May 11, 2009, 6:07 pm
So in between testing -rc5 on all the machines I can find (and in the process being a total PITA when I find just configuration idiocies and a random “my wireless doesn’t work – oh, wait, yes it does”), I’ve been reading more.
And yes, I finished off the Soldier Son trilogy. And yes, Nevare was fat and stupid and whiny, up until the last chapter. Oh well. Not unexpected.
On the positive front, there’s “Why Evolution is True” by Jerry A Coyne.
I’m not quite sure who this book is for (the people denying evolution certainly don’t have enough braincells or background to read it), but I suspect that if you’re sitting on the fence, and want to educate yourself, but have been talking too much to people who tell you that evolution can’t be true because [ insert some odd reason here] then this might be the book for you.
It’s a pretty good read, with a lot of examples from different areas. It made me think that I’ll be really happy to give this book to the kids when they are ready for it, which is probably not for a few years, but still..
Currently reading “The Brain that Changes Itself” by Norman Doidge. I have no idea where that book came from, but Tove claims I bought it. So it must be so. I clearly buy too many books, and some of them get forgotten and then found again. It’s like a mild case of Alzheimer’s – every day is a new adventure.
Anyway, I got sidetracked there a bit: the book started out like some crazy persons rant against the “establishment”, and I was sure I could not possibly have bought it, and Tove had decided that it was time to get me to read some odd new-age literature. But once you get past the preface, and get over the point where Norman claims that brain plasticity is somehow a radical new thing, the book actually is quite interesting.
Ok, so I’m only about two-thirds through, and parts of it really do seem to be a bit too overly excited and over-hyped (and read as a commercial for some of the things mentioned), but I’ve been enjoying it. I suspect there are much more balanced accounts out there, but with the caveat that you should probably read this book with a healthy dose of critical thinking, it’s been a good read.