The 4 books I can't stop recommending (or reading):
\t1) _Finite & Infinite Games_ by James P. Carse
\t2) _100 Years of Solitude_ by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
\t3) _On the Road_ by Jack Kerouac
\t4) _The Fountainhead_ by Ayn Rand
1 is about 100 some-odd pages and only a few hours of reading for an avid reader, but reaffirmed my life (and possibly changed it in the process.)
2 is just glorious, beautiful and the day you begin it will be a lucky day.
3 is, well.. 3.
4 changed my life but took about 12 times longer than 1.
-PEte
PS - not really a PS -- my best friend Tony is a HUGE sci-fi fan and he tells me that he often finds himself reading _Ender's Game_ every single night for 4 or 5 weeks in a row. Yes, Tony is a little nutty, but isn't that sentiment worth something? He's been wanting me to read it for years and it just hasn't ever been the right time.
PPS - could you let me know what you think if you read any of the above? I'd be curious --
If I were not just sticking with the sci fi you asked for, I'd have to say Moby Dick which is the perfect go- anywhere snack, but since we are huddling on sci fi, I'll say UBIK by PKD. Sarcastic, dark, REALLY funny and a good thinker to boot. Chock full of ironic meaty goodness.
100 years of solitude is great. I'm reading Love in the Time of Cholera right now, just to get a more thorough feel of GarcÃ*a Márquez' work. A little harder to read for some reason. I'll finish it and then move on back to 100 years.
A non-sci fi recommendation is any novel by Hemingway. All time favorite writer of mine. Powerful writing style. I love it. I would like to get into more recent authors, but it's hard to separate the fluff from the good stuff, you know?
<strong>I'm presently finishing up a book on superstring theory and I'd like to keep up the momentum by going right to some piece of reading. I'm in the mood for some recent SciFi but something with substance and quality. Looks like the next Dark Tower book by Stephen King won't be out for several more decades (what's up with that? I read all the previous books and now I'm left hanging for what goes on 3 years? Finish the next book already!). I would also consider more books on physics (quantum, astro, GUT, etc) after. I usually ingest a book with-in a week. Thanks in advance! A short review would also be appreciated but not necessary (since i can look up the user reviews on amazon) </strong><hr></blockquote>
On that note, can you recommend me some good intro books to (super) string theory? something that can be understood by a "stupid guy who hated his core quantum class in college?" (actually, the class just went too fast) If I have to learn Tensor (sp?) stuff, throw in a few of those books as well...dunno...i know enough calc/complex analysis/number theory/diff eq to get by college ^_^; (it's a good school too bad I didn't learn enough from it though...I blame the professor's lack of teaching abilities )
If you are looking for good Sci-fi, then I would reccommend "Valis" by Philip K Dick. No, I am not going to explain what it is about because that is near impossible.
On that note, can you recommend me some good intro books to (super) string theory? something that can be understood by a "stupid guy who hated his core quantum class in college?" (actually, the class just went too fast) If I have to learn Tensor (sp?) stuff, throw in a few of those books as well...dunno...i know enough calc/complex analysis/number theory/diff eq to get by college ^_^; (it's a good school too bad I didn't learn enough from it though...I blame the professor's lack of teaching abilities )</strong><hr></blockquote>
Gladly!
Beyond Einstein by Michio Kaku
Superstrings and the Search for the Theory of Everything by F. David Peat
The whole Shebang by Timothy Ferris touches on Superstring theory (among others)
Those are the ones I have read that deal with it (in my library at home). I have many other books I can recommend and you should actually read up on some elementary books before trying to tackle and understand string theory. Stephen Hawkjings is a good author to start out with, as is Michio Kaku and Paul Davies. Good luck!
<strong>you should actually read up on some elementary books before trying to tackle and understand string theory. Stephen Hawkjings is a good author to start out with, as is Michio Kaku and Paul Davies. Good luck!</strong><hr></blockquote>
My thoughts exactly...i'm having enough trouble with 4 dimensions,let alone 19 or so used in super-string-theory ^_^; Hawking's Brief History of Time was a fast/fun read, haven't gotten around to his latest one yet...but I'd like something that goes quite a bit deeper...maybe involving some basic math concepts necessary...(I can pick up new stuff fast enough to get me into Caltech...though not doing all that well, but that's mostly my fault ^_^
Comments
I really enjoyed this book in first year English.. Very Matrix style theme, but way more intense, not to mention about 15 years ahead of the movie..
\t1) _Finite & Infinite Games_ by James P. Carse
\t2) _100 Years of Solitude_ by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
\t3) _On the Road_ by Jack Kerouac
\t4) _The Fountainhead_ by Ayn Rand
1 is about 100 some-odd pages and only a few hours of reading for an avid reader, but reaffirmed my life (and possibly changed it in the process.)
2 is just glorious, beautiful and the day you begin it will be a lucky day.
3 is, well.. 3.
4 changed my life but took about 12 times longer than 1.
-PEte
PS - not really a PS -- my best friend Tony is a HUGE sci-fi fan and he tells me that he often finds himself reading _Ender's Game_ every single night for 4 or 5 weeks in a row. Yes, Tony is a little nutty, but isn't that sentiment worth something? He's been wanting me to read it for years and it just hasn't ever been the right time.
PPS - could you let me know what you think if you read any of the above? I'd be curious --
anything from philip k. dick
forget the hollywood movies, the novels/short stories are far better
Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars
by Kim Stanley Robinson
terraforming Mars
Chung Kuo series
by David Wingrove
A "What if" China was the dominating nation, set in the future.
for non-fiction science related books:
Hyperspace
by Michio Kaku
worm holes, the tenth dimension, faster than light travel
The Demon-Haunted World
by Carl Sagan
science used as reasoning. Forging forward past our "dark age" beliefs.
a good modern author that is not related to sci-fi:
Michael Ondaatje
I recommend all his books.
- trowa
by Michio Kaku
worm holes, the tenth dimension, faster than light travel
The Demon-Haunted World
by Carl Sagan
science used as reasoning. Forging forward past our "dark age" beliefs.
Got them in my library.
A non-sci fi recommendation is any novel by Hemingway. All time favorite writer of mine. Powerful writing style. I love it. I would like to get into more recent authors, but it's hard to separate the fluff from the good stuff, you know?
<strong>I'm presently finishing up a book on superstring theory and I'd like to keep up the momentum by going right to some piece of reading. I'm in the mood for some recent SciFi but something with substance and quality. Looks like the next Dark Tower book by Stephen King won't be out for several more decades (what's up with that? I read all the previous books and now I'm left hanging for what goes on 3 years? Finish the next book already!). I would also consider more books on physics (quantum, astro, GUT, etc) after. I usually ingest a book with-in a week. Thanks in advance! A short review would also be appreciated but not necessary (since i can look up the user reviews on amazon) </strong><hr></blockquote>
On that note, can you recommend me some good intro books to (super) string theory? something that can be understood by a "stupid guy who hated his core quantum class in college?" (actually, the class just went too fast) If I have to learn Tensor (sp?) stuff, throw in a few of those books as well...dunno...i know enough calc/complex analysis/number theory/diff eq to get by college ^_^; (it's a good school too bad I didn't learn enough from it though...I blame the professor's lack of teaching abilities )
<strong>
On that note, can you recommend me some good intro books to (super) string theory? something that can be understood by a "stupid guy who hated his core quantum class in college?" (actually, the class just went too fast) If I have to learn Tensor (sp?) stuff, throw in a few of those books as well...dunno...i know enough calc/complex analysis/number theory/diff eq to get by college ^_^; (it's a good school too bad I didn't learn enough from it though...I blame the professor's lack of teaching abilities )</strong><hr></blockquote>
Gladly!
Beyond Einstein by Michio Kaku
Superstrings and the Search for the Theory of Everything by F. David Peat
The whole Shebang by Timothy Ferris touches on Superstring theory (among others)
Those are the ones I have read that deal with it (in my library at home). I have many other books I can recommend and you should actually read up on some elementary books before trying to tackle and understand string theory. Stephen Hawkjings is a good author to start out with, as is Michio Kaku and Paul Davies. Good luck!
<strong>you should actually read up on some elementary books before trying to tackle and understand string theory. Stephen Hawkjings is a good author to start out with, as is Michio Kaku and Paul Davies. Good luck!</strong><hr></blockquote>
My thoughts exactly...i'm having enough trouble with 4 dimensions,let alone 19 or so used in super-string-theory ^_^; Hawking's Brief History of Time was a fast/fun read, haven't gotten around to his latest one yet...but I'd like something that goes quite a bit deeper...maybe involving some basic math concepts necessary...(I can pick up new stuff fast enough to get me into Caltech...though not doing all that well, but that's mostly my fault ^_^