Reviews and Comments

Thin history of standardization, decimalization, and yes, metrification of the world. Many historical points were quite brief, but there was a lot to cover. One chapter on standardized spelling, two more solid chapters on the French revolution and their "interesting" calendar. Other calendar experiments are among the more interesting parts of the book.

In the penultimate chapter we get to the question of America and the failed 70s push for metric. Not as interesting as you would think - some baggage from the push in the 1870s, some political infighting. The final chapter summarizes the current state of affairs - a hodge-podge of units for the masses, metric for scientists, and only briefly touches on the Mars mission failure.

While interesting, it felt a lot more like an overview. The answer to the title question was unsatisfying - what we do today is okay, and computers can cover the rest. 2½ stars.

This book takes a really good idea, describes it and analyzes it, then applies it to a too-wide range of topics. In some it isn't mentioned at all. In this way, a book which could be comparable to Gleick's Chaos or The Black Swan ends up going astray.

The really good idea is graphing complexity as an arc, with low complexity for highly ordered and completely chaotic systems, and high complexity in between. This idea comes from the Santa Fe Institute, and turns out to be really interesting when compared to the stock market, fluid turbulence and traffic flow. Other chapters occasionally hint at the complexity arc, but instead focus on topics covered in other books, or at least topics which have more to do with math than complexity.

Did the author (a science writer for Time and before that Discover magazine and Science Digest) recycle some of his older topics? It would seem so to me. That wouldn't be bad, if he didn't try to shoehorn "complexity" in where it didn't really fit. I'll likely check out one of his more focused works, such as Jonas Salk or Apollo 13, because he seems a decent enough writer.

While I liked the two chapters dealing directly with complexity, the rest of the work was just "okay".

Romantic adventure story, but far more than just a romance. Sara Lee, who is more in love with her Fiancee's picture than his person, feels compelled to leave 1914 Pittsburgh and travel to war-torn Belgium. She raises a little money and then founds a soup kitchen just behind the Belgian trenches. She is assisted by a Belgian spy and his driver, a displaced nobleman.

The author was a war correspondent, and the scenes set in London and the front are very realistic. A bestseller in 1918, her tale is well written and paced. The main character learns that she is her own person, and this contrasts well with what society expects of her - quite different than today. Another comparison is made between the insular American politics and the European inevitability of their involvement.

I really enjoyed this book for those aspects and for the story itself. It puts a very human face on the early days of the Great War - Sara Lee and other characters feel compelled to serve. It is freely available on Project Gutenberg and an excellent audio recording is available from Librivox. I found this on my friend Michael's list of under appreciated female authors, and agree completely with him that this is a hidden gem. Recommended!

Bring the Jubilee is told in two parts, entirely from the perspective of Hodgins "Hodge" Backmaker, citizen an alternate timeline United States. As a reader and historian, Hodge ponders many facts about the timeline - the Confederate states won the war and thrived afterward, the former United States stagnated, and the German Union won the Emperor's War (1914-1916).

In the first section of the book, Hodge leaves home and has adventures. Much is revealed about his character and some of the political climate, but not much. He also meets proponents of two different philosophies, allowing the author to comment on free will. This section is not as interesting to read, and it has been said that much of this past parallels the authors life.

In the second section, Hodge rescues a young woman in distress and joins a self-sufficient collective of scholars and intellectuals. Here the story really builds, gathering in action, more politics, a love interest, and eventually the invention of a time machine. Who better than history Hodge to travel back and observe the Battle of Gettysburg, where the South won the war?

This books is expanded from a novella released a year earlier, and I suspect the second section is the majority of that story. I found the novel a bit lacking for the added pieces, though it was included in David Pringle's list of the 100 best science fiction novels, among other accolades. I plan to track down the novella (collected in [b:The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century|293299|The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century|Harry Turtledove|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388529979s/293299.jpg|1546279]) for reading soon.

Second book in a series; there were aspects I liked better and a few that weren't as good. Really needs the info from the first book - wouldn't stand alone.

Strong points include the main character, who cracks wise and thinks deep. His friend the victim also gives a chance for wit. Ghost of Elvis is always good, and the idea of storm drains that double as missile tunnels is fun. While others have found the story boring, I found it well paced and compelling.

Weak points include the hotel (a little too perfect a setting) and the villain (flat perfect evil until the end). I felt that the author was leading somewhere else with the voodoo references - but he never got there. Things I wondered about from the first story were also not resolved, but that's more of a negative for the series.

Overall verdict, liked the story quite a bit. Will probably read the third, but I'm not rushing out to find it this week.

This was Kurt Vonnegut’s first novel, published seven years after being released from a German POW camp. He sees the evil ends of a society dominated by machines and managers, and compares humanity to slaves. The satirical visit of a Shah provides a counterpoint to the dissatisfaction of the main character. Paul Proteus (a great name!) has this high IQ and good prospects, and his response is to try and leave the system - until he is dragged back into the inevitable conflict.

What this story lacks is the sense of humor honed through later novels. This mild dystopia is interesting, but dry, and the characters sometimes fall flat. The conclusion (a court-room scene, complete with rallying speech) feels forced. That said, the nuggets of future Vonnegut are here, and the overall book is still quite good - especially for having been written 63 years ago.

I read this as my 1952 entry in a "defining science fiction of the 50s" challenge. A solid 3½ stars.

Read this book aloud with my daughter, now 11 - our second book by this author. I'm trying to convince her to read the other two ;)

Primarily a story about the main character, Bridge, a girl who was hit by a car as child and now wonders if she survived for a reason. Her life and that of her friends is complicated, and this book dives into quite a few of those troubles. Other points of view include that of Sherm, who gets to know Bridge better over the course of the story, and an unnamed teen, whose identity remains a mystery until near the end. In addition to the complications and one new friendship, this novel has the ends of other friendships - the Goodbye's of the title.

Certain chapters of this book are just beautiful, wonderful and profound. My middle schooler found the dialog accurate. My favorite character is Mr Partridge (the stage crew coach). Well written, with beautiful scenes and situations, this book is a solid 4½ stars.

Everything I wrote in my review of [b:Beyond: Our Future in Space|22253730|Beyond Our Future in Space|Chris Impey|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1415581087s/22253730.jpg|41629757] applies to this book as well. Both have a positive, hopeful message. Both examine, chapter by chapter, the completely feasible future of mankind in space.

Colonies in Space was released in 1977, and written during the time of the first space shuttle launches. I found it enchanting as a youth, and find it just as interesting today. Power Satellites are a great solution to many of our current problems, and the whole process is well documented.

Illustrations are in greyscale and really don't bring out the beauty of some of those designs. Fortunately, the entire book and the color versions of the illustrations are online at www.nss.org/settlement/ColoniesInSpace/

Is it current? No. Are the ideas still feasible? Mostly yes, though probably costing more money. Humorously, one of the authors "expenses" of living in a colony has been completely replaced - regular shipping of films and music.