29 Dec 2010, 5:35 pm
I love making lists. I'm sure some of you do too. This is going to be a bit self indulgent, but why not, eh? It could be an opportunity to discuss some of what we've read, see what other's have read, and I find It interesting to see what my year in books looks like. I track most of my reading with Goodreads.
I italicized my favourites. I rule that audiobooks can count too. 
Peter J. Carroll - The Apophenion
W. Somerset Maugham - The Painted Veil
Richard Adams - Watership Down
Paulo Coelho - The Alchemist
Jack Vance - The Dirdir
Marshall McLuhan - The Medium is the Massage
Rachel Pollack - 78 Degrees of Wisdom
Isaac Asimov - Second Foundation
Plato - The Symposium
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso - Eight Steps to Happiness
Hermann Hesse - Steppenwolf
Shinzen Young - The Science of Enlightenment
Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time
The Implicate Technology Centre - Beyond the Personality
Luke Rhinehart - The Dice Man
Carlos Castaneda - The Art of Dreaming
A bit over one book a month. Then there's all the one's I began and didn't finish 
29 Dec 2010, 5:44 pm
29 Dec 2010, 6:11 pm
richie
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29 Dec 2010, 6:45 pm
Here are a couple of books that stand out among the many I read over the past year:
The Alchemy of Air byThomas Hager
Our civilizations addiction to oil is common knowlege and seems like old news, but
our dependence on "fixed" nitrogen via the Haber-Bosch synthesis has some pretty
hefty consequences...
Fixed nitrogen (which is immediately usable to plants) is essential in agriculture. Its rarity, as science writer Hager (The Demon Under the Microscope) shows, dramatically shaped the world and its politics. But by 1905, as Hager details, German chemist Fritz Haber discovered a process for transforming abundant air-borne nitrogen into ammonia, and Carl Bosch's ingenious engineering scaled Haber's benchtop chemistry into industrial processes to make fertilizer. But Hager's story is not only one of triumph, of how Haber and Bosch invented a way to turn air into bread, earning a Nobel Prize and saving millions from starvation. This is also a story of irony and tragedy. First, life-saving nitrogen is also the main ingredient in explosives, and Hager cogently summarizes the Haber-Bosch process's critical role in both world wars. In addition, Hager illustrates Haber's extreme German patriotism and desperate wish to assimilate; shattered by the rise of Hitler, he became an outcast, abandoned even by his onetime colleague Bosch. It's unfortunate that Hager ends his fine book with only a brief look at the deleterious role of nitrogen on the environment. (Sept.)
The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe by Theodore Gray
You just have to love a book that begins with this line:
you can drop on your foot."
Product Description
An eye-opening, original collection of gorgeous, never-before-seen photographic representations of the 118 elements in the periodic table.
The elements are what we, and everything around us, are made of. But how many elements has anyone actually seen in pure, uncombined form? The Elements provides this rare opportunity. Based on five years of research and photography, the pictures in this book make up the most complete, and visually arresting, representation available to the naked eye of every atom in the universe. Organized in order of appearance on the periodic table, each element is represented by a spread that includes a stunning, full-page, full-color photograph that most closely represents it in its purest form. For example, at -183˚C, oxygen turns from a colorless gas to a beautiful pale blue liquid.
Also included are fascinating facts, figures, and stories of the elements as well as data on the properties of each, including atomic weight, density, melting and boiling point, valence, electronegativity, and the year and location in which it was discovered. Several additional photographs show each element in slightly altered forms or as used in various practical ways. The element's position on the periodic table is pinpointed on a mini rendering of the table and an illustrated scale of the element's boiling and/or melting points appears on each page along with a density scale that runs along the bottom.
Packed with interesting information, this combination of solid science and stunning artistic photographs is the perfect gift book for every sentient creature in the universe.
About the Author
Theodore Gray is the author of Popular Science magazine's “Gray Matter” column, the proprietor of periodictable.com and the creator of the iconic photographic periodic table poster seen in universities, schools, museums and TV shows from “MythBusters” to “Hannah Montana”. In his other life he is cofounder of the major software company Wolfram Research, creators of the world's leading technical software system, Mathematica™. He lives in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois.
Also in my collection:
Theo Gray's Mad Science: Experiments You Can Do At Home - But Probably Shouldn't by Theodore Gray
Review
“This is a fabulous book, and a real education, too – a beautiful introduction to hands-on chemistry. Theo Gray brings us dozens of experiments in minute, clear, and loving detail, and each one becomes a door onto the marvels of how chemicals react. Whether he is showing us how to make table salt from its violent elements, or, in a quieter vein, to make one’s own nylon thread or “lead” pencils, Gray’s encyclopedic knowledge and contagious enthusiasm transport us to deep intellectual realms, while never sacrificing a sense of wonder and, above all, fun.”
—Oliver Sacks, author of Awakenings, Musicophillia, Uncle Tungsten, and many others
(Oliver Sacks )
“I've spent 22 years working with Theo Gray on creating software, seeing him find simple ways to do the seemingly impossible. You're in for a treat here when he applies the same creativity and insight to revealing the science of everyday things.”
—Stephen Wolfram, creator of Mathematica® and author of A New Kind of Science
(Stephen Wolfram )
“What a magnificent book. It's gorgeous, playful, and draws you in. Every single photo shows not only a deep love of science in the abstract, but also a tinkerer's love of the STUFF of science; the tools and glass, the clay and metal, and all the things that make science accessible to everyone.”
—Adam Savage, star of MythBusters
(Adam Savage )
What good is this Nobel Prize around my neck if it doesn’t produce admiration for science writers such as Theo Gray, whose skillful work helps convert young students into serious researchers.”
—Leon Lederman, winner of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physics
(Leon Lederman )
“Theo's MAD SCIENCE is destined to inspire and spark the imaginations of the next generation of makers, tinkerers, engineers and mad scientists!”
—Phillip Torrone, Senior Editor of Make magazine
(Phillip Torrone )
“Theodore Gray has attained a level of near superhuman geekery that the rest of us can only mutely admire.”
—Cecil Adams, The Straight Dope
(Cecil Adams )
From the founder and editor of the Whole Earth Catalog is Stewart Brand's vision of a sustainable future.....
Brand, co-author of the seminal 1969 Whole Earth Catalog, compiles reflections and lessons learned from more than 40 years as an environmentalist in this clumsy yet compelling attempt to inspire practicable solutions to climate change. Brand haphazardly organizes his manifesto into chapters that address environmental stewardship opportunities, exhorting environmentalists to become fearless about following science; his iconoclastic proposals include transitioning to nuclear energy and ecosystem engineering. Brand believes environmentalists must embrace nuclear energy expansion and other inevitable technological advances, and refreshingly suggests a shift in the environmentalists' dogmatic approach to combating climate change. Rejecting the inflexible message so common in the Green movement, he describes a process of reasonable debate and experimentation. Brand's fresh perspective, approachable writing style and manifest wisdom ultimately convince the reader that the future is not an abyss to be feared but an opportunity for innovative problem solvers to embrace enthusiastically. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
The Whole Earth Catalog was one of my major obsessions during my adolescent and teen years.
Ambivalence
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29 Dec 2010, 7:00 pm
Penny_Black
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29 Dec 2010, 7:56 pm
Here is a list of the good ones I have read.
The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno- Ellen Bryson
Nights At the Circus- Angela Carter
My Life at Grey Gardens: 13 Months and Beyond-Lois Wright
Frankenstein a Cultural History- Susan Tyler Hitchcock
Anything goes : a biography of the roaring twenties-Lucy Moore
Flappers and the new American woman : perceptions of women from 1918 through the 1920s-Catherine Gourley.
Let Me in- John Ajvide Lindqvist
Graveyard Book-Neil Gaiman
Ignore Everybody- Hugh Mcleod
I can't remember the rest 
The unread Pile
American Rose-Karen Abbott
Water for Elephants-Sara Gruen
Spooky Little Girl-Laurie Notaro
Sonambulist- Jonathan Barnes
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter- Seth Grahame Smith
The Stolen Child-Keith Donohue
29 Dec 2010, 9:09 pm
Titangeek
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29 Dec 2010, 9:34 pm
29 Dec 2010, 10:12 pm
auntblabby
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30 Dec 2010, 4:14 am
30 Dec 2010, 4:49 am
30 Dec 2010, 12:23 pm
30 Dec 2010, 3:40 pm
30 Dec 2010, 9:41 pm
I read World War Z last year and it was one of my favorites.
My favorite book this year was Hitch-22 by Christopher Hitchens.
31 Dec 2010, 9:00 am
I did like it... I'll look out for Foundation and Earth. I used to read sci-fi by the bucket.
I'm impressed by those of you who managed to read 80+ books, that's incredible!
I think I'd like to read from richie's bookcase best. And Buryuntime's read some good ones too
Last edited by Moog on 01 Jan 2011, 9:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
auntblabby
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31 Dec 2010, 11:57 pm
