A good vacation read, a serial murder on an idyllic Greek island. Some interesting characters. Plot somewhat weak, writing completely satisfactory. Don't recommend this book much but the writer might be good; might consider a second book by him.
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Metareligion: Religion and Power in World History by James W. Laine
This is a well written book which deals with religion and the state. He goes through history and religions and empires. The relation between "church" and state is always important. Religions are a threat to state power unless they can be used to stabilize and strengthen the state. Metareligion is those guiding principles that in a sense transcend particular religions and inform the group morality and ethos. The concluding chapter is a wonderful summary and I wish I had read it at the beginning as well as the end.
The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World by Andrea Wolf
(read aloud)
This is good book about a great man. He was once extremely famous like an Einstein or Newton but has been somewhat forgotten. The book is very good at showing his influence. The first part of the book captures his life and era in wonderful detail. His travels and remarkable discoveries are explained. His friendships with Goethe and all the major scientists of his day are chronicled.
The last half of the book is a detailed exploration of his great influence in the thinking of Thoreau, Darwin and John Muir and others. The author makes a good case for all of these, though my interest flagged at times. The portrait of Muir was wonderful and engaging.
The major premise, that Humboldt brought together the idea of nature as a unified interacting whole, may be true to some extent but the author mentions this so often that it becomes boring. I feel the book would be much improved it it was edited a little more for conciseness, especially the second half.
This is good book about a great man. He was once extremely famous like an Einstein or Newton but has been somewhat forgotten. The book is very good at showing his influence. The first part of the book captures his life and era in wonderful detail. His travels and remarkable discoveries are explained. His friendships with Goethe and all the major scientists of his day are chronicled.
The last half of the book is a detailed exploration of his great influence in the thinking of Thoreau, Darwin and John Muir and others. The author makes a good case for all of these, though my interest flagged at times. The portrait of Muir was wonderful and engaging.
The major premise, that Humboldt brought together the idea of nature as a unified interacting whole, may be true to some extent but the author mentions this so often that it becomes boring. I feel the book would be much improved it it was edited a little more for conciseness, especially the second half.
Less than Meets the Eye by David Berlinski
As a fan of his mathematics and science writing, I wanted to read his fiction. This is a mystery and the writing style is good; the main character is a wise guy who is well written but fairly typical. I didn't like the plot. The vacuous university administration is the main concept and is embarrassingly accurate. Written a few years ago, its portrayal of university students and administration is even more true today.
A Father's Child by Shelley Houston
A sequel to Julia and a unique mixture of love story, mystery, and drama. The characters are well crafted and the ending is exciting. As a ham I liked the ending.
Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder (Incerto) by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
A follow-up to The Black Swan, this book is very interesting. It is a work that is thought-provoking and controversial. The author is bombastic, caustic, critical and rude. But if you can get past the frequent eruptions, which many readers cannot, there is an insight or pregnant thought on every page.
The topic is risk and how future events can't be predicted but if something is "fragile" you can "predict" it will probably fail. Systems or organizations that are robust or "antifragile" can avoid failure. Systems or organizations that are made up of small parts that can fail without killing the whole thing are organisms and are antifragile. Nature is organic and antifragile. The prototype of fragility is banks that are too big to fail. They are propped up and this makes things worse and more fragile.
Ethics stem from having "skin in the game" i.e. what you recommend, if it fails, you lose as well, unlike banking executives. The captain who goes down with the ship.
Though you cannot predict Black Swans you can, use a "via negativa" removing or avoiding fragility.
He also discusses how organic systems benefit from hormesis which is stress that a part of the organism suffers which makes the whole stronger.
I recommend this book and plan to reread it and discuss it with other people.
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
Listened to this on a road trip to Tucson. Very enjoyable. Very interesting history of a brilliant man who came from a tragic Caribbean childhood and founded a nation and led it through its formation and had a plan for the nation but that plan was not followed but followed a more Jeffersonian path. He was a vital aide to Washington who in this book appears a little more neurotic than his typical description. Though the Broadway play is loosely based on this book it probably takes a very different view of Hamilton. Critics of the book quarrel with the authors presenting Hamilton as very abolitionist. The author is convincing but others say the facts are in dispute.
The Whistler by John Grisham
(read aloud)
Another lawyer story about corruption and Indian casinos. After becoming attached to the characters a tragedy happens and the suspense intensifies. We know who the bad guys are, but how to prove it, and who is The Whistler?
Another lawyer story about corruption and Indian casinos. After becoming attached to the characters a tragedy happens and the suspense intensifies. We know who the bad guys are, but how to prove it, and who is The Whistler?
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