Journey Under the Southern Stars. E. L. Grant Watson

Journey Under the Southern Stars.
E. L. Grant Watson.
Abelard-Schumann, 1968

Because his novel Lost Man! is one of my favorites, and because the first part of the book reveals the real life experiences of the author which mirror his novel, I was immediately fascinated by this autobiography.

What I come away most clearly with, however, is the author's experience on a Fijian island in the plantation house of a white man. There are ghosts, a mysterious and horrific volcanic lake, and a magical calling of sea turtles.

The author is a young scientist out for adventure, and he maintains a firm belief in magic -- a belief which is confirmed by his observations.

Grant Watson's narrative prose in this book is beautiful and haunting in many sections. An excellent book to re-read as I find more of his works.

Secrets of Our Spaceship Moon. Don Wilson.

Secrets of Our Spaceship Moon.
Don Wilson.
Dell: 1979.

Sequel to Our Mysterious Spaceship Moon, this book rehashes a lot of the same info, but also presents new "evidence" and expands earlier statements offering proof that the Moon is a hollow vessel from another planet. This book is just as good as the first, and presents strong arguments as to why the other theories of the Moon's origin cannot be true, and why it could be that it is hollow.

The most recent (last 10 years) scientific theory is one that says the Earth, in its early formation, was "whacked" by a HUGE (planet-sized) object which caused the Moon to form out of the fragments. At a glance, this doesn't quite answer a lot of the structural questions Wilson raises (such as mascons), though I plan to look into it, as that theory is more plausible than the spaceship one (though not as exciting.)

Still, there are enough doubts about the moon's structure and composition, NASA's lack of communication to the public about certain things, and those pesky UFO's that will keep me open-minded on this subject for a while! :)

The Nothing That Is. Robert Kaplan

The Nothing That Is: A Natural History of Zero.
Robert Kaplan.
Oxford: 1999.

An interesting topic that intrigued me when I first read about this book in a review. The first half of the book is rather interesting, as Kaplan follows the development of the idea of zero through the 16th-17th centuries. Zero as a number was never really accepted until this time; before then, it was either non-existent, a place-header only, or a suspicious number used by mathmeticians and magicians.

Throughout this half of the book, the author's innumerable tangents, asides, and references -- literary, philosophical, historical, scientific, religious, or otherwise -- are distracting and annoying, but we still follow something of a course.

Once we reach the modern era, however, the book collapses into a rambling essay on "what is the meaning of nothing" with all the author's usual asides. Boring to wade through, as he seems to have no point other than show off his wide array of knowledge (which, of course, is a valid point for discussion, but not one I particularly care about.) If he had stuck to the history, this would have been a great, albeit short, book.

The Exploration of Space

The Exploration of Space

Arthur C. Clarke. Harper: 1951.

A non-fiction book by Clarke endowed with the same optimism inherent in most science fiction. He is not only sure that space exploration is possible with current technology (true), but that it will be a Great Endeavour that all humankind will rally behind (not yet true).

Imagine being a SF writer on the cusp of space exploration, though! It's amazing how much we knew about space travel in 1951 -- as if we just lacked the money, courage, or inspiration to do it.

Many of Clarke's predictions have come true - and although they may be obvious to us today, they may not have been half a century ago. The International Space Station is in orbit, though it is behind Clarke's time table. Just for fun (probably), he brings up some interesting points about alien life-forms at the end.

Bully for Brontosaurus

Bully for Brontosaurus

Steven Jay Gould. Norton: 1991.

A collection of essays for the popular/ist scientist. One reason for his success as a popular writer is that he is a great storyteller. He can also truly explain complex ideas in an accessible manner. However, his success has created a noticeable ego, his Harvard professorship a certain supercilliousness, and his absolute faith in his ideas a little too-zealous evangelism.

His essays, however, which usually stay on the topic of the history of science, can be quite interesting (though occasionally not). He is always sure to bring out the moral of the story (and rest assured they always do have a moral - a sort of Aesop for undergrads.) The moral is usually: never belive in something too much because the inexorable progress of science may eventually disprove it. Yet, Gould is no more able to follow this advice than the rest of us. He does, however, readily admit to mistakes he has made in the past (better than most of the rest of us, perhaps?)

January 13th, 2005

The Forest and the Sea

Marston Bates. Time, Inc.: 1964.

Bates' catch-phrase for his book is "the economy of nature and the ecology of Man." A biologist whose specialty is mosquitoes, Bates has written a refreshingly accessible, philosophical survey of biology. His humble confusion as to certain basic principles is most illuminating (i.e., where does one draw the line between organism and environment?)

The book follows a linear progression of comparing forest to sea, to studying organisms in their environment, their relation to the environment and other organisms, and finally to humans - our environment and culture. Bates wrote at a time when a certain awareness of the damage humans do to their environment was just coming to light in popular culture.

An ardent evolutionist, he sees human culture as natural, yet also as un-natural. His honest attempts to reconcile this difference end with the idea (not his own, he admits) that man must extend ethics and morality beyond our dealings with each other: we must be ethical and moral towards our environment.