On the bookshelf
It's been awhile since I've posted my current reading list. Here's what's on my bookshelf:
Just Finished: "The Golem: What Everyone should know about science." By Harry Collins and Trevor Pinch. Without a doubt this has got to be one of the most important books about the philosophy of science I have ever read. Their writing style is engaging and exceptionally clear for such an extensive set of topics. I highly recommend this book to all of my friends who work with science and technology. I recommend this for everyone else so that they can understand just what it is scientists do and what really are the limitations of science as an enterprise.
Finished Just Prior: "Star Wars: Heir to the Empire" by Timothy Zahn. This book is the first of what's known as the "Thrawn" trilogy of Star Wars books. It was a great summer read and a heck of a lot of fun. I think the descriptions of TIE fights are nice but really can't capture the essence of the whole thing. Still, the story was fun and it was great to take a break.
Ongoing: "Botany in a Day" by Thomas J. Elpel. This is very much a home-published style of manual with a casual writing style. I like the premise in that one learns plant identification by learning to identify family traits. By identifying what family an unknown plant belongs to, you already know many key things about its properties and use. Since I've never been a very good taxonomist I'm looking forward to finishing this read.
Just Finished: "The Golem: What Everyone should know about science." By Harry Collins and Trevor Pinch. Without a doubt this has got to be one of the most important books about the philosophy of science I have ever read. Their writing style is engaging and exceptionally clear for such an extensive set of topics. I highly recommend this book to all of my friends who work with science and technology. I recommend this for everyone else so that they can understand just what it is scientists do and what really are the limitations of science as an enterprise.
Finished Just Prior: "Star Wars: Heir to the Empire" by Timothy Zahn. This book is the first of what's known as the "Thrawn" trilogy of Star Wars books. It was a great summer read and a heck of a lot of fun. I think the descriptions of TIE fights are nice but really can't capture the essence of the whole thing. Still, the story was fun and it was great to take a break.
Ongoing: "Botany in a Day" by Thomas J. Elpel. This is very much a home-published style of manual with a casual writing style. I like the premise in that one learns plant identification by learning to identify family traits. By identifying what family an unknown plant belongs to, you already know many key things about its properties and use. Since I've never been a very good taxonomist I'm looking forward to finishing this read.