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The Year in Books, 2018 (in which I am reminded that I don’t like science...
I’ll start this year-in-review post with some highlights of the year in fiction, noting the larger than usual amount of science fiction I read — a mistake I will hopefully not make again — and then...
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A bookstore-free university neighborhood
There are now no bookstores around the University of Oregon (UO) campus. Until recently, there were two. The two did not, however, go out of business — at least not in a straightforward way. One of the...
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The Year in Books, 2019
Once again, a post about notable books I read last year, some great, some awful. (Past years’ lists: 2018 , 2017, 2016, and 2015.) Fiction This was the year of long books, at least more so than most...
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Book Announcement: Building Life!
I’ve been working on a popular science book about biophysics, writing as well as illustrating it. I’m about three-quarters done, hopefully on track for my contractually obligated completion date later...
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Book draft done!
On July 4, I finished a draft of the fourth and final part of Building Life, my popular-science book on biophysics. There’s still a lot to revise, based in part on comments from my editor and others...
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Ludwig Wittgenstein, Alternative Careers, and Active Learning
I recently finished reading Ray Monk’s Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius, a thorough biography of the twentieth century philosopher. (Some entertaining comics about Wittgenstein’s philosophy are...
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Book Update: Untitled Biophysics
DNA wrapped around histones — old and new. (See “Today’s Illustration” at the end of the post.) A while ago I announced that I’ve been working on a popular science book about biophysics, and a few...
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The Year in Books, 2020
It’s again time for The Year in Books! (Previous posts: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2015.) 2020 was challenging in many ways. One consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic was the difficulty of getting...
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Pop-Science Biophysics, now with a title!
I’ve hit “send” on the final manuscript files for my popular science book on biophysics. The last round of revisions and edits took all the time I could spare over the past three months, and lots of...
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“So Simple A Beginning,” A Popular Science Book about Biophysics
There’s almost nothing new in this post, but I’ve realized that descriptions of my upcoming (early 2022) general-audience book on biophysics are scattered across multiple places, in some cases with...
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The Year in Books, 2021
Once again, my favorites of the books I read during the past year, plus some that weren’t favorites but worth noting nonetheless. (Previous posts: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2015.) The Covid-19...
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The Physicality of Life
I wrote this essay for the Princeton University Press “Ideas” site as a stand-alone piece connected to my new pop-science biophysics book. It appeared yesterday, and I’m posting it here as well (with...
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Books I Like about Energy, Climate, and Civilization
I regularly teach classes on energy, environment, climate, etc., for non-science major undergraduates at the University of Oregon. Inspired by some blog comments elsewhere, I thought I’d list list...
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The Case For, and the Case Against, “The Case Against Education”
Four years ago, I read Bryan Caplan’s The Case against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money, a polemic about the form of education in the U.S. I disagreed strongly with a...
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The Year in Books, 2022, in which I discovered audiobooks
It’s time for my recap of notable books I read in the past year. (Previous posts: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2015.) The biggest difference between 2022 and years past is audiobooks, which...
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Book inflation
How many books are published each year? I’ll provide some numbers that were a surprise to me when I learned them a few years ago. First, some context. At the American Physical Society “March Meeting”...
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Reading Like It’s 1965
The last seven books I read were all published in 1965. I decided on this literary time travel after noticing that I unintentionally read two books in a row from 1965. I thought: Why not continue?...
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The Year in Books, 2023
Here’s this year’s recap of notable books I read, featuring Russians new and old, Scythians (all old), and criminals of various sorts. (Previous years: 2022, 2021, …, 2015.) 1965 vs. 2023 I wrote a...
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