Reply To: Redshirt Book Club – A Short History of Nearly Everything
A little late to the party but… as a music major, I pretty much avoided any of the higher math or hard science classes and ended up taking just the basic requirements (Rocks for Jocks etc…) I seem to remember taking a pre-calc class in HS but no math beyond that. I took Oceanography and Astronomy at Rice but that’s about it. I downloaded the book to my iPad and read it on the drive down and back to the Star Wars convention and have really enjoyed his anectdotal writing style and reintroducing my brain to concepts and people I haven’t really given much thought to. I especially enjoyed his section on Lavosier as he was one of my favorites back in the ol’ school days when I was a bit of a francophile. It’s also quite interesting to realize that my brain recalls so much of little tidbits here and there (like Avogadro’s Principle, or as I remember calling it back then ‘Avocado’s Principle’) I’ve found the various tales of rivalry and backstabing fascinating as well as how isolated things really were when it came to disseminating information- even discoveries of major importance to the scientific community. I couldn’t help humming Tom Lehrer’s The Elements when reading about Medeleyev and I’m looking forward to reading the next sections. A highly enjoyable and informative read so far!