Category: Science
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What Goethe Can Teach Us Today
I had once read that there were three men who were geniuses in three distinct disciplines. Goethe was one, along with Albert Einstein and Albert Schweitzer. Goethe has also been cited in several of my other, recent readings. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was no ordinary writer. As Rüdiger Safranski shows in his masterful biography, Goethe…
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Hype, Hope, and Hard Truths: What Smil Teaches Us About Innovation
I am a fan of Bill Gates. His solutions to some of the world’s greatest problems are thoughtful and interesting and on a grand scale. Not solutions available at a personal level. One of his favorite authors is Vaclav Smil, which prompted me to read this book. In Invention and Innovation, Vaclav Smil slices through…
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Adventures in Computation: Stephen Wolfram’s Vision of the Future
I have always been interested in computation and information, which attracted me to this book. I found Adventures of a Computational Explorer, interesting, though Wolfram’s style and egotism wore thin after a while. Towards the end I found myself skimming more than reading. Though the various software programs he developed seem effective enough, I am…
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Richard Feynman: Revolutionizing 20th Century Physics
In reading or listening to anything on 20th century physics, Richard Feynman and his physics play a prominent role. With this in mind, I listened to Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman. When we think of scientific genius in the 20th century, Richard Feynman stands out not just for his intellect but for…
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Exploring Chaos Theory: From Niagara Falls to Science
My wife and I recently took a trip to Niagara Falls, staying on the Canadian side. I also just finished reading Chaos: Making a New Science, by James Gleick. As I looked at the falls and the rushing Niagara River, thinking about all of that turbulence enhanced the experience. James Gleick’s Chaos: Making a New…