Favorites

(incomplete)


Books

Walden, by Henry David Thoreau
A Separate Peace, by John Knowles
Great Linebackers of the NFL, by Richard Kaplan
Introduction to Physics for Scientists and Engineers, by Frederick J. Bueche
A Mathematician's Apology, by G.H. Hardy
The Road Less Traveled, by M Scott Peck
Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn

Blindness, by Jose Saramago
Ecotopia, by Ernest Callenbach
Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars, by Kim Stanley Robinson

Music

Springsteen
   - anything
Band of Horses

TV on the Radio:


Movies

Field of Dreams (1989)
    -- almost the perfect movie.
Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
Life During Wartime (2009)
    -- too sharp for general acceptance
The Jericho Mile (1979)
The World According to Garp (1982)
The Milagro Beanfield War (1988)
Off the Map (2003)
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
The House of Yes (1997)
Moon (2009)
    -- great SciFi.
Open Range (2003)
Winter's Bone (2010)
Paths to Glory (1957)
Fight Club (1999)
Harold and Maude (1971)
Ink (2009)
    -- see it at least twice.
Angels in America (2003)
The Road (2009)
I'll Believe You (2007)


Mountains

Roan Mountain, TN (the best endorphin rush of my life).
Strafford Mountain, VT
Gunstock Mtn, NH
Bear Mtn, NY


Equations

Dirac:



Schwinger:

g-2 ≈ α/π 



Quotes

"Only actions determine intentions."
    -- John Paul Sartre

"The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems."
    -- Gandhi

"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance."
    -- Derek Bok


Reading List

year Title Author
2002 A Beautiful Mind Sylvia Nasar
Best Science & Nature Writing 2001
Snow Falling on Cedars David Guterson
Seek Denis Johnson
The Ice Chronicles Majewski & White
Leah, New Hampshire Tom Williams
American Heat Donald Brown
Pandora's Picnic Basket Alan McHughen
Life of Pi Yann Martel
2003 Empire Falls Richard Russo
The Heat is On Ross Gelbspan
The Man Who Loved Only Numbers Paul Hoffman
Greenhouse Gale Christianson
River Dogs Robert Olmstead
The Double Helix James Watson
Prey Michael Crichton
Enough Bill McKibben
Jennifer Government Max Barry
The Last American Man Elizabeth Gilbert
Empires of Light Jill Jonnes
Modern Physics and Ancient Faith Stephen Barr
The Great Railway Bazaar Paul Thoreux
The Sheep Look Up John Brunner
The Jungle Upton Sinclair
Shiloh: A Novel Shelby Foote
The Discovery of Global Warming Spencer Weart
The Progress Paradox Gregg Easterbrook
2005 Wandering Home Bill McKibben
The Long Emergency James Kunstler
The Geography of Nowhere James Kunstler
The Party's Over Richard Heinberg
Out of Gas David Goodstein
Climate Change Begins at Home Dave Reay
The Republican War on Science Chris Mooney
The Google Story David A. Vise
2008 Falling Man Dom DeLillo
Dog Days Jon Katz
Albatross Deborah Scaling Kiley
Bush at War Bob Woodward
Men With Sand John Moring
It Happened on the Oregon Trail Tricia Martineau Wagner
2009 A Case of Need Michael Crichton
Magnificent Desolation Buzz Aldrin
Contact Carl Sagan
Terrible Trail: The Meek Cutoff, 1845 Keith Clark and Lowell Tiller
Sum David Eagleman
The Human Stain Philip Roth
The Plot Against America Philip Roth
2010 State of Fear Michael Crichton
9-11 Noam Chomsky
When Things Start to Think Neal Gersonfeld
The Circumference of Home Kurt Hoelting
Ecotopia Ernest Callenbach
The Moviegoer Walker Percy
Flowers for Algernon Daniel Keyes
Say Everything Scott Rosenberg
The Dawkins Delusion? Alister & J McGrath
The Tree Rings' Tale John Fleck
The Language of God Francis Collins
Red Mars Kim Stanley Robinson
2011 The Ways We Choose Dave Carey
Green Mars Kim Stanley Robinson
The Conscience of a Liberal Paul Krugman
Lonely Emily White
How to Live on Mars Robert Zubrin
Einstein and the Total Eclipse Peter Coles
The Two Kinds of Decay Sarah Manguso
Blue Mars Kim Stanley Robinson
Perseverance Margaret Wheatley
The Physics of Star Trek Lawrence Krauss
Time for the Stars Robert Heinlein
Arrowsmith Sinclair Lewis
Hotel du Lac Anita Brookner
Einstein's Jury Jeffrey Crelinstein
Was Einstein Right? Clifford M Will
The President and the Assassin Scott Miller
The Fountains of Paradise Arthur C. Clarke
Global Warming and Political Intimidation  Raymond S. Bradley
Deciphering the Cosmic Number Arthur I. Miller
The Sun Also Rises Ernest Hemingway
James Madison Rick Brookhiser
Timequake Kurt Vonnegut
2012A Short History of the FutureW. Warren Wagar
A Life of JesusShusaku Endo
A Moveable FeastErnest Hemingway
Great Feuds in ScienceHank Hellman
The Man in the High CastlePhilip K. Dick
A Thousand AcresJane Smiley
A Field Guide to GermsWayne Biddle
The Biology of AIDSFan, Conner, and Villarreal
Forty Signs of RainKim Stanley Robinson
Art & FearDavid Bayles & Ted Orland
Why We Disagree About
Climate Change
Mike Hulme
The Case for ChristLee Strobel
Time to Start ThinkingEdward Luce
The Eskimo and the Oil ManBob Reiss
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's StoneJ.K. Rowling
Cataclysms on the ColumbiaAllens, Burns and Sargent
The Constants of NatureJohn D. Barrow
Atheism and the Case Against ChristMatthew S. McCormick
The Long ThawDavid Archer
Our Final HourMartin Rees
The Red Badge of CourageStephen Crane
Hack the PlanetEli Kintisch
Cancer WardAlexander Solzhenitsyn
Darkness VisibleWilliam Styron
EarthDavid Brin
Singularity SkyCharles Stross
The Climate FixRoger Pielke Jr.
The Other Wes MooreWes Moore
2013The Peace WarVernor Vinge
DenialismMichael Spector
Science as a Contact SportStephen Schneider



(more to come)