Critical Race Theory- An Introduction by Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic (2017, ISBN 9781479802760).

 

 

Purchased from Amazon on 20210714 for $17.99
 

The Islam Book, a DK book with varying contributing authors. (2020, ISBN  978-1-4654-9148-0).

This book is an easy introduction to Islam.  However, it is not very objective. The authors appear to be "true believers".

Purchased from Amazon on 2020-12-10 for $17.10

 

The Bible Book by DK (2018, ISBN 978-1-4654-6864-2)

 

Covers the Bible, Jewish and Christian, from Genesis to Revelation. 

The book covers each "Book" of the Bible separately. First the Old Testament books, which are sacred to both Jews and Christians. Then it covers the New Testament which is used by Christians only. The Apocrypha (or Pseudepigrapha) are mentioned but not really expanded upon.

The coverage is glossy from a perspective of various traditions. Some time Jewish perspective is given and sometime Christian. Also, Islam is mentioned a few times.

Sometimes ideas about the Bible from a secular view point are presented. This is not a book meant for believers. Rather this book is for people who have little knowledge of the Bible and want to learn more. Believers might also benefit from this book as it covers the whole bible in an easy to read format, but they must remember this book isn't trying to proselytize but rather just be informative. 

This book was purchased from Amazon Marketplace (AtolyeWish) on November 24, 2020 for 18.26$

 

Mona Lisa Overdrive by William Gibson (1988, ISBN  978-1-473-21742-3)

 Wikipedia says-  Mona Lisa Overdrive is a science fiction novel by American-Canadian writer William Gibson, published in 1988. It is the final novel of the cyberpunk Sprawl trilogy, following Neuromancer and Count Zero, taking place eight years after the events of the latter.

Purchased at Powell's on 2020-01-24 for 8.98$
 

Count Zero by William Gibson (1986, ISBN 978-0-441-11773-4)
 

Wikipedia says-  Count Zero is a science fiction novel by American-Canadian writer William Gibson, originally published in 1986. It is the second volume of the Sprawl trilogy, which begins with Neuromancer and concludes with Mona Lisa Overdrive, and is an example of the cyberpunk subgenre.

 A good read. I think of this as a dystopian vision of the future.

Purchased at Powell's on 2020-02-24 for 7.99$

 Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (1867, Signet Classics CT512)

Here.

Wikipedia says- The story centers on orphan Oliver Twist, born in a workhouse and sold into apprenticeship with an undertaker. After escaping, Oliver travels to London, where he meets the "Artful Dodger", a member of a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the elderly criminal Fagin. 

aka the Male Cinderella.

Dickens description of London is so dismal, one wonders how people could live there.

I liked this book.  Intend to read more Dickens.

Purchased-- was given to me as a Christmas present in the 1960s.

The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett (1983, ISBN 978-0-06-085592-5)
 

 Wikipedia says-- The Colour of Magic is a 1983 fantasy comedy novel by Terry Pratchett, and is the first book of the Discworld series.

 

Further--  The story takes place on the Discworld, a planet-sized flat disc carried through space on the backs of four gargantuan elephants – Berilia, Tubul, Great T'Phon and Jerakeen – who themselves stand on the shell of Great A'Tuin, a gigantic star turtle. The surface of the disc contains oceans and continents, and with them, civilizations, cities, forests and mountains. 

 

This is a fun novel. I enjoyed it very much. Hope to read more in the series.

Purchased at Powell's on (unknown ) for 6.98$

Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks (1987, ISBN 978-0-316-00538-8)

 Wikipedia says-- Consider Phlebas, first published in 1987, is a space opera novel by Scottish writer Iain M. Banks. It is the first in a series of novels about an interstellar post-scarcity society called the Culture. 

 About some actions that take place in distant future involving humans, aliens and machines. There was at least one part that I found gross, but in general a good read. Lots of stuff to fire the imagination and ponder.

Purchased from Powell's on 2020-1-12 for 10.95$

The Epic of Gilgamesh by (unknown) tr. Andrew George (1999, ISBN 978-0-140-44919-8)

The Epic of Gilgamesh is a very old story. Copies of it have been found on clay tablets (cuneiform) that are 4000 years old. The copies of the Epic that have been found are incomplete. This book presents the Epic as it is, i.e., using the tablets that have been found and deciphered. Places where the text are incomplete are indicated.

This edition if the Epic is probably more difficult to read, but if you are interested you will get a better understand of what is known about the Epic.

Purchased from Amazon on 2010-12-19 for 9.60$
 

The World Of Odysseus by M.I.Finley (1954, 1979, ISBN 0 1401 3686 X)

This book is an older paperback edition, it is the second edition from Penguin.

This book discusses the world described by the Iliad and the Odyssey.

Conveys a lot of information about the Greek world around the time of Odysseus, around 700 BC.

Purchased at Powell's on 2018-1-10 for 5.95$

 

The Motion Paradox by Joseph Mazur (2007, ISBN 978-0-525-94992-3)

Subtitle- The 2,500 year old puzzle behind all the mysteries of time and space.

The book is about Zeno's paradoxes of motion.

Zeno's paradoxes are discussed and then a variety of physics topics are discussed and related back to the paradoxes.

 I enjoyed this book.

Purchased at (unknown) on 2008-7-1 for (amount unknown, possibly 24.95$.)
 

The Compleat Discworld Atlas by Terry Pratchett (2015, ISBN 9780857521309)

This book is an Atlas of Discworld. It has one big map of Discworld and several smaller maps of different Discworld regions. Associated with each region is a description of the geography, politics, religions and the people in the region.

Discworld is a fantasy place, based on the novels written by Terry Pratchett.

I read this book from cover to cover, but it could also be used as a reference.

Purchased from SuperBookDeals (via Amazon) on 2020-7-5 (received 2020-7-23) for 35.94$
 

The New Discworld Companion by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs (2003, ISBN 0 575 07467 1)

This an encyclopedia of everything (well many things) related to Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. The book is laid out A-Z  from Abbot, the to Zweiblumen, Jack.

I read the book cover to cover, not sure if it is meant to be read this way or just used as a reference. I found it interesting and funny.

Might be useful for those people looking for an overview of Discworld.

Purchased from Powell's (unknown date) for 9.98$
 

 The Math Book by DK (2019, ISBN 978-1-4654-8024-8)

This book provides an overview of Mathematics. The coverage is historical, it basically describes mathematics in terms of its history. The first entry is Positional Numbers (how numbers are represented, with a discussion of Babylonians and Cuneiform numbers, etc.) The last entry is about the Poincare Conjecture.

If you know nothing about mathematics, then this book provides a good overview. Even if you know a lot about mathematics, you might enjoy the brief historical sketches.

Purchased from Amazon on 2020-11-28 for 19.29$

 The History Book by DK (2016, 978-1-4654-4510-0)

This book discusses human history from prehistoric times to recent events.

There are many books on history, but if you want an overview of the subject I think this book is good.

The book covers many individuals and events from many cultures.

The choice of who to include and what events to cover must have been difficult.

For some reason the authors choose not to cover Jesus of Nazareth. Seems like he would have been a figure worthy of mention. Christianity is a very large world wide religious movement.  I guess the authors wanted to show how "cool" they were by having a section on Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) and a section on Muhammad (the Prophet of Islam.)

Purchased from Amazon 2020-11-28 for 19.35$

The Odyssey by Homer Translated with Introduction by Emily Wilson (2018, ISBN 9780393089059)

I enjoyed reading this book. The introduction was very informative and the translation was easy to read.

When I think of the Odyssey I always think of the adventures with the Cyclops or Sirens, but actually a lot of the story is about his home and what happens when he gets home.



Purchased new on 2018-01-10 from Powells for 39.95$

 The Theoretical Minimum by Leonard Susskind and George Hrabovsky (2013, ISBN 978-0-465-07568-3)

Subtitle: What You Need To Know To Start Doing Physics.

The one thing I learned from this book was-- There is No Royal Road to Physics.

In 227 pages the books covers a lot of territory!  Mathematics-- Spaces, Trigonometry, Vectors, Differential Calculus, Integral Calculus, Partial Derivatives, Vector Fields-- DIV, GRAD & CURL. That is a lot and doesn't include the Physics!

Physics-- Introduction, Motion, Dynamics, Energy, Lagrangian, Hamiltonian Mechanics, Poisson Brackets, Electric and Magnetic Forces, Newton's Laws and Kepler's Laws. And a whole lot more!

I doubt you can do Physics after reading this book, unless you are a genius. But you might get a feeling for whether or not this stuff interests you. If you are interested I suggest you get a proper College Physics book (for example Theoretical Physics by Georg Joos ISBN 978-0-486-65227-6) and study for real.  The book Classical Mechanics by H.C.Corben and Philip Stehle (ISBN 978-0-486-68063-7) covers many of the same topics (not the Math, they assume you know that) but it isn't for people who don't know the basics. Another book is Classical Mechanics with Calculus of Variations and Optimal Control, An Intuitive Introduction by Mark Levi (ISBN 978-0-8218-9138-4)

Classical Mechanics, The Theoretical Minimum by the same authors is just the UK version of the above book. (ISBN 978-0-141-97622-8)

I got these books for Christmas 2019.

A Companion to the Iliad by Malcolm M. Willcock.obit (1976, ISBN 0-226-89855-5)

Based on the translation by Richmond Lattimore.

What would be really useful would to have this book embedded in the Lattimore translation as notes.

The commentary goes Book by Book (Iliad is divided into 24 books) and somewhat line by line. If you are interested in understand the Iliad better this book provided a lot of information about ancient Greek culture.

Not sure when I obtained this book, probably within the last ten to fifteen years from Powells.

Pickwick Papers By Charles Dickens (1837, this edition 1964, Signet Classic CY 443)

Originally published in serial format and when completed was published as a complete book.

From the back cover--

"The adventures of the immortal Pickwick Club, headed by the good Mr. Pickwick himself, abetted by his faithful manservant, Sam Weller..."

Received this book as Christmas present sometime in the late 1960s, Signet Classic CY443 1.25$

Saint Luke by G. B. Caird (1963, ISBN 0-1402-0490-3)
Subtitle- The Pelican New Testament Commentaries.

This book is a commentary of the Gospel Of Luke from the Christian New Testament.

 The books consists of a series of sections, each covering a part of the Gospel Of Luke. Each section contains text from the Gospel Of Luke. The text is taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible. The text also includes any variations that the translators might have noted. Next is the commentary. It explains the text, what it is trying to convey, the context of the time of the events of the text, the context of the time that the author wrote the text and also modern ideas concerning the events and time period being discussed. Following the commentary are often technical notes concerning the text. Many different versions of the text are extant and because they were written by hand by individuals that might have had different opinions about the text or the events it describes, there are differences that the translators had to choose from. The commentary also discusses the text and how it compares to the other Gospels, which parts are in common and which are unique to Luke.

This book was purchased a long time ago,

Neuromancer by William Gibson (1984, ISBN 0-441-56959-5)

This is the first part (of three) of what became known as the Sprawl series. I am not sure but this novel may have introduced the term cyberpunk.

I have been hearing about this novel for years and I decided to read it (probably around 2006) but have just now read it.

I enjoyed the book, but some of the imagery was difficult. The story involves a small number of people who go on a quest, but the objective of the quest is hidden from them and the reader until the end. The main character Case was someone who could enter into computers and somehow get them to do things or reveal things. It wasn't clear to me if he did this with programs or what he used.

I didn't like the drug references in the novel. Since this novel was written some of the futuristic ideas seem less futuristic. While "Big Data" and AI will probably come to have a large affect on our lives it seems unlikely to me that they will be free to roam around "cyberspace" doing what they want, more likely is that they will be tools used by corporations to control people.

The vision of the future presented in the novel is dystopian.

Purchased probably at Powell's books sometime in 2006 for 7.99$

Gates of Stone by Angus Macallan (aka Angus Donald) (2019, ISBN 978-0-4514-9027-8) Subtitled- A Lord of the Islands Novel.

This is a fantasy novel that takes place in alternate version of Asia. Most of the action takes place in an area that might be similar to Java sea. The characters move about on foot or in sailing ships. They fight with swords and muskets and sometimes cannons. Magic is present and some characters can do magical things. There are several threads of story line that are followed in alternate chapters until the end when several of the threads merge. While the stories are concluded there is much more to be told and so this novel may be the first of a series.

Received as Christmas present 2019 (purchased at Powells books for 16.00$ on 2019-12-23.)

Empire Of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio (2018, ISBN 978-0-7564-1301-9) Book One of the Sun Eater Series.

Fantasy Science Fiction. About a human empire 17,000 years in the future. Sort of like Roman Empire meets Star Wars. Some have compared it to Dune.

I found it easy to read, well written.

Received as Christmas present 2019 (was purchased at Powells books for 8.99$ on 2019-12-23.)

21 Lessons for the 21st Century, by Yuval Noah Harari (2018, ISBN 978-0-525-51217-2)

A collection of essays that respond to questions from readers of his first two books (Sapiens and Homo Deus.)

Subjects are "The end of history has been postponed", "when you grow up, you might not have a job", "Big Data is watching you", "those who own the data own the future", "humans have bodies", "there is just one civilization in the world", and 15 more...

Like his other books I would regard this as a must read for those who like to think.

Purchased from Amazon, 2018-09-28 from 16.70$

The Zoomable Universe, by Caleb Scharf (2017, ISBN 978-0-374-71571-7)

Describes the Universe from the very large 10^27 (the whole universe) to the very small 10^-35 (the Planck scale.) It goes in steps of powers of 10 of meters. The humans are at between 10 meters and 1 meters.

Received for Christmas 2017.

The Iliad, Homer, Caroline Alexander (2015, ISBN 978-0-06-204627-7)

I like the Iliad, I have read it several times and have collected many English translations (I even have the Greek version, why?, I don't know as I can't read it.)

Purchased Powells Books, 2018-1-10, 27.50$

The Gospel According to Luke, New King James Version, Gideons.

The first time I read Luke, probably 50 years ago, was the Good News translation.

Book found free some where.

The Philosophy Book, by Gregory Bassham (2016, ISBN 978-1-4549-1847-9) Subtitle-- From the Vedas to the New Atheists, 250 Milestones in the History of Philosophy.
I really liked this book. Contains 250 one page descriptions of various philosophy topics arraigned by date. Starts with Vedas and ends with "The Triple Theory of Ethics". In the back of the book are references to other books for each topic, so you can research further. Also, of course, you can research on the internet using things like Wikipedia. Below is page one of the table of contents. As you can see a wide range of topics is covered.
Purchased from Amazon, June 19, 2019 for 19.44$

Beyond Infinity by Eugenia Cheng (2017, ISBN 978-0-465-09481-3)
Subtitle-- An Expedition To The Outer Limits Of Mathematics.

A book for the general reader about infinity and set theory. Well written. Slow at first, but I found the later chapters more interesting. Contains many drawings explaining various aspects of the subject.

Purchased at Barnes on 2017-6-22 for 27.00$

Seven Brief Lessons On Physics by Carlo Rovelli (2014, ISBN 978-0-399-18441-3)

A series of seven essays for the general reader about topics in physics.  Topics include-- Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, Cosmos, Sub-atomic particles, etc.

Purchased at Powell's on 2018-3-15 for 9.98$

QED by Richard P. Feynman (1985, ISBN 0-691-02417-0)
Subtitle-- The Strange Theory of Light and Matter.

A series of four lectures made into essays about QED or quantum electrodynamics. It is supposed to be for the general reader but is still difficult.

Purchased at Powell's on 2018-3-15 for 10.50$

Modern Physics: an introductory survey by Arthur Beiser (1968, ISBN 0-201-00515-8)
Topics covered-- Electromagnetic Waves,  Relativity, Quanta, The Atom, Complex Atoms, Molecules and  Ions, The Solid State, The Nucleus, Nuclear Transformations, and Elementary Particles.
This book was used in a course of beginning Physics that I attended in the 1970's. Some of it is out of date, the author has a newer book that is more current. Still I think the book is worth a read.
Purchased at University Bookstore, probably in 1974-1975, for 5.95$

The Physics Book by Clifford A Pickover (2011, ISBN 978-1-4027-7861-2).
Subtitle-- From the Big Bang to Quantum Resurrection, 250 Milestones in the History of Physics.
Provides a brief summary, one page of text and a picture for 250 physics topics--
For example, Eratosthesnes Measures the Earth- describes how a scientist in 240 BC figured out how to measure the circumference  (yes they knew the Earth was sphere even then) of the Earth using measurements and math.
--or-- Photoelectric Effect, 1905, explains how shining a light on a copper plate can induce a electric current.
Many topics covered, worth reading if you are interested in science.
Purchased on 2017-12-11, AmazonMarketPlace (ChristianBookBag), 13.99$

Five Kingdoms by Lynn Margulis and Karlene V Schwartz (1982, ISBN 0-7167-1212-1) Subtitle-- An Illustrated Guide to the Phyla of Life on Earth.
This book provides brief descriptions of various species. The species chosen are examples of the various phylum covered. The Whittaker system, which divides life on earth into five kingdoms-- Monera, Protoctista, Fungi, Animalia, Plantae. There are 89 Phylum described. The book contains a description of a species from each Phylum with drawings, photos and a graphic indication of where these species can be found.

The Turing Omnibus by A. K. Dewdney (1989, ISBN 0-7167-8154-9). Subtitle-- 61 Excursions in Computer Science.
This book has 61 chapters, one for each excursion. The chapters are fairly short, 6-7 pages each. They cover mostly theoretical computer science. Examples include-- Algorithms, Finite Automata, Systems of Logic, Simulation, Game Trees, etc. Because the chapters are short they really only hint at what they are about. Most of these subject would require whole books just to begin to cover them. Still, if you are looking for an overview of computer science then this book delivers that.

Visions Of Infinity by Ian Stewart (2013, ISBN 978-0-465-02240-3). Subtitled-- The Great Mathematical Problems. I like books about Infinity, however as the subtitle might suggest this book isn't so much about Infinity as it is about various math problems that mathematicians have struggled with over the centuries. Even though it isn't much about Infinity it is still very good.
Some of the problems discussed are Goldbach Conjecture, Squaring the Circle, Four Color Theorem, Kepler Conjecture, Mordell Conjecture, Fermat's Last Theorem, etc. This book is aimed at the general reader, however, the subject is complex and so may be a harder read depending on the reader's math background and interests. The author does a good job of explaining the problems and the attempts to solve them. Purchased from Powell's books on 7-6-2013 for $26.99. 

Introducing Quantum Theory by J. P. McEvoy and Oscar Zarate  (1996, ISBN 1-874166-37-4)
This is a "Graphic" book discussing the History and Ideas around Quantum Theory. The text is by J. P. McEvoy and the art work is by Oscar Zarate. The book covers the early part of the 1900's when various European physicists (Einstein, Pauli, Dirac, Schrodinger, Planck, Born, Bohr, De Broglie, Heisenberg, etc.) developed the modern theory of Atomic and sub-Atomic particles and forces.
The book may seem simplistic to some because of the graphics, but I think it does a good job of introducing the reader to the History and Ideas of Quantum Theory.
Purchased from Powell's books 8-26-2004 for $7.50.

Calculating The Cosmos by Ian Stewart (2016, ISBN 978-0-465-09610-7)
Subtitle-- How Mathematics Unveils The Universe.

Talks about the mathematics of astrophysics from gravity to multiverse.  Excellent read. Despite the title, there is very little math. The book mostly talks about the math used to calculate various things.

Received as Christmas present 2016.

Welcome to the Universe by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael A Strauss, J. Richard Gott (2016, ISBN 978-0-691-15724-5)
Subtitle-- An Astrophysical Tour.
Very interesting popular science book. It is divided into three sections-- I) Stars, Planets, and Life II) Galaxies III) Einstein and the Universe.

One chapter explains why Pluto is no longer considered a planet. Another chapter use the Drake equation to estimate the number of  active, communicative extraterrestrial civilizations in the Milky Way galaxy. Time travel is explained.
The famous equation E=MC² is explained. Finally, a chapter is devoted to describing the ultimate fate of the Universe.
Christmas present 2016.

The Story of the World in 100 Species by Christopher Lloyd (2016, ISBN 978-1-4088-7638-1)

The book has sections like viruses, simple cells, symbiosis, sea life, etc. Covers the whole spectrum of life on earth. The first 50 species are examples of those species that made the world the way it is before humans became a powerful force. The last 50 species are those that have been modified by humans, for example, grasses like rice, wheat, maize. Also, covers some animals that humans have modified, for example, horses, cows, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats.

Purchased new at Barnes and Noble, 30$, 2017-6-22.

Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari (2017, ISBN 978-0-06-246431-6).
Subtitle-- A Brief History of Tomorrow. Discusses some ideas about what the future may hold for Humans. It is possible that we may create an AI the will replace us. The dominate theme is the Data Religion wherein the AI of the future will monitor us 24/7 and make all of decisions for us. An interesting book to read, would like to read it again sometime.
Purchased at Powells, 2-21-2017 for 35$.

A Many-Colored Glass by Freeman J. Dyson (2007, ISBN 978-0-8139-2973-6).
Subtitled Reflections on the Place of Life in the Universe.
Page-Barbour Lectures for 2004.
Seven lectures. I liked the last three the best, especially Looking For Life.
Received for Xmas 2015.

The Biology Book by Michael C. Gerald and Gloria E. Gerald (2015, ISBN 978-1-4549-1068-8).
Subtitled: From the Origin of Life to Epigenetics 250 Milestones in the History of Biology.

250 topics, each gets one page of text and a picture. Seems like a good overview of Biology, but for the non-technical reader.

Purchased in December 2016 at Powell's books for 29.95$.

The Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas (1974, ISBN 978-0-14-004743-1)
Subtitle-- Notes of a Biology Watcher.
This book contains a series of essays originally published by the New England Journal of Medicine. I enjoyed these essays, found interesting. A few time I found stuff that was out of date, nut that should be no surprise, since they were written more than 40 years ago. Was an xmas gift, xmas 2015.

Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari (2015, ISBN 978-0-06-231609-7)
Subtitled-- A Brief History Of Humankind.
Very interesting book, one of those books that I feel like I want to re-read as soon as I have finished it. Discusses the long history of humans, from the first humans 2 million years ago up to present time.
Divides human history into three basic eras: Cognitive Revolution, Agricultural Revolution and Scientific Revolution.
Was a xmas present, xmas 2015.

America's Bank- The Epic Struggle to Create The Federal Reserve by Roger Lowenstein (2015, ISBN 978-1-59420-549-1)
This book presents a description of the political process that resulted in the Federal Reserve. Some of the history of the older attempts to create a US central bank are described as well as why a central bank is needed.
Received as a Christmas present 2015.

Beautiful Geometry by Eli Maor and Eugen Jost. (2014, ISBN 978-0-691-15099-4.)
51 chapters of interesting mathematics. Each chapter contains one mathematical idea or theorem. Each chapter also contains one or more drawing(s) that illustrate the idea or theorem.
Purchased from Amazon on 1-19-2014, for $20.79

Cosmos by Carl Sagan. (1980, ISBN 0-394-50294-9) Based on the the 13-part TV series of the same name. That TV series was recently updated with a newer version with Neil deGrasse Tyson. A great book. Contains a lot of interesting stuff, a bit out of date in terms of space exploration (a lot has happened since it was written in 1980.) Still worth reading ( you can find used copies very cheap on Amazon.) I got my copy back in the 1980s.
Contains a proof that the square root of 2 is irrational. Discusses the Googol and the Googolplex. This book contains much information about science and the history of the world, etc.