Summer Science Reading...
23:06:09-09:26:31
While the Science Gallery's PRISM Book Club takes a well-earned rest we'd like to continue the discussion about books with a science tinge here on the Science Gallery forum. What will you bring to the beach? What will while away the rainy days? Post your recommendations, ideas and a short blurb on why you would recommend this read to other Science Gallery members...
23:06:09-12:09:12
#2
Re: Summer Science Reading...
I'm a fan of the classics-- Jared Diamond's Collapse is next on my list for the summer. I liked Guns Germs and Steel so much-- my mind is still blown from his account of how a bunch of South East Asian Fishermen ended up in Madagascar, but nowhere in between, thousands of years ago.
01:07:09-00:23:08
#3
Re: Summer Science Reading...
<p>Oh lord, Oryx and Crake is actaully one of my all time favourite books. It pretty much moulded the way i looked at the world around me when i read it after it first came out. Not to mention making me want to go into science in the first place.</p>
<p>Another good one is "Never let me go" by Kazuo Ishiguro. Very very interesting and quite easy to read. Kinda in teh same vein as Oryx and Crake. It tells the story of a boarding school for some very special children, and the different twists and turns will lift your heart just before breaking it. Bit of an emotional rollercoaster if, like me, you end up empathising strongly with one or more of the characters.</p>
25:06:09-13:49:10
#4
Re: Summer Science Reading...
<p>My book this summer, perfect for rainy days, is 'The world without us' by Alan Weisman (2007). Very appropriate following 'INFECTIOUS', as this is one suggested way that we'd disappear - and the author shows how rapidly, and perhaps unpredictably, the planet and its animal and plant inhabitants would recover<br />
Julian</p>
Check out the following book recommendations from some of our Science Gallery celebrities and add a post of your own recommendations!
Cliona O’Farrelly
Chair in Comparative Immunology, TCD and Curator of INFECTIOUS
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
This is a wonderfully written novel by one of Canada’s best writers with a great story, unusual but well-defined characters and beautiful, lyrical passages. It is set in the future in a strange society dominated by pharmaceutical power capable of developing and cloning new species, diseases and antidotes. In this environment, all sorts of themes are explored including love, loss, loneliness, loyalty, vulnerability, domination, independence, individuality, privilege. The dreamy, non-judgmental but infiltrating style leaves the reader thinking and not a little undisturbed for quite some time after finishing the last page.
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Chris Horn
President of Engineers Ireland and Chairman of the Science Gallery
Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder
The true story of what it took to build a new world-class computer at Data General by a team of experienced engineers and young recent graduates. Written for non-specialists, it gives real insight into the pressures of the computer industry and management techniques which are sometimes used. One of the very best books of the computer industry. Although now an old book, it is a fascinating and insightful story. I did a podcast on the book with Karlin Lillington.
Dreaming in Code by Scott Rosenberg
The true story of a new software startup OSAF using an open source approach to compete with Microsoft Office personal organiser tools. Written for non-specialists, it gives real insight into the pressures of the software industry, the complexity of engineering software, and the psyche of software developers. A complimentary book to Soul of a New Machine, written two decades afterwards and by a different author.
Aoibhinn Ni Shuilleabhain
TV presenter and former Rose of Tralee and host of Science Gallery’s SEED DATING
Chaos by James Gleick
An excellent introduction to dynamical systems, chaos, fractals.
Willie White
Artistic Director, Project Arts Centre and Science Gallery Leonardo member
Randall Stross: Planet Google, How One Company is Transforming our Lives
Randall Stross investigates Google's pursuit of a business plan unlike any other: to become the indispensable gatekeeper of all the world's information. It's amazing to think how recent are many of the phenomena we take for granted - Google, YouTube, social networking - how quickly they have developed and to what extent they have insinuated themselves into our lives. This book covers many of the issues and topics this rapid development involves - algorithms, computer engineering, intellectual property, vision, venture capital and the difficulty of keeping to one's mantra 'Don't be evil' while organising all the information on the planet.