Comments | jrittenhouse: Projects: overview

jrittenhouse

Projects: overview

Jul 03, 2008 18:25

At various times, I get into research projects; some simmer on for decades in various forms, and some break off and pick up speed because I happen to run into something that really fuels the fire, so to speak.

My library here is largely one that I use for reference. I have a huge amount of material that isn’t in book form, and I’m going through ( Read more... )

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Comments 18

rabid_chemist July 4 2008, 00:36:15 UTC

I'm just going to go ahead and assume you've read Jared Diamond's books. You could always go into his bibliographies and see if anything jumps out at you, since he covered a lot of ground.

And if you're interested in the fictional side, there's Harry Turtledove, and Robert Sawyer's Neanderthal Parallax trilogy.

jrittenhouse July 4 2008, 03:39:49 UTC

I've been reading them on and off. Recently got through COLLAPSE. Good stuff.

Sawyer's Neanderthaler books turned me off because of the Supah-Neanderthal world and whatnot they were describing.

carandol July 4 2008, 11:05:41 UTC

What an interesting list! :-) if you *really* feel a need for allied research (looks to me like you've enough topics to keep a university going for a lifetime!) I reckon you'd enjoy delving into the history of science, particularly the early stuff, when the borders of science, magic and religion were rather hazy. A good introduction is Steven Shapin's "The Scientific Revolution". Or if you want to dive in on the web, there are some good links from here: http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/history/resources/science.htm You could lose yourself for hours!

You don't happen to have any recommendations for information on Brazil between the wars, do you? I'm currently working on an alternate history which is partly set in Brazil in 1938.

jrittenhouse July 4 2008, 15:52:24 UTC

Yes, I do. I can suggest some stuff for that period - you want heavy or light Vargas with that?

carandol July 4 2008, 17:08:19 UTC

Cool! A reasonable amount of Vargas wouldn't go amiss. I'm particularly interested in the relationship between Brazil & Nazi Germany, the attitude of the government to the natives of the Amazon Basin, and relations with neighbouring countries, particularly Venezuela. Zeppelin flights to Brazil I think I have enough info on, and which particular species of dinosaur were still alive and well in Brazil at that time is, I think, my own problem :-)

jrittenhouse July 4 2008, 17:28:55 UTC

OK, here's an idea for you:

Set up a helium trade between Bolivia and Brazil on the one hand, and Nazi Germany on the other.

Helium is basically a byproduct of natural gas extraction. Hard to find in Europe, but Brazil and Bolivia have plenty. They don't have tech knowhow for the infrastructure to pull the stuff out, or the capital.

Nazi Germany desperately wants the stuff for Zeppelins.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Brazil/NaturalGas.html

Thread 6

carandol July 4 2008, 18:09:30 UTC

And we'll be holding our super-secret Good Riddance to Pesky Colonials Day celebrations, of course. :-)

marklafon July 4 2008, 20:31:35 UTC

How do you plan to celebrate in 2015 to remember the cook-out on the Potomac in 1815? (G)

carandol July 4 2008, 21:18:59 UTC

I think we'll be too busy celebrating the anniversary of victory over the French at Waterloo to bother with some minor colonial affair :-)

The trouble with British history is that we've fought so many people in so many places that we don't bother to learn most of it at school. This is why people hate us from Argentina to Afghanistan, but we keep having fights with them again and being surprised that they still remember us from last time.

jrittenhouse July 5 2008, 04:25:24 UTC

Oh, we haven't forgotten. We like you now, of course. Now, the Swedes....

one_undone July 6 2008, 10:08:36 UTC

WOW. Your brain scares me sometimes. I feel stupid after seeing what you're reading about.

jrittenhouse July 6 2008, 19:21:59 UTC

(1) I'm not trying to impress anyone. It is what it is, and I certainly
(2) don't want to make anyone feel inadequate.

There are a ton of things that I'm pretty useless at, and always have been. Sports. A lot of fine-handwork stuff (don't have the coordination). Mechanical stuff. That's just a few.

one_undone July 6 2008, 19:59:26 UTC

No, I know you're not, and you don't, but still, seeing how some folks are so into all kinds of stuff I've never even contemplated makes me realize I still have SO much reading to do! :D Of course you, like everyone, have strengths and weaknesses. I think it's great that you're reading about all of these topics. :)

jrittenhouse July 6 2008, 22:07:17 UTC

Well, not every day all the time on all of them simultaneously. The paleoclimate stuff is the big side reading right now.

inuitmonster September 26 2008, 21:15:46 UTC

Ethiopian religious forms and magic.

If you come across anything on this, let me know. I would like to know more about the Ethiopian Church, its history, and how it fits into the country.

There is, of course, Graham Hancock's "The Sign And The Seal", about Ethiopia's claim to have the actual Ark of the Covenant. It has some stuff on the history of Ethiopian Christianity, and is engagingly written. Unfortunately, it is also batshit insane.

jrittenhouse September 26 2008, 22:17:31 UTC

Try the E. Wallis Budge stuff for starters.