Reading
On books, reading, and writers.
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Two Visions of the Future: Sci fi scenarios that may yet become stories
Scenario 1 We have extensively terraformed a planet circling a distant star. Its atmosphere is breathable and because of its low gravity, trees grow a…
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Plumbing, and Lack Thereof: Our ancestors’ sanitary arrangements were objectionable
If we invent a time machine, I predict that we’ll get temporal tourists returning from the past, horrified about how people used to do their…
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Gateway: A sci fi novel from 1977 that has aged well
Gateway by Frederik Pohl won both the Nebula award and the Hugo, which was a bigger deal back when it came out almost 50 years…
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Ecojargon: Think like an ecologist, but don’t talk like one, please
There’s something about the way ecologists talk that makes my eyes glaze over: Prairie plants sequester carbon, prevent erosion and provide key habitat for endangered…
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Mathematica: Learning math means training your intuition
Mathematician David Bessis has written a book about what we do when we do mathematics. It’s one of the best books I’ve read recently. One…
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Feynman vs. The Abacus: Sometimes intuition wins over processing power
This is an anecdote from Surely You’re Joking, Mr Feynman! It demonstrates what genius is made of: Not raw processing power (that’s what the abacus…
Nehaveigur 