Some good books

Lately, I've been reading a lot both at work and at home.  All of the books I've read recently have been really quality, so I thought I would share me thoughts on them here.  I'm really happy to have the time to read copiously again; I hated not having the time to do so while at Mudd.  I also have a lot of downtime at the lab while I wait for mixtures to stir, solutions to centrifuge and ovens to heat up, so I get to read a lot and call it "work".

The first book I want to mention is Origins, by Neil deGrasse Tyson.  This book was recommended to me by Chris, who is secretly trying to turn me into a space nerd (OK, maybe not so secretly).  Anyways, deGrasse Tyson is a well-known astrophysicist, and an accomplished writer.  His writing, while very informative, is also entertaining and accessible.  And, the guy is just cool.  Look at him:

What a hip dude.  Origins deals with the origins of our universe and how it has evolved over time to become what it is today.  I have to admit that I've always been slightly put off by all things space, mostly because I don't understand the jargon and because it all seems so large and impossible to understand that I don't even want to try.  But deGrasse Tyson is really incredible in that he explains concepts in clear, plain language, and in ways that make space seem super exciting!  One aspect of the book that I particularly enjoyed was that deGrasse Tyson always explained how scientists had obtained the data that they were using to back up their theories.  I also liked that the history of astrophysics was traced from ancient times until today, which made it easier to understand where the current theories and research came from.  For me, the coolest section of the book was about how different elements are made.  Individual elements are generated by fusion in the cores of stars, with stars of more energy generating heavier elements.  The heaviest element that can be made in current stars is iron; all the heavier elements come from super-massive stars that lived right after the Big Bang.  So, for anyone who wants to learn more about astrophysics, but is intimidated or worried that it will be boring, I strongly recommend this book!

The next interesting book I read lately is called Life on Air, by David Attenborough.  You probably know Attenborough as the narrator of the (completely awesome) nature documentary series Planet Earth.  (If you've never heard of Planet Earth, please come out of the cave that you have been living in.  Seriously, even my grandmother has seen it.  She also reads my blog sometimes.  Hi, Grandmother!)  In his memoirs, Attenborough tells of his work with the BBC starting in the 1950s, when the BBC was still in it's infancy.  Attenborough stumbled into TV by accident, and had originally studied natural sciences and geology.  It was this background that led him to start producing nature documentaries for the BBC, initially while on animal collection expeditions with the London Zoo.  Since these early programs were wildly successful with the British public, they were continued and expanded throughout the years.  Although hearing about the evolution of the BBC is interesting, the parts of the book that really shine are Attenborough's accounts of the many overseas expeditions he went on.  Attenborough and his team were always having zany adventures and getting themselves into scrapes.  Many of the destinations are chosen solely for their remoteness and lack of any Western influence, or because of a specific and rare wildlife species that had never before been captured on film.  Also, the book had lots of great pictures!  Like this one:

Awwww!  Another part of the book that I really enjoyed was when Attenborough talked about his experiences with the cargo cults of South Asia.  You may have read about these before: I've seen them mentioned in both Collapse, by Jared Diamond, and Surely You're Joking, Mr. Fenyman!, by Richard Fenyman (also both excellant books).  Bascially, the cargo cults were established by native island cultures in the Pacific after the arrival of Westerners.  The natives saw the Westerners receiving shipments of cargo from ships and airplanes, and since their cultures were not equipped to produce any of these advanced products, they concluded that the cargo must come from the gods.  The cargo cults were started to curry favor with the gods so that the natives would also receive these kinds of shipments.  They were often very intricate in their imitations of the methods Westerners used to receive the goods, doing things such as contstructing fake airplane runways and radio systems of our locally available materials.  Overall, I found the book very humerous and well-written, and I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes look at nature programming that the book provided.

Right now, I've just started reading Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace.  This book is quite an undertaking, at about 1000 pages plus 100 pages more of footnotes.    I haven't read a lot by DFW before beginning this book, but what I have read I've been incredibly impressed with.  This summer, I read Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, a collection of short stories and essays, which I found hilarious.  The other piece I have read by him is actually a graduation speech that he gave several years ago.  It's now published in a very small book called (I think) This is Water.  This speech absolutely knocked me off my feet.  If you haven't read it, do so!  I think it should be required reading for everyone, as it presents a very important message about the importance of being /aware/ in everyday life. 

I just bought one more book last weekend.  I don't normally buy books, because I read them too quickly.  But, this one is another 1000 pager, so I figured the investment was justified.  The book is question is 2666, by Roberto Bolano (that's actually the n-with-a-tilde-over-it but I can't figure out how to make that on blogspot).  Bolano is one of my new favorite authors.  This summer I read The Savage Dectectives, which is about a group of poets in Mexico City in the 1970s who embark on a search for the poet famed for founding their esoteric poetical subgenre.  Of course, it's the journey that is the story, not the end result.  All in all, this book was amazing - sort of if Jack Kerouac and Gabriel Garcia Marquez had a baby.  2666 takes place on the Texas/Mexico border and is set in more modern times.  It was just released in English last year, so I'm pretty excited for it.  Also, having this one waiting will keep me more on track with Infinite Jest.  

What about you guys out there?  Any good books as of late?