I've read four of the books on the list and two of the books I think shouldn't be on the list (including one I've read). Will try to read one a month for the year. Think The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsche should make the list too. (Via)
I've read four of the books on the list and two of the books I think shouldn't be on the list (including one I've read). Will try to read one a month for the year. Think The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsche should make the list too. (Via)
7, 9, 19, and 17. And now, years later, I'm not so sure I remember very much of any of them other than fleeting thoughts that may be attributed. Maybe it's my long term memory going, or maybe it's that my brain works on the FIFO principle. :-)
ReplyDeleteRachel Carson's book was bullshit psuedo-science. Feynman Lectures deserve a much higher rating.
ReplyDeleteBob I read 9 and 19 and I'm in the process of reading 17 which I'm enjoying (though dense) because I've read similar histories. Read 19 but no longer think it belongs on the list. The longer you read the book the more you saw he was just rehashing history and the closer to the present the more unhinged he became - that's one of the books I'd take off the list.
ReplyDeleteFunny but Rachael Carson's book is the other I'd take off the list. Replacing it with the Feynman lectures or the first book from Feynman would work with me.
Sorry but #8 caused more death and suffering in the third world than you can ever imagine. DDT used correctly is safe and effective. Carson has the blood of millions on her hands. I grew in a corner of S. America where DDT kept malaria and other nasty stuff under control. Improper and over use can cause some issues, but the lives it would have saved outweigh whatever "saving" of wildlife occurred.
ReplyDeleteI agree 100% with you which is why I will never bother to read number 8 and don't think it belongs on a "science" list.
ReplyDelete