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The errors of definitions multiply themselves according as the reckoning proceeds; and lead men into absurdities, which at last they see but cannot avoid, without reckoning anew from the beginning.

-Thomas Hobbes

Book Tag Meme

Lone Pony is playing the blog-tag game, but it’s about books. Now, I take books seriously. I have a framed quote on my bedroom wall that reads, “I cannot live without books.” (Thomas Jefferson). Mine is a readin’ household. So count me in on this particular game, the better for my readers to know me.

One Book That Changed My Life: Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal by Ayn Rand. This was the book that brought mature individualism out of the world of fiction for me. It brought economics into the real world for me. By the way, the only Rand I had read before this was Anthem.

A book I have read more than once: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. I use it in my physics course for students with poor math skills, because it is a compelling read and describes very nicely the physics of a rotating space station and Newton’s Laws. But aside from all of that, it is just a great story.

One Book I would want on a desert island: Robinson Crusoe? No, no… that’d be funny, but no. I think I would want Survival On Land and Sea by the Ethnogeographic Board and the Staff of The Smithsonian Institution. It was written for the Navy during WWII. Perfect.

One Book that made me laugh: Dave Barry Slept Here.

One Book that made me cry: Where the Red Fern Grows. I was a kid. Sniff.

One Book I wish I had written: A History of Physics by Isaac Asimov. If that book doesn’t knock your socks off, you simply are not a scientist.

One Book you wish had never been written: Mein Kampf. I'd like to think that if this book had never been written, history would have been different. This was the most thought-provoking category for me.

One Book I am currently reading: The Sun Also Rises

One Book I have been meaning to read: Gravity’s Rainbow. Pynchon has been in a holding pattern with me for years. I will read that book. Eventually.

Lone Pony didn’t tag anybody, and I won’t either. But Matt Armstrong of People Covered in Fish has picked up the game, and I am particularly interested in his answer for the book he wishes had never been written. Check him out. Oh, and I’d love to know your thoughts – either comments here, or let me know if any of you pick it up and play along.

Posted by Wulf on August 17, 2006 at 05:55 PM

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Comments

Have you ever read Robert L. Forward's "Dragon's Egg" and "Starquake"? If so, what are your thoughts on those two?

I think those are probably the most scientific of any science-fiction that I have ever read.

Posted by: AlanDP at August 18, 2006 6:33 AM

I have heard of him, but I haven't read any of his work.

I just ordered Dragon's Egg, Starquake, and Rocheworld for $1.00 each on ABE.com. Thanks for the recommendation!

Posted by: Wulf at August 18, 2006 7:58 AM

Thanks for the plug, Wulf. I just did the meme because I got tired of talking about deployment all the time. You may have noticed from reading that I need variety to keep my interest.

As far as wishing Mein Kampf had never been written, well, I don't think that would've stopped the atrocities of WWII, or even changed anything very much. It's a nice thought, but books, TV, movies and heavy metal bands don't make people do horrible things - they just give excuses to people who do horrible things and the people that try to make sense of the horrible things that some people do.

For example, I listed the book that changed my life as The Fountainhead, not because it gave me new ideas and told me how I should live my life, but because it coalesced the understanding I'd always had, just never been able to verbalize or adequately reconcile with the expectations of others. I've always been and individualist and an objectivist, but didn't realize it until I read that book.

Posted by: Matt Armstrong at August 18, 2006 11:09 AM

Thanks Wulf! Sorry it took me so long to get over here. School started and I've been out of my mind. lol

I'm going to put "Capitalism", "Ender's Game", and "A History of Physics" on my to-read list. Your descriptions are great!

Posted by: Lone Pony at August 19, 2006 8:02 AM

The errors of definitions multiply themselves according as the reckoning proceeds; and lead men into absurdities, which at last they see but cannot avoid, without reckoning anew from the beginning.

-Thomas Hobbes

Book Tag Meme

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