MobileRead March 2010 Mobile Read Book Club Vote

[MelC]

Originally Posted by Zipr

OMG! I just checked out the Google Books preview of Stiffs. I'm not sure I could read that one. The first chapter starts out talking about fresh severed heads sitting in roasting pans to catch the drippings. It seems like you would need a real morbid curiousity to read the whole thing.

http://books.google.com/books?id=lDX...ce=gbs_ViewAPI

Trust me. It is more than readable, surprisingly not in the least disturbing and inappropriately funny... Mary Roach has a real talent. I have read her others as well but this is her best. I am waiting to see what catches her interest next.

Mel

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Even though it's long and, as I recall from the last time I tried a taste, rather boring; I was half-hoping it would win so I'd have an excuse to finally read it.

Yeah, but then you went and voted for something short and funny instead of long and significant!

[Ben Thornton]

Originally Posted by Ea

Because it's an Important Book - and even if you know the premise, it doesn't exactly hurt to get acquainted with one of the big milestones in biology research. Anyway, with what I have read - and heard - it's not unreadable at all. It's just not a book you can breeze through.

I read it not long ago, and found it surprisingly modern and easy to read. It's full of fascinating examples, which helps. For a more modern view, one could try Dawkins instead. He's tackled the same subject matter from various angles.

[kennyc]

The Ancestors Tale. http://www.amazon.com/Ancestors-Tale.../dp/0618005838

[Ben Thornton]

Originally Posted by kennyc

The Ancestors Tale. http://www.amazon.com/Ancestors-Tale.../dp/0618005838

I really liked that one - which tracks back through from humans to the dawn of life, meeting those with whom we share a common ancestor as we go along and hearing their "tale", very loosely based on Chaucer.

He's also covered the same ground from other perspectives: "Unweaving the rainbow" which is about how science doesn't take wonder away but embiggens it ("there is grandeur in this view of life" you might say); "The Selfish Gene" which is a gene-oriented view (we are the vehicles genes use to propagate themselves); "The greatest show on earth" his latest one about the over-whelming evidence for evolution. Most of his books explore the same subject with a different slant.

I'd like to read more Stephen Jay Gould, who also wrote on evolutionary biology for the layman - but I've not found his books as ebooks. Has anyone found a source for them?

[Fledchen]

Originally Posted by Ben Thornton

I'd like to read more Stephen Jay Gould, who also wrote on evolutionary biology for the layman - but I've not found his books as ebooks. Has anyone found a source for them?

If they're not available as ebooks, it's probably because whoever controls his literary estate doesn't want to release the rights.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Ben Thornton

...

I'd like to read more Stephen Jay Gould, who also wrote on evolutionary biology for the layman - but I've not found his books as ebooks. Has anyone found a source for them?

I have an older collection of his essays -- "The Flamingo's Smile" in paper that's near the top of my TBR pile.

http://www.amazon.com/Flamingos-Smil.../dp/0393303756

[Ea]

Originally Posted by Ben Thornton

He's also covered the same ground from other perspectives: "Unweaving the rainbow" which is about how science doesn't take wonder away but embiggens it ("there is grandeur in this view of life" you might say); ....

Thanks for the suggestion - I might try it. I've never really felt especially curious to read Dawkins (pretty sure I agree with his views). To me, science has always made the world filled with wonder and awe.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Ea

Thanks for the suggestion - I might try it. I've never really felt especially curious to read Dawkins (pretty sure I agree with his views). To me, science has always made the world filled with wonder and awe.

Allow me to make a couple of suggestions. My first exposure to Dawkins was "The Selfish Gene" back in the 70's or so and I was so blown away by it that it's still there in the back of my mind tickling everything. That is the book where the concept of Meme was created.

His latest works are great too, but that one still is at the top of his list for me. Many of his recent works are almost direct attacks on the anti-evolutionists and although I agree with him, it does get a bit tiring.

Lewis Thomas - Lives of a Cell

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Thomas

and

Loran Eisenly - The Immense Journey


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loren_Eiseley

[Ea]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Allow me to make a couple of suggestions. My first exposure to Dawkins was "The Selfish Gene" back in the 70's or so and I was so blown away by it that it's still there in the back of my mind tickling everything. That is the book where the concept of Meme was created.

His latest works are great too, but that one still is at the top of his list for me. Many of his recent works are almost direct attacks on the anti-evolutionists and although I agree with him, it does get a bit tiring.

Ah! That was what I was a bit worried about - was afraid it could get a little tiring.

[CharlieBird]

I voted for The Devil n the White City, mostly because I recently read The Anarchist (a novel by John Smolens based on the assassination of William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY) which I had trouble putting down to do chores.
I'll read any of the March nominations...excepting only Stiff. Several I will read win or no.

On the subject of nonfiction, has anyone read From Eternity to Here by Sean Carroll? It is really interesting but I'm finding it takes all my power of concentration...a lesser power than 20 years ago!
d

[MelC]

Originally Posted by CharlieBird

...excepting only Stiff.

Okay, you have piqued my curiosity. Why not Stiff? (And yes I have been running around cheerleading for it but the truth is I have already read it, didn't vote for it and am kind of hoping for something I haven't read to win so I have no real self-interest here in promoting it).

Mel

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Ea

Because it's an Important Book - and even if you know the premise, it doesn't exactly hurt to get acquainted with one of the big milestones in biology research. Anyway, with what I have read - and heard - it's not unreadable at all. It's just not a book you can breeze through.

Agreed. Not every book that enriches our lives and stimulates our intellect is necessarily entertaining or easy.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Yeah, but then you went and voted for something short and funny instead of long and significant!

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays: First Series (1841), "Self-Reliance."

That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. Or not.

I'm not very consistent, you know!

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by Ben Thornton

... I'd like to read more Stephen Jay Gould, who also wrote on evolutionary biology for the layman - but I've not found his books as ebooks. Has anyone found a source for them?

Originally Posted by Fledchen

If they're not available as ebooks, it's probably because whoever controls his literary estate doesn't want to release the rights.

That's too bad. Gould had a real gift for breaking down complex premises and stating them is ways easily understood by laymen.