Mr. Herschel and His SisterMichael D. Lemonick;
The Georgian Star: How William and Caroline Herschel Revolutionized Our Understanding of the Cosmos (Atlas & Co./W.W. Norton & Co., Inc.; 2009; ISBN 978-0-393-06574-9; cover from various sources).
This slim volume is part of the Great Discoveries series from Atlas/Norton. I'm not sure how its length compares to others in the series; this was a fairly slim, but very informative book.
The book covers William and Caroline Herschel. In a nutshell, William discovered the planet Uranus and is known throughout history for that fact, if nothing else. Until relatively recently, if mentioned at all, Caroline was the one who kept house for him.
As Lemonick shows, the relationship was a lot more complex than that. Caroline was intellectually starved and was withering in Germany; she flourished in England. Not only did she help William with his music, but she composed on her own. And, while he built bigger and bigger reflecting telescopes, she did as well. And while he was discovering the planet Uranus, she had her own extensive observing program. It is a fascinating bit of history, all tied up in one relatively brief package.
If the book falls short anywhere, it is in talking about the telescopes. Lemonick mentions various sized (in feet, which is how they used to be described) telescopes that Herschel used or built, most improvements on the reflecting telescope of another famous scientific personality, Isaac Newton. He could have spent less time talking about Caroline's situation from the perspective of 20th century women and more on why telescopes were measured in feet, the differences between metal mirrors and glass mirrors, the mounts that Herschel used and how they helped/hindered him, etc. But this is a relatively minor quibble; as I said, a fascinating bit of history in a relatively brief package. Recommended.
Labels: Astronomy, History
Galileo! Galileo!Did Galileo
discover Neptune? Interesting thought.
Labels: Astronomy, History
CastlesToday's
Astronomy Picture of the Day shows us a
"stacked" image of the Eagle Nebula, giving a nice view of star formation in this part of the sky.
Labels: Astronomy
Run, Rabbit, RunToday's
Astronomy Picture of the Day shows two dozen pulsars (spinning neutron stars)
that also emit gamma-rays. Rabbit? Taz? J0357+32 sounds more...astronomical...
Labels: Astronomy
The Sky at NightThis is a good time of the year to be an amateur astronomer. And you don't need a fancy set of telescope, mounts, eyepieces and the like to do observing. A good pair of binoculars or even the Mark 1 eyeball will serve you well this time of year. Westerning is Saturn. Above at midnight and later is Jupiter. And in the early morning sky is Venus, at the brightest I've seen in years. I'm sure calls about UFO's will be plaguing police departments these days.
Go to
Heavens Above and see when the ISS is overhead. If you're lucky, you'll catch it as the Sun changes angle across the solar panels and you'll see it "flare" or change color. No telescope or binoculars needed, in fact, I'd discourage their use. Six humans, all alone in the night. Be sure to wave hello.
Have binoculars?
Find an online or
paper starmap. Cast your eyes towards Scorpius, Saggitarius. Globular clusters galore, neublae, the galactic center! How many civilizations are hidden in that direction? Pull down
Olaf Stapledon off the shelf and
page through that
classic and gaze again.
Late at night there's a
big Moon on the rise. Gaze at it with a naked eye or binoculars.
Look at those features. Twelve humans walked there, why haven't we been back since? There's a whole lot of universe next door...
Take down your
Dyson, your
Sagan, your
Clarke, your
Eisley, your
Thomas, your
Raymo and leave through their pages under the stars. Ponder the wonders of the universe, the
occasional tragedy of
those who observe. Pause, and gaze upwards.
Yes, it is a good time of the year to be an amateur astronomer.
Labels: Astronomy
Mahler's NinthLewis Thomas;
Late Night Thoughts on Listening to Mahler's Ninth Symphony (Penguin Books; 1995; ISBN 0-14-024328-3; cover by Gene Greif).
I read
The Lives of the Cell several years ago and was impressed enough by the writings of Lewis Thomas that I bought all his other works that I could find. Alas, I stacked them on the shelf and did not come back to them until this year. I picked this one off the shelf as random, due to the title; and it is fitting in well with the similar works I'm reading by Dyson, Eisley, Clarke and others.
This collection is more political in tone than the previous; many of the essays were written at the height of the Cold War when the threat of nuclear armageddon was closer than it seemed now. This might make some of the essays "dated", but much of what is said could be applied to hysteria around non-nuclear forms of armageddon; comments about research could be applied to many fields; and there are plenty of essays to give you thought about mental health, medical technology, etc.
Made up of:
The Unforgettable Fire;
The Corner of the Eye;
Making Science Work;
Alchemy;
Clever Animals;
On Smell;
My Magical Metronome;
On Speaking of Speaking;
Seven Wonders;
The Artificial Heart;
Things Unflattened by Science;
Basic Science and the Pentagon;
Science and "Science";
On the Need for Asylums;
Altruism;
Falsity and Failure;
On Medicine and the Bomb; The Problem of Dementia; The Lie Detector; Some Scientific Advice; The Attic of the Brain; Humanities and Science; On Matters of Doubt; Late Night Thoughts on Listening to Mahler's Ninth Symphony.
Counts as 17 entries in the
2009 Year in Shorts.
Labels: Politics, Reading, Science, The Year in Shorts
Rebel and HereticFreeman Dyson;
The Scientist as Rebel (New York Review of Books; 2006; ISBN 978-1-59017-216-2; cover by CERN).
It is very interesting to read Freeman Dyson, whether it be these essays or his other works. Not only do you see that he is one dang intelligent person (most of us are not fit to carry his pencil case, let alone his slide rule),
but those that criticize his position on issues such as "global warming" make it clear they do not know the man or read his materials. They would benefit from doing so!
An interesting mix of book reviews, excerpts from out-of-print works, and essays such as Dyson's expansion upon J.D. Bernal's
The World, The Flesh and The Devil. Highly recommended. Not beach reading, but maybe if more people read stuff like this on the beach, we'd have more intelligent discourse and less panic in the media.
Made up of:
Preface;
The Scientist as Rebel;
Can Science Be Ethical?;
A Modern Heretic;
The Future Needs Us;
What a World!;
Witness to a Tragedy;
Bombs and Potatoes;
Generals;
Russians;
The Race Is Over;
The Force of Reason;
The Bitter End;
Two Kinds of History;
Edward Teller's "Memoirs";
In Praise of Amateurs;
A New Newton;
Clockwork Science;
The World on a String; Oppenheimer as Scientist, Administrator, and Poet; Seeing the Unseen; The Tragic Tale of a Genius; Wise Man; The World, The Flesh, and the Devil; Is God in the Lab?; This Side Idolatry; One in a Million; Many Worlds; Religion from the Outside.
Counts as 19 entries in the
2009 Year in Shorts.
Labels: Politics, Reading, Science, The Year in Shorts
Even Newer DestiniesAfter Far Frontiers, came
New Destinies, as Jim Baen continued to work on the "bookzine" format. Similar in frequency,
New Destinies concentrated more on fiction and had fewer but longer entries per issue than
Far Frontiers.
Jim Baen (editor):
New Destinies 01 (Baen Books; March 1987; ISBN 0-671-65628-7; cover by Craig Farley).
Made up of: Point Man (Timothy Zahn); Magic Matter (Robert L. Forward); Iron (Poul Anderson); Not for Country, Not for King (Joel Rosenberg); In Praise of Sociobiology (John and Mary Gribbin); Lifeguard (Doug Beason); The Space Beat: How to Stop a Space Program (G. Harry Stine); The Graphic of Dorian Gray (Fred Saberhagen); Rank Injustice (Keith Laumer).
Part of the
2009 Year in Shorts.
Labels: Reading, Science, Science Fiction, The Year in Shorts
Living on the New FrontierWhen Jim Baen came to
Galaxy magazine as editor, one thing he did was to keep Jerry Pournelle on as science writer. The relationship went as long as Baen edited Galaxy; he eventually left to become editor at Ace. While at Ace,
he started a "bookzine" called Destinies, and Pournelle came along to write science articles. When Baen left Ace to work with the folks at Tor,
Destinies withered, when he founded his own publishing house he created, with Pournelle,
Far Frontiers, a new "bookzine". Eventually
Far Frontiers evolved into
New Destinies (but that's another entry in the blog).
Jerry Pournelle and Jim Baen (editors):
Far Frontiers #01 (Baen Books; January 1985; ISBN 0-671-55935-4; cover by Michael Carroll).
Made up of:
Editors Introduction to A Step Further Out (Jerry Pournelle);
A Step Further Out: "The Association for the Abolition of Science" (Jerry Pournelle);
Editor's Introduction to The Warm Space (Jerry Pournelle); The Warm Space (David Brin); Editor's Introduction to The Jefferson Orbit (Jerry Pournelle); The Jefferson Orbit (Ben Bova); Editor's Afterword to The Jefferson Orbit (Jerry Pournelle); Editor's Introduction to The Boy from the Moon (Jerry Pournelle); The Boy from the Moon (Rivka Jacobs); Editor's Introduction to Brain Salad (Jerry Pournelle); Brain Salad (Norman Spinrad); Editor's Introduction to Goodbye Dr. Ralston (Jerry Pournelle); Goodbye Dr. Ralston (Damon Knight); Editor's Introduction to Future Scenarios for Space Development (Jerry Pournelle); Future Scenarios for Space Development (G. Harry Stine); Editor's Introduction to Lost in Translation (Jerry Pournelle); Lost in Translation (Dean Ing); Editor's Introduction to Through Road No Whither (Jerry Pournelle); Through Road No Whither (Greg Bear); Editor's Introduction to Interstellar Transport Paradox (Jerry Pournelle); The Paradox of Interstellar Transport (Robert L. Forward); Introduction to Pride (Jerry Pournelle); Pride (Poul Anderson); Introduction to Table Manners (Jerry Pournelle); Table Manners (Larry Niven); The Leading Edge Book Reviews (Richard E. Geis).
Counts as three entries in the
2009 Year in Shorts.
Labels: Reading, Science, Science Fiction, The Year in Shorts
The Dark RiverToday's
Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the dark cloud in the Antares region known as
the Dark River.
Labels: Astronomy
Richard the Deep BreatherI read these a few years ago,
see my review here. Since I'm down and out of work for the week with either a "flu-like illness" or a global pandemic, I've been doing a lot of reading.
And I just resist a book where a truck is named "Richard the Deep Breather".
Wonderful tales, once again! (
Some good background here.) The stories are a mix of pranks ("The Flying Sorcerer"), straight-up adventure ("The Great Gas Bag Race"), mystery ("The Secret of the Old Cannon") and adventure mixed with good deeds ("Night Rescue"). It's amazing to see these guys at work, building gadgets out of junk, thinking to solve a problem, acting to help each other or neighbors, or just having fun.
Another highlight is the fact that these reprints include the artwork (covers and interior sketches) of Charles Geer. They really do capture the characters and the situations they are involved with for me!
Bertrand R. Brinley:
The Mad Scientists' Club (Purple House Press; 2001; ISBN 1-930900-10-4; cover and interior illustrations by Charles Geer).
Made up of:
Introduction (Sheridan Brinley);
The Strange Sea Monster of Strawberry Lake;
The Big Egg;
The Secret of the Old Cannon;
The Unidentified Flying Man of Mammoth Falls;
The Great Gas Bag Race;
The Voice in the Chimney;
Night Rescue.
Counts as eight entries in the
2009 Year in Shorts.
Bertrand R. Brinley:
The New Adventures of The Mad Scientists' Club (Purple House Press; 2002; ISBN 1-930900-11-2; cover and interior illustrations by Charles Geer).
Made up of:
Introduction (Sheridan Brinley);
The Telltale Transmitter;
The Cool Cavern;
Big Chief Rainmaker;
The Flying Sorcerer;
The Great Confrontation.
Counts as six entries in the
2009 Year in Shorts.
Bertrand R. Brinley:
The Big Kerplop (Purple House Press; 2003; ISBN 1-930900-22-8; cover and interior illustrations by Charles Geer).
I never had read this one as a kid, and there turns out to be a good reason: the publisher was in financial trouble and only about 1,000 copies were actually distributed. The first full-length Mad Scientists' Club novel, the book tells the "origin tale" of the club, how they got together when the U.S. Air Force accidentally dropped an atomic bomb in the local lake. Not quite as good as the short stories (I think due to the form, Brinley put more into each story, expanding the gang out to novel form did not really add anything).
Labels: Reading, The Year in Books, The Year in Shorts
TrifidToday's
Astronomy Picture of the Day shows us one of my all-time favorite sights in the sky:
M20, the Trifid Nebula.
Labels: Astronomy
His Dark MaterialsToday's
Astronomy Picture of the Day shows one of the
recently imaged dark patches on the surface of Mercury.
Labels: Astronomy
A New Lunar AtlasAny amateur astronomers out there
see this one yet? Opinions?
Labels: Astronomy
WISEWISE stands for Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. The mission will survey the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, creating a cosmic clearinghouse of hundreds of millions of objects—everything from the most luminous galaxies, to the nearest stars, to dark and potentially hazardous asteroids. The satellite is assembled; next up will be testing, shipping, processing and launch on November 1.
Labels: Astronomy, Space and Rocketry
Sunny ClimeChemistry and the occasional "episode with thin films of liquid water" could make the place where the
Phoenix Mars Lander touched down
a favorable environment for microbes. How much longer before we can retire that phrase "the dead planet Mars"?
Labels: Astronomy, Space and Rocketry
Fred's Reading Report (June 2009)Books read, year-to-date?
174, with 28 books read during the month.
The books read in June were...
David Drake: When the Tide Rises (part of the
Leary of the RCN series).
William Gibson: Virtual Light (part of the
Bridge Sequence).
Masashi Kishimoto: Naruto, Volumes 01 through 22.
Patrick O'Brian: The Nutmeg of Consolation (part of the
Aubrey-Maturin series).
John Ringo: When the Devil Dances (part of the
Legacy of the Aldenata series).
John Ringo and David Weber: March to the Sea (part of the
Prince Roger series).
Howard Tayler: The Tub of Happiness (part of the
Schlock Mercenary series).
A mixed bag, with a heavy emphasis on fun/action for the month. Best reads were mirrors of each other, David Drake and Patrick O'Brian. Most intellectual probably was William Gibson (a re-read). Most fun was probably Howard Tayler. Sergeant Schlock is going to save me!
Short works?
233 read, year-to-date. The goal is to read one short a day, so I have 132 to go to meet that goal. (The list of short works is actually pretty out of date and in need of serious fixing.
Labels: Patrick O'Brian, Reading, Science Fiction, The Year in Books, The Year in Shorts, War and Military
Milestones and DelaysThe good news is that components of the Ares 1X test vehicle
have been delivered to Kennedy Space Center and the test launch appears to be still on the schedule. The bad news is that the test of the
escape capability for the Orion capsule was
delayed (and I haven't seen any news fresher than this to indicate that it has since happened).
Addendum (July 8, 2009): Launch abort system tested! I wonder if they named this one Little Joe II?
Labels: Space and Rocketry
Running Around the WorldThe
gritty underside of life in space. Sponge baths just don't do it.
Labels: Space and Rocketry
"Major Stake"?Over-budget, over-delayed, over-managed...sounds like one of our upcoming Mars rovers. Why the heck should NASA take a "major stake" in this vehicle? Probably more due to politics than engineering/science.
Labels: Politics, Space and Rocketry
iRoSFThe current issue of
The Internet Review of Science Fiction had a couple of interesting pieces. Nadar Elhefnawy looks at the
sub-sub genre known as "steampunk".
Gary Westfahl looks at the career of J.G. Ballard. An interesting spin. I'm hoping that his books become available again (look at what death has done for Philip K. Dick!). And,
Mark Cole looks at Andrei Tarkovsky and his science fiction movies (Solaris, Stalker). I wonder if we'll ever see a "proper" version of the novel
Solaris, not the translated-from-Polish-to-French-and-then-massively-abridged-when-translated-to-English version that keeps showing up.
Labels: Reading, Science Fiction
Secret HistoriesI'm still working my way through this book about Tim Powers (one of my favorite modern fantasy authors). Here's a
review by Rodger Turner to give you a hint of what is inside this amazing tome!
Labels: Fantasy, Reading
OscillatorWorried about "climate change"?
You ain't seen nothing yet.
Labels: Astronomy
Space BubbleToday's
Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a
camera image and a conception of what is going on in that image. Supermassive black hole plus matter equals one strange universe.
Labels: Astronomy
Buran to be Revived?What in the name of holy heck are these people smoking? Because reviving Buran is a pipe dream involving massinve amounts of green stuff. Better to put the money to use in the domestic arena, either funding a shuttle variant of really funding Constellation.
Labels: Space and Rocketry
A Passion for SpaceMajor Jack Fischer on
why we need space travel.
Labels: Space and Rocketry
Oh My Darling ClementineGet ready for the
lunar uranium rush.
Labels: Astronomy, Space and Rocketry
Ansible!The
July 2009 issue of Ansible (#264 in a series) is out. Alas, it came out faster than I could post...it actually violated casuality and came out in June.
Terry Pratchett, who's finding novel-writing much easier now he's moved from keyboards to dictation, reveals: 'Something for the Very Strange department; the BBC contacted us about doing a prime time series based on the Guards books. Things seemed to go well, although it appeared to me that up to that point only one person involved had read a Discworld book. Then we gradually moved into Fairy Land.... What caused me to crack was the question of the Bible. I am not going to let something like this happen without some input, if only to stop Nobby Nobbs becoming female. Much discussion ensued, and my movie agent suggested that the BBC and us create the Guards Bible -- these style guides are quite common in the business. / It looked, therefore, like it would be all systems go until the BBC came back and said that while they would be happy to collaborate on the Bible, they would because of their charter have to have the final say, which means in effect: "everything will be set in stone, but we are allowed to have a sledgehammer." So the BBC is not getting Guards! Guards!. As my movie agent (who has dealt with some of the most voracious companies in the States) said to me, "How does anyone ever deal with the BBC?"'
Labels: Science Fiction
No Constellation-Class Observatories?Hmmm...
doesn't look good. The shuttle is heading for retirement and this makes me think NASA is expecting the Ares V to be canned. So much for heavy-lift.
Labels: Space and Rocketry
Why the Moon?Dennis Wingo, Paul Spudis and Gordon Woodcock
take on the question. Let's get out of low-Earth orbit already!
Addendum (related previous articles):
Bootstrapping the Moon.
To ISRU or Not to ISRU, This is the Dumbest Question.
Labels: Space and Rocketry
Vacation HomeMars was
"life-friendly" more recently than thought? Well, we're still talking "geologic time" here, but it is interesting to see how the estimates keep creeping down!
Labels: Astronomy
The Spirit of 1776Today's
Astronomy Picture of the Day is a tad early for the 4th of July. It shows the
North American Nebula, which I've only been able to spot once (from a very dark site). I still remember the
most excellent Rick Sternbach cover for
Joe Haldeman's Tricentennial, which appeared on the July 1976 issue of
Analog.
Labels: Art, Astronomy, Science Fiction
The Space ReviewIn the current issue of
The Space Review, a few items of interest. Eric Sterner looks at the reboot of Star Trek and wonders if the space program
needs a reboot. And, Wes Huntress
thinks on the future of the space program and getting beyond unrealistic deadlines.
Labels: Space and Rocketry
Room with a ViewThe ISS will be getting a
nice new window!
Labels: Space and Rocketry
Lunar OrbitThe Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
has entered lunar orbit. No firm word on when we're going to start getting pictures.
Labels: Astronomy, Space and Rocketry
Fresh Racing StripesToday's
Astronomy Picture of the Day shows
Saturn's moon Enceladus, a possible source of materials for Saturn's E-Ring. Or not. The hunt continues!
Labels: Astronomy
The Skies at NightToday's
Astronomy Picture of the Day shows us
some beautiful night skies. Not what I get at home, alas.
Labels: Astronomy
Digging in the DirtMER Spirit has gotten stuck in the soft soil of one region of Mars. Engineers are working to free the rover, utilizing such things as
photographs of what is underneath to
mixing what seems to match the soil on Earth (in order to use a working rover to develop strategies). In the meantime,
science continues! Go Spirit, go!
Labels: Space and Rocketry
Locked Room MysteryThis probably won't put an end to the various theories (conspiracy and other) about
what really happened in remote Siberia in 1908!
Labels: Astronomy
Inner Ocean?Sodium salts have been detected in Saturn's outermost ring...did they get there from water-ice jets spewing from Saturn's moon Enceladus?
The chemical signature hints that this is the case. An ocean inside Enceladus? Fish? Fish sticks?
Labels: Astronomy, Space and Rocketry
CloudsToday's
Astronomy Picture of the Day shows
Barnard 68, a dark molecular cloud in the constellation Ophiuchus.
Labels: Astronomy
When Worlds CollideToday's
Astronomy Picture of the Day shows
two galaxies merging. Generally a less exciting process than a "collision".
Labels: Astronomy
The Space ReviewThe current issue of
The Space Review has two items of interest: Michael Huang looks at
politics, reality and the possible death of the human spaceflight program in the United States. And Jeff Foust looks at
another product that is being published ahead of the 40th anniversary of the first step on the Moon.
Labels: Politics, Space and Rocketry
Streams in the Star RiverToday's
Astronomy Picture of the Day shows
"streaming" dark nebula near Antares. Strange skies, indeed.
Labels: Astronomy
The Road at NightToday's
Astronomy Picture of the Day is a stunning composite
showing The Milky Way as a road. New desktop image?
Labels: Astronomy
Objects in SpaceToday's
Astronomy Picture of the Day shows a
supernova remnant with an unusual shape. Why unusual? Most results from a supernova expand in spherical fashion. Was this a irregular supernova (and what the heck would that mean)? Did something else block the expansion? Hmmm.....
Labels: Astronomy
2009: The Year in Current ReadsThe other night, my wife, my daughter and I were comparing the number of books we are simultaneously reading. For my wife and daughter, if was four or five books; but for me, I guessed I was reading between thirty-five and fifty books.
I've always been able to do this, don't know why. I can juggle multiple plotlines or non-fiction threads. I can put a book down for days, weeks or months (even years) and pick it up again without a problem. Don't know how...
Anyway, here's a fairly complete list (without pulling off layers from the bookshelves to scan all the titles) of what I'm currently (more or less currently) reading. In looking at the non-fiction, can you discern what I'd like to be doing now?
Abnett, Dan: The Founding (omnibus, part of the "Gaunt's Ghosts" series, which is part of the "Warhammer 40,000" series).
Anvil, Christopher: Interstellar Patrol.
Asher, Neal: The Shadow of the Scorpion ("Polity" series).
Banks, Iain M.: Matter; Use of Weapons ("Culture" series).
Bear, Greg: Darwin's Radio ("Darwin's Children" series).
Beattie, Donald A.: ISScapades: The Crippling of America's Space Program.
Benford, Gregory: Across the Sea of Stars (part of the "Galactic Center" series).
Berry, Adrian: The Next Ten Thousand Years.
Bova, Ben: Laugh Lines.
Brooks, Max: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War.
Brotherton, Mike: Stardragon.
Brunner, John: Stand on Zanzibar.
Buckell, Tobias: Crystal Rain; Halo: The Cole Protocol (part of the "Halo" series).
Burrough, Bryan: Dragonfly.
Burrows, William E.: The Survival Imperative; This New Ocean.
Butrica, Andrew J.: Single State to Orbit.
Campbell, Donovan: Joker One.
Chandler, A. Bertram: Spartan Planet (part of the "Commodore Grimes" series).
Chesterton, G.K.: The Man Who Was Thursday.
Clarke, Arthur C.: Tales from the White Hart; The Coast of Coral.
Cook, Glen: Passage at Arms; The Dragon Never Sleeps.
Cooper, Henry S.F.: A House in Space.
Crichton, Michael: The Andromeda Strain.
The Dali Lama: The Art of Happiness.
Dick, Philip K.: The Man in the High Castle.
Dickson, Gordon R.: The Right to Arm Bears.
Dickson, Gordon R. and Anderson, Poul: Hokas, Pokas.
Drake, David: When the Tide Rises ("Leary of the RCN"); Cross the Stars; Grimmer Than Hell; Old Nathan; Seas of Venus; Starliner; The Sea Hag; Paying the Piper (part of the "Hammer's Slammers" series); Redliners.
Dyson, Freeman: Infinite in All Directions; Origins of Life; Imagined Worlds; Disturbing the Universe; The Sun, The Genome, and The Internet; The Scientist as Rebel.
Egan, Greg: Incandesence.
Eisley, Loren: The Invisible Pyramid; The Unexpected Universe; The Star Thrower.
Flint, Eric: The Philosophical Strangler; Forward the Mage ("Joe's World"); Mother of Demons.
Flint, Eric and Freer, Dave: Pyramid Power ("Pyramid"); Rats, Bats and Vats ("Rats" series).
Forward, Robert L.: Indistinguishable from Magic.
Franklin, Benjamin: Autobiography (Harvard Classics, Volume 01).
Friedman, Thomas L.: The Lexus and the Olive Tree.
Gallun, Raymond Z.: The Planet Strappers.
Geston, M.S.: The Books of the Wars (omnibus).
Gibson, W.: Virtual Light (part of the "Bridge Trilogy"); Pattern Recognition (part of an unnamed duo of books, probably a trilogy).
Gilliland, A.A.: The Revolution from Rosinante ("Rosinante Trilogy").
Gleick, James: Chaos--Making a New Science.
Gordon, Michael R. and Trainor, Bernard E.: Cobra II.
Greenspan, Alan: The Age of Turbulence.
Hackworth, David R. and Sherman, Julie: About Face.
Hamilton, Edmond: Crashing Suns.
Hamilton, Peter F.: The Confederation Handbook; The Nights Dawn Trilogy; A Second Chance at Eden (all set in the same universe).
Harrison, M.J.: Viriconium.
Hart, Stephen: The Last Three Miles.
Heinlein, Robert A.: Between Planets; Farmer in the Sky; The Rolling Stones.
Herodtus: The Histories.
Hodgell, P.C.: The God-Stalker Chronicles (omnibus).
Hughart, Barry: Bridge of Birds (part of the "Master Li Kao and Number Ten Ox" series).
King, Stephen: The Stand.
Kipling, Rudyard: Kim; Departmental Ditties and Barracks Room Ballads (poetry); The Kipling Reader; Verses, 1889-1896 (poetry).
Kishimoto, Masashi: Various volumes in the "Naruto" series of manga.
Kitmacher, Gary (editor): Reference Guide to the International Space Station.
Kratman, Thomas: A State of Disobedience; Caliphate.
Lambshead, John: Lucy's Blade.
Lumpkin, John: Through Struggle, The Stars (unpublished, courtesy of the author).
MacAvoy, R.A.: Tea with the Black Dragon.
Machiavelli, N.: The Prince.
Martin, George R.R.: Clash of Thrones (part of "A Song of Ice and Fire").
Maberry, Jonathan: Patient Zero.
Marozzi, Justin: The Way of Herodotus.
Matloff, Gregory L.; Johnson, Les; Bangs, C.: Living Off the Land in Space.
McCaffrey, Anne: Dragonflight ("Pern").
McCullough, David: Truman.
Miller, Christopher: The Cardboard Universe--A Guide to the World of Phoebue K. Dank.
Moon, Elizabeth: Heris Serrano (omnibus, part of a series made up of three major lines of stories).
Moore, Harold G. and Galloway, Joseph L.: We Were Soldiers Once...And Young.
Mullane, R. Mike: Do Your Ears Pop in Space?
Niven, Larry: Flatlander, Tales of Known Space, Crashlander (all part of the "Known Space" series).
Norton, Andre: Star Flight (omnibus); Crosstime (omnibus); Dark Companion (omnibus); Darkness and Dawn (omnibus); From the Sea to the Stars (omnibus); Gods and Androids (omnibus); Janus (omnibus); Lord of Thunder; Masks of the Outcasts (omnibus); Moonsinger (omnibus); Search for the Star Stones (omnibus); The Sargasso of Space; Plague Ship; Voodoo Planet; Postmarked the Stars; Star Gate; Star Hunter; Star Soldiers (omnibus); The Beast Master; The Game of Stars and Comets (omnibus); Time Traders I (omnibus); Time Traders II (omnibus); Warlock (omnibus).
O'Brian, Patrick: The Nutmeg of Consolation ("Aubrey-Maturin).
Pangborn, Edgar: Davy.
Peters, Ellis: A Rare Benedictine (part of the "Brother Cadfael" series).
Pournelle, Jerry: Exile and Glory (omnibus); The Mercenary ("Falkenberg"); West of Honor ("Falkenberg"); Prince of Mercenaries ("Falkenberg"); Go Tell the Spartans (with Sam Stirling) ("Falkenberg"); Prince of Sparta (with Sam Stirling) ("Falkenberg"); King David's Spaceship ("Empire of Man").
Pournelle, Jerry and Niven, Larry: Footfall; Lucfier's Hammer; The Mote in God's Eye.
Pratchett, Terry: Jingo (part of the "Discworld" series).
Pressfield, Stephen: Gates of Fire.
Rand, Ayn: Atlas Shrugged.
Reynolds, Alastair: Revelation Space ("Cojoiner").
Ringo, John: When the Devil Dances (part of the "Posleen" series); March to the Sea (part of the "Prince Roger" series).
Robinson, Spider: Very Bad Deaths ("Smelly"); Very Hard Choices ("Smelly"); The Lifehouse Trilogy (omnibus).
Robinson, Spider and Robinson, Jeanne: Stardance Trilogy (omnibus).
Sawyer, Robert J.: Flash Forward.
Schmitt, Harrison H.: Return to the Moon.
Schroeder, Karl: Sun of Suns (part of the "Virga" sequence).
Stanton, Doug: Horse Soldiers.
Stapledon, Olaf: The Star Maker.
Stephenson, Neal: The Diamond Age. Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer.
Stewart, George: Earth Abides.
Stine, G. Harry: Living in Space; Halfway to Anywhere; The Space Enterprise; The Third Industrial Revolution.
Stross, Charles: Halting State.
Thomas, Lewis: Late Night Thoughts on Listening to Mahler's Ninth Symphony; The Lives of a Cell; The Youngest Science; The Medusa and the Snail; The Fragile Species.
Thorpe, Gav: The Last Chancers (omnibus, part of the "Warhammer 40,000" series).
Toffler, Alvin: Future Shock.
Travis: Karen: Aspho Fields (part of the "Gears of War" series).
Van Gulik, Robert: The Chinese Lake Murders (part of the "Judge Dee" series).
Various: The King James Version of The Bible; The Common Edition of The New Testament; The Psalms.
Weber, David: The Honor of the QUeen (part of the "Honor Harrington" series); The Oath of Swords/Sword Brother (the "War God" series).
Williams, Liz: Snake Agent (part of the "Inspector Chen" series).
Williamson, Michael Z.: Contact with Chaos (part of the "Freehold" series).
Wolfe, Gene: The Shadow of the Torturer (part of "The Book of the New Sun").
Zahn, Timothy: Blackcollar ("Blackcollar"); Blackcollar: The Judas Solution ("Blackcollar"); The Cobra Trilogy (omnibus).
Zebrowski, George: The Omega Point Trilogy (omnibus); Macro-Life.
Zelazny, Roger: Jack of Shadows.
Zelazny, Roger and Saberhagen, Fred: The Black Throne.
Zimmerman, Robert: Leaving Earth.
Zubrin, Robert: The Case for Mars; Entering Space; On to Mars; How to Live on Mars.
And that's not all! I've pretty much skipped the current reads from
The Year in Shorts. In typing up this list I said "Oh, yeah, what about..." several times, but did not enter most of the titles I recall I'm also reading. Hopefully this will be constantly modified, as I finish titles or remember what else I'm reading.
Labels: Reading
IrisToday's
Astronomy Picture of the Day shows us
a beautiful shot of NGC 7023, sometimes known as the Iris Nebula.
Labels: Astronomy
Like a Bad PennyIf you get an e-mail saying..."Mars will look as large as the full moon...No one alive today will ever see this again."
NOT!Labels: Astronomy
Chains Keep Us TogetherToday's
Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the distinctive deep sky object
known as Markarian's Chain, a string of galaxies. Most, but not all, are actually part of a large scale structure.
Labels: Astronomy
Slamming the HammerTake a look:
new Hammer's Slammers game (from Mongoose, though, errrrr....) and
new Hammer's Slammers edition. The best news about the second is that we'll finally be getting the compleat canon as eBooks!
Labels: Gaming, Science Fiction, War and Military
The Civil HereticI somehow overlooked this
March 25, 2009 article about Freeman Dyson. Would that his critics were as polite and unassuming as he is!
Labels: Politics, Science, Those Dang Wingnuts
MicroquasarToday's
Astronomy Picture of the Day shows an astronomical mystery: are we seeing
gas jets from a microquasar near Cygnus X-1?
Labels: Astronomy
