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View Poll Results: Which Science book shall broaden our horizons in June? | |||
Longitude by Dava Sobel |
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5 | 25.00% |
The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World by Edward Dolnick |
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5 | 25.00% |
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman |
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5 | 25.00% |
Philosophy of Physics: Space and Time by Tim Maudlin |
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3 | 15.00% |
The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind by Michio Kaku |
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8 | 40.00% |
A Crack in the Edge of the World by Simon Winchester |
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7 | 35.00% |
The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart |
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3 | 15.00% |
Death from the Skies: The Science behind the End of the World by Phil Plait |
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5 | 25.00% |
Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal |
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7 | 35.00% |
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 20. You may not vote on this poll |
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#1 |
Bah, humbug!
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA
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June 2016 Book Club Vote
![]() Help us choose a book as the June 2016 eBook for the MobileRead Book Club. The poll will be open for 5 days. There will be no runoff vote unless the voting results a tie, in which case there will be a 3 day run-off poll. This is a visible poll: others can see how you voted. It is ![]() We will start the discussion thread for this book on June 20th. Select from the following Official Choices with three nominations each: • Longitude by Dava Sobel Goodreads | Amazon US / Audible / Kobo Ca / Overdrive Audiobook / Overdrive eBook Print Length: 192 pages Spoiler:
• The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World by Edward Dolnick Goodreads | Amazon US / Kobo US Print Length: 416 pages Spoiler:
• Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman Goodreads | Amazon US / Kobo US Print Length: 499 pages Spoiler:
• Philosophy of Physics: Space and Time by Tim Maudlin Goodreads | Amazon US / Kobo US Print Length: 183 pages Spoiler:
• The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind by Michio Kaku Goodreads | Amazon Ca / Amazon UK / Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / iTunes / Kobo US / Overdrive / Overdrive Audiobook Print Length: 377 pages Spoiler:
• A Crack in the Edge of the World by Simon Winchester Goodreads Print length: 512 pages Spoiler:
• The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart Goodreads | Amazon US Print Length: 400 pages Spoiler:
• Death from the Skies: The Science behind the End of the World by Phil Plait Goodreads | Amazon US / Barnes & Noble / Kobo US / Overdrive (1) / Overdrive (2) Print Length: 336 pages Spoiler:
• Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal Goodreads | Amazon Ca / Amazon UK / Amazon US / B&N / Kobo US Print Length: 352 pages Spoiler:
Last edited by WT Sharpe; 05-29-2016 at 03:17 AM. Reason: Format |
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#2 |
Guru
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Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: UK
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Not a single comment so far? I want to read The Future of Mind but happy to go with any choice. To be honest this was the category I was looking forward to the most since we voted for the new categories for 2016. I have a feeling that any of these books would inspire a great discussion.
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#3 | |
Bah, humbug!
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#4 | |
Guru
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Device: Kindle PW, Win 10 thinkpad 8in
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#5 |
(he/him/his)
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Karma: 79742714
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Sunshine Coast, BC
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I'm really sorry to see that Longitude is not getting any love here. It's a superb book, and unlike the two leaders, is both of a reasonable length and a price I'm willing to pay. Both the leaders are $12, which is a bit rich for a book I'm not really excited about. Longitude, OTOH, is inexpensive (or free with KU), short, and most importantly, is a really well written book about of the most important scientific challenge of the 18th century, and one of the most difficult -- how to know how far east or west one had traveled, and exactly where you were. We have GPS, but they didn't even have an accurate clock, and thousands of sailors lost their lives because they weren't where they thought they were. To say nothing of the mercantile cost.
Longitude tells the story of how one man solved this problem, and changed the face of navigation forever. It's a well written and compelling story, and well worth the read. (Plus, if you're ever in London, take a day trip to the Royal Observatory at Greenwich and see one of the magnificent clocks he built!) |
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#6 | |
Guru
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Quote:
I didn't notice that Longitude is a KU book. However, I did check to see which of the nominees are available as audiobooks. I read very little non-fiction and I prefer to listen rather than read the text. (Must remind me of being in lecture halls ...) My votes were cast with that in mind. |
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#7 |
Bah, humbug!
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Location: Chesapeake, VA, USA
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I'm amazed that three of the selections would fit if the category was history. I'm more interested in today's cutting edge science.
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#8 |
o saeclum infacetum
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#9 |
(he/him/his)
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I'm most interested in a good book I can enjoy. And frankly, I get most of my science from more primary sources than consumerized books. But I find the history of science fascinating and highly informative. But apparently others want to spend more than I'm willing to spend right now.
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#10 |
Guru
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Well ... I'm not a fan of history itself, but I have enjoyed a couple of books on the history of science. Reminds me of a university experiment which in the Freshman year took all the subjects and taught an integrated curriculum based around history. So you got the politics (wars and governments), science, math, arts, music, daily life, exploration, and so forth. I think that's a fantastic way to tie things all together. Probably a good reason why reading some of the books covering history and science (or history of science) has been such a pleasure for me who normally avoids non-fiction.
I'll go with whichever book is selected. (Of course, I'm also going to be acquiring and reading the rest of the Steerswoman series during June!) |
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#11 |
Home Guard
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I remember it seemed like everyone was talking about Longitude when it first came out but I never got around to reading it. Maybe now is the time. I find science books about that time period really interesting. Also Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle about the doings and machinations around the Royal Society in the 18th century.
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#12 |
Home Guard
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The thing about physics is that it seems to be all mathematics nowadays. The analogies they use to explain it in popular science books are only approximations of the real science which you can't really understand unless you can do the math.
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#13 | |
(he/him/his)
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Quote:
I had hoped that Longitude would get more consideration. It's an excellent book, and lends itself to quick reading, without being superficial. |
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#14 |
Resident Curmudgeon
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I don't recall when it was, but for the book club, we did read a book by Simon Winchester. The description didn't make the book sound all that interesting. It was about the making of the Oxford Dictionary and it did turn out to be very well written and very interesting.
I voted for A Crack in the Edge of the World because of Simon Winchester. |
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#15 |
Home Guard
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I haven't read this one but Winchester is usually a reliable choice.
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