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June 09, 2008
Books : Books 2008/06/09
Current count of books pending to be read: 108
Read three, purchased none, borrowed one
Had to think about how to record this week since one of the books I read was not in my “to be read list” (it was lent to me by someone who wanted my opinion on it).
Books finished this week:
New Theories of Everythingby John D. Barrow
What a pleasant surprise. I no longer remember buying this book or what drew my attention to it; but what I was expecting when I picked it up this week was yet another physics book on current grand unified theories. While the book does provide a summary of those ideas, it is really a book of philosophy that is as likely to quote Augustine and Nietzsche as Newton and Einstein. It poses questions like what is the relationship between the “Laws of Nature” and “The Universe”? (Are they the same? Is the universe a subset of the laws? Or the other way around?) Or what does the way we study physics tell us about who we are, and what does who we are tell us about the universe we live in? Do we see the universe the way it is only because if it was different, we wouldn’t be here to see it?
The Late Great U.S.A.: The Coming Merger With Mexico and Canadaby Jerome R. Corsi
The author proposes that there is a vast conspiracy to undermine the sovereignty of the United States in favor of a “North American Union” in the pattern of the European Union. I agree that there certainly are individuals working towards such a goal (his evidence of that as well as some independent research on the web support it). However, having established such a conspiracy it is easy to associate things with it that may well be unrelated and motivated by other interests. As a result, there are places in the book that I think the author applies a form of guilt by association, and I remain unconvinced that the conspiracy is quite as vast as he proposes. What engaged me the most (largely because I was already concerned about it) were his descriptions at the start and end of the book of the true economic situation in the US and its likely consequences. Metaphorically, the United States has all of its credit cards maxed, has taken out a second mortgage on its house, and is completely dependent on the good will of its creditors. In light of that, a move to unify with Canada and Mexico is the least of the challenges to our sovereignty.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BFI TV Classics)by Anne Billson
This is the British Film Institute’s book on Buffy, and is quite well written, intermixing summaries of all seven season with analysis of the themes and characters. The author is a fan of the show; but not so much of a fanatic as to hold back necessary criticism (she ravages season 4). A well done introduction to the show.
Computer Games Played: LotRO
DVDs Watched: none
Next Book: Constants of Nature
Posted by Steven at June 9, 2008 05:00 AM
