Book Discussion - NONZERO by Robert Wright - next Weds April 18th 7-9pm, Houston Central Mkt Community Rm (upstairs)
Alice Aman
Anyone who missed last month and who still wants to participate, it's
not too late!
We will meet Wednesday of NEXT week on April 18th at 7pm at Houston
Central Market (Weslayan and Westheimer) in the Community Room
upstairs.
We will continue discussion of NONZERO: The Logic of Human Destiny by
Robert Wright. In this second discussion of the book, Wendy will lead
the discussion. We will cover chapters 10 through 16 though comments,
opinions and questions that apply to previous months reading (first 16
chapters) are welcome too.
Next month, on May 16th, we will finish the book by covering Part 2
chapters 17 thru 22, Appendix 1 and 2 (about 105 pages) along with any
residual issues and thoughts about first part of the book.
Hope you are enjoying the book. Do you agree with the author when he
says that technology is more important than literature??
Hope to see you next week.
--Alice
http://www.houstonbookclubs.org/HoustonNonfiction/
http://www.houstonbookclubs.org/GreatBooksGuide.htm
===Upcoming Discussions ==================
[ Apr 18 cont'd from March, and finishing on May 16]
--NONZERO: The Logic of Human Destiny by Robert Wright (publ 2001) 347
total pages
[from 75 Smartest Books We Know by Fortune Magazine]
A dazzling mix of history, theology, economics, game theory, and
evolutionary biology that paints the world's increasing entwinement as
a positive and possibly inevitable development.
[Jun 20, Jul 18, and finishing on Aug 15]
--THE EDUCATION OF HENRY ADAMS by Henry Adams (publ 1907) 420 total pages
[Top 100 Modern Library list and Pulitzer Prize winner in 1919]
Printed privately in 1907 and published to wide acclaim shortly after
the author's death in 1918, The Education of Henry Adams is a
brilliant, idiosyncratic blend of autobiography and history that
charts the great transformation in American life during the so-called
Gilded Age.
[Sept 19, and finishing on Oct 17]
--THE SHALLOWS: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas
Carr (publ 2011) 228 total pgs
[2011 Pulitzer Prize finalist]
While the author tries to ground his argument in the details of modern
neuroscience, his most powerful points have nothing do with our
plastic cortex. Instead, he is most successful when he sticks to
cultural criticism, as he documents the losses that accompany the
arrival of new technologies.
[Nov 21, Dec 19, and finishing on Jan 16]
--THE ELEGANT UNIVERSE: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest
for the Ultimate Theory by Brian Greene (publ 2001) 464 total pgs
[2000 Pulitzer Prize finalist]
The author, a specialist in quantum field theory, believes that the
two pillars of physics - general relativity and quantum mechanics -
can be reconciled in superstring theory and gives the nonspecialist at
least an illusion of understanding--or the sense of knowing what it is
that you don't know. And that is traditionally the first step on the
road to knowledge.
[Jan 16 - election of new titles - those who have attended at least
twice may submit up to two titles for the ballot IN ADVANCE. Winners
will lead discussion of the book they suggested. Titles subject to
review.]
[Feb 20, Mar 20, and finishing on Apr 17]
--LORDS OF FINANCE: The Bankers Who Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed
(publ 2009) 505 total pages
[2010 Pulizer Prize]
The book is about events leading up to and culminating in the Great
Depression as told through the personal histories of the heads of the
Central Banks of the world's four major economies at the time:
Benjamin Strong Jr. of the New York Federal Reserve, Montagu Norman of
the Bank of England, Émile Moreau of the Banque de France, and
Hjalmar Schacht of the Reichsbank.