Author Archives: smellincoffee

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About smellincoffee

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

Asimov’s Guide to the Bible

Posted on December 21, 2008 by smellincoffee

Asimov’s Guide to the Bible – Volume I© Isaac Asimov 1968677 pages plus indices This week I read volume one of Isaac Asimov’s two-volume guide to the bible. The first volume is on what Christians call the “Old Testament”. The … Continue reading →

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The Caves of Steel

Posted on December 20, 2008 by smellincoffee

The Caves of Steel© Isaac Asimov 1953 I finally found a copy of The Caves of Steel this week. I’ve been looking for this book since the beginning of November, but my libraries have been unable to procure a copy … Continue reading →

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This Week at the Library (19/12)

Posted on December 19, 2008 by smellincoffee

Books this Update: Collapse, Jared Diamond Modern Science, Ray Spangenburg and Diane Kit Moser This I Believe II I began this week with a large book spanning the social sciences: Jared Diamond’s Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. … Continue reading →

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This I Believe II

Posted on December 18, 2008 by smellincoffee

This I Believe II (also known as This, Too, I Believe*)© This I Believe, Inc. Last week I read This I Believe, a collection of eighty essays in which people wrote about their deepest convictions or ideals. While meandering through … Continue reading →

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Modern Science

Posted on December 17, 2008 by smellincoffee

Modern Science 1896 – 1945© 2004 Ray Spangenburg and Diane Kit Moser206 pages I continued this week in a series that I began in the summer — Spangenburg and Moser’s “The History of Science” series, which is an update to … Continue reading →

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Collapse

Posted on December 17, 2008 by smellincoffee

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed © 2005 Jared Diamond 560 pages plus index A few years ago, I read Guns, Germs, and Steel by this same author, who put forth the idea that the success of world … Continue reading →

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This Week at the Library (11/12)

Posted on December 11, 2008 by smellincoffee

Books this Update: Why People Believe Weird Things, Michael Shermer The Knight in History, Frances Gies This I Believe, Jay Allison and Dan Gediman It took an entire semester, but circumstances finally got the better of me and disrupted my … Continue reading →

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This I Believe

Posted on December 11, 2008 by smellincoffee

This I Believe: the Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and WomenVarious authors, edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman© 2006 For a few years now I’ve listened to an NPR feature called “This I Believe”, wherein a variety of individuals … Continue reading →

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The Knight in History

Posted on December 10, 2008 by smellincoffee

The Knight in History254 pagesFrances Gies This week I read The Knight in History, written by France Gies. Typically she and her husband co-author novels, but not in this case. I was somewhat wary about this particular book because military … Continue reading →

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Why People Believe Weird Things

Posted on December 6, 2008 by smellincoffee

Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time2nd edition © 2002, Michael Shermer313 pages, plus extended bibliography and index Having been a skeptic for a few years now, I’ve heard this book referenced a lot … Continue reading →

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