Category Archives: Reviews

Book reviews, as well as Reads to Reels

This Week at the Library (29/12)

Posted on December 29, 2008 by smellincoffee

Books this Update: The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov Asimov’s Guide to the Bible Volume I, Isaac Asimov The Echo of Greece, Edith Hamilton Science Frontiers, Ray Spangenburg and Diane Kit Moser Where Do We Go From Here?, ed. Isaac … Continue reading →

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The Pinball Effect

Posted on December 29, 2008 by smellincoffee

The Pinball Effect: How Renaissance Water Gardens Made the Carburetor Possible and Other Journeys Through Knowledge© James Burke 1996277 pages plus index and bibliography This latest book is a bit hard to comment on, and harder still to classify. The … Continue reading →

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Where Do We Go From Here?

Posted on December 27, 2008 by smellincoffee

Where Do We Go From Here?ed. Isaac Asimov, © 1971 Where Do We Go From Here, a short-story collection assembled by Isaac Asimov, is more than the usual collection of short stories. Asimov introduces it in this way: “I have … Continue reading →

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Science Frontiers

Posted on December 26, 2008 by smellincoffee

Science Frontiers: 1945 –Ray Spangenburg and Diane Kit Moser © 2004246 pages including indexThis week I resumed my reading of Spangenburg and Moser’s updated “History of Science” series, finishing it off with Science Frontiers, which examines science since 1946. After … Continue reading →

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The Echo of Greece

Posted on December 22, 2008 by smellincoffee

The Echo of Greece© Edith Hamilton 1957224 pages About two years ago I read The Greek Way by Edith Hamilton, which was an exploration of the Greek mind as reflected in law, philosophy, art, and more. The book introduced me … Continue reading →

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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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