1. 04 November 2006

    Quicksilver

    Neal Stephenson

    746 days ago

    There isn’t really much that I can say. Here’s some previous stuff on Stephenson, who’s hands down my favorite fiction writer.

    I’m pissed that the last 35 pages of Quicksilver are the first chapter from the next in the series. The ending just ran up behind me and bashed me over the head. Not that it was stunning (a fault lots of people find with Stephenson’s books), but there was still a good chunk of pages between my right thumb and forefinger that threw me.

    The second I got done with it I hopped onto amazon to order the next two. It’s been awhile since I’ve really read at a good pace, much less stuff as good as Stephenson. They pull you through just like pulp/trash novels do, but after reading a Dan Brown or a John Grisham you feel almost guilty because reading the book doesn’t really get you anything. I’ve read a few, and they all just blur together. (If you want, you can switch the pronoun you for me in the rest of this…)

    Stephenson won’t just blow you away for the few days it takes to get through the book (I read 80 pages thursday, ~250 yesterday, and 100 today), but you can actually tell one of his novels from another. Which is a plus. I take it as a sign that they didn’t just rot my brain.

    If I had to describe Quicksilver (I can’t), I’d say it was history/science/fiction. All three about balanced. Its going on in mid 17th century england, featuring scientists at the genesis of the Royal Society in London. Daniel Waterhouse makes friends with Netwon, Liebnitz, and plenty of other bigwigs; not to mention sails through a flotilla of pirates in the second, temporally distant plot line. I’m not describing any more than that, you should read it.

  2. 18 March 2006

    977 days ago

    Another World Is Here

    we’ve already screwed up pretty badly, and much of the evidence seems to suggest that no matter what we do now, we’ve already committed ourselves to profound climate change, species loss and ecosystem degradation. We can still head off the worst of it, but we can’t avoid big problems now. We’ve bought the ticket, and we’re going to take the ride.

    we as a culture need to serve an apprenticeship with nature, and we need to do it now. We don’t know much about the world, really. We’re learning quickly, but ecological knowledge is an ocean, and we’ve only just left the shore.

    My take? Humans are disillusioned and foolish. Assume that the body of human knowledge today is an atom. What humans don’t yet know amounts to the infinity of the entire universe. But don’t let my cynicism get to you.

    via Kjell Olsen977 days ago

  3. 10 May 2005

    1289 days ago

    Designing the Future

    Fabulous interview with William McDonough, co-author of Cradle to Cradle, which I just read about a month ago. Looks like hes starting to catch fire, getting his ideas out into the world in the form of really sweet buildings.

    The fabric produced in the Switzerland factory talked about in the book is starting to get used, chiefly now in the new Airbus 380:

    It was selected for upholstery on the new Airbus 380. It’s made of worsted wool to keep you at the right temperature—cool when it’s hot and warm when it’s cold—and [a plant fiber called] ramie to wick away moisture. It’s a high-performance-design product. Going ecological doesn’t mean downgrading performance criteria. 2

    The China Housing Industry Association has the responsibility for building housing for 400 million people in the next 12 years. We’re working with them to design seven new cities. 3

    (emphasis mine). Wow, wow, wow… Talk about a contract.

    I love nuclear energy. I just want to make sure it stays where God put it—93 million miles away, in the sun. 3

    I wish more people would riff Einstein these days, who could be a better technological or scientific role model?

    no problem can be solved by the same consciousness that created it. Our job is to dream—and to make those dreams happen. 3

    via Kjell Olsen1289 days ago

  4. 16 April 2005

    1313 days ago

    We are animals: evolution humans philosophy physical education

    Denying our animalhood keeps us out of contact with forces, processes and experiences that keep us healthy. And, since the natural world is the source of our life, health and fitness, denying our status as animals is like cutting off our own air supply.

    Kjell Olsen1313 days ago

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