Tag Archives: science

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 →

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Of Chemie, Cosmos, and Climate

Posted on August 20, 2021 by smellincoffee

What’s Eating the Cosmos tackles some of the big questions in modern cosmology, beginning with the basics — how do we know what’s out there? Where is it, what is it made of? — and continuing onward to the more changing … Continue reading →

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Of Mars, Antarctica, and the human condition

Posted on August 11, 2021 by smellincoffee

Mars is a cold tease, an object of immediate interest to anyone who believes humanity needs to continue to venture outward.  It’s neither so hostile or so far from us to preclude manned missions entirely,  and it has its own resources that … Continue reading →

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May 2021

Posted on June 1, 2021 by smellincoffee

May has been a…weird month in my life, that’s all I can say. I’ve obsessively studying for the CompTIA A+ exams, and I started a part-time job driving for the railroad to expedite the whole “buy land and become an … Continue reading →

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Drug Use for Grown Ups

Posted on May 24, 2021 by smellincoffee

Drug Use for Grown Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear© 2021 Carl Hart304 pages My occasional forays into anarchist literature aside, I’m one of the squarest people you are ever likely to meet, a fellow whose idea of … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Of blowholes, blowhards, and blowing money

Posted on May 17, 2021 by smellincoffee

I’ve been studying for the CompTia A+ certification and entertaining a new lady friend in recent weeks, so my reading and reviewing has gotten a bit…torpid, shall we say. I haven’t been totally absorbed in specs and dates, though: Make … Continue reading →

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Conspiracies and other stories that make us human

Posted on March 16, 2021 by smellincoffee

Early last week I read Brian Dunning’s Conspiracies Declassified: The Skeptoid Guide to the Truth Behind the Theories. I used to listen to Skeptoid over a decade ago, enjoying Dunning’s research into the facts behind popular theories and unsolved mysteries. … Continue reading →

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The Last Stargazers

Posted on February 26, 2021 by smellincoffee

The Last Stargazer: The Enduring Story of Astronomy’s Vanishing Explorers© 2020 Emily Levesque336 pages Emily Levesque was drawn to the stars from childhood on. Having realized her dream of studying them for a living, in The Last Stargazers she offers … Continue reading →

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The Bird Way

Posted on February 9, 2021 by smellincoffee

The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think© 2020 Jennifer Ackerman368 pages When reading an introduction to a book on anthropology, one can’t help but be impressed by the variety of human cultures: … Continue reading →

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You are not so smart, and animals are not so dumb: a science twofer

Posted on December 10, 2020 by smellincoffee

Last week I read You Are Not So Smart, an often interesting if sometimes trivial review of how mental shortcuts get us in trouble. My reading of Suspicious Minds led into this, and they shared some common ground. The shortcuts … Continue reading →

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