... While [the book] only offers one angle of explanation for why things are the way they are, nor does it offer any concrete solutions to resolve the
... While [the book] only offers one angle of explanation for why things are the way they are, nor does it offer any concrete solutions to resolve the issue, it does offer some insight into how things got to where they are now, and how American citizens, the scientific establishment, and the government all played a role in getting to where things are. As in Ghostland, Dickey does not judge the living individuals he interacts with for their beliefs, but in this book he shows he is entirely willing to point fingers at the systemic issues that have led these individuals to believe in the things they do – and, in certain cases, do harm. ...
I've never been to Scotland, though I've often wished I could go. But between this pandemic and the fact that I live where I do, the odds of that everI've never been to Scotland, though I've often wished I could go. But between this pandemic and the fact that I live where I do, the odds of that ever happening are pretty damn slim. So I substitute an actual trip with books about Scotland, and that's almost as good.
But some books are better for my kind of vicarious travel than others, and this book's definitely one of the best. Heughan and McTavish are fantastic storytellers, and they're clearly passionate about their subject matter. They're also pretty damn hilarious, so expect a lot of snickering while reading this.
Protip though: get the audiobook version, if at all possible. I mean, sure, the text version's great, but the audiobook is an absolute treat. Not only do you learn the pronunciation of many of the names in the book, but McTavish and Heughan are even funnier on audio. McTavish, especially, gets to stretch his voice actor chops a lot and it's fantastic. And watch the show, Men in Kilts, as well! They're just as funny on the show as they are in the book and audiobook....more
So I think it's pretty much confirmed that I'm a fan of Mary Beard's work and will read/watch/devour pretty much anything she puts out. She's g[image]
So I think it's pretty much confirmed that I'm a fan of Mary Beard's work and will read/watch/devour pretty much anything she puts out. She's got a way of telling a story and talking about complicated stuff without it being too dry, and without sacrificing information (and gets her hits against the patriarchy along the way, which is deffo a bonus). This book is no exception - even though it's definitely a bit on the lighter side in terms of info. That's okay though, since this is really meant to be a companion to the docu series, so you're going to want to watch that and then read this book; they complement each other very well. And if all you got was the (terribly cut) PBS version of the docu, then you're DEFINITELY going to want to get a copy of this book so you can fill in the bits you missed out on....more
... The information Brusatte provides appears to be solid, given the extent of his bibliography, which is in a chapter called “Notes on Sources”. Inci
... The information Brusatte provides appears to be solid, given the extent of his bibliography, which is in a chapter called “Notes on Sources”. Incidentally, those notes are written in the same tone as the rest of the book, and so is just as much a pleasure to read. The section is a little disorganised, seeing as the lists of sources are given in paragraph form as opposed to a more traditional format for bibliographies, but the informality is likely to be more interesting for non-academics, as opposed to a more traditional, academic-style bibliography.
Brusatte is also careful to note where what he is stating is his opinion as opposed to a proven fact, especially when he talks about certain debates currently underway in palaeontology and which he claims will eventually be resolved by the younger generation of palaeontologists coming into the field. This is especially prominent in the Notes on Sources section of the book – where, at the very end, he drops the name of a PhD student he and his colleague Tom Williamson are co-mentoring: Sarah Shelley who is working on understanding the rise of mammals after the extinction of the dinosaurs. I am not sure how many readers will read this far into the book, but it is heartening to see an established palaeontologist name-drop a mentee’s name in his book, in the hopes of helping her further along in her career.
I read this in two formats: partly as an ebook, and partly as an audiobook. I find that it goes a mite faster while in audio format, but that I[image]
I read this in two formats: partly as an ebook, and partly as an audiobook. I find that it goes a mite faster while in audio format, but that I couldn't concentrate on the details as much as I would have if I were reading it. Either way though, this is a pretty fun read, if a bit dry in some places. Considering the amount of fictionalised accounts out there about the Templars (to say nothing of the outright lies), it was nice to read something that just told their history without trying to embroider any details or make up any conspiracies. Of all the chapters, though, I think the last one's the most important, because it's where Jones details all the myths that've sprung up around the Templars in the hundreds of years since their fall - including how they've been used to promote white supremacy. That last bit's very important imo, considering how the Templar name is being used to legitimise an abhorrent ideology....more
While [Aslan's conclusion] is interesting and perhaps useful to any readers who are still trying to understand their relationship (or lack thereof) wi
While [Aslan's conclusion] is interesting and perhaps useful to any readers who are still trying to understand their relationship (or lack thereof) with the divine, Aslan presents it as a simple, straightforward truth, without exploring the idea further from any other perspective. And while I understand that perhaps simplicity is the way to go, especially since Aslan is trying to encourage a more open, more accepting kind of faith in his readers, I think that this conclusion lacks the kind of nuance and depth that is otherwise present in the rest of the book. I was not expecting such a pat conclusion from Aslan, and I will admit that I find it rather disappointing, given how the rest of the book is far from simplistic.
However, the issue of climate change and its relationship to jellyfish is not portrayed firmly in the book’s narrative. The author does seem to aim
However, the issue of climate change and its relationship to jellyfish is not portrayed firmly in the book’s narrative. The author does seem to aim for it throughout the course of the book, and does seem to reach the conclusion that jellyfish are vital to our understanding of the changing oceans as a result of climate change, but the journey to that conclusion is tenuous. The scientists themselves are still not in agreement as to whether or not exploding jellyfish numbers are indeed a sign of a climate change-driven oceanic apocalypse, and I appreciate the author’s honesty on that particular point, but this tidbit of information ought to be the beating heart of this book. The author should shine a spotlight on that uncertainty, because driving curiosity towards the subject could help inspire readers to pay more attention to jellyfish scientists and thus forward their cause. Jellyfish are important to the ocean’s ecosystems, and any changes that involve the ocean will involve them, too.
Instead of the above, however, the author puts more focus on her journey back to science. This book is not so much a scientific treatise in the same manner as Kolbert’s book, but a personal memoir of the author’s return to the discipline she left behind in favour of caring for her husband and family. Jellyfish and climate change were the topics that interested her and led her back to science, so to speak, but they are not what this book is about.
Eleven years ago I had the opportunity to see one of my favourite paintings IRL: Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers (specifically F458, housed in th[image]
Eleven years ago I had the opportunity to see one of my favourite paintings IRL: Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers (specifically F458, housed in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam). Though Starry Night is my absolute favourite Van Gogh painting, I've always been drawn to Sunflowers because of how ridiculously, wonderfully exuberant the image is. And there may have been a reason for that exuberance: if I have my history aright, Van Gogh made his Sunflower paintings during a particularly optimistic, joyous part of his life - a halcyon time, if you will, that stands in contrast to his work from before, and after, that period. Yellow, the predominant colour in the image, certainly enhances those feelings, and may be why Van Gogh used it in the first place.
And colours is what Kassia St. Clair's book is all about: not only their histories and chemical makeup, but also what they've come to mean in the wider world. The book doesn't include each and every single colour currently in use, nor does she go very in-depth with them (the colours in the main book each get a short chapter about them, while a glossary of colours at the end contains a colour swatch and a brief description of said colour), but what information there is, is very fascinating indeed. Eminently readable too; St. Clair's prose is part of what makes this book wonderful to read. Excellent for anyone interested in art, as well as anyone who's just curious about things like "Why are Apple products white?" (spoiler: they’re actually not white)or "Why do girls wear pink and boys blue?" (spoiler: arbitrary aesthetic choices in the early 20th century)....more
So there was this post going around on Tumblr which started out by talking about how chickens eat meat and cannibalise each other, which soon l[image]
So there was this post going around on Tumblr which started out by talking about how chickens eat meat and cannibalise each other, which soon led to other folks commenting that chickens are dinosaurs, which soon led to yet other folk confirming this to be scientific fact - that, yes, not all dinosaurs went extinct, because BIRDS are, technically speaking, DINOSAURS.
Now, I've known that this was the case for a while, but the book that blew my mind regarding this fact was published in 2009 (How to Build a Dinosaur by Jack Horner and James Gorman), so I'm not really updated on the science as it stands now. So I did some poking around and found this book, which was published in 2014 and, therefore, is comfortably recent enough for my tastes.
And it certainly delivers on the new discoveries, talking as it does about the cache of feathered dinosaurs being found in China, which prove that birds are dinosaurs, and that maybe feathers were far more common amongst dinosaurs than we ever imagined. It also tackles issues related to palaeontology, like how smuggling and faking fossils is very much an issue, and the ever-perennial problem of how the fossil record still has huge gaps in it that haven't been filled - at least, not YET. It also tackles the potential future for studying dinosaurs - up to and including the chance that we may someday reverse-engineer a chicken into a wee little dinosaur. I find this particularly pertinent because I am holding out hope that one day, some day, I'll have a pair of turkey-sized velociraptors on the ends of leashes as I walk about Manila. They will be cute, they will be smart, they will be fluffy, and they will be DANGEROUS.
All in all, this is a really fun and informative read. If you didn't know that birds are dinosaurs, this explains why; if you already knew that but are looking for something that'll summarise the latest research, this'll do just that....more
Sometimes it's nice to read about a scandal that doesn't involve anyone or anything close to my heart, and this fit that bill perfectly. Since [image]
Sometimes it's nice to read about a scandal that doesn't involve anyone or anything close to my heart, and this fit that bill perfectly. Since no one I care about was involved in the Bettencourt Affair or the upper echelons of French politics or L'Oreal's management, and I myself am most certainly not involved in any of those things, this was quite the entertaining read. Of course because of that distance I'm not entirely sure if Sancton is being absolutely impartial in his reportage, but I like to think so.
Sancton's narrative style is mostly coherent and easy to follow, though it's occasionally jarring in that he tends to jump back and forth across time and between people. More interesting, however, are Sancton's insights into the French people's attitude to immense wealth, and how that relates to politics....more
The Medici family is one of my favorite historical families ever, and this book is a great look at their rise to power, and their fall from gra[image]
The Medici family is one of my favorite historical families ever, and this book is a great look at their rise to power, and their fall from grace. What makes this different from other books, however, is that Strathern pays close attention to how Medici patronage of artists and thinkers like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Galileo, whether directly or indirectly, helped to create what we now call the Italian Renaissance. It's a bit dry in places, and there's not as much focus on the Medici women as I'd like, but it's a pretty interesting read all the same....more
Saints are a prominent feature in my daily life, living as I do in a Catholic country and educated as I was in Catholic schools. They were alwa[image]
Saints are a prominent feature in my daily life, living as I do in a Catholic country and educated as I was in Catholic schools. They were always fascinating to me, not necessarily because they were examples to be emulated or as a focus for religious devotion, but because of their stories, and their associations to various aspects of life. How does a saint become a patron of anything, anyway, and often of so many disparate things, too? Is a gruesome death a prerequisite to becoming a martyr? Is that why so many other saints attempted to do equally gruesome things to themselves in order to achieve sainthood, once the Roman Empire had collapsed and torturing Christians was no longer a thing (it was never a thing, by the way - at least not to the extent that Catholic catechism makes it out to be)? Dickey's book attempts to answer those questions, and a few others besides, by looking at the stories of a handful of saints, ranging in fame from Teresa of Avila to the more obscure Saint Foy (who I am thoroughly convinced must be the patron saint of trolls - not the mythical variety, but the Internet kind). Definitely a must-read for curious, open-minded Catholics and Christians, as well as history buffs looking for a better understanding of what goes into making a saint....more
I wasn't all that sure what I was getting into when I picked up this book, but despite that it's proven to be a rather interesting read, even i[image]
I wasn't all that sure what I was getting into when I picked up this book, but despite that it's proven to be a rather interesting read, even if I'm very sure that geopolitics is not the end-all and be-all of understanding the world's current political climate. It's out-of-date by now, of course, since it was published in 2015 and the world has changed significantly between then and the Orange Oompa Loompa being elected President of the United States, but there's still quite a few interesting chunks of information scattered throughout that still hold true today. Most important, I think, is how arbitrary lines drawn on maps by white people in the 19th century have created the chaotic warzones of the 21st. A good thing to remember that, especially when looking at the political situation in the Middle East and Africa....more
A lovely ramble - literally - through the so-called Dark Ages of British history. And I say "literally" because Adams basically talks about tha[image]
A lovely ramble - literally - through the so-called Dark Ages of British history. And I say "literally" because Adams basically talks about that history in the course of ten journeys (most done by walking, but some accomplished through other forms of travel - one of them by sailing ship) across the United Kingdom. It's a new way of talking about history and archaeology, but it's one that makes sense, given how so much of British history is generally just there in the landscape, but you have to know how to read it in order to understand it. It also helps that Adams is a good storyteller, though the book does get a bit dry in places. Protip: if possible, use Google Maps while reading the book so you can get an even better sense of the places Adams is talking about. It's not the same was visiting them yourself, but it does help fill in the imaginative gaps a little bit....more
Anyone who's studied ancient Roman history or at least read a halfway-decent book that covers ancient Roman history has probably encountered th[image]
Anyone who's studied ancient Roman history or at least read a halfway-decent book that covers ancient Roman history has probably encountered the name "Mithradates" a few times. Depending on certain factors (mostly whoever is writing the book/covering the course/textbooks involved in said course/etc.), Mithradates is portrayed either as an "Oriental despot" (and goodness but my Said-educated brain cringes at that phrase) the Romans deservedly crushed under their hobnailed boots; a rival ruler the Romans both respected and despised; or - as has been the case most recently - as a kind of freedom fighter struggling against the chokehold of Western (Roman) imperialism in that part of the world we now categorise as the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Mayor's book is of the lattermost sort, and is pretty fun to read because of that, even if it is rather dry and repetitive in places....more
You know how sometimes you open a package and don't get what you expect? Sometimes it's worse, and that's not great, but sometimes it's better,[image]
You know how sometimes you open a package and don't get what you expect? Sometimes it's worse, and that's not great, but sometimes it's better, and that's always a plus to be sure. But sometimes, it's also nice to open a package and get exactly what you expected - and that's definitely the case with this book, at least for the most part. In the Introduction Scott promises that he's going to talk about how the ancient world was actually a lot more connected than we've always assumed, and that's exactly what he does. He shows how civilisations like ancient China, ancient Rome, ancient Greece, ancient India and the great shifting cauldron of cultures that's the Near and Middle East. These cultures tend to be discussed separately in schools and universities, but Scott suggests that maybe there's more to be gleaned by viewing them as connected instead of separate: a bigger, broader view of history that shows how humans do not and have never existed in isolation. That's something important to keep in mind, I think, especially in the 21st century....more
I try not to be such a judgmental person when it comes to the things I read, and most of the time I'm not. But this book really tested my abili[image]
I try not to be such a judgmental person when it comes to the things I read, and most of the time I'm not. But this book really tested my ability to "forgive and forget" because of one line in the first chapter, about "Sumerian" gods that weren't really Sumerian. That got my hackles up because, come on, the gods named were patently NOT Sumerian, and it was clear someone didn't do a good-enough fact-check, or was too lazy to do one - which annoyed me even more because as a Literature major, mythology is kind of my jam (it is more than just "kind of" my jam, but that's another story for another time), and it grates on me when a nonfic book about SCIENCE, of all things, which is BUILT on rigorous fact-checking, doesn't get this one thing right.
But aside from that, and aside from the fact that the first chapter really isn't as engaging as everything else (this has nothing to do with that mythological faux pas), this book is actually fun to read. Offit has an engaging narrative style, and his ability to weave together the strands of history, science, and current events is pretty fun to read. This book is also an important reminder to all of us that we should always, ALWAYS be skeptical of everything - yes, even science: an important lesson in this day and age, where the word "science" is increasingly more like a branding strategy than treated as the rigorous discipline it actually is....more
I've been a fan of Sam Kean's writing since I first picked up The Disappearing Spoon, and though I'm late to the game when it comes to Dueling [image]
I've been a fan of Sam Kean's writing since I first picked up The Disappearing Spoon, and though I'm late to the game when it comes to Dueling Neurosurgeons, I'm still very glad I picked it up. It's pretty clear that Kean's got a good grasp of his writing style, and it shines in this book the same way it does in The Violinist's Thumb. There's a playfulness and lightness to his writing that doesn't sacrifice the heavier, more important stuff, and I think that's a good quality to have in a writer who's dealing with some very weighty topics - weighty not necessarily because the ideas are complex (though they are), but because they touch upon some very sensitive and likely controversial topics. That's especially true when you're talking about the brain and what goes on in it, and the implications for, well, everything makes us who we are.
As always, great new book from Kean, and here's hoping that his latest, Caesar's Last Breath, will be just as good - though given how he's something on a roll right now, I'm sure it will be....more
Though this book, as I mentioned earlier, covers a vast array of topics, it is these threads focusing on conservation and the Asian pet trade that I fThough this book, as I mentioned earlier, covers a vast array of topics, it is these threads focusing on conservation and the Asian pet trade that I find most interesting – and also disturbing. Over and over again, it is demand from wealthier countries (China, in particular) that drives the sinister engines of the illegal pet trade. Borders are immensely porous, especially in Southeast Asia, and many poorer countries might be more than willing to sacrifice their rights to important biological hotspots in exchange for a cash boost from a wealthy neighbour, thus implicitly legalising any otherwise-illegal trade in endangered species. Even supposedly squeaky-clean Singapore, with its reputation as one of the least corrupt countries in the world (per Transparency International), does not escape the taint of the illegal pet trade, particularly when it comes to fish.
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