It's true — we're going to be promoting (or dissecting) select titles in the The ScienceBlogs Book Club, a new feature here. For our first effort, a few of us have read and are discussing Carl Zimmer's Microcosm — you should head over there and contribute. A book club session without any arguments is no fun at all.
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The ScienceBlogs Book Club launched earlier this month with Carl Zimmer's new book, Microcosm. Zimmer is a widely prolific science writer whose articles appear regularly in the New York Times, National Geographic and other publications; he also maintains a blog here on ScienceBlogs, The Loom, on…
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The accuser is Colin Schultz, a busy, curious, and inquisitive young journalist who awarded a story of mine his first annual prize for "push" science journalism. First of all let me say I'm pleased, mainly because the story, " A…
Funny that — I was just saying that science blogging needed a book club. How will the titles for this one be chosen?
I'm sure you will soon be discussing the most important science book of all. If you need a copy, call the Gideons...
I'm too poor these days to buy any new books, and thus will have to wait for it to come to the library. Given this, reading the great reviews just makes me depressed.
The book club is a cool new feature, though.
The authors engage in Holmgang where three roads meet.
Funny - I put a "/whine" tag at the end of my little expression of self-pity in my previous comment. Didn't realize it wouldn't come through. It would be nice if it actually worked, adding accompanying blues music or something...
OT - Where the heck have w00+, Holbach and Cuttlefish gone?
Patricia: I remember seeing boobies last week some time, so Woot hasn't been gone for too long...
I got my copy from the library and it was depressingly easy--I was hoping for long line that would justify my buying a copy for myself. I can't talk about Zimmer's writing without sounding like I have a creepy stalkerish boy-crush on him, and I really don't, but his biology writing is just so damn good. Most of what I know about evolutionary biology I can trace to relatively few talnted writers, and Zimmer's right in there, so I am really excited about digging into Microcosm.
A book club session without any arguments is no fun at all.
Yes it is.
(.)(.)
Patricia C @ 6: Still here, reading the posts every day, and just taking a breather but without the loss of outrage at the insanities committed every day. And girding my spleen to enjoin the battle against the moronic crud infesting our rational sensibilities.
Thanks for the inquiry, as I am sure some of my comments are appreciated and needed to counteract the slime that habitually infests this blog.
The ScienceBlogs Book club is a swell idea, and I definitely will own Microcosm, as I do of Carl Zimmer's other books. Also have Francois Jacob and Jacques Monod.How often do you hear the last two authors names, let alone what they have written? Even we are familiar with that insane crap book, the bible, as it is insinuated into our daily lives whether we like it or not, reminding the insane world that they have no need of a book club as all a moron wants to know is there for the further dementing of their ever decreasing reason. I just love the term, "biblical scholar".
OT, and apologies if this has already been posted over here...
Just received in my e-mail today, from Secular Humanism Online News(letter):
[/lurk]Cuttlefish has gone to South East Europe, where the internet may be a bit spotty. At least that's what he says on his blog :) [lurk]
I wish SB would also do an evolution-oriented journal club.
My work, and that of the lab i'm in, is focused on the genomics of evolution... One of the great features of this blog is getting new perspectives on evolution.
Huzzah! *grin*
Ordered book, just waiting for it to come now but because I'm a student I've gone with the free saver delivery so who knows if I'll manage to read it in time ;)
Patricia: I remember seeing boobies last week some time, so Woot hasn't been gone for too long...
Wow, I thought they were little eyes, peeking above something
(especially underlined, (.)(.))
I'll have to pick up the book, the library is only getting 2 copies and there are already 10 holds on them.
(also missing Etha and brokenSoldier... and Scott H and Kristine and Bronze Dog and Zeno bet hey at least Blake still stops in from time to time!)
:-)
Re #20 - Well, someone had to!
(I don't think that was the real Woot)
@#19 Kseniya --
I'm working on final exams/papers/projects, so I'll probably be a bit scarce until next week. C'est la vie....
O/T
Article on one of PZ's talks in Seattle now up on MSNBC in case it is something regular readers haven't yet run across!
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/06/03/1101860.aspx
:)
RE #22 - No, I agree - the style was all wrong.
(.)(.)
Look, I came in here for an argument!
About the missing.... Summer Semester and all. Come on guys, how many of you actually teach at a university? Or maybe you don't & wouldn't know. They're either taking a break or off in the field and unavailable. Some will only have 9 mo. contracts too. Unfortunatley I'm a 12 monther.
To back up Barklikeadog: Come out, come out, wherever you are and let's do battle with the religious deranged!
Re the missing: If something keeps you away from the keyboard for as little as a day or two, the sheer volume of accumulated comments can make it tough to jump in on ongoing threads. At least, it can if you care about sounding like you know what's going on.
Happily, I've never let such trivial quibbles constrain me! ;^)
This is an argument!
I attended a talk by Carl Simmer about this book last night at the Seattle Town Hall. It sounds very interesting. Even though I always walk into events like that saying I'm not going to buy another book, I ended up walking away with a signed copy.
I too didn't know w00+ was boobies. I thought it/he/? was Homer peeping over the backyard fence. *grin*
So it is - all agreed then?
Oh for shame, Nick (@34)! You broke the chain: The next line should have been, "No it's not! It's just contradiction!"
For those of you who don't know what the hell I was talking about (@35), check out this video (YouTube is blocked from my work computer, so I couldn't preview it, but I'm pretty sure it's the right clip):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teMlv3ripSM
Oh, no it's not agreed. So there, Buster.
Bill@34 - No it shouldn't!
Nick:
Well, I'm working from (distant, creaky) memory, and as I said, I was unable to review the evidence from my work computer.
Or perhaps you were engaging in "automatic gainsaying," eh? As you well know, "that's not an argument!"
;^)
Bill Dauphin wrote:
I didn't think to look it up until after I wrote my response. Turns out, unfortunately, our train left the rails pretty much right at the start.
I too didn't know w00+ was boobies. I thought it/he/? was Homer peeping over the backyard fence. *grin*
Well, it suddenly makes more sense why the photo he linked to was a colony of boobies. I hadn't even thought about the type of bird beforehand.
The book club is an excellent idea. I went down to the Strand last night and picked up a copy of "Microcosm." Might be a bit before I get to it though cause I've got quite a queue of books to read (stupid Strand and their discounted books).
Also, Carl Zimmer came and spoke to my journalism depart once about blogging. He's really into germs and such.