Most people, either alone in quiet contemplation or engaged in alcohol-fueled conversations with friends at a bar, have at one time or another considered the question "why should there be something rather than nothing at all?" After all, it seems just as likely that the universe could consist of nothingness rather than be filled with planets, galaxies, cosmic dust and iPads. In “Why Does the World Exist” author Jim Holt sets out to tackle these grand musings...with very mixed results.
Read MoreThe wonderful thing about celestial mechanics is that they’re mathematically precise; there’s no doubt as to when things are going to happen. Heavenly events can’t be stopped or delayed by events on Earth, bad weather, or a collective lack of interest. They’re coming whether you’re ready or not. I first became aware of an impending solar eclipse several months before it happened from people who pay closer attention to these things than I do. Eclipses happen all the time around the world, but this one would be different: it would take place in my backyard. Not only would there be an eclipse in a place easily accessible to me, but it would also be a total eclipse, the most spectacular sky show of all.
Read MoreI have a tough time with choosing colors when making my own artwork. I often fall back into the same comfortable pairings. So, when I find a good reference like this, I want to tuck it away somewhere for safekeeping.
Read MoreThis is a strange little book that covers the life of Mark Weiser, a man who the author seems to believe occupies a pivotal role in the history of personal computing. Whether the author’s belief is warranted—or if indeed the entire book is warranted—is something I couldn’t quite decide by the time I reached the end of it.
Read MoreThis is a review of the book X-Risk: How Humanity Discovered Its Own Extinction by Thomas Moynihan. I was expecting this book to be an exploration of how human beings seem to be continually drawn to creating the mechanisms of our own destruction. Whether it be be nuclear weaponry, machines which poison our atmosphere, or computers which will become hyper-intelligent in an instant, we always seem to head in the same direction. Why should this be so? I thought this book would help me figure it out. No such luck. “X-Risk” isn’t about any of these real world problems. It’s about the philosophical origins of these problems as written by famous Western thinkers over the last 400 years
Read MoreWhat happened to the unattributed comics artists whose work he cribbed? Their art form was considered so low that Lichtenstein never felt obliged to credit them, nor was his audience ever much inclined to care who they were.
Read MoreElon Musk “long ago decided that for humanity to have a future, it must expand to other worlds”…a premise which is kind of nuts if one thinks about it for more than a few seconds but there seems to be no doubt that Musk believes it. This belief was his prime motivation for founding a company that could build the hardware to make that wild dream a reality. “Liftoff” is the story of the first few years of his effort to build the company we now know as SpaceX.
Read MoreAuthor Martin Amis died this week and I saw a post by @juderogers recounting some of his views from later in life. This section really resonated with me.
Read MoreFukuda was expert at communicating messages using minimal graphic means. His spare style was universal, his symbolism bridging cultural divides.
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