Recent Reading

• People of the Book, by Geraldine Brooks. This is a work of fiction based on a real rare book that traces a book conservationist trying to find out where it came from. Told in reverse... so I have to read it again! Full of historical and location details... in some ways you can almost smell the places she describes. It follows several culturally Jewish and Muslim themes back to the late 1400's. It has nice elements of mystery, romance and suspense.
• The Female Brain, by Louann Brizendine. This is a neuropsychiatrist's view of physiological features of the female brain, especially with respect to hormones throughout one's life span. It's a fun read, with lots of real-world cases and examples. I particularly like her evolutionary perspective on how these hormonal characteristics provided a survival advantage in the classic Darwinian sense. The interplay of brain functions and social behavior is very interesting. A few times the work is mildly biased: for example, several time the word "you" is used to indicate that her main audience is women. Perhaps only a few men would be interested? It does help to understand differences, which for me is the main lesson of the book (at least for men). Her new book, The Male Brain, is due out this year; it should be interesting to see the same perspectives applied to male hormones and brain evolution.
• Dark Side of the Moon: The Magnificent Madness of the American Lunar Quest, by Gerard J. DeGroot. A socio-political view of the race to the moon, Here's a summary quote: "The lunar mission was a historical accident. It didn't make sense financially, as previous voyages of exploration had. But for a brief moment in the twentieth century, money didn't matter. The Cold War was not a good time for accountants; the important thing was to score points against the Russians, and to do so was priceless. At the very moment when financial scruples were temporarily abandoned, it also happened that the technology was available to provide a way to get to the Moon. But now, even though technology has progressed, the political reasons for such expensive ventures have disappeared and justification is difficult to find." Because people couldn't get excited about robots and unmanned probes in outer space, the program became an order of maginitude more expensive and safety-conscioius. This account is probably not very popular in Huntsville, which without Apollo would stil be a sleepy mill town a few miles off the interstate.
• John Adams, by David McCullough. A deep and rich portrait of John Adams, 2nd President of the U.S. What makes the book so completely interesting is Adams' legacy as a letter-writer. He and his wife exchanged thousands of well-crafted, intimate letters; there were hundreds more to and from his friends and family members. Since he spent so much time away from them, the only way to keep in touch was by letter. In today's mobile-phone-email culture, it's hard to imagine the slow and unreliable communication that our ancestors dealt with. Adams was an intellectual, a statesman, a lawyer, and a diplomat, as well as a family man, farmer and devoted husband. He embraced the joy of life through all his 90 years. I particularly liked the details of his relations with Jefferson, who was once an ally, then a rival, and finally in their old age a friend again. They both died on July 4, 1826 on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. I fought back tears when reading of his death at the end. It was sad to see him go.

  My past reading...