Sweet Reads

Having just completed James Watson's Avoid Boring People: Lessons from a Life in Science (highly recommended, however you feel about his antics), I am fortunate that a couple of new books have found their way into my possession. Otherwise, I would soon run out of quotes and anecdotes to bore people with. The first is Right Hand, Left Hand: The Origins of Asymmetry in Brains, Bodies, Atoms and Cultures, in which I expect to learn more about the superiority of left-handedness in all of the above. A quick leaf through reveals that even crystals can be chiral! No doubt the lefties are more stable. I love it.

Next up will be Science Friction: Where the Known Meets the Unknown, by Skeptic editor Michael Shermer. This one also promises to be a doozy, kicking it off with the following gem of an opener:

"It is in the vacuum of such will-nilly whencing and withering that we humans are so prone to grasp for transcendent interconnectedness. As pattern-seeking primates we scan the random points of light in the night sky of our lives and connect the dots to form constellations of meaning. Sometimes the patterns are real, sometimes, not. Who can tell?"

So many ideas, so little time. I'll go so far as to recommend both before even reading them. Or, check back at the bayblab for periodic updates and (what I think) are the coolest memes therein.

One last bonus - since I find myself reviewing the arts - I have to recommend Feist for great music to write or read to. Funky enough to stave off depression and keep you alert, soft enough not to be distracting. I've been checking out "Let it Die" and "The Reminder", and there's not a non-kick-ass track to be found on either. Big up to Amherst, Nova Scotia. Maybe she'll sit in with the spineless Kevin-Z one of these days. Hey, I could see it...