Category Archives: Science and technology

How to Avoid a Climate Disaster

Posted on March 14, 2021 by Harry Katz

Around the world we humans are adding an average of fifty-one billion (51,000,000,000) tons of greenhouse gasses to Earth’s atmosphere every year. To avoid a climate disaster, we need to get to zero. 51 billion to zero. That’s how Microsoft … Continue reading →

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Always Day One

Posted on February 21, 2021 by Harry Katz

Always Day One: How the Tech Titans Plan to Stay on Top Forever by Alex Kantrowitz takes its title from an Amazon corporate motto. “It’s always Day 1” is designed to inspire Amazon employees with a startup mentality; lean, fast, … Continue reading →

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More From Less

Posted on December 2, 2019 by Harry Katz

More From LessBy Andrew McAfeeScribner, New York, 2019 More From Less is a book about dematerialization Demawhat?  No, it’s not some sort of Star Trek transporter technology. Dematerialization is the phenomenon of producing the same goods from less material and … Continue reading →

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Growth

Posted on November 10, 2019 by Harry Katz

Growth:  From Microorganisms to Megacities By Vaclav Smil The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2019 People used to think growth was a good thing.  Politicians, economists and business leaders brag about healthy or robust growth in jobs, GDP, and profits.  But … Continue reading →

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Infinite Powers

Posted on June 30, 2019 by Harry Katz

Infinite PowersBy Steven StrogatzHoughton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, 2019 Okay, I admit it, even for me this is a geeky book.  Infinite Powers:  How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe is about the history of calculus and its impact on … Continue reading →

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Super blood wolf moon lunar eclipse

Posted on January 20, 2019 by Harry Katz

Tonight’s rare “super blood wolf moon” lunar eclipse coincided with an equally rare clear January night in Seattle.  My little point-and-shoot digital camera didn’t do it proper justice, but it gives you an idea of what we saw. Eclipses are … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Reinventing the Sacred

Posted on March 10, 2012 by Harry Katz

Reinventing the Sacred By Stuart A. Kauffman Basic Books, New York, 2008 I really admire the scope and boldness of Stuart Kauffman’s 2008 book Reinventing the Sacred. Prof. Kauffman is a biologist and complexity theorist. He sets out not merely … Continue reading →

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