Barret

Conceptual Exploration is The Point of NS Novels

Revisado: 04-20-23

This doesn’t disappoint on that aspect, which I’ve come to expect from Neal Stephenson. That and the prototypical need humor sprinkled throughout in the various characters personalities, mannerisms, and comments. If you are expecting 100% clean plot lines with clear purpose and explanation for every character and action and for all loose ends tied up, then you might be disappointed. But I don’t read Neal Stephenson for that anymore. Occasionally I’m surprised when the plot and characters do all make complete sense, but I don’t expect it. This novel isn’t the most extreme case of an abrupt ending that felt like it was perfunctory (Snowcrash) or like he didn’t know how to end it so he just ended it randomly. It also wasn’t his most coherent plot (Anathem). In this one there is at least an admirable attempt at a soft landing and satisfying ending in terms of the overall plot arc, just not for every character. In the end though, that’s not why I read NS. I read NS for his witty exploration of deep concepts and technical details in novel form. It delivered in the latter respect in a way no other author could.

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Fascinating and Informative

Revisado: 01-14-23

For anyone interested in digital art, programming, movies, or history, this is a fascinating and informative deep dive into the technical and the human side of the technology of digital light. I would say the book format might be better because you miss the visuals with audio and there is no supplemental PDF or anything. Otherwise would give 5 stars.

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I'd give this book 10 stars if I could.

Revisado: 01-12-17

Amazing in its breadth as well as depth of topics. Matt Ridley covers everything from language and religion to politics, technology, and the block chain providing rich historic detail across the spectrum of these evolving things. I think everyone should read this, especially those who think the only alternative to centralized control and planning is chaos. Everyone needs to be taught the General Theory of Evolution.

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Good Mix of Science and History

Revisado: 12-24-12

Would you consider the audio edition of Chaos to be better than the print version?

Not sure

What was one of the most memorable moments of Chaos?

Mandelbrot sets and their discovery and nature.

Which scene was your favorite?

Feigenbaum working in an obsessed manner on his computers, living off cigarettes.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Making a New Science

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Great Synthesis of Science and History

Revisado: 07-30-12

What made the experience of listening to Quantum the most enjoyable?

I really enjoyed the tale of the history of the revolutions and micro revolutions of thought that make up the path to our understanding of the quantum world. It shows that no dogma or accepted system of thought is sacred, and our understanding of the universe is an evolutionary process of ideas. SPOILER: The essential theme I got from this is that it comes back to the philosophical thought experiment of the tree falling in the woods with no one to observe it in any way. For Einstein, reality is independently real, and the tree actually did fall, whether or not someone directly observed it or indirectly observed its effects. For Bohr, the tree did not actually fall unless it was observed. For science, Einstein's belief could never be proven, because to prove it, something would have to be observed/measured. Bohr goes farther than just saying that objective reality cannot be proved, and says it doesn't exist in fact. This belief is just as unprovable as Einstein's and for the same reason.

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Good, Not Great

Revisado: 02-07-12

Any additional comments?

I feel that this book addressed some of the more superficial or commonly argued issues with regard to the merging of science and religion, but glossed over what, to me, are the more fundamental philosophical issues and took answers to those more fundamental questions as a given. Some of the information regarding how DNA works was interesting, but I was looking for more detail around the mechanisms and the elegance of DNA. The book did have some of that, but not as much as I would have expected. After all, God is in the details.

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