Main Area and Open Discussion > Living Room
What books are you reading?
superboyac:
I remember going to a lecture where 'electron spin' got mentioned. The lecturer took pains to point out that what are called particles aren't really what we think of as physical particles. I remember his saying something like " Spin is a way of thinking about it. It's not like there's actually an object that's spinning down there."
-40hz (October 04, 2011, 08:39 AM)
--- End quote ---
Man!! I had an eerily similar experience when I first started learning about spin in my quantum physics class in college. I remember that it didn't really quite make any sense to me, like in a special way though. It was like I thought "this is...kind of...bullshit", but I wasn't sure if I just wasn't understanding it or something. It was one of those weird, profound moments in my life. That spin thing was the first time I realized that they created this concept deductively from just the math of it, rather than observing something and then fitting the math to it which is the more usual scientific way of doing stuff.
Spin is a way of thinking about it.
--- End quote ---
Such a bizarre statement. Yet here we are with the result of all of this progress and technology. And at the very core of it, the very most fundamental part...the electron spin...we don't even know what that really is.
tomos:
Just finished War Is a Lie by David Swanson, amazing book. Even if you already know much of the facts, seeing them all compiled into a cogent narrative is a big red pill everyone should swallow once.
Now reading Unequal Protection by Thom Hartmann
Kindle editions all, since I have no more space on my shelves.-tranglos (October 04, 2011, 07:56 AM)
--- End quote ---
both sound very interesting, especially the corporation one.
good luck with the translation!
tranglos:
both sound very interesting, especially the corporation one.-tomos (October 04, 2011, 10:52 AM)
--- End quote ---
Chapter 1 in "Unequal Protection" is totally awesome. Hartmann digs into court papers over a hundred years old to trace the origins of the concept that "corporations are persons". The reason this is amazing is that there is zero legal basis for it, and yet it's become so entrenched. Turns out, the whole thing began as a mistake (though likely not what you'd describe as an "honest" one) by a court reporter. The guy wrote a commentary to a ruling which went well beyond what the judge had actually ruled - and that's how it began. As investigative journalism goes, this is first class work by Hartmann.
As for Zinn, he did to me what he had done to thousands other people - made me into an activist. I love Howard Zinn, but "People's History" is a difficult book to translate. I lobbied for its publication for two years, so it's a clear case of "be careful what you wish for because it might come true" :)
kyrathaba:
Kindle editions all, since I have no more space on my shelves.
--- End quote ---
I buy Kindle editions for the same reason :Thmbsup:
rjbull:
Just finished:
White Crow by Marcus Sedgwick.
Two lives, two centuries apart, living in the same house, obsessed by the same question.
How far would you go to prove there's life after death?
This is fairly billed as a modern gothic thriller. I'm glad I finished it before Christmas: it's macabre, gruesome, and chilling. It's also well-written.
Just finished:
Outrage by Arnaldur Indriðason.
If you're a fan of Nordic thrillers, this is (one of) the Icelandic offering(s). It's a bit different from the earlier ones; Erlendur has gone to the Eastern Fjords, leaving Elinborg to solve the mystery.
Current book in progress:
Snuff by Sir Terry Pratchett.
'Nuff said? :)
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version