Author Archives: smellincoffee

About smellincoffee

Citizen, librarian, reader with a boundless wonder for the world and a curiosity about all the beings inside it.

Uncle Tungsten

Posted on May 26, 2020

Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood © 2001 Oliver Sacks 352 pages No future scientist was ever better primed for the life than Oliver Sacks.   You may know him as a neurologist and the author of numerous books … Continue reading →

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What the Robin Knows

Posted on May 24, 2020

What the Robin Knows: How Birds Reveal the Secrets of the Natural World © 2012  Jon Young 277 pages I don’t envy people for their boats,  wardrobes, or  wine collections, but if I meet someone who can ‘read’ the natural … Continue reading →

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The Science of Breaking Bad

Posted on May 23, 2020

The Science of Breaking Bad © 2019 David Trumbore,  Donna J. Nelson 264 pages Yeah, Mister White! Yeah, SCIENCE!  Breaking Bad remains the best-scripted, -filmed, and –acted show I’ve ever watched, and no matter how many times I watch a … Continue reading →

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The Body

Posted on May 22, 2020

The Body: A Guide for Occupants © 2019 Bill Bryson 464 pages Bill Bryson would like to introduce you to someone: yourself.  You really are a piece of work!   Other authors have explored various aspects of the human body in … Continue reading →

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The Goodness Paradox

Posted on May 21, 2020

The Goodness Paradox: The Strange Relationship Between Virtue and Violence in Human Evolution © 2019 Richard Wrangham 400 pages The Goodness Paradox cannot help but be fascinating, for it seeks to address one of the most pressing questions of human … Continue reading →

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The Mustering of the Hawks

Posted on May 21, 2020

The Mustering of the Hawks © 1972 John Harris/Max Hennessy 272 pagws “When you consider that practically every aviator in the world’s been mustered together in France in a strip of territory some three hundred miles long by ten miles … Continue reading →

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Corona #7…and Flowers

Posted on May 18, 2020

Things have been loosening up in Alabama in the last week,  though it’s not a return to life pre-pandemicmonium.  Right now we’re in a frustrating transition space, where stores are  getting increased demand at much-reduced capacity.   Nonprofits and the like … Continue reading →

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