Category Archives: Science and technology
Livewired
Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain left me feeling both awed and comforted by the astonishing capabilities of the human brain. Consider this: Your brain can listen to music, learn to play the violin, read sheet music, translate … Continue reading
The Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy
This is the first book in a long time that I DNF – did not finish. I was attracted to the book by its title: The Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy: What Animals on Earth Reveal About Aliens – and … Continue reading
The Code Breaker
If you think the digital revolution is having profound effects on human society, buckle up because the biotech revolution is just getting underway and it will redefine, even redesign, our species. Ever since the early 1950’s when James Watson and … Continue reading
Sapiens
Last year, I read 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari, which I reviewed here. Several friends recommended I read Harari’s earlier book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. Now I know why. It’s an excellent book. As the … Continue reading
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster
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
Always Day One
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
More From Less
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
Growth
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
Infinite Powers
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
Super blood wolf moon lunar eclipse
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
