Monthly Archives: July 2015

Andy Weir, THE MARTIAN

Posted on Thursday 30 July 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

I don’t have a lot to say about Andy Weir’s THE MARTIAN, which I finally picked up because 1) it’s popular, having been on bestseller lists for months, and 2) Ridley Scott’s film version arrives on October 2nd (which Gary … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, science fiction | Comments Off on Andy Weir, THE MARTIAN

Cixin Liu, THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM

Posted on Wednesday 29 July 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

The Three-Body Problem, by Chinese author Cixin Liu and translated by American author Ken Liu (himself winner of numerous awards), is one of the more acclaimed novels of 2014, especially because it’s the first prominent Chinese novel to have been … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, science fiction | Comments Off on Cixin Liu, THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM

Follow-up thought about KSR’s AURORA

Posted on Monday 27 July 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

One more thought about Kim Stanley Robinson’s AURORA: I don’t *necessarily* agree with or endorse KSR’s conclusions in this book. Which is to say, human history shows a long pattern of inventing things or implementing things that the previous generation … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, science fiction | Comments Off on Follow-up thought about KSR’s AURORA

Kim Stanley Robinson, AURORA

Posted on Thursday 23 July 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

I began reading Kim Stanley Robinson’s AURORA on the Sunday before last, in the afternoon, and later that evening realized that I had the answer to an ‘elevator conversation’ question — actually a dinner conversation question with some in-laws — … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Narrative, Science, science fiction | Comments Off on Kim Stanley Robinson, AURORA

Links and Comments: Arc of Social History; Academic Freedom

Posted on Tuesday 21 July 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Just a couple recent items for today. NYT: A March Toward Acceptance When Civil Rights Is the Topic. (This was the in-print title; the title at the link is different.) The arc of history. If these charts went further back, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Arc of Social History; Academic Freedom

The Irish Need Not Apply

Posted on Wednesday 15 July 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

» New York Times, Timothy Egan: Not Like Us Donald Trump is attracting quite a following with his comments about Mexican immigrants: When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Human Progress, Morality, Social Progress | Comments Off on The Irish Need Not Apply

Links and Comments: Steven Weinberg; Trek vs Wars; How the world is getting better; Undermining the Bible

Posted on Monday 13 July 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Here’s a archival essay by Steven Weinberg, whose new book I just reviewed in previous post: A Designer Universe?. This is the essay in which Weinberg wrote this oft-quoted passage (though usually only its final line, here bolded): Where religion … Continue reading →

Posted in Narrative, Physics, Religion | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Steven Weinberg; Trek vs Wars; How the world is getting better; Undermining the Bible

Steven Weinberg, TO EXPLAIN THE WORLD

Posted on Monday 13 July 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Steven Weinberg is a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who is best known (I gather) as a leading proponent of the idea that progress in physics will ultimately lead to a small set of fundamental principles that explain everything — i.e. the … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Science | Comments Off on Steven Weinberg, TO EXPLAIN THE WORLD

Links and Comments: Criminal Justice; Evangelicals and Divorce; Vaccine Narratives; Anthony Doerr’s favorite science books; Jeffrey Tayler’s latest; social trends and arcs of history

Posted on Wednesday 8 July 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Monday 6 July: Today’s episode of NPR’s “Fresh Air” has an interview with Adam Benforado, author of new book Unfair: The New Science of Criminal Justice, which applies the developments of the past decade or two in human psychology to … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Human Progress, Morality, Science | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Criminal Justice; Evangelicals and Divorce; Vaccine Narratives; Anthony Doerr’s favorite science books; Jeffrey Tayler’s latest; social trends and arcs of history

A Just Ended (perhaps) Arc of History

Posted on Sunday 5 July 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

History happens, and historians establish dates, sometimes retroactively, about when history happened even though people at the time might not have noticed. Here’s a nice perspective about how one 150-year-old arc of history may have just closed, in The New … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture | Comments Off on A Just Ended (perhaps) Arc of History