Q.
Answer
Now way is Twilight the greatest book in history, perhaps for brainwashed teens but for us normal people, it is no.
Why?
Well first you have our "heroine" Bella. What's so wrong with her? I hear you ask. Well she is a back-boneless pathetic twit that has no personality whatsoever. She is so preoccupied with wanting to be a vampire, that she doesn't think twice about her poor dad...why does she call him Charlie? What the hell has he done to deserve such treatment? Not to mention how boring she actually is. She will trip over a blade of grass and break her ankle or something.
Now onto her sparkly boyfriend Edward. Gosh, where do I start? Firstly, how the hell is there any love between these two? Surely it is infatuation/obsession? What part of sneaking into her room and watching her sleep is love? It's not. He only loves her because he cannot read her mind and that her blood smells good. That's it. And why do they need to sparkle? Why don't they have fangs in the movie? Edward is always forgiving Bella for whatever she does wrong, which is almost everything, and he just stands there sparkling, stalking Bella all day.
What about the puppy pervert? Well I have no clue how he cannot be a pervert when he imprinted on a six year old. Why couldn't he just leave Bella and Edward alone? If he cannot have Bella, he'll have her daughter - yeah, very mature... And the whole love triangle is ridiculous, though most teen books have this little triangle going on *rolls eyes*
This book gives off a bad message to teens and if you get caught in the twishite web, then it's hard to wriggle out of it. I know as I used to LOVE twilight and I learnt ALL the words off the first film and now I am forever cursed with knowing every single line in the Twilight movie. How dumb, huh?
Though, saying all this, it might be the best book in history for you. Have you read any other books?
I am so hoping that this "vampire" fad will die down soon. But I am guessing not. Since when did vampires ever die?
Now way is Twilight the greatest book in history, perhaps for brainwashed teens but for us normal people, it is no.
Why?
Well first you have our "heroine" Bella. What's so wrong with her? I hear you ask. Well she is a back-boneless pathetic twit that has no personality whatsoever. She is so preoccupied with wanting to be a vampire, that she doesn't think twice about her poor dad...why does she call him Charlie? What the hell has he done to deserve such treatment? Not to mention how boring she actually is. She will trip over a blade of grass and break her ankle or something.
Now onto her sparkly boyfriend Edward. Gosh, where do I start? Firstly, how the hell is there any love between these two? Surely it is infatuation/obsession? What part of sneaking into her room and watching her sleep is love? It's not. He only loves her because he cannot read her mind and that her blood smells good. That's it. And why do they need to sparkle? Why don't they have fangs in the movie? Edward is always forgiving Bella for whatever she does wrong, which is almost everything, and he just stands there sparkling, stalking Bella all day.
What about the puppy pervert? Well I have no clue how he cannot be a pervert when he imprinted on a six year old. Why couldn't he just leave Bella and Edward alone? If he cannot have Bella, he'll have her daughter - yeah, very mature... And the whole love triangle is ridiculous, though most teen books have this little triangle going on *rolls eyes*
This book gives off a bad message to teens and if you get caught in the twishite web, then it's hard to wriggle out of it. I know as I used to LOVE twilight and I learnt ALL the words off the first film and now I am forever cursed with knowing every single line in the Twilight movie. How dumb, huh?
Though, saying all this, it might be the best book in history for you. Have you read any other books?
I am so hoping that this "vampire" fad will die down soon. But I am guessing not. Since when did vampires ever die?
Good Social Sciences Books?
C.H
I'm starting an Open University Social Sciences course soon and was wondering if anyone could recommend some good social sciences books that will help me with my study? I would be particularly greatful for anyone that has done the OU course and can recommend books that helped them but anyone with an idea of a good book will be great help to me. Thankyou
Answer
5 Great Science Books to Expand Your Mind
1. Godel, Escher, Bach, by Douglas Hofstadter
This Pulitzer Prize winning book is a mind-opening journey that spans science, computation, zen, art, music and much much more. The book is most unusual in the way it tells its story. Some chapters are dialogs between Achilles and Tortoise. Other chapters are focused on Bach's fugues and the theorems of great German mathematician Kurt Gordel.
Throughout the book, Hofstadter discusses the work of M.C. Escher, a painter famous for his paradoxical paintings that question how the mind perceives space. In addition, the book features chapters about modern genetics, zen buddhism and neuroscience. All of these seemingly diverse topics come together to discuss recursive structures, the mind, artificial intelligence and computation.
2. Complexity by Mitchell Waldrop
Stephen Hawking once said: "I think the next century will be the century of complexity." Complexity science is one of the most important breakthroughs in recent history. Unlike the traditional specialized approach to science, complexity focuses on patterns and properties that exist across different branches.
Mitchell Waldrop's book introduces readers to complexity by telling a story about the people who brought it into the spotlight. Among the characters we meet are economists, physicists, biologists and computer scientists responsible for establishing the Institute of Complex Systems in Santa Fe New Mexico. Through their stories, Walldrop introduces the reader to the wonderful and profound world of complex systems.
3. At Home in the Universe, by Stuart Kauffman
Dr. Stuart Kauffman is one of the characters in the Walldrop's book. He is one of the most passionate, dedicated and original thinkers about Complex Systems. A few decades ago, while in medical school, he wanted to understand gene networks and came up with a model known as K-N nets. Fascinated with the ideas, he choose science instead of medicine and went on to work on complexity.
In this book he explores a range of fascinating topics - like gene networks, auto-catalytic sets, rugged landscapes. It ultimately leads to the question of the origin of life. In this challenging book, Kauffman postulates that life is not an accident, but an expected and even inevitable consequence of the laws of self-organization.
4. The User Illusion, by Tor Norretranders
During the twentieth century scientists made amazing discoveries about the brain. They also discovered just how little we know about the function of what is likely to be the most interesting and powerful object in the universe. Among the large number of books written on the subject, this book written by Danish journalist Tor Norretranders is a standout.
The books builds on physics, particularly thermodynamics, to explain the fascinating aspects of human consciousness. While the first few chapters are somewhat challenging, the crux of the book will give you a unique, eye-opening perspective on the interplay between the human brain and mind. Among the shocking things in the book is a notion that it takes a half a second for our consciousness to process an event. Knowing that, it is difficult to think about the world in the same way.
5. Programming the Universe, by Seth Lloyd
Quantum Information Theory is one of the hottest topics in science and Seth Lloyd is one of the hottest figures in the field. Famous for his bold predictions about the computational capacity of the universe, Dr. Lloyd belongs to the club that thinks that we live inside of a gigantic quantum computer. Sounds interesting? It is!
The book works the readers through the ideas of quantum information theory, explaining qbits, quantum superpositions and computation based on atoms. He argues that random fluctuations in the quantum foam produced higher-density areas, then matter, stars, galaxies and life. His conclusion is the same as Kauffman's - life is not an accident nor its divine. Rather, life is a consequence of the laws of computation and self-organization.
Conclusion
There are so many great science books on topics ranging from physics and biology to economics and social science. These books discuss patterns in the world around us. And many of the themes are very familiar to us, technologists. This is why it is important for us to keep up and know what is going on in the world of science. Besides being fascinating, it is increasingly applicable and useful.
*****************************************
5 Great Science Books to Expand Your Mind
1. Godel, Escher, Bach, by Douglas Hofstadter
This Pulitzer Prize winning book is a mind-opening journey that spans science, computation, zen, art, music and much much more. The book is most unusual in the way it tells its story. Some chapters are dialogs between Achilles and Tortoise. Other chapters are focused on Bach's fugues and the theorems of great German mathematician Kurt Gordel.
Throughout the book, Hofstadter discusses the work of M.C. Escher, a painter famous for his paradoxical paintings that question how the mind perceives space. In addition, the book features chapters about modern genetics, zen buddhism and neuroscience. All of these seemingly diverse topics come together to discuss recursive structures, the mind, artificial intelligence and computation.
2. Complexity by Mitchell Waldrop
Stephen Hawking once said: "I think the next century will be the century of complexity." Complexity science is one of the most important breakthroughs in recent history. Unlike the traditional specialized approach to science, complexity focuses on patterns and properties that exist across different branches.
Mitchell Waldrop's book introduces readers to complexity by telling a story about the people who brought it into the spotlight. Among the characters we meet are economists, physicists, biologists and computer scientists responsible for establishing the Institute of Complex Systems in Santa Fe New Mexico. Through their stories, Walldrop introduces the reader to the wonderful and profound world of complex systems.
3. At Home in the Universe, by Stuart Kauffman
Dr. Stuart Kauffman is one of the characters in the Walldrop's book. He is one of the most passionate, dedicated and original thinkers about Complex Systems. A few decades ago, while in medical school, he wanted to understand gene networks and came up with a model known as K-N nets. Fascinated with the ideas, he choose science instead of medicine and went on to work on complexity.
In this book he explores a range of fascinating topics - like gene networks, auto-catalytic sets, rugged landscapes. It ultimately leads to the question of the origin of life. In this challenging book, Kauffman postulates that life is not an accident, but an expected and even inevitable consequence of the laws of self-organization.
4. The User Illusion, by Tor Norretranders
During the twentieth century scientists made amazing discoveries about the brain. They also discovered just how little we know about the function of what is likely to be the most interesting and powerful object in the universe. Among the large number of books written on the subject, this book written by Danish journalist Tor Norretranders is a standout.
The books builds on physics, particularly thermodynamics, to explain the fascinating aspects of human consciousness. While the first few chapters are somewhat challenging, the crux of the book will give you a unique, eye-opening perspective on the interplay between the human brain and mind. Among the shocking things in the book is a notion that it takes a half a second for our consciousness to process an event. Knowing that, it is difficult to think about the world in the same way.
5. Programming the Universe, by Seth Lloyd
Quantum Information Theory is one of the hottest topics in science and Seth Lloyd is one of the hottest figures in the field. Famous for his bold predictions about the computational capacity of the universe, Dr. Lloyd belongs to the club that thinks that we live inside of a gigantic quantum computer. Sounds interesting? It is!
The book works the readers through the ideas of quantum information theory, explaining qbits, quantum superpositions and computation based on atoms. He argues that random fluctuations in the quantum foam produced higher-density areas, then matter, stars, galaxies and life. His conclusion is the same as Kauffman's - life is not an accident nor its divine. Rather, life is a consequence of the laws of computation and self-organization.
Conclusion
There are so many great science books on topics ranging from physics and biology to economics and social science. These books discuss patterns in the world around us. And many of the themes are very familiar to us, technologists. This is why it is important for us to keep up and know what is going on in the world of science. Besides being fascinating, it is increasingly applicable and useful.
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