Infotainment

[IFR]

I was browsing through my goodreads, and there are a few more books I would be remiss not to mention:

Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter.

Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS by Joby Warrick. Red Line by the same author is also very good.

Spillover by David Quammen.

Ignition! An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants by John Drury Clark.

Edit: Really, you can't go wrong with the Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction. I've been reading through the last few decades of winners and nominees, and almost all of the books are wonderful. 

[Rippounet]

9 hours ago, Which Tyler said:

Have you tried the Liebermann one I'd suggested above?

No. I definitely ought to, it's a book I've heard of before - thanks for putting it back on my radar btw.

[Wilbur]

19 hours ago, Conflicting Thought said:

i read that this book has been heavily criticized for being incorrect on many thing. an exapmple  from Wikipedia; "Kathleen Lowrey argued that Guns, Germs, and Steel "lets the West off the hook" and "poisonously whispers: mope about colonialism, slavery, capitalism, racism, and predatory neo-imperialism all you want, but these were/are nobody's fault. This is a wicked cop-out. [...] It basically says [non-Western cultures/societies] are sorta pathetic, but that bless their hearts, they couldn't/can't help it."

I have two thoughts on Guns, Germs, and Steel.

On the scientific front, new discoveries have expanded the insights into what Diamond wrote about originally.  For the most part, current science provides some additional information that adds to his ideas, particularly some of passages on archeological discoveries in microbiology.  In some areas, such as the likely cometary end of the Clovis People, Diamond didn't have access to it when he wrote, so he failed to address it.  Generally, however, his ideas are based on a variety of good sciences, from linguistics to climate change to bacteriology.

And this leads to my second though.  Guns, Germs and Steel isn't some sort of Culture War screed, and in fact, reading it is a relief from that sort of thing.  I might not always agree with the specific ideas that Diamond comes up with, but in general his conclusions come from a scientific observation, not some sort of social or political position.  I don't get the impression that he is making an excuse for slavery or imperialism; in fact, he explicitly states that these were evil.  He is trying to provide an explanation as to why it was European, rather than Hawaiian (for instance) conquerors who ended up as colonial masters.

GG&S isn't the final word on why things turned out the way they did, but it is so well-written and considers so many scientific disciplines that it well worth the time spent to read.

Anecdotally, I have lived and worked in East and Southeast Asia for a couple of decades, and Diamond's writing and ideas that concerned the people and geography of that region of the world appeared both accurate and respectful to me.  YMMV, but if the rest of his analysis is as valid as those sections, the book as a whole must have some good value.

[Wilbur]

On 3/28/2022 at 12:39 PM, IFR said:

The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean.

Thank you for the recommendation!

I am listening to this one now, and at about 80% of the way through the table, it is quite enjoyable.

[IFR]

5 hours ago, Wilbur said:

Thank you for the recommendation!

I am listening to this one now, and at about 80% of the way through the table, it is quite enjoyable.

I'm glad you like it! It's a very fun book. Another worthwhile book along that subject is Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World by Mark Miodownik. It goes more into material science, but is a highly entertaining read.

[Wilbur]

19 hours ago, IFR said:

I'm glad you like it! It's a very fun book. Another worthwhile book along that subject is Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World by Mark Miodownik. It goes more into material science, but is a highly entertaining read.

 

[Wilbur]

On 3/28/2022 at 12:39 PM, IFR said:

Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham.

I loaded this one up in audiobook form based on your recommendation, and it is very good.  Thank you!