It’s been one hundred years since Albert Einstein’s miraculous year of 1905. During that year, Einstein, “a young patent clerk, found the way forward. In five remarkable papers, he showed that atoms are real (it was still controversial at the time), presented his special theory […]
OK, I know, enough with the books of the year lists. But I just stumbled across one more list. The New York Times has just named their ten best books of the year. I think this list comes pretty close. (In fact they listed my […]
This week, Publisher’s Weekly named Jon Stewart’s book, America, as the book of the year. It’s a bit ironic that a parody of a textbook, complete with fake book jacket blurbs, that is the biggest book of the year. From Reuters news service: “The magazine […]
Simply stated, I admire Jimmy Carter a great deal; for his character, ideals, faith, and for the work that he has done in the 25 years since he left the presidency. If you haven’t read Douglas Brinkley’s wonderful book, The Unfinished Presidency, you should. It […]
Richard Dawkins is one of the most popular authors writing about evolution and science today. I’ve enjoyed his work, but I haven’t read his latest work yet: The Ancestor’s Tale. Dawkins made an appearance last week on NOW with Bill Moyers. And, I ran across […]
It’s the time of the year when everyone lists the most notable books of the year, just in time for the Christmas season. “What is the point of Books of the Year, that seasonal ritual which is as much part of Christmas as cheese footballs?” […]
Annie Proulx has a new collection of stories out. It’s called Bad Dirt. I think it looks interesting. I haven’t read her short stories, only The Shipping News. But this looks very good. Here’s what Publisher’s Weekly had to say: “The beautiful and harsh terrain […]
Is this a move to compete with what Amazon has done? Google is beta-testing a Google Print site. Here’s what they say about the new service. “Google Print enables publishers to promote their books on Google. Google scans the full text of participating publishers’ titles […]
“Human beings expend staggering amounts of time and resources on creating and experiencing art and entertainment — music, dancing, and static visual arts,” writes scholar Denis Dutton, a professor at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. “Of all of the arts, however, it is the […]