So what is everyone reading?

Turtle · 01-22-2005

I get a page not found on that link dude. Ahh to smell the ether again!

IrishEyes · 01-22-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tormod

I have an urge to get rid of a lot of them but I have this personal affection for books which make it almost impossible. One trick os to lend them to frinds and try to forget about it.

Ok, friend... your wife will love us both for this...
Check this site and become a member.
It's free to join, and it will help clear out your booksheleves, and help others as well.
Bring some books to release into NYC.

http://bookcrossing.com/

IrishEyes · 01-22-2005

Quote:

Next on the book queue is a little blast from the past, David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. I cannot wait!

great minds, i guess... I am currently reading (for the 5th or 6th time) A Tale of Two Cities... I really enjoy that book.

Mostly I read fiction for pleasure. It breaks up the monontony of textbooks. I love biographies, but don't read them often enough. quotes books are always interesting. quite frankly though, i don't think i ever met a book i didn't like, unless it was a programming book owned by my husband, and it made it's way into our suitcase on a vacation to the beach or something! i read just about anything i can get my hands on, and i have this very bad habit of having to finish everything i start, even if i don't really like it.

i generally have about 4 books going at once. and i am also one of those with a ridiculously sized library. i'm getting ready to drastically reduce it though, thanks to bookcrossings... i also loan books out, but i never expect to see them again after i loan them. that way, if i DO get them back, it's a pleasant surprise, and if i don't then i know the person that has them is enjoying them as much as i did... i find that a good philosophy with most things though - loaning very rarely works, just plan on making the laoned item a gift, and there will be no ill feelings on your end when the item is not returned, money included.

for books though, really anything is a favorite, but i'm reading too much *required* stuff right now to be able to 'enjoy' reading, if that makes sense...

nemo · 01-22-2005

My books are mostly about programming languages - C being my favorite. Back when I used to read about things that didn't involve a compiler, I tended to lean toward Grisham.

Since we're talking about books, I'd like a little help with my next purchase...
I live near a river. As my wife and I were driving earlier this week, I noticed that gasoline prices had dropped from an arm and a leg to simply an arm, and I began to think about the feeble state of 'clean' energy production. Since we were driving along a river at the moment, I considered all the painful whining from environmental groups about building dams and the flooding involved with hydroelectric power generation for a few seconds; after which I began wondering why nobody ever installed windmill-like turbines under the water. Outside of a severe drought, rivers are always flowing (unlike the wind), and turbines would not cause flooding. Perhaps the turbines wouldn't even have to be permanently attatched to anything (I'm thinking about a buoy shaped like a kayak with something resembling a jet engine underneath - tethered to an immobile object like a pier). Anyway, my problem (or at least one of them) is that I know nothing of electricity aside from the fact that Ben Franklin never should have lived. Could anyone recommend a good book for someone interested in the generation of electricity but with no prior experience in the field?

Thanks

orbsycli · 01-22-2005

http://www.mediapimp.net/jason/story.htm

IrishEyes · 01-23-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by orbsycli

http://www.mediapimp.net/jason/story.htm

Welcome, orbsycli, and thanks for joining our Forums!

I hope you take the time to post an introduction, so we can learn a little more about you.
Also, please check out our FAQ, so you can familirize yourself with some of our guidelines.
The link is nice, but what would be even better? Tell us about the link, what the link is to, why it's important to the discussion. Many people will check out your link. However, many others will not. It's helpful to everyone if you can provide a brief summary, and tell us how you feel about the content of the site...

Again, WELCOME, we're glad you're here!!

Stargazer · 01-23-2005

Just started on Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars, which seems to be a really good tale of human Mars exploration.

sanctus · 01-23-2005

Irisheyes, try to read american psycho (by ellis something) it's the only book of my life which I throw away; just so that you once encountered a fiction book that you didn't like.

At the moment I'm reading Kerson-Huang's statistical mechanics, to prepare for my exams as well as many books about QM(group theory an QM by tinkham, Mécanique Quantique by Cohen.tanoudji and another I forgot of who). Due to this exams I've got no time to read other books. But on my list are:

1984,Rama III (by C.Clarke), all the books of Greg Bear I haven't read yet (one of my favorite SF-writer),all the books of Stanislav Lem I haven't read yet (my favorite writer, mainly for the books-my translation to english- "the voice of the master", "and so spoke Golem" and "the futurological worldcongress"), anything be the Strugatzky-brothers,the dead souls (by Nikolaj Gogol), the continuation of "the ants" (by Bernard Weber) and all the other good SF-novels you suggest.

Tormod · 01-23-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by nemo

I began wondering why nobody ever installed windmill-like turbines under the water.

Oh, but they do. There are numerous experiments with tide turbines.

Here is one example:
http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/tidal.htm

As for books about electricity...that's a good question. I particularly liked Patricia Fara's book "An Entertainment For Angels - Electricity in the Enlightenment", which is about the early years of electricity and into the modern age. Very well written, short, concise, and funny...