Good Books read lately?

[Greg Steckler]

Years ago, in a business group called Opportunity Knocks, I was asked what my life goals were. One of the ones I listed was "Understanding the Internet" and what it means. Which, in subseqent years, I've realized is really part of a larger question (for me) is "where is the evolution of human knowledge (and dissemination of that knowledge) going and what does it all mean?"

One of my most favorite websites (beside Lhoti, of course) is PhysOrg.com (http://www.physorg.com) which is a rolling/breaking news site about science, astronomy, phsysics, nanotechnology.......cool stuff. I am amazed at the volume of new breakthroughs constantly being achieved across the globe. It seems to be increasing...and through the internet...disseminated.

So along those lines I bought Ray Kurzweil's Book The Sigularity is Near: When Humans transcend Biology . I'm about half-way through it. Fascinating reading.

So....
Whatcha' been reading lately? What do you recomend?

[Joe Bartok]

Thanks for the link Greg. I think I also found this Astronomy Picture of the Day (http://www.star.ucl.ac.uk/~apod/apod/ap051107.html) site through a link you posted in the Lhoti forum.
Reading? The Fabric of the Cosmos (http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780375412882) and The Elegant Universe (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0375708111/002-8442338-5951233?v=glance) by Brain Greene. That pretty much covers the light reading ...

[Greg Steckler]

Yes, Joe, Brian Greene is pretty good. Bought his book and actually read it twice. (Let's see someone do a Calibari-Yaw in wood!!) (I'm sure I misspelled that). He did a nice PBS special, too.


Stephan Wolfram's A New Kind of Science is.........huge.......and a tough read for me. Lots in there but gad....would he just get to the conclusion. After 2 years I'm only 2/3 done with it. :rolleyes:

APOD is hands down the best. Ya get a WOW! almost every day. Here's a big Wow from today's APOD :D

[Susan]

Aw, you guys make me feel like the dumb kid in class!! :o

[Greg Steckler]

Fiddle sticks! My younger daughter got an A in second year calculus...I flunked. My older daughter runs Log Rhythms....is twice as fast at AutoCAD as I am and is 5 times the business person I am. My wife outsmarts me every day. My mother-in-law is 81 and can run rings around me in bookkeeping. In my neck of the woods...women rule. Oh...and then there is Brun Helga, our office Manager, who runs the other part of my life...she makes good mustard at Christmas :D

[Greg Steckler]

Here is a Calabi-Yau

[Susan]

Greg,
The closest I get to science is good old fashioned science fiction. Right now I'm reading a collection of SF short stories - most from the 40's, 50's & 60's. Anything more complicated than that just goes right over my head!! :o

[Joe Bartok]

Science fiction is what I read when I want something serious and thought-provoking ... the science and math are just hobbies.
So ... which sci-fi author ranks as #1?

[Susan]

Well, I don't know about #1-but you couldn't have a top 10 without including Isaac Asimov. Everything I know about robots, I learned from Asimov!! ;)

There is a wonderful short story in the collection that I'm reading now by Stanislaw Lem. Has anybody read his novel "Solaris"?

[Joe Bartok]

Yeah, Isaac Asimov would definitely rank near the top of anyone's list. It was his short story "Nightfall" that turned me on to sci-fi. And I also enjoyed his essays on science and math.
Everything I know about robots, I learned from Asimov!!
A lot of others could say that too! I recall reading somewhere that Asimov's Four Laws of Robotics have influenced the majority of robot stories written by other authors.

[Greg Steckler]

Here is another Calabi-Yau inspired sculpture by Charles Perry in the lobby of the San Francisco Hyatt Regency

[Joe Bartok]

Now that is cool. I think I'll decorate one of those instead of a tree for the holiday season ...