Tag Archives: biography

Of anthropology, Solzhenitsyn, and a return to the gulag archipelago

Posted on September 12, 2021 by smellincoffee

If I’ve been quiet as of late, I’ve been bedridden with a severe sinus infection, one that came with headaches so severe that I couldn’t even use my four days off of work to read. Yesterday was the first day … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics and Literary, Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Back to Earth

Posted on August 13, 2021 by smellincoffee

Back to Earth: What Life in Space Taught Me About Our Home Planet and our Mission to Protect It© 2021 Nicola Stott304 pages A staple of astronaut memoirs is the attempt to communicate the near-religious experience of seeing the Earth … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars

Posted on July 30, 2021 by smellincoffee

Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars© 2021 Eileen Collins314 pages Eileen Collins was obsessed with flying. Maybe it was an unusual preoccupation for a girl, but her parents – despite their struggles with mental illness and alcoholism – always … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

It’s not so lonely out in space: three to celebrate Apollo 11

Posted on July 20, 2021 by smellincoffee

Fifty-two years ago, men from Earth touched down on the moon and inaugurated a new era in human exploration. I usually re-watch From the Earth to the Moon (a Tom Hanks docu-drama that is in my “Everything is burning but … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics and Literary, Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Spaceman

Posted on July 16, 2021 by smellincoffee

Spaceman: An Astronaut’s Unlikely Journey© 2016 Mike Massimino336 pages All his life, Mike Massimino wanted to be an astronaut. He was six when he saw Neil Armstrong’s famous small step, and he wanted to be out there with the men … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Permanent Record

Posted on January 7, 2021 by smellincoffee

Permanent Record© Edward Snowden352 pages Nearly a decade ago we bore witness to magnificent acts of rebellion and alarm-calling, as dissidents like Julian Assange and Edward Snowden began exposing DC’s global surveillance state and abuses of power. DC acted with … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Reviews | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Napoleon: Life and Legacy

Posted on October 22, 2020 by smellincoffee

Napoleon: Life and Legacy© 2011 Alan Forrest403 pages Napoleon is an unavoidable figure of European history, and enjoys no shortage of admirers even today. For years he dominated a continent, using native talents given abundant opportunities opened by the revolution … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 19 Comments

Harvard and the Unabomber

Posted on July 23, 2020 by smellincoffee

Harvard and the Unabomber: The Education of an American Terrorist Original title: A Mind for Murder © 2003 Alston Chase 352 pages Ted Kaczynski was hunted fruitlessly by the FBI for eighteen years, until finally being done in by his … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

American Terrorist

Posted on June 19, 2020 by smellincoffee

American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing ©  2001, 2015 Lou Michel & Dan Herberck 426 pages   During a recreation period one day, a prisoner in an adjoining cage poured his heart out to McVeigh, telling him … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Uncle Tungsten

Posted on May 26, 2020 by smellincoffee

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 →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , | 2 Comments