This section contains my occasional book reviews. You can find my movie reviews here.
Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 08:40PM My knowledge of Buddhism and the Buddha is minimal. I approached this 8-volume manga series purely out of curiosity when I saw it sitting on the shelf in the graphic novels section of the Alexandria Public Library.
Monday, February 15, 2010 at 12:00AM Corfield starts at Mercury and works his way out. In the process he summarizes what we know now about the solar system (circa 2007) now that we’ve had several decades of (mostly) robot exploration.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at 11:59AM In 1872 the HMS Challenger left England on a two year voyage of scientific discovery.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at 07:37AM Whenever I feel I’ve been reading too much non-fiction or I just want to read a good story with interesting characters I turn to W. Somerset Maugham.
Saturday, August 29, 2009 at 11:48AM In this fascinating and accessible book Ed Regis concludes that the maintenance of metabolic processes is really the primary indicator of “life.” But by the time that point is reached in the book, it doesn’t really matter.
Thursday, May 14, 2009 at 08:36PM If all you know about the Middle Ages consists of warfare, popes, and kings, and you want to know what daily life was really like, this is the book for you.
Saturday, March 21, 2009 at 10:00PM Allen and Polmar convincingly demonstrate Truman’s justification for dropping the atom bomb on Japan to end World War II.
Saturday, November 22, 2008 at 04:42PM One of a series of novels by this author about a fictional Wyoming game warden named Joe Pickett, IN PLAIN SIGHT tells a gripping story that intertwines murder, family feud, politics, and a love of nature and the outdoors
Monday, October 27, 2008 at 08:27PM The subtitle of this book is “Caught in the Mystery of the Monarch Butterfly.” I was caught by this book’s beguiling tone, its lovely writing, and its respect for science and the mystery of the unknown that drives people to “do science.”
Sunday, October 5, 2008 at 01:44AM This 3-part book by Oliver Sacks from 1989 reviews the history of deaf education and language, the neurological underpinnings of language acquisition and deafness, and the student uprising at Gallaudet College in 1988.