Category Archives: Reviews

Onward to the Edge

Posted on February 11, 2016 by smellincoffee

“Science is like a hungry furnace that must be fed logs from the forests of ignorance that surround us. In the process, the clearing we call knowledge expands, but the more it expands, the longer its perimeter and the more … Continue reading →

Posted in quotations, Reviews, science | Tagged , | 1 Comment

This week: the usual suspects

Posted on February 8, 2016 by smellincoffee

Well, dear readers, it’s another month! I have a serious itch for science and science fiction at the moment, so I have no less than five potential science reads stacked up now, and three potential SF books. Among the numbers…Domesticated: Evolution in … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Unstoppable

Posted on February 6, 2016 by smellincoffee

Unstoppable: the Emerging Left-Right Alliance to Dismantle the Corporate State© 2014 Ralph Nader224 pages George Carlin groused that when he heard the word bipartisanship, he knew a larger than usual deception was in the works. Ralph Nader’s Unstoppable offers a different … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Ten Stories by Isaac

Posted on February 4, 2016 by smellincoffee

Back in 2007, I discovered Isaac Asimov’s short stories and became a trifle obsessed with him, to the point that I have an entire bookcase devoted to his short stories, essays, novels and books.  Lately I’ve been feeling the itch … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Ain’t My America

Posted on January 31, 2016 by smellincoffee

Ain’t My America:  The Long and Noble History of Antiwar Conservatism and Middle Class Antimperialism ©  2008 Bill Kauffman 304 pages “You can have your hometown, or you can have the empire. You can’t have both.” You don’t have to … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Taxi!

Posted on January 30, 2016 by smellincoffee

Taxi! A Social History of the New York City Cabdriver©  2007 Graham Russell Gao Hodges225 pages No film set in New York City is complete without scenes of Manhattan traffic, dense with yellow cars — the patrolling ranks of the … Continue reading →

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Demonic Males

Posted on January 22, 2016 by smellincoffee

Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence© 1996 Dale Peterson and Richard Wrangham350 pages Why is the world run by violent men?  Demonic Males  argues that human males are by violent by nature,  a trait we share with … Continue reading →

Posted in science | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Dictator

Posted on January 15, 2016 by smellincoffee

Dictator○ 2015 Robert Harris416 pages “Why should you be the one to stop Caesar?!” “Who else is there?” It is the twilight of the Roman republic.  Liberty and the rule of law are in tatters, withered by an alliance of … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Destiny, Disrupted

Posted on January 12, 2016 by smellincoffee

Destiny, Disruted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes© 2009 Tamim Ansary416 pages When Tamim Ansary was a boy, he loved history. Specifically, he loved narrativehistory, the kind of drama that brought the past to life.  The problem was that the … Continue reading →

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Adieu to you, and you and you and you —

Posted on January 5, 2016 by smellincoffee

As 2015 was ending I finished up a couple of works which merit mentioning. Firstly is Jane Austen’s Emma.  I have read Austen before (Pride and Prejudice), intrigued by mention of Darcy as a model gentleman,  Emma was thus my … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments