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diff --git a/books/2016.page b/books/2016.page index 53bd8a0..529b708 100644 --- a/books/2016.page +++ b/books/2016.page @@ -1,38 +1,53 @@ The Good Terrorist, by Doris Lessing (1985) +-------------------------------------------- Reinventing Discovery, by Michael Nielsen (2011) +-------------------------------------------- Collapse, Jared Diamond (2005) +-------------------------------------------- Whole Earth Discipline, Steward Brand (2010) +--------------------------------------------- The Human Experiment: Two Years and Twenty Minutes Inside Biosphere 2, by Jane Pynter (2006) +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - One of my favorite reads of the year! - History of the project is fascinating. Sounds like the habitat itself was - amazingly ambitious and well constructed, but the social organization fell - apart after that and there wasn't discipline in running the experiments. - Disapointed to learn how exogenous the habitat was regarding air - conditioning and electricity, really only focused on mass transfer. I don't - really consider the first run a "failure" due to air exchange; seems like a - lot was learned, especially regarding social cohesion, which I would - consider part of the experiment. - The first large chunk of the book is very autobiographical, and it's an - interesting life story. Sort of orthogonal to the experiment itself, though - it does give context for how the whole thing got off the ground as a hippie - collective, which I found pretty inspiring. - Crazy historical detail: Steve Bannon (Breitbart editor and Trump - presidential advisor) was involved in a repossesion of the Biosphere - facility! +One of my favorite reads of the year! + +History of the project is fascinating. Sounds like the habitat itself was +amazingly ambitious and well constructed, but the social organization fell +apart after that and there wasn't discipline in running the experiments. + +Disapointed to learn how exogenous the habitat was regarding air +conditioning and electricity, really only focused on mass transfer. I don't +really consider the first run a "failure" due to air exchange; seems like a +lot was learned, especially regarding social cohesion, which I would +consider part of the experiment. + +The first large chunk of the book is very autobiographical, and it's an +interesting life story. Sort of orthogonal to the experiment itself, though +it does give context for how the whole thing got off the ground as a hippie +collective, which I found pretty inspiring. + +Crazy historical detail: Steve Bannon (Breitbart editor and Trump presidential advisor) was involved in a repossesion of the Biosphere +facility! Death's End (Three Body Problem), Liu Cixin (刘慈欣). +----------------------------------------------------------- Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs +----------------------------------------------------------- Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, Dai Sijie (Rilke translation, 2002) +------------------------------------------------------------------------------ On the Shortness of Life, by Seneca +-------------------------------------------- + +More +------- Not cover to cover: * Manufacturing Process for Design Professionals diff --git a/books/2017.page b/books/2017.page index 7508d7a..6bc9837 100644 --- a/books/2017.page +++ b/books/2017.page @@ -1,16 +1,62 @@ -Vineland, Thomas Pynchon +Vineland, by Thomas Pynchon +----------------------------- Assembling California, by John McPhee (1993) +---------------------------------------------- + +Part of a series on geology of the USA, covering the California section, as +well as some history of plate tectonics in the 20th century. + +Good intro to the history and current geography of California on human +timescales as well: the 1989 earthquake, gold mining in the Sierras, Napa +valley wine country, the story of the Davis campus, etc. + +The last chapter, about earthquakes in the SF bay area, was as powerful as the +July 2015 New Yorker article ("The Really Big One") about tsunamis in the +Pacific Northwest. + +The Hall of the Singing Caryatids, by Victor Pelevin (2011) +------------------------------------------------------------ + +I think it's decent? Mako totally spoilered this entire (very short book) ahead +of time. + +Making of the Atomic Bomb, by Richard Rhodes +-------------------------------------------------------- + +Dark Sun, by Richard Rhodes +-------------------------------------------------------- + +Curve of Binding Energy, by John McPhee +-------------------------------------------------------- + +Read this as a compliment to *Making of the Atmoic Bomb*, partially because I +had described *Making* to a friend as being "well written as McPhee" and wanted +to cross check. McPhee is more polished and doesn't drop the beat as much, +while Rhodes is a much longer and deeper ride. This particular book seems to +have had a huge impact when it was published, but as a victim of that success +it's a little dated now for a general reader. I enjoyed reading it as a +complement and second source for Rhodes (though they do end up +cross-referencing each other), but wouldn't recommend it to others today. + +True Believer, by Eric Hoffer +-------------------------------------------------------- + +Empire Star, by Samuel Delany (1966) +-------------------------------------- + +Babel-17, by Samuel Delany (1966) +-------------------------------------- + +Nova, by Samuel Delany (1968) +-------------------------------------- + +Several people recommended Sam Delany to me in the course of a couple weeks, +and I couldn't be happier that they did! All of his books have been great, but +I particularly enjoyed the (short) *Empire Star* as a crisp self-contained +nugget. + +Walkaway, by Cory Doctorow (2017) +-------------------------------------------------------- - Part of a series on geology of the USA, covering the California section, as - well as some history of plate tectonics in the 20th century. - Good intro to the history and current geography of California on human - timescales as well: the 1989 earthquake, gold mining in the Sierras, Napa - valley wine country, the story of the Davis campus, etc. - The last chapter, about earthquakes in the SF bay area, was as powerful as - the July 2015 New Yorker article ("The Really Big One") about tsunamis in - the Pacific Northwest. - -Not cover to cover: -* Engineering a Safer World |