation by jos. ellis, but haven't read it yet. one of the books i'll take on vacation.

[Danzig]

and i know you said nonfiction, but you need to read (unless you just absolutely don't care for civil war era books) the trilogy by michael and jeff shaara. gods and generals, the killer angels, and the last full measure.

[_ed_]

To The Swift, edited by Joe Drape. Really enjoying it.

[Bigsmc]

Originally Posted by Danzig

and i know you said nonfiction, but you need to read (unless you just absolutely don't care for civil war era books) the trilogy by michael and jeff shaara. gods and generals, the killer angels, and the last full measure.

All three are outstanding.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Bigsmc

All three are outstanding.

jeff shaara has started a WW2 trilogy, the first is 'the rising tide'. pretty good stuff!

[Mortimer]

It makes sense that way too morty. . .

"Maybe he's my favorite philosopher"

"He may be my favorite philosopher"


That's really deep.









( GOD! )

[paisjpq]

for fun, read The Physics of Christmas it covers everything from why Santa Claus is fat to the thermodynamics of cooking a turkey, not a serious book obviously but entertaining.

[Mortimer]

Oh my God.




That James Frey book is next...I just know it.

[Mortimer]

What?...no one going to recommend ... Nitrogen Repair: It's Not That Hard.

[paisjpq]

Originally Posted by Mortimer

Oh my God.




That James Frey book is next...I just know it.

true or not, I enjoyed that book