This audio book is actually a set of 6 lectures published by The Great Courses company. There is also a DVD version available, but the one I had was tThis audio book is actually a set of 6 lectures published by The Great Courses company. There is also a DVD version available, but the one I had was the audio only one available from Audible.
Prof Tyson delivers these lectures in his own unique style and offers some interesting explanations for scientific laws and principles. For example; when you suck up a piece of spaghetti it starts off really slow, then whips up and slaps you in the face. That's due to the Conservation of Angular Momentum :) That's one of the simpler examples as the level of these lectures is a bit higher than people may have seen on Cosmos. Being a science nerd, there was not a lot here that I didn't already have a fair idea about. That's not to say I didn't learn anything, I did. I was not aware that the terms 'dark matter' and 'dark energy' are actually just placeholders for something the math says should exist. We don't have a shred of evidence that they actually exist, or if we could even detect them.
A good listen if you're a science student and have a reasonable grasp of astrophysics etc. ...more
This book came to me in a round about way. A colleague at work notice the "I am the Stig" sticker on my car and recognizing another Top Gear fan, tracThis book came to me in a round about way. A colleague at work notice the "I am the Stig" sticker on my car and recognizing another Top Gear fan, tracked me down and lent me the book. I'm glad he did as I had no idea this book actually existed and I was excited to read it.
If your not a fan of the TV show Top Gear then this book is almost certainly not for you. About half the book is about Ben Collins's upbringing, army training and professional racing career. (The army training chapters were similar experiences to those of Bear Grylls, whos bio I read last year.) The other half is an inside look at some of the more memorable episodes of Top Gear and lots of other info about the show. As you might expect this is very entertaining. Maintaining a secret identity as 'The Stig' for 8 seasons took some doing and even at the end there were very few people on the show who knew his real identity. There were lots of time when Ben had to change into his costume in an odd place, like Clark Kent changing into Superman. Having a totally secret identity caused other problems too. "The Stig" had a golden ticket on his resume for applying to any racing team, but of course Ben could not tell anybody that. Must have been very frustrating.
For Top Gear fans - great reading, 4 or 5 stars. Non Top Gear fans only 2 stars I would guess.
Before reading this book I had no idea that the author was a major player/instigator in the whole 'Is Pluto a Planet?' situation from the first half Before reading this book I had no idea that the author was a major player/instigator in the whole 'Is Pluto a Planet?' situation from the first half of the 2000's. It's pretty amazing how this whole situation and debate blew up over how the Rose Center for Earth and Space decided to depict the planets in their exhibition. Rather than the traditional display of planets listed out from the sun, they categorized them by dividing the solar system up into zones of like objects. Going out from the sun these are: Terrestrial rocky planets, Asteroid belt, Jovian gas giants, Kuiper Belt and Oort cloud. Arranging these like this makes a lot of sense, BUT, leaves no room for Pluto as an actual planet. It's part of the Kuiper belt of icy objects.
This all started in the year 2000 and gradually gained more media and public attention until in August 2006 the IAU took a vote and decided that Pluto was not a planet. To come to this decision, the IAU first had to come up with an definition of a planet, something that had really never been done before. Even the actual vote was something of a controversy, as Tyson points out, science is not a democracy.
For anyone interested in the subject this makes for fascinating reading. From media and TV takes on the subject up to the various attempts at defining a planet, Tyson adds his own flair and humor to the stories. A rudimentary knowledge of the planets probably helps in understanding. ...more
This book appears to have been out of print for a long time, but I had never heard of it until it became available as an e-book.
This is a collection oThis book appears to have been out of print for a long time, but I had never heard of it until it became available as an e-book.
This is a collection of essays, basically a travelogue that were written for the Sunday Times around 1958. At that time they were censored to exclude some of the more racy descriptions of prostitution and the like. The edited parts have now been restored so you can now read them as Fleming intended.
What struck me the most was how Flemings' real life adventures detailed here are reflected in the James Bond books. The early movies with Sean Connery are also much influenced by the places Fleming had visited. If you have seen the movies or read the books you will find lot's of familiar scenes. Fleming obviously wrote quite a bit of what he saw into the James Bond books.
As this was written in a time gone by, many of the things are totally out of date. Despite that, I would describe most of it as 'quaint' rather than dated. Most of the cities are not like this today and it is refreshing to read what things were like a generation or two ago.
If you are nostalgic for the 60's, James Bond and travel to exotic cities then you will enjoy this.
I am going to have to shelve this one under 'Horror', 'Humor' and 'Non-Fiction'.
Horror, because it's about zombies and there are some gruesome descripI am going to have to shelve this one under 'Horror', 'Humor' and 'Non-Fiction'.
Horror, because it's about zombies and there are some gruesome descriptions and stuff like that.
Humor, because of the tongue in cheek way everything is written to appear to be actual factual evidence and events.
Non_Fiction, because a lot of the survival techniques are applicable to 'real' natural disasters, not just this fictional one. (The CDC has done some zombie outbreak drills for this same reason.)
It's a fun read and I look forward to continuing on to read "World War Z" from the same author....more
Temple Grandin first came to my attention when I saw the movie about her with Clair Danes in the staring role. Shes a unique person in the scientific Temple Grandin first came to my attention when I saw the movie about her with Clair Danes in the staring role. Shes a unique person in the scientific community, and autistic savant with the unique ability to relate to how animals think. Even though she is a torchbearer for improving the treatment of animals, she is not an animal activist. Not quite what you expect. She believes that food animals are just that, but if we are inevitably going to use them as food, then we have the responsibility to give them the best possible life and a quick painless death.
This book is broken down into sections, dealing with different types of animals and how we can better improve their well being. Dogs, cats, horses, pigs, cows, chickens and zoo animals are the sections. Each offers some insight into animal behavior that makes interesting reading even if you have no personal contact with the type of animal.
If you are an animal person then this is well worth the time to read. Temple Grandins autistic ability to think like an animal is truly amazing at times....more
This is a short, lavishly illustrated, book that was sitting on my bedside table half read for more than six months. The problem was not that I didn'tThis is a short, lavishly illustrated, book that was sitting on my bedside table half read for more than six months. The problem was not that I didn't find it enjoyable or informative, I did. But the format of the text is just really bad. Very small double spaced grey text on white was very hard to read even in perfect lighting conditions. If not for this problem I would have given it 3 stars based on content.
As it was so short I made a definite effort to finish it off before the end of the year....more
Sorry, that person's shelf is private.
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