Changing Tides - Brenda Moon » Books

Internet Librarian 2008: Howard Rheingold interview

Brenda — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:53:19 +0000

This short interview with Howard Rheingold was recorded after he gave the keynote speech at the Internet Librarian 2008 conference. His comments on the future of libraries are interesting.

Internet Librarian 2008: Howard Rheingold from Jaap van de Geer on Vimeo.

Liaden Universe by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

Brenda — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 01:04:58 +0000

Last year Sharon Lee and Steve Miller tried an experiment of writing a draft of a new book set in their Liaden Universe online. The put a new chapter up each week with some weeks missed for various reasons. I really enjoyed reading it and when Baen published all their earlier Liaden books as ebooks I bought them.

This first draft was called Fledgling and is still available online.

This year they have decided to continue the project with the draft of the next story about the same character, and the first three chapters are already up. The new story is called Saltation.

The project relies on donations to support the writing of the draft, so if you enjoy it, donate!

The Quantum Zoo: A Tourist’s Guide to the Never-Ending Universe

Brenda — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:25:30 +0000

I found this book very easy to read despite the complicated ideas it covers. The author has succeeded in making it an entertaining and accessible book.

It gives a good overview of quantum physics both from a historical perspective and the implications quantum physics has for our understanding of the world.

It doesn’t attempt to cover any of the mathematics or complexity. It explains any specialist terms at they are introduced, and uses good analogies to give you a feel for the topic.

If you are interested in physics then this is a great way to start looking at Quantum Physics.

Stephen Law

Brenda — Wed, 17 Aug 2005 03:22:13 +0000

Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age

Brenda — Sun, 07 Aug 2005 05:37:27 +0000

Duncan Watts

Tomorrow’s People: How 21st century technology is changing the way we thing and feel

Brenda — Sun, 07 Aug 2005 05:34:18 +0000

I found the first part of this book very interesting, but I felt it starting going in circles a bit and I didn’t end up finishing it.

A Short History of Nearly Everything

Brenda — Sun, 07 Aug 2005 05:29:33 +0000

Electric Universe: The Shocking True Story of Electricity

Brenda — Sun, 07 Aug 2005 05:26:51 +0000

Another book on my reading list:

Mastering Chemistry by Peter Riley

Brenda — Thu, 30 Jun 2005 07:50:50 +0000

We have been working our way through an excellent introduction to chemistry – Mastering Chemistry by Peter Riley. It is very clearly presented and has questions in each section to check that you have understood the topic being covered.
We got ours from the Mornington Peninsula Library. It is also available from Amazon:

Mastering Chemistry by Peter Riley. (the cover is from an earlier edition).

Fermat’s Last Theorem by Simon Singh

Brenda — Sun, 26 Jun 2005 12:04:22 +0000

I’m currently enjoying "Fermat’s Last Theorem" by Simon Singh. He has used the thread of the solving of Fermat’s last theorem to tell the history of mathematics. The maths in the main text is kept as simple as possible, so that you can follow the story even if you don’t understand the maths. More complete examples of the maths are given in the appendices.

The American edition is called "Fermat’s Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World’s Greatest Mathematical Problem".