Tag Archives: science

Review: We Are As Gods (2022)

I reviewed the documentary about controversial countercultural “visionary” Stewart Brand – he of the Whole Earth Catalog, which I remember seeing piled around in people’s houses in my childhood – but beyond, to his spearheading of the computer revolution and … Continue reading

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Happy Birthday, Galileo Galilei: “Eppur si muove.”

Sometimes I remember that pre-Paradise-Lost John Milton traveled to Italy and met with Galileo, who was under house arrest at the time, and it’s such an awe-inspiring and bizarre image I feel like I must have made it up. Milton … Continue reading

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Recommended Books: Non-Fiction

I have been meaning to do a Part 2 to my Recommended Books: Fiction list – put together years ago. I wanted to recommend non-fiction, from history books to biographies to essays to whatever. Here is the Non-Fiction list. I’ve … Continue reading

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Happy Π Day

It’s 3/14, which is Π Day (naturally). A couple of things: I’d like to direct you to one of the most fascinating New Yorker profiles I’ve ever read: It’s called “The Mountains of Pi”, and it’s from 1992, a profile … Continue reading

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2015 Books Read

Even I am impressed with how much I read this year. Along the course of the year, occasionally I’d think to myself, “Good job, Sheila, with your Self-Imposed Reading Plan!” I’ve read a lot of new novels (not really my … Continue reading

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The Books: Life Stories: Profiles from The New Yorker; edited by David Remnick; ‘The Mountains of Pi’, by Richard Preston

Next up on the essays shelf: Life Stories: Profiles from The New Yorker, edited by David Remnick Life Stories is a collection of “profiles” from The New Yorker, edited by David Remnick. The pieces span the 20th century, one of … Continue reading

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The Books: Isaac Newton, by James Gleick

Daily Book Excerpt: Biography Next biography on the biography shelf is Isaac Newton, by James Gleick Newton with his prism and silent face, The marble index of a mind for ever Voyaging through strange seas of Thought, alone. — William … Continue reading

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The Books: Einstein: The Life and Times, by Ronald W. Clark

Daily Book Excerpt: Biography Next biography on this shelf is Einstein: The Life and Times, by Ronald W. Clark There were people entering late and settling down in one of the boxes in the first tier. One of them, sitting … Continue reading

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The Books: The Periodic Table, by Primo Levi

Daily Book Excerpt: Memoirs: Next book on the Memoir/Letters/Journals shelf is The Periodic Table, by Primo Levi The Periodic Table, by Primo Levi, the Italian chemist, is one of the great books of the 20th century. In 2006, the Royal … Continue reading

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Speaking of Pi

I knew I had read a profile in the New Yorker years ago about Pi, and then remembered that I have it in one of the New Yorker compilations that I own. It’s called “The Mountains of Pi”, and it’s … Continue reading

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