I have a weakness for the crop of evolutionary psychology and anthropology that has sprung up in recent years, and this one on the evolution of the human chimpanzee and the specific problematic baggage he brings from this evolutionary history is no exception. Of particular interest, both for content, as well as for the insight […]
A curious feature of downtown Seattle is its underground, a collection of basement like areas below the streets, that include sidewalks and doorways. In places it looks like an older city got covered in an avalanche of road, and the inhabitants just accepted the new road levels. Speidel’s book, besides telling the story of early […]
Seit zwei Tagen steht unter dem Fenster meines Büros in Minor Hall, auf der steineren Terrassenfläche, die im Wahrnehmungsraum allenfalls durch ein dickes und langes Wurmloch mit einem Ferienort zu verbinden wäre, und also folgerichtig und hübsch Orwellianisch Minor Beach heisst, ein enormes weisses Zelt in der Landschaft. Von der Zeltdachschräge federt das nordkalifornische Sonnenlicht […]
Sadly, this collection of cartoons mostly shows why Science and Humour are commonly considered to be unmixable substances. A few of the jokes are actually funny, but they’re rarely the ones that actually deal with scientists, or science as such, but rather ones inspired by or loosely based on scientific ideas. A few years back, […]
This is the story of Monty Mouse, his adventures in the world, and his eventual return to his mother and his home. No need to leaf through the thing, for the cover shows all that’s wrong with this book in a nutshell. To wits: Monty “Mouse” is not a mouse, he’s a stuffed, dead rat, […]
a message written on the clouds Manche Dinge weiss man, insofern als man die richtige Antwort gäbe, würde man gefragt. Man ist dann aber doch überrascht, wenn die Umstände einem dieses implizite Wissen explizit machen. Ich zum Beispiel hätte die Temperaturunterschiede zwischen verschiedenen Asphaltformen zwar durchaus vorhergesagt, die Intensität der fleischsengende Hitze insbesondere der schwarzen […]
he is taking your bike Die Brücke schwingt sich elegant über die türkise Wasserfläche. Vor zwei Jahren habe ich hier, zufällig vom Rad aus, eine Seekuh vorüberschwimmen sehen, und halte seitdem bei jeder Überquerung Ausschau nach dem Geheimnis unterm Wasser, Delfine, Seekuh, ich bin nicht wählerisch. Das Rad ist alt, schnurrt aber brav brückenabwärts, die […]
Crank science is fascinating to me, and the more elaborate the unfounded theories get, the more so. Just as a collection and overview of some of the classics of the cranks, this book is already invaluable. Above and beyond the pure review of mad scientists’ view of the world, this book raises the issue, in […]
With a subject as intriguing as the history of the beloved vocalist combo, and their struggle with the rising Third Reich, and a freebie soundtrack treasurechest, it is hard to see how a movie could fail even as much as this one does. A stale and wooden script, endless repetitions of one single song (Veronica, […]
The central idea of this book – Pilate pardons Jesus, the Roman empire thus survives the centuries and still dominates in modern times – seemed ludicrous yet original enough for me to buy the book, and the task of depicting a modernized roman empire promised to be interestingly amibitious. But, not surprisingly, the execution falls […]