Suntree, Science's Favourites and Umberto

I took this picture last month.

It was a brief glimpse of March sunshine, in the woods above my house. I tried fading a little of the colour from it to get the result you see here. Reminds me of the cold, spring sunshine -- strangely enough, more of which we appear to be enjoying today...

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A week ago or so I posted a discussion about favourite books.

Just read a piece posted on Boing Boing by David Pescovitz, citing a listing of prominent scientists and their favourite books. I agree with DP that checking out the favourites of these luminaries is fascinating (though I do think Alison G. copped out)...

1. Farthest North - Steve Jones, geneticist

2. The Art of the Soluble - V. S. Ramachandran, neuroscientist

3. Animal Liberation - Jane Goodall, primatologist

4. The Foundation trilogy - Michio Kaku, theoretical physicist

5. Alice in Wonderland - Alison Gopnik, developmental psychologist

6. One, Two, Three... Infinity - Sean Carroll, theoretical physicist

7. The Idea of a Social Science - Harry Collins, sociologist of science

8. Handbook of Mathematical Functions - Peter Atkins, chemist

9. The Mind of a Mnemonist - Oliver Sacks, neurologist

10. A Mathematician’s Apology - Marcus du Sautoy, mathematician

11. The Leopard - Susan Greenfield, neurophysiologist

12. Darwin and the Emergence of Evolutionary Theories of Mind and Behavior - Frans de Waal, psychologist and ethologist

13. Catch-22 / The First Three Minutes - Lawrence Krauss, physicist

14. William James, Writings 1878-1910 - Daniel Everett, linguist

15. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - Chris Frith, neuroscientist

16. The Naked Ape - Elaine Morgan, author of The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis

17. King Solomon's Ring - Marion Stamp Dawkins, Zoologist

Here's the link to the original piece in NewScientist.

Any of the vast coterie of scientists reading this blog are more than welcome to add to this list. And for those few of you non-scientists, go ahead and admit to having a little kink or two in your personality, and let me know your favourite book about science, too.

Currently, I am reading THE ISLAND OF THE DAY BEFORE, by Umberto Eco. I'd have to call it more philosophical than scientific. Still pretty good, though...

~kc

Worst Nightmares & Favourite Books

My girl is at home with a migraine. I hate this. These are the worst things I have bequeathed to my children -- I would give anything to keep the headaches in my own brain and spare them the suffering. My son had one last week. His are much rarer than the girl's and generally pretty silent -- meaning while he gets the aura and a headache afterwards, he is spared the axe through the brain that characterizes my migraines, and the stroke-like symptoms that characterize the girl's.

He and I were discussing the subject (after he recovered) and we agreed that the one thing that really drives us crazy is when people use the word migraine to describe a bad headache. NOT the same thing at all at all at all.

But now my girl is home, safe in bed, trying to sleep it off, and I am working instead of sweating at exercise class. Can always go to the gym later.

In the meantime, I just read in Publisher's Lunch of a study by the Harris Group in the US. Here's the clip:

Poll Asks, Name Your Favorite Book
Harris Interactive surveyed American adults to find out "What is your favorite book of all time?" The answers:

1. The Bible
2. Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
3. Lord of the Rings (series), by J.R.R. Tolkien
4. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling
5. The Stand, by Stephen King
6. The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown
7. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
8. Angels and Demons, by Dan Brown
9. Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand
10. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger



Interesting list.

I actually really hate being asked what my favourite book is. I get asked this a lot, mostly at schools when I am talking with kids about writing. My problem is, I can never narrow it down to just one or two. As my recent Jane Austen jag can attest, when I find a novel I enjoy, I frequently end up reading the author's entire back list.

As to the Harris List, I can say I LOVE a couple of books noted, I really enjoyed several others, one I have always wanted to read, but haven't as yet, and two I despise.


Can you do better than I have at answering this tough question? What is your favourite book?

~kc