I have a strange feeling that the following six months might mark some kind of turning point. (Actually, I have this feeling every six months.) Apart from a couple of “opportunities”, my biggest aspirations are to reset my sleeping patterns, and read more books. Somewhat conflicting goals, since reading often keeps me up all night. At the [...]
My purpose holds to sail beyond the sunset, and read more books. It may be that Moby Dick has first claim to my attention; the great white whale has been waiting for me to finish his story for…a long time. I cannot remember exactly how long. But there is another book that I want to [...]
The books that help you most are those which make you think the most. The hardest way of learning is that of easy reading; but a great book that comes from a great thinker is a ship of thought, deep freigthed with truth and beauty. Theodore Parker Without books, the development of civilization would have [...]
In December I read a book called “Conversations on the uses of Science and Technology” by Normal Hackerman and Kenneth Ashworth. It really is conversations: the text is structured as dialogue. It is quite short but somewhat boring. Nothing earthshattering about it. The role of science in society, the role of technology, their relationship, how [...]
Because our department is situated far from the main campus, I seldom have a chance to visit the university’s main library. The separate library for engineering is much closer and contains most of the Computer Science collection, but sometimes one needs material from a broader field. Today I had to deliver a form to admin, and [...]
My reading has fallen behind significantly. My reading list is lost somewhere or – to be more accurate – it is… unlost. I have many different copies lying around that I must sort out. There should be a word for this kind of opposite of lost. A famine of plenty? Nah. In any case, I [...]
I am reading Allan Bloom’s book called “The Closing of the American Mind”. This is about the most challenging book I have ever read. Every sentence, almost every phrase, is an uphill climb. Like a long marathon, every word a mile. But once I reach the summit, the vista of new meaning makes it worth [...]
I will freely admit that I suffer from a terrible disease called blogdearth: the inability to write frequent blog entries. Is there a cure? Who knows. Promises to be more regular sound so empty… In any case, this is record that I finished “This is your Brain on Music” by Daniel Levitin. Such an excellent [...]
I must admit I’m kinda hooked on Kathy Reichs right now. I’ve only read “Death du jour” and “Break no bones”, but I’m actively looking around for the next one. I have a lot of books I’d like to read, but “Bare Bones”‘s cover looks so good, that I’ll add it to my buy list. [...]
At one point my friend Beatrice told me to read this book and for some reason I was reluctant to do so. In my mind the topic was “boring”, perhaps too politically-loaded to interest me. At the same time she recommended another book — I forget the title — which I did read and enjoy, [...]