The following are mini-reviews of books I read in 2008.
Also see the full index of books I've read.

Things A Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About

... currently reading ...

Depression, The Mood Disease (Third Edition)

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The Cruise of the Cachalot Round the World After Sperm Whales

Essentially a Two Years Before the Mast for whaling boats and just as interesting. Bullen's use of flowery language seemed a bit forced for my taste; consequently, his book doesn't compare quite as favorably to Dana's plain-spoken work as it could have. Still, The Cruise of the Cachalot succeeds admirably in its purpose of detailing the life of a sailor on a whaling ship.

Project Gutenberg eBook: The Cruise of the Cachalot Round the World After Sperm Whales

The Red House Mystery

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Project Gutenberg eBook: The Red House Mystery

Montezuma's Daughter

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Project Gutenberg eBook: Montezuma's Daughter

The Upper Berth

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Project Gutenberg eBook: The Upper Berth

Saint Michael's Gold

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H. Bedford-Jones eBooks are available at Project Gutenberg Australia (public domain in Australia).

The World's Desire

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Project Gutenberg eBook: The World's Desire

Shadows

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The book can be downloaded in PDF format from Chiles' fiction page.

The Plausibility of Life: Resolving Darwin's Dilemma

The book's title promises an interesting read for the scientific layman - instead, I gave up about a third of the way into it. You really need a knowledge of and interest in the intricacies of cell biology to wade your way through the book. Try The New York Review of Books article linked below for a readable overview of Kirschner's and Gerhart's ideas.

Also see:

• WGBH's "Plausibility of Life" has the audio/video of a lecture on the subject by Mark Kirschner.
• The New York Academy of Sciences' "Resolving Evolution's Greatest Paradox" has the audio/video of a presentation by Mark Kirschner.
• "Evolving Evolution" in The New York Review of Books.

50 Mathematical Ideas You Really Need to Know

... currently reading ...