Clifford - Harold R. Johnson

Interesting book.  Interesting mix.  Part childhood memoir, part memorial to his brother, part speculative musings on the structure and nature of the universe.  The reader bounces from life on in an isolated corner of boreal Saskatchewan to the nature of time and black holes.  Woven in are moments of self-criticism, glimpses of what has made this complex man, and asides on the unjust treatment of natives in Canada.  

Kicks off with a quote from one of the characters of Dune...

Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution - Neil deGrasse Tyson/ Donald Goldsmith

An easy book to read about a complex subject.  Very well-divided into chapters that focus on particular questions or issues around origins:  the universe, galaxies, stars, planets, life.  There are also a couple of chapters on the possibility and the search for life elsewhere in the universe.  He also includes an interesting chapter on matter and antimatter, and dark matter and energy.  You get a sense of the big pictures and also the ongoing unresolved questions or issues in this domaine.

Lots of interesting facts to pick up:

Living things are made largely of the most common elements in the universe, which differ completely from the most common elements on earth.  This is considered one possible argument for life beginning outside earth and being "seeded" here, but is by no means a final argument.

A great explanation of how stars create those most common elements in the universe through fusion of progressively more complex molecules, up to iron.  Once you hit iron, more energy is consumed in the fusion than is produced, leading to a collapse of the star, a huge rise in temperatures and a final explosive fusion as the star blows itself up.  In this last fusion all the other elements are created, but in much smaller amounts than iron and the preceding other elements.

Islamic Patterns: An Analytical and Cosmological Approach - Keith Critchlow

A fascinating look at the underlying geometry and design principles of traditional islamic decorative patterns.  There are many examples of how the patterns are built geometrically through several steps and transformations.  Watching the shapes go through their transformations and patterns is fascinating.

Another intriguing element in the book is the cosmology and philosophy behind these patterns.  They are not just decorative; they also express a profound world view.  They are seen as an expression of the One, the unity in all things.  Through geometry, the circle, the square and the triangle become one, interconnected variations on the theme of Oneness, with the circle as the most primal or basic form.  There are strong links to the Pythagorean theory and cosmology of numbers.

To find:
Pythagorean cosmology and number theory

A Universe from Nothing: Why There is Something Rather Than Nothing - Lawrence M. Krauss

A fascinating account of the gradual emergence of modern cosmology and theories of the origins of the universe.  Makes a great story - reading it at the same time as reading The Science Delusion by Curtis White - see my entry on that book regarding science and storytelling.   It's all language after all, and words are not the thing in itself.

After having looked at White's book, I am much more aware of the arrogance, prejudices and stereotypes at play in Krauss' book - so much for the objective delusion.  Rather like the Ayn Rand revealed in Part 1 of All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Tenderness, these hardcore materialists with their notion of reason and objective truth are not what they seem to be, nor who they see themselves to be.

It is so easy to see, and portray this obsession with scientific truth, reason and objectivity as a new form of religion, a new all-encompassing system, a new Answer - especially when you see what a mess, what wackjobs many of the leading modern figures have been.

The ideas themselves are intriguing and entertaining.

The Science Delusion - Curtis White

Interesting read.  An attack on scientific materialism.  I don't relate that much to Curtis' indignation, but then again I don't have to put up with the arrogance of scientists on a regular basis, not working at  a university.  I am currently reading one of the books he criticizes so sharply - Why There is Something Rather Than Nothing:  A Universe from Nothing.  I have realized I don't see scientific cosmology as a threat in itself (how it is used by politics and Big Business is another matter).  To me, current research and theories on cosmology, the nature and origin of the universe, life, etc. are fascinating stories (which is a bit of an insight in itself RE me and my attitudes...)  Other stories from other domaines can be just as fascinating - I am reminded of Italo Calvino's Cosmicomiche.

What this books has, though, is an amazing set of references to writers on ontological perspectives and speculators on the nature of reality.  A real mine to be explored.

Endless Universe: Beyond the Big Bang

- ran out of library time with this one - have to get it again

Stardust Revolution - Jacob Berkowitz

This is a fascinating book.  It presents the story of how everything in the universe is basically the product of stardust.  It seems all the elements are created during the various stages of a stars lifecycle.   They are the source of all the elements that make everything in the universe, including us.  He discusses why carbon and oxygen are both building blocks of life chemistry and at the same time among the most common elements in the universe.
There is also a fascinating discussion of the fact that both water and organic molecules such as amino acids are found in what was once considered empty space.
The vision is of one giant continuum from the stars to living beings with no hard, fast line between the living and the nonliving.  These are also deep religious concepts or visions...  This book reminds me of something I read long ago - I think it is a passage in the Bhagavad Gita when the god figure reveals to Arjuna a mind boggling vision of his true nature - it is a cosmic vision.  This is a passage I want to find and reread.

Sometimes the writing style is a bit annoying; the author seems to drag out explanations at times.  But the ideas are so fascinating that you just keep plowing through.

Definitely a reread.


To find:
work of Carl Sagan

- the book itself has an excellent list of sources at the back too long to transcribe here.