The New Northern Rambler

2021-12-20

"The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design" by Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlstedt

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Copyright: 2020
ISBN: 9780358126607

This is an extremely interesting book that examines the hidden stories behind some rather common things that are found in your typical city. The format of the book divides the topic into six areas focusing on inconspicuous, conspicuous, infrastructure, architecture, geography and urbanism. Within each of the larger topics there are discussion on a number of different subjects. Some of these are utility codes, wireless towers, love locks, civic monuments, traffic lights, inflatable figures, roadways, technology, modern elevators, door locks, the layout of streets and roads, street trees, and grassroots gardening to name but a few of the over 125 topics.

I picked this book up after watching Mars' TED Talk primarily out of curiosity, but found it to be a very interesting read. The majority of his examples come from the United States, but he does look at things in other countries as well. For people who like trivia, or compete in quiz tournaments this could be an interesting book to read. As a writer, I found it quite interesting, and think it would make wonderful source material especially for those who write mysteries and need a source of information they can use for obscure clues.

Roman Mars is the host of 99% Invisible a popular podcast that explores these same types of things. While Kurt Kohlstedt is the digital director of the podcast and an architect.

An excellent book.

2021-12-13

"Barefoot in Baker Street" by Charlotte Anne Walters

Publisher: MX Publishing

ISBN: 9781780920139

Barefoot on Baker Street tells the story of a young girl by the name of Red who escapes from a London workhouse at 13. She is forced into a life of crime as a means of survival. The story follows her life journey, and is written as a memoir that is found a number of years after she dies.

The story takes place at the same time as the Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes stories, and includes events from a number of the publish canon. Including "The Blue Carbuncle", "The Empty House", "The Sign of Four", "The Final Solution", "The Man with the Twisted Lip", and glimpses of a number of others.

I found it be an enjoyable read, and one that I think fills in a lot of the backstory to Sherlock Holmes that has never been mentioned (to the best of my knowledge) but is very much in tune with what I believe Conan Doyle would've written.

I found Ms. Walters' Moriarity to be quite interesting, and unlike what a number of other writers have done by portraying him as essentially a sociopath or worse. Her portrayal of him as an autistic savant I found to be very interesting and believable. We also learned a great deal about Dr. John Watson, and his private life that I believe once again Conan Doyle would approve of.

Highly recommended, but it can be rather hard to find.

2021-12-06

"Putting the Science in Fiction: Expert Advice for Writing With Authenticity in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Other Genres" by Dan Koboldt

Publisher: Writer's Dugest Books

ISBN: 9781440353383

This is an excellent book that if properly consulted by authors will go a long way towards correcting the numerous errors present in fictional work, which are primarily due to either the authors reluctance to do basic research, or their belief that the crap that comes out of Hollywood is even close to kindergarten school science.

The various contributors, all of whom are specialists in their field, give great examples of what is typically done wrong, and then explain why it's wrong, and how to correct it.

The materials in this book are applicable to authors writing in pretty much all genres, even those without a major science component as humans have lived in complex cultures since we started walking on two legs (and likely even before this) and science has a tendency to crop up when least expected, even if it is not recognized as science.

A book such as this should be expanded on, and could even be taken to the lengths of dedicating volumes to specific areas of science.

Highly recommended.

2021-11-29

"Timescape" by Gregory Benford

Publisher: Bantam Books

ISBN: 9780553297096

Timescape is an engrossing novel, that won the Nebula Award, and it isn't hard to see why. Mr. Benford, a "hard" science fiction author, who also happens to be a physicist, has written a tale that is immersed deep within this subject. It is true that my knowledge of physics is somewhat limited, but even so it was a fascinating story.

The world of the story is in deep environmental trouble, and a few scientists attempt to send a signal back through time to the early 1960s in hopes of correcting the problems they are now facing.

I've always found the idea of time travel, or in this case time communications, to be fascinating even though I know it'll likely never happen. But Mr. Benford explains the concepts in his book well enough that you will believe.

I reviewed another of Mr. Benford's books a couple of weeks ago, and I am looking forward to reading more of his work.

Highly recommended.

2021-11-22

"The Flooded Earth" by Peter D. Ward

Publisher: Basic Books, New York

ISBN: 9780465009497

I'm relatively sure that most rational people by now realize the climate change is something we will have to contend with in the future. There will of course be those hold out who refuse to acknowledge this, or chalk it up to a distrust in science etc. But hopefully these people make up a very small minority.

This book takes the reader through a number of scenarios that deal with the possible consequences of inevitable global warming. Each chapter begins with a fictional depiction (at least I sure hope so) of what life could be like in the future if nothing is done.

As the title suggests one of the major outcomes of the warming will be the rising of the mean sea level. Whether it rises just a metre or so, or up to the 200+ metres that are possible humanity is essentially in deep trouble. However most people seem unlikely aware of what this could actually mean to people's everyday lives - in many cases the term disaster is a gross understatement as it will change the way people live, work, how they commute, how energy is generated, and many more factors.

Highly recommended, especially for those who don't believe climate change is real.

2021-11-15

"Artifact" by Gregory Benford

Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

ISBN: 0312930488

Artifact tells the tale of an archeological find in Greece that is not expected or understood. The excavation and examination of the artefact becomes an issue of Greek heritage, and when the basic principles of archeological research conflict directly with of an overzealous ex-archeologist who is now a member of the military, and also part of a junta that is trying to overthrow the government.

The lead archeologists is Dr. Claire Anderson, and she along with her crew foreman discover the artifact, just in time to be interrupted by Kontos the military / ex-archeologist who becomes the ever demanding bureaucrat, and who always wants his own way. Claire recruits another academic Dr. John Bishop to assist her in discovering what the specimen is, and this leads the story in a whole new direction.

The characters in the story are very well written, and represented. I found the story to be very interesting, and there was actually science in the story, and as all science-fiction should have (but that is usually lacking).

Excellent read.

2021-11-08

"Space at the Speed of Light: The History of 14 Billion Years for People Short on Time" by Becky Smethurst

Dr. Smethurst examines and number of fundamental questions, that I'm fairly sure many astrophysicists get asked many times during their career. Some of these questions are why does gravity matter, what was around in the beginning, a history of black holes (her speciality), the overall size of the universe, alien existence, and why is the sky dark to name but a few. The chapters are well written, and give good explanations, and would be suitable to inclusion in any grade school library.

In addition of this book Dr. Smethurst is a popular YouTube personality who examines unsolved cosmological mysteries, space news in general. She also contributes videos to other YouTube channels such as Sixty Symbols, and astronomy videos to Deep Sky Videos.

2021-11-01

"Ariadne" by Jennifer Saint

Publisher: Flatiron Books

ISBN: 9781250773586

Ariadne retells the Greek myth of Princess Ariadne of Crete, her sister Phaedra, their mother and father Pasiphae, and King Minos, and her brother Asterion who is otherwise known as the Minotaur.

Within this story are the tales of how Daedalus and Icarus escaped from the island of Crete, how Ariadne assisted Theseus in his killing of the Minotaur, and his ultimate betrayal and abandonment of her on the island of Naxos.

The story also tells of the life of Phaedra who thinking Ariadne is dead marries Theseus, The revenge of Daedalus on Minos, some history and further stories about Dionysus, the rivalry between Dionysus and Perseus, and so much more.

This is an excellent retelling of the Greek classical myths, and Ms. Saint has obviously done extensive research to support her backstory. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I'm looking forward to all future books she might decide to write.