March 2009 - Nonfiction - Professor and the Mad Man by Simon Winchester

It does sound interesting but I didn't vote for it because it sounds more like history than science and also because it is over 500 pages long.

>500 pages and more $$ than I'd like to spend this month. But probably a good book. Just not on my radar right now.

It wasn't really science. It was history. But, it was very well written. The book under consideration does have both history and science in it.

To clarify, the current book sounds more like history than science to me. Yes, it does say there is some but that isn't the focus of it, so not a science book in my view. And still too long.


Just over 12 hours left in voting, please do so if you are inclined! Right now it is a 3 way tie with 4 more choices only 2 back, so anything could win at this point.

The 3-way tie is currently broken.

Crack in the World is long. Very long. At just over half a thousand pages, it's the longest book of the bunch. And it's about something that happened over a hundred years ago. If we ever have a history month, I'm nominating something by Neil deGrasse Tyson.

This thing has been back and forth, and last night when I retired the scoreboard showed a three way tie, but it's a different day, and The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind by Michio Kaku is our winner. The Future of the Mind would like to congratulate each of its fellow contestants for a race well run and wishes them all the best going forward.

If anyone hasn't started the book yet, here's a brief video of the author explaining one of the aspects of string field theory, of which he is a co-founder. String theory, of which string field theory is an offshoot, has had its ups and downs since it was first introduced, and even today remains controversial and unproven, but it's fascinating as all get-out to contemplate.

Well, I was able to get this at the library, without a wait. I'm still not sure I'll have time to read it (work and life) but I'll at least try.

I'd vote for Longitude too. :) Alas I missed the actual voting. It is a great story.

Yes, it is. I recommend it to folks, even though it didn't make the cut this time.

I agree. None of these books interest me. I am currently reading:

Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters Consciousness
https://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Enigm.../dp/019517559X

Alone in the Universe: Why Our Planet Is Unique
https://www.amazon.com/Alone-Univers...iverse+gribbin

The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind by Michio Kaku has much to say on the physics of consciousness and the current state of our understanding of consciousness, all from the viewpoint of one of the co-founders of String Field Theory. It's a very good overview. Folks like me who subscribe to both Scientific American and the British publication New Scientist won't be finding anything they haven't encountered elsewhere, but others, I suspect, will be awed to discover what neuroscientists are discovering and the amazing practical applications resulting from their research.