The State of the Universe — Pedro G. Ferreira
A recently published book I got out of the library because I wanted to get caught up on the current state of astrophysics. This was somewhat of a disappointment as I kept stumbling over Ferreira’s explenations, which seemed to miss a step here or there. The problem is that a lot of astrophysics really only makes sense mathematically and explaining it by metaphor or analogy can be tricky.
The Cosmic Landscape — Leonard Susskind
Susskind’s attempt at doing the same thing went much smoother, though in fairness Ferreira attempted to do more than him, explaining the evolution of astrophysics as well as the current state of it. What helps is that Susskind has his own theory to sell.
Broken Angels — Richard Morgan
Takeshi Kovacs is a mercenary fighting a dirty war putting down a revolution on a planet mainly of interest due to its many Martian artifacts. He gets the chance of the lifetime when he is recruited to get one particular find located and safely sold to one of the Corporations, a find that will mean unlimited wealth and comfort for the rest of his life and a ticket out of the war, if he survives. Morgan has a reputation for being ultraviolent and having somewhat pushy leftwing politics in his stories, but while both were present here they felt right.
The Horn of Africa — Peter Woodward
A somewhat outdated (published in 1995) history of this region and the countries in it, in the context of their international relations with each other, other regional powers and the superpowers. Academic rather than polemic.
A Computer Called LEO — Georgina Ferry
LEO was the world’s first computer specifically designed for office work. And it wasn’t American, but British and not built by one of the giants of office automation like IBM, but by Lyons, the company running the Lyons teashops! A nice little history of how this computer came to be, made bittersweet by the inevitable failure to capitalise on this innovation.
Killing Hope — William Blum
A somewhat depressing catalogue of US military and CIA interventions since WWII. Required reading for anybody still harbouring illusions about the morality of US foreign policy or the nobility of Democratic governments.
The Ancestor’s Tale — Richard Dawkins
Using The Canterbury Tales as his templates, Dawkins tells the story of evolution backwards, going on a “piligrimage” to the beginning of life on earth, with more an more evolutionary splits joining at each rendez-vous, starting with ourselves and working our way back through our entire evolutionary history until our earliest singlecelled ancestor. A great book, only slightly marred when Dawkins gets distracted into a political rant every now and again.
The Gardener’s Year — Karel Capek
I only knew Capek as the playwright who gave the world the word we now use for any kind of mechanical man: robot. That he was also a keen gardener I did not realise, until I read this delightful little book, a year’s round guide to gardening, which made me laugh out loud several times. The drawings by his brother Joseph only add to the charm and humour.