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saradelphia's review
3.0
This was quite the mixed bag, and a more accurate rating would be 2.5 stars.
Although written 20 years ago, some of the selections are still relevant today. There are essays about germ theory, AIDS, and smallpox, one of the worst epidemic viruses of all time. Others are either too boring or too technical. One of the most poorly written articles which got the future of computing really wrong was written by an English major turned Computer Science professor.
Clock of Ages discusses ambitions to build an astronomical clock that will keep time for the next 10,000 years, to encourage long-term thinking about the needs of future generations. The projects preamble states "Civilization is revving itself into a pathologically short attention span. The trend might be coming from the acceleration of technology, the short-horizon perspective of market-drive economics, the next-election perspective of democracies, or the distractions of personal multi-tasking" In the seeming time-warp of a covid19 world and ensuing chaos it has both created as well as merely highlighted, I doubt civilization will survive another 10 millennia. It is unlikely even a few more hundred years is in the cards.
During these quarantine times, I read what I can from my bookshelf full of $1 books from the thrift shop. If you happen to have this on hand, here are the selections that are worth your time:
Something Happened (Helen Epstein)
The Cancer-Cluster Myth (Atul Gawande)
Clock of Ages (Brian Hayes)
A New Germ Theory (Judith Hooper)
The Demon in the Freezer (Richard Preston)
This is Not the Place (Hampton Sides)
Gorilla Warfare (Craig B. Standford)
Although written 20 years ago, some of the selections are still relevant today. There are essays about germ theory, AIDS, and smallpox, one of the worst epidemic viruses of all time. Others are either too boring or too technical. One of the most poorly written articles which got the future of computing really wrong was written by an English major turned Computer Science professor.
Clock of Ages discusses ambitions to build an astronomical clock that will keep time for the next 10,000 years, to encourage long-term thinking about the needs of future generations. The projects preamble states "Civilization is revving itself into a pathologically short attention span. The trend might be coming from the acceleration of technology, the short-horizon perspective of market-drive economics, the next-election perspective of democracies, or the distractions of personal multi-tasking" In the seeming time-warp of a covid19 world and ensuing chaos it has both created as well as merely highlighted, I doubt civilization will survive another 10 millennia. It is unlikely even a few more hundred years is in the cards.
During these quarantine times, I read what I can from my bookshelf full of $1 books from the thrift shop. If you happen to have this on hand, here are the selections that are worth your time:
Something Happened (Helen Epstein)
The Cancer-Cluster Myth (Atul Gawande)
Clock of Ages (Brian Hayes)
A New Germ Theory (Judith Hooper)
The Demon in the Freezer (Richard Preston)
This is Not the Place (Hampton Sides)
Gorilla Warfare (Craig B. Standford)
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