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Very clarifying look at how messy science can be

Revisado: 03-04-25

Another stellar one from Zimmer. His last two books were also fantastic but this one is much more in the zeitgeist (if you are not suffering from covid fatigue).

When covid started I remember hearing about how mask couldn't really help with containment. This would later become a kind of conspiracy theory. That medical community was lying to
the general public to keep the good masks from themselves. I remember hearing how the mask just wouldn't work to stop the spread very. Still when I would hear about the reasons it was confusing to me. Mostly because, as a lay person, I didn't understand what airborne meant in turns of a contagion. I think it was very confusing to the public to tease apart what was meant by the terms. This book will clear up what it means and why the science establishment was so resistant to the idea that covid was an airborne spreader. He doesn't get into the philosophy of science with your paradigm shifts or falsifiability; but does give concise history of how science figured out how disease spread through the air. Can't recommend this book enough.

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Comprehensive history of human activity on the world

Revisado: 01-16-25

I’ve been on various histories of the world and this was one of the best ones. While on on the face of it the books is about climate change but it really goes in depth on the history of human activity and how it shaped the Earth and altered human history. If interested in climate and world history, you might find this book interesting.

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As good as gets for history

Revisado: 07-22-23

I’ll just my support for this book. Detailed and thoroughly researched. This books also has everything, science, politics, and history. Also a great companion for Oppenheimer if you plan on seeing it.

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Listener beware…

Revisado: 01-25-23

The story does not conclude so be aware of that before you listen. In general I did like the story but I would say it is very different then their last few novels that were more standard mysteries (even if the last one was unconventional). This one is straight up sci-fi and very much a setup. Normally one might say I can’t wait but really in this case I ok with waiting. At least it doesn’t end on situational cliff hanger (looking at you Brimstone)

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Looking for what you have lost

Revisado: 02-18-22

Much like in the vein of Krakauer, Billman (also a Outside mag writer) takes us out in the world to learn about what makes us human. While mostly about over case in particular, this book does touch a few other ones that really give a sense of what happens to the people left being when a family member just disappears.
The is a fair amount of Sasquatch in the book but I didn’t think of it as a distraction. After reading you realize on the worlds of the vanished in public outdoor land and the search for an unfindable bipedal ape makes sense.
If you like true crime mysteries but want the same kind of story without the crime that this listen might work for you!

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I guess not for everybody …

Revisado: 01-14-22

but definitely for me. I got this audiobook when it first came out but only recently got around to listening. I actually hadn’t heard too much about its reception but my nephew, a big Stephenson fan who also had given me the hardback copy as a gift, had told me they it had not been received very well. I can see that by the reviews here this appears to be the case.
Not for me though. This is one of my favorite Stephenson book; Anathem and the Diamond Age being the other two. I like the way Stephenson builds worlds and I feel like he did very good job with this one. The book takes many different turns much like Reamde (which I also liked very much) but it has ideas like Anathem. I loved the “techno thriller” parts and was very interested in what he did with the simulated “afterlife”.
I won’t say “highly” recommend because it appears to be an acquired taste, if you like long meander meaty books about ideas than you might like Fall; or, Dodge in hell

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One of the best readings I have listened to

Revisado: 11-11-21

Robin Sachs has any amazing voice and found his reading to be soothing. This is a very special kind of writing and Sachs performance was top notch in making the words almost sing. MacFarlane writings is more like a meditation on what means for humans to move through world as well as life. Very good listen for walking too. Not for everyone as the “story” is most a loose collection of descriptions of walks.

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Great true story

Revisado: 07-28-20

Thoroughly enjoyed it. This not a “whodunnit” or Unsolved Mysteries type of story. Just accounting of what happen and the aftermath for the people who experienced it. I was 7 when it happen, though my birthday was the day after. Because of that I have pretty good memory of the day and I don’t remember anything about this story; I was only 8 after all.
While reading I thought there was some similarities to the movie Heat and maybe there was considering the shootout part. Still one aspect that was not dived into in that movie and this book does a great job with was post traumatic stress syndrome. Really started law enforcement to start to come to terms with it.

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Not really very revolutionary, both worth reading

Revisado: 06-18-20

I listened to the author on a podcast and thought this book was right up my alley, but turns out it wasn't exactly. I was already pretty familiar with the aspect of "experiencers" and that idea that many if not all probably have had actual "experiences" and were not making up what happened to them. Most of that came from reading books like John Macks and Carl Sagan back in the 90’s. So I am very comfortable with the idea the phenomenon of UFO being real even if I don’t believe the cause is little green men.

Pasulka wisely (only mostly though) avoids getting into the details if what experiencers have recounted has actually happened and sticks to the experience’s effect has on the “experiencer.” Still, she does seem to implicitly to support things like remote viewers as if it is an actual thing; lots of name dropping and humble brags too. She also doesn't discuss sleep paralysis enough as an explanation of what might be happening.

Pasulka mentions other books by Sagan and I would highly recommend Demon Haunted World in conjunction to any book of this nature. It will give you a toolset for thinking about these topics.

One specific point I would like to make. There seems to be this strange leap in logic that the "artifacts" found are tied to the "experiencers"; very post hoc ergo proctor hoc. She seems to come into it very a priori that two were related. For years abductees or experiencers have been producing artifacts supposedly found in their bodys only to discover they are just common metals. The crash site artifact in this book is highly suspicious. I am much the doubting Thomas and require to see thing before deciding that it is what they say it is.

In general, I believe American Cosmic is worth reading if you are interested in the effect UFO has on society. She has some good analysis and if the takeaway is that many of these people are not crazy and something is going that would be a good message to take from the book.

One last point about the performance. Some of the reviews talked about their dislike of the narrator and I just wanted on record that I thought she was very good and would listen to her again.

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Timely account of speech and the internet today

Revisado: 08-17-19

Very detailed account of the creation of Section 230 in the Communications Decency Act. This is the original “safe harbor “ law that allows internet companies to post third party content with being legally responsible for the content. The biggest companies in the world relay on third party or “user generated “ content that it is very hard to think of what the internet works look like without it.
This very review would probably not exist with it the law.

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