Sounds good Harry. I have been meaning to get think like a freak since I listen to the freakonomics podcasts but hadn't gotten around to it yet. A while back I mentioned a book called The Martian. It's an excellent scifi book about an astronaut who is stranded on Mars and has to figure out how to survive. A bit like Macgyver and survivorman meets Neil Armstrong. Really good science in the book. The movie version with Matt Damon is coming out in Nov 2015 and looks promising. http://youtu.be/Ue4PCI0NamIMcGyver, please don't think like a freak. You've got people's lives in your hands! Lois
I am in the midst of reading quite a number of different books of several different genres: science fiction, fantasy, mystery, horror, and romance. This includes “Closer to Home” by Mercedes Lackey, “Vanish” by Sophie Jordan, “Bloodlines” by Richelle Mead, an old favorite “Crystal Singer” by Anne McCafferey, “The Agency” series by Y.S. Lee, the Amber series in one volume by Roger Zelazny, “Midnight Crossroad” by Charlene Harris, “Don’t Look Back” by Amanda Quick(Jane Ann Krentz), “Heartless” by Mary Balough, “Slightly Sinful” also by Mary Balough, another old favorite “Hunter of Worlds” by C. J. Cherryh.
You know I will be walking down the road with my nose in a book, and someone will ask if this is a great book. My response is annoyance particularly if I haven’t read it yet, so I wouldn’t know the answer to the question. I am also amused because it seems to mean they would only read a book if it was very very good. And I should say this doesn’t mean I read as voraciously as some people. I have other things to do and my mother, for example, reads five books to my one (but then she is in a bit of a reading binge at the moment).
Mercedes Lackey is one of my favorite authors! I’ve read most (all?) of the Valdemar books, the Dianna Tregarde mysteries, the Serrated Edge novels, several of the Elemental Masters series. And there are still so many of her works I haven’t read! 
The Amber series is fun as well. I think I need to re-read that! 
Anyway…
Just finished a humorous fantasy novel titled Witches Be Crazy by Logan J. Hunder. (It’s the author first book.) I enjoyed it. The story was entertaining. For me, sometimes the humor seemed a bit forced and didn’t really add to the story. The ending was deus ex machina and not very satisfying to me. And the editing was bad. Seems that a few chapters they just ran the spell checker and didn’t actually edit. Regardless, I’ll check out his future work.
Started read Trailer Park Fae by Lilith Saintcrow. Interesting so far, but reminds me a lot of Charles De Lint’s modern fantasy tales. (Also, I didn’t realize it was a ‘book 1’ when I first picked it up.)
Mercedes Lackey is one of my favorite authors! I've read most (all?) of the Valdemar books, the Dianna Tregarde mysteries, the Serrated Edge novels, several of the Elemental Masters series. And there are still so many of her works I haven't read! :-)The Dianna Tregarde books and Fire Rose of the Elemental Masters series are my favorites by her. I have most of both these series. Still looking to acquire "Jinx High" however.
Yes that time period is my favorite for scientific discovery and invention. I read a biography of Edison and it really emphasized his early years as an operator. Plus Maxwell's equations come up around that time frame too. The quadruplex was also an amazing invention. The World was crackling back then!! Just exploding. Copyright 1905? Those old books sometimes give good historical perspectives not to be overlooked.I have finished the book. It is very curious in how it expresses the zeitgeist of the time. He writes about Samuel Morse meeting the crowned heads of Europe and the honors he was given. Maxwell, Faraday and Hertz are mentioned also. But he talks about Hertzian wave. In all my years in electronics I do not recall ever running across the word "Hertzian" before. LOL It is better than most of the history books I have read. A world without near instantaneous communication where it took weeks to get a message from India to England was a very different place. The telegraph was more important to history than the American Civil War. But I remember reading somewhere that fixing telegraph lines was a very dangerous job during the war. Men would get shot on the poles to keep them from being repaired. psik
The telegraph was more important to history than the American Civil War. But I remember reading somewhere that fixing telegraph lines was a very dangerous job during the war. Men would get shot on the poles to keep them from being repaired. psikYeah the North had probably about 5-7 times the amount of rail capacity and telegraphy than the South. Big factor. "Hertzian".....that's why I like reading old books like that one.
Mercedes Lackey is one of my favorite authors! I've read most (all?) of the Valdemar books, the Dianna Tregarde mysteries, the Serrated Edge novels, several of the Elemental Masters series. And there are still so many of her works I haven't read! :-)The Dianna Tregarde books and Fire Rose of the Elemental Masters series are my favorites by her. I have most of both these series. Still looking to acquire "Jinx High" however.Check Half Price Books online. I've seen them at the physical locations in my area (SF Bay area) so you should be able to purchase them.
Currently reading Women, Religion and Peacebuilding - illuminating the Unseen edited by Susan Hayward and Katherine Marshall.
Basically it shows how religion is used as a social tool to achieve some mostly positive ends.
Does the book go into any significance of TA Edison's contributions?A little while back I listened to "The Age of Edison - the electric like and the invention of modern America" by Ernest Freegerg It was decent and eyeopening about the transition to electric lighting, though a bit too much of a fluff piece. Still, glad I listened to it, but it's not one that I'd listen to repeatedly like some of the others.
I check Project Gutenberg regularly to see if anything interesting turns up.What a shame they have all of 17 books 'translated' into audio. :down: They do have a great line up.
Does the book go into any significance of TA Edison's contributions?A little while back I listened to "The Age of Edison - the electric like and the invention of modern America" by Ernest Freegerg It was decent and eyeopening about the transition to electric lighting, though a bit too much of a fluff piece. Still, glad I listened to it, but it's not one that I'd listen to repeatedly like some of the others. I can't stand fluff pieces. From Machine Shop to Industrial Laboratory: Telegraphy and the Changing Context of American Invention, 1830-1920 (Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology) September 1, 1992 by Professor Paul B. Israel (Author) Also by the same author, Edison Life of Invention. These are real good books on the topic. (by the way CC, funny enough...as I read the acknowledgements section of "Edison" back around '98 or so there was the typical long list of people who received the author's gratitude. among them was ...."also I'd like to thank Bob, Jerry, Phil, etc etc..." to that effect. I had no idea either. I just picked that book at the bookstore.) Both of these are really good books. The biography is a quick read. Definitely "no fluff zone."
From Machine Shop to Industrial Laboratory: Telegraphy and the Changing Context of American Invention, 1830-1920 (Johns Hopkins Studies in the History of Technology) September 1, 1992 by Professor Paul B. Israel (Author) Also by the same author, Edison Life of Invention.Thanks for the tip especially, the first, though a hard look at Edison's life would probably be damned interesting too.
I check Project Gutenberg regularly to see if anything interesting turns up.What a shame they have all of 17 books 'translated' into audio. :down: They do have a great line up. Check out Librivox for audiobooks made from Publeic Domain works: https://librivox.org/search?primary_key=0&search_category=genre&search_page=1&search_form=get_results I don't know how many of the volunteers read sources from Project Gutenberg but I suspect it is quite a bit. psik
Check out Librivox for audiobooks made from Public Domain works: https://librivox.org/search?primary_key=0&search_category=genre&search_page=1&search_form=get_resultsThanks, I wasn't familiar with them. Not a big selection, but some gold The Origin Of Species by Means of Natural Selection (version 2) Charles DARWIN (1809 - 1882) - Organic Evolution Richard Swann LULL (1867 - 1957) - that would be a trip for it's historic perspective The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals Charles DARWIN (1809 - 1882) Experiments on Plant Hybridisation Gregor MENDEL (1822 - 1884) - bet that's some dry listening, but hey this is like where it all started. Discourses: Biological & Geological Thomas Henry HUXLEY (1825 - 1895) - oya, another step into the time machine. _______________