What book(s) are you currently reading?

[LionJim]

LionJim,

You may like The Strangest Man, a biography of Paul Dirac:

The Strangest Man

by Graham Farmelo. It covers not only the obligator details of his life, and is filled with stories of his renowned reserved manner of speech, but it goes into great detail of how he approached physics during the birth of qantum mechanics and his central part in it. His approach was based on the belief that at the deepet level of physical reality, the underlying mathematics must be intrinsically beautiful. He hated many approaches to quantum field theory that he thought ugly, especially the way they got rid of those pesky infinities that crop up and are waved away by "renormalization".

After many undergraduate and graduate courses in quantum theory that didn't make sense, I locked myself in my room one summer and for over a month, eight hours a day, I slowly worked through his book The Principles of Quantum Mechanics. It was so elegant, concise, clear, and (yes) beautiful. When I finlshed it, I finally understood what all those teachers and textbooks were trying to say. Reading The Strangest Man made me go back and look up some of his early papers from 1925 through 1930. He was truly one of the greatest physicists of the 20th Centry, and many of his ideas that fell neglected (e.g., magnetic monopoles, the apparent absence of which was the original reason why cosmologists came up with the idea of a short period of cosmic inflation just after the Big Bang) may yet prove fruitful. He argued that if there was even one magnetic monopole in the universe, that would demand that the basic unit of electric charge must be quantized. What a mind!

Thanks for the suggestion. I will definitely take you up on it.

I really know nothing of Dirac other than his eccentricities and his kind personality; he was a very sweet man. He was married to Eugene Wigner’s sister and he would introduce his wife as “Wigner’s sister.” (Probably not a play on “Wigner’s friend.”) Another story I like is that a graduate student tried to make small talk with Dirac by mentioning that it was a very windy day. Dirac got up out of his chair, walked to the door, opened it, looked outside for a few moments, closed the door, went back to his chair, and said, “Yes.”

 

[MacNit07]

Just finished:

Published in 1983 and 1993, respectively. In the first book Gribben contents himself with discussing, in addition to the standard Copenhagen Interpretation, Everett's Many Worlds interpretation, which he had a soft spot for. (I myself consider the Many Worlds interpretation to be nuts.) Edit: Many worlds is the formal name for the concept of parallel universes, which just about everyone has heard of.

The second book goes into Cramer's Transactional interpretation in what I think is a satisfactory and convincing manner. Gribben did a good job describing the mathematics that show the time-reversing properties of Schrodinger’s equation. He also discusses Paul Davies' The Ghost in the Atom, which is made up of Davies' interviews with ten or so distinguished experts in quantum physics, encompassing more than a handful of different interpretations, each of whom are convinced they are right and anyone who doesn't agree doesn't know what they're talking about. That was an interesting thing to ponder.

Transactional interpretation - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Sound interesting…a favorite subject of mine at PSU…will look into them! Thx!!

 

[LionJim]

Thanks for the suggestion. I will definitely take you up on it.

I really know nothing of Dirac other than his eccentricities and his kind personality; he was a very sweet man. He was married to Eugene Wigner’s sister and he would introduce his wife as “Wigner’s sister.” (Probably not a play on “Wigner’s friend.”) Another story I like is that a graduate student tried to make small talk with Dirac by mentioning that it was a very windy day. Dirac got up out of his chair, walked to the door, opened it, looked outside for a few moments, closed the door, went back to his chair, and said, “Yes.”

This reminds me of a story my graduate advisor told me about his days as a student at the University of Chicago. He needed a certain professors signature and just couldn’t seem to corner him, could never catch him in his office. One day he’s walking towards the math building and sees the guy whose signature he needs and calls out his name, which the guy ignores. He runs into the building and turns the corner to see the guy going into his office. He goes to the guy’s office door and knocks. No answer. Knocks again, nothing. He opens the door and sees no one in the office. The office wasn’t on the first floor so the guy couldn’t have gone out the window, and my advisor is just standing there wondering what the hell is going on. Then he gets a brainstorm and looks under the desk, and there he is. “Hi, Professor. Could you please sign this?”

 

[BW Lion]

Freedom and Belief by Galen Strawson

I hope you checked your copy out of a library and didn't pay good money for same.

Of course, there's no such thing as "free will'.

 

[mn78psu83]

I hope you checked your copy out of a library and didn't pay good money for same.

Of course, there's no such thing as "free will'.

Of course. I'm cheap.

Hobbes and Locke agree. It's as unintelligible as much of what we discuss on this board.

14. If this be so, (as I imagine it is,) I leave it to be considered, whether it may not help to put an end to that long agitated, and, I think, unreasonable, because unintelligible question, viz. Whether man's will be free or no? For if I mistake not, it follows from what I have said, that the question itself is altogether improper; and it is as insignificant to ask whether man's will be free, as to ask whether his sleep be swift, or his virtue square: liberty being as little applicable to the will, as swiftness of motion is to sleep, or squareness to virtue. Every one would laugh at the absurdity of such a question as either of these: because it is obvious that the modifications of motion belong not to sleep, nor the difference of figure to virtue; and when any one well considers it, I think he will as plainly perceive that liberty, which is but a power, belongs only to agents, and cannot be an attribute or modification of the will, which is also but a power.

 

[Leo Ridens]

This reminds me of a story my graduate advisor told me about his days as a student at the University of Chicago. He needed a certain professors signature and just couldn’t seem to corner him, could never catch him in his office. One day he’s walking towards the math building and sees the guy whose signature he needs and calls out his name, which the guy ignores. He runs into the building and turns the corner to see the guy going into his office. He goes to the guy’s office door and knocks. No answer. Knocks again, nothing. He opens the door and sees no one in the office. The office wasn’t on the first floor so the guy couldn’t have gone out the window, and my advisor is just standing there wondering what the hell is going on. Then he gets a brainstorm and looks under the desk, and there he is. “Hi, Professor. Could you please sign this?”

HA! LionJim, that story is so Diracian. Dirac often tried to avoid personal interaction, and had no idea of how uncomfortable this made other people. His colleagues at Cambridge created a unit called the Dirac, defined as one word per hour. Dirac once gave a talk during which a member of the distinguished audience raised his hand and said that he did not understand a point that Dirac had just made. Dirac stood there for an embarrassingly long time, making the audience increasingly uncomfortable. Finally, the session chair asked Dirac if he would be so kind as to answer the question. In what amounted to a very verbose (for Dirac) answer, he replied, "That was not a question but a comment". He then went on with his presentation. Compare that with a similar response by the great wit Samuel Johnson, who when told by an audience member that he did not understand one of Johnson's arguments, replied, "I have given you an argument; I cannot give you an understanding". Such verbal badinage was beyond Dirac.

 

[LionJim]

Yes, the “Well, but I hadn’t been asked a question” is classic Dirac. There are a ton of similar stories about Norbert Weiner.

I think it appropriate to mention that odd personalities such as Dirac, Weiner, and John Nash are the exception, at least in mathematics. I was surrounded by normal people in graduate school and on the job.

 

[LionJim]

Yes, the “Well, but I hadn’t been asked a question” is classic Dirac. There are a ton of similar stories about Norbert Weiner.

I think it appropriate to mention that odd personalities such as Dirac, Weiner, and John Nash are the exception, at least in mathematics. I was surrounded by normal people in graduate school and on the job.

Lol, I just told my wife the “not a question” story. “Doesn’t that remind you of someone?”

 

[psuro]

Without going back through all the pages of this thread, has anyone read (On The Duty) of Civil Disobedience by Thoreau?

It was brought up to me this weekend, and I have never read it.

 

[mn78psu83]

Without going back through all the pages of this thread, has anyone read (On The Duty) of Civil Disobedience by Thoreau?

It was brought up to me this weekend, and I have never read it.

Yes. It's a short and free essay.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, by Henry David Thoreau

www.gutenberg.org

 

[ILLINOISLION]

Not currently reading a book, currently on McAndrew’s BWI site!

 

[Woodpecker]

Without going back through all the pages of this thread, has anyone read (On The Duty) of Civil Disobedience by Thoreau?

It was brought up to me this weekend, and I have never read it.

You can't make me!

 

[Lion Lineage]

Defectors by Joseph Kanon. A Cold War spy thriller. Not bad. Next up I have incoming a used hardcover of Foucault’s Pendulum. Yep I’m going to give it a go. 😆

 

[brupsu]

Award-winning Civil War historian Noah Andre Trudeau has written a gripping, definitive account that will stand as the last word on General William Tecumseh Sherman's epic march—a targeted strategy aimed to break not only the Confederate army but an entire society as well. Sherman's swath of destruction spanned more than sixty miles in width and virtually cut Georgia in two. He led more than 60,000 Union troops to blaze a path from Atlanta to Savannah, ordering his men to burn crops, kill livestock, and lay waste to everything that fed the Rebel war machine.

Told through the intimate and engrossing writings of Sherman's soldiers and the civilians who suffered in their wake, Southern Storm paints a vibrant picture of an event that would forever change America's course.
Amazon product ASIN 0060598689

I am reading that while waiting for the 6th book in the The Familiar series.
https://www.amazon.com/Mark-Z.-Danielewski/e/B000APTSK8/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1518125522&sr=1-1

Total war

 

[The Spin Meister]

Lol, I just told my wife the “not a question” story. “Doesn’t that remind you of someone?”

I came home one evening long ago to find my dad listening to a Pirates baseball game and I asked what was the score. He said ‘Seven to three’ . After a long pause I said it’s normal to say what inning it was. He replied....‘you didn’t ask that!’

 

[brupsu]

Right now reading crazy horse and Custer by Steven Ambrose. Then onto a book about the salvage of the ss Central America called ship of gold

 

[KPG55]

And Then There Were None

 

[brupsu]

Nathaniel Philbrick’s book “The Last Stand” is also a great read.

Thank you

 

[Fac]

I came home one evening long ago to find my dad listening to a Pirates baseball game and I asked what was the score. He said ‘Seven to three’ . After a long pause I said it’s normal to say what inning it was. He replied....‘you did ask that!’

and you might add who was winning.

 

[Nittany18]

Alone At Dawn. Very accurate book thus far.

 

[4theglory54]

Sailing Alone Around the World, by Joshua Slocum.

Highly recommended for anyone who ocean sails, or day dreams about it. The man was an American hero.

 

[acg116]

1&2 told me to read this. Enjoyed very much

Great book, the author was at our local book store for a Q&A, super interesting and nice guy. It's interesting to think of going to all of these places that have never been surfed/visited before by westerners and just camping out there for months at a time. This guy has some big stones...between being a conflict reporter and his surfing exploits.

 

[Lion Son/Husband/Father]

Great book, the author was at our local book store for a Q&A, super interesting and nice guy. It's interesting to think of going to all of these places that have never been surfed/visited before by westerners and just camping out there for months at a time. This guy has some big stones...between being a conflict reporter and his surfing exploits.

I was blown away by his willingness to live so lean, go hungry, ignore the call of the regular mans image of success, all In the name of learning just one more tiny thing about the wave. I was devastated when I finished the book, wanted more.

 

[Fac]

A college buddy sent me this list a few weeks ago:

How to become a genius in 50 easy steps | Huckberry

How to become a genius in 50 easy steps

huckberry.com

I’ve only read less than 20 of them (there are a bunch of self help books that I don’t read very much). But I did just read “Matterhorn”, a novel about the Vietnam War which I enjoyed. It’s long but well written. The author was a Rhodes Scholar who volunteered and served as a 1st LT in the Marines.

I’m now reading “The Art of Fielding” which is a light read but questionable so far to merit being on the top 50 list. We’ll see.

Upon your post I read Matterhorn and thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

[lionNYC]

"The Wrong Side of Goodbye", a Harry Bosch novel, by Michael Connelly. Just decided to pick up and finish "Catcher in the Rye". Read it 50 years ago. Not sure what makes it a classic, but that Holden Caulfield was a real asshole. Didn't see in the book where he matriculated at Pitt.

love the Bosch series

 

[LongJakk]

The Bourne Evolution. Its the 15th installment of Jason Bourne novels. Original 3 by Ludlum, next 10 by lustbader and the last 2 by Brian Freeman. The last few by lustbader weren't very good. Freeman's 1st was pretty good. I love Ludlum. I think I've read all of his books and highly recommend them.

 

[Lion Son/Husband/Father]

Finished late nite. The most unsettling villain ever. Couldn’t sleep the first night. Great plot twists, super interesting. 5 of 5 ricks

 

[McCloudersportLion]

Reading 'Programmed to Kill' by Dave McGowan. Forgiving Dave for being an Al Gore Doomacrat and some sloppy editing, it's very well done.

"Nah I didn't watcher the Dahmer nerdflix porn but when do a doc about how suppressed evidence his weirdo daddy molested him and taught him to kill those animals, or about his time at the military base in Brusselnorf, Germany, or about his weirdo daddy knowing simple potato farma Jimmy Carta, them both being civil engineers"



"I don't always sadistically torture and do satanic rituals on tens of thousands of Vietnamese and countless more Cambodians but when I do, I also make sure I turn that tyranny back on the insects back home"
-CIA guy

"I sell pot for guns, then give guns to Pol Pot"
-CIA guy

 

[b&w1987]

Reading “Lawrence in Arabia” by Scott Anderson.

Good primer on why the Middle East is so ****ed up.

 

[Obliviax]

Reading “Lawrence in Arabia” by Scott Anderson.

Good primer on why the Middle East is so ****ed up.

It's Larry's fault! Larry of Arabia.

 

[OldiesAtTheGaff]

The Razor's Edge
The Razor's Edge is a 1944 novel by W. Somerset Maugham. It tells the story of Larry Darrell, an American pilot traumatized by his experiences in World War I, who sets off in search of some transcendent meaning in his life. Maugham also authored Of Human Bondage, The Painted Veil, and oThe Moon and Sixpence.
https://media.karousell.com/media/p...merset_ma_1601435636_66154551_progressive.jpg

Two movies based on the book:
1946 (Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney), just watched

1984 (Bill Murray, Catherine Hicks), plan to watch

Radio Drama Play
1948 (Mark Stevens, Ida Lupino), plan to listen

 

[OKLionFan]

The Last Headbangers
NFL football in the rowdy, reckless 70’s, by Kevin Cook.

 

[b&w1987]

It's Larry's fault! Larry of Arabia.

Alright. Now we know who to blame.

 

[b&w1987]

The Razor's Edge
The Razor's Edge is a 1944 novel by W. Somerset Maugham. It tells the story of Larry Darrell, an American pilot traumatized by his experiences in World War I, who sets off in search of some transcendent meaning in his life. Maugham also authored Of Human Bondage, The Painted Veil, and oThe Moon and Sixpence.
https://media.karousell.com/media/p...merset_ma_1601435636_66154551_progressive.jpg

Two movies based on the book:
1946 (Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney), just watched

View embedded media

1984 (Bill Murray, Catherine Hicks), plan to watch

View embedded media

Radio Drama Play
1948 (Mark Stevens, Ida Lupino), plan to listen

View embedded media

The path to salvation is narrow and as difficult to walk as a razors edge.

Or something like that.

 

[NedFromYork]

"How to be a 3% Man"

 

[Hero17]

Lightbringer pierce brown.

 

[zubrus1]

“The Brothers Karamazov” by Dostoevsky,

One of the best books ever written.

 

[BOSCO2]

and you might add who was winning.

I think we all know.

 

[hoflane]

The Shepherd of Hermas

The Shepherd of Hermas

 

[royboy]

Read most of his books; this is okay, not one of the best.

Background is England late 18th--early 19th Century, Industrial Revolution bringing changes, and England vs Napoleon's France in war