What I've been reading

(CR) = Currently reading. (JB) = Just browsing/only reading parts; (DNF) = Did not finish.

2020-2021

(CR)The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569-1999, Timothy Snyder. The author bypasses current nationalistic stories of the development of these nations and instead traces the changing ideas of statehood itself and nationality itself throughout the history of the region from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth through to modern times. I came to this book from two directions: The Great War Youtube Channel and their continuing series describing the wars after The Great War, specifically: The Polish-Lithuanian War, as well as a story from Ms. Newhart's family. Her grandmother left Galicia in the Austrian Empire around the time of World War 1 (The Great War) and came to America to become part of the Ukrainian community in the Lehigh Valley. After World War 2, her grandmother's sister (after surviving a Nazi labor camp) came to America and insisted she was Polish, and spelled her name "Wyktoria" which is the Polish spelling of Victoria.

Rommel as Military Commander, Ronald Lewin. I picked this book up while at the For the Historian bookstore in Gettysburg (love that bookstore). After reading the book on the Russian Army in WW1, I decided to continue the military history binge. The author spends a fair amount of time recounting the actions of the British with critiques. This is something you usually find with books written by the historians that lived through the war. Still, the book has some nice detail.

The Russian Army in the Great War, David Stone. I picked this book up while at the For the Historian bookstore in Gettysburg (love that bookstore). I recently became re-interested in World War 1 and had been watching the youtube channel The Great War. The book was thorough and helped familiarize me with the Eastern Front of WW1.

(JB)How to Argue with a Racist, Adam Rutherford. I've been teaching a workshop on race and how it has no scientific basis. It was nice to run across this book with essentially the same message that I could recommend as a follow-up to the workshop.

Ibn Battuta in Black Africa, Said Hamdun and Noel King (translators). I became interested in pre-colonial African history and found that this book was on many college course reading lists. Ibn was a Muslim world traveler in the 1300s - far more well-traveled than Marco Polo. He made several trips to Sub-Saharan Africa and wrote about his travels. It was a fascinating glimpse of the kingdoms that existed before the Europeans colonized and destabilized the region.

(DNF)Stamped from the Beginning, Ibram X. Kendi. We were provided with the remixed, shortened version, but I decided to purchase the longer original book. I thought his analysis was extremely perceptive and illuminating. He differentiates producers and consumers of racism. He asserts that we are mistaken thinking that ignorance and hate leads to racism. Rather, economic self-interest leads to racist policies which propagates and supports racist ideas which leads to ignorance and hate. I can see that very clearly in the history of the US - including recent history.
But I had a hard time finishing the book when I began to find factual problems with his historical research. I think it's tempting to set up history as a story of prominent personalities but the danger is that you can distort the person to fit the narrative. I fact checked his assertions about the racist nature of Sir Isaac Newton, Robert Boyle and Thomas Young. While there is no doubt that these men had completely absorbed the racism of their time, I found no evidence that their scientific work was tainted by that racism.

(CR)Georg Cantor: His Mathematics and Philosophy of the Infinite, Joseph W. Dauben. Not only did Cantor make infinity an accepted mathematical concept, he showed that there were levels of infinity. This fascinates me. I pick this book up only occasionally - not reading it consistently.

(CR)History of the 51st Regiment of P.V. and V.V., Thomas H Parker. History of the 51st PA Volunteers who fought in many Civil War battles, including Antietam and the Siege of Petersburg. The 51st was mostly raised right here in Montgomery County, including Company I which was raised in Bridgeport and Upper Merion. It was initially led by Colonel John F. Hartranft of Norristown, who later became a general and governor of PA.

(DNF)The Dark Tower Series, Stephen King. Seven-part series of Roland the Gunslinger's quest. Not the usual Stephen King, but I was curious. Update: I got to the third book and started to lose interest.

Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution, Walter Isaacson.

Siege at Jadotville, Declan Power. Story of an Irish company of UN peacekeepers caught up in a bad situation in the Congo in 1961. Now also a Netflix orginal movie

The Room Where It Happened: A Whitehouse Memoir, John Bolton. Inside story of Trump White House workings. Quite a revelation. Partly, it was the chaos I expected, but partly it was worse than I thought with many players taking advantage of the chaos to advance agendas.

Insomnia, Stephen King. Re-reading. I had read it back in the mid-90s. Quite good.

2019-2020

Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, Oliver Sacks. If you have any interest in the brain, how it works, and how things can go wrong, you must read Oliver Sacks. Start with The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. This book is absolutely fascinating.

When Harlie Was One, David Gerrold. Early 1970s science fiction about trying to create a computer that would be human. Funny how often he refers to "print-outs": no email or pdfs back then. I ran across it whilst Wikipedia surfing, and decided to read it. I find that many of the male science fiction writers from before the 1980s tended to idealize female characters. Interesting ideas, but not really worth the read.

The Doors, The Doors and Ben Fong-Torres. The story of The Doors, told through interviews with the Doors, their friends and family. Some interviews are from the period when Jim Morrison was alive, and some are after, and some are current. It really gave me a better view of them and their music. The real story is always more nuanced and interesting than the popular tales.

Pickett's Charge: The Untold Story, Bruce E. Mowday. The author argues, somewhat convincingly, that the failure of Pickett's Charge was not a foregone conclusion. It is mainly the biography of the new brigade commander in the Union lines that received the charge: Alexander Webb.

(JB)Ancient Peoples of the American Southwest, Stephen Plog. Recommended by Captain Jack from Jeep Tours of Sedona. He was a great tour guide. We did the archeology tour to see ancient Native American ruins. Highly recommended.

Shakespeare's Planet, Clifford Simak. I like a little light science fiction before bed.

(DNF)The Civil War Journal of Colonel Bolton - 51st Pennsylvania, Richard Sauers (Ed). Bolton's memoir is basically the regimental history plus some of his diary. Didn't seem worth reading since I'm already reading the regimental history.

Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant, U.S. Grant. On a Civil War Kick. I notice that all of those who fought for the Union never call it the Civil War. The War of the Rebellion, or the Great Rebellion. Confederates were called rebels and traitors. Puts a different spin on it, huh? I really enjoyed it. I wish had met him.

The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic, Mike Duncan. History of the last decades of the Roman Republic before Julius Caesar turned it into a dictatorship. Duncan's basic thesis is that there are parallels between that time, and what is going on now in the US.

Civil War Poetry and Prose, Walt Whitman. Not that much of a fan of the poetry, but his essays, journal entries and letters are riveting. He was in his 40s during the war, and served in hospitals tending to the needs of the wounded. He is very modern in his viewpoint of the carnage of war. He certainly saw it first hand.

Civil War Stories, Ambrose Bierce. Sort of Edgar Allen Poe meets Stephen Crane. Dark stories of the war - semiautobiographical in some cases. Tough reading in parts.

Six Days or Forever: Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, Ray Ginger. Doubly interesting. First, as a thorough history of the trial of a Tennessee teacher who taught evolution in 1925, which Tennessee had just passed a law against. Also interesting because it was written in 1958 when the civil rights movement was just getting started - another fight against bigotry and ignorance.

Bottom Facts Concerning the Science of Spiritualism, John Truesdell. Truesdell investigated and exposed the mediums of his day (the 1880s) as frauds.

2018-2019

(JB)History of Pennsylvania Volunteers 1861-5 vol. II, Samuel P. Bates. Contains a history of the 51st PA Volunteers, along with a list of names of those who served.

(JB)A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Frederick H. Dyer. Contains a histories of all of the regiments from the Civil War. Includes the 4th PA Volunteers and the 51st.

What is Real? The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Mechanics, Adam Becker. Read a favorable write up on it in my Science magazine. Enjoying it - sometimes popular science writing tries too hard to be popular. This one is well-written and enjoyable.

Africans in New Sweden, Abdullah R. Muhammad. He spoke at the KoP Historical Society. It's partly the incomplete story of Antony Swart (Black Anthony) who started out as a slave in New Sweden (along the Delaware Valley), but was freed, and then disappeared from any official record. Partly it's a history of early slavery in Delaware and PA in the 1600s Dutch, English and Swedish colonies. As with all the books I've read by local historians, I'm glad I read it, but it would have benefitted from careful editing.

(JB)The Chronological Atlas of World War Two, Charles Messenger. I love maps and I love military history.

Dreadnought: A History of the Modern Battleship, Richard Hough. Another one from the used book store in Gettysburg. I really like the fact that at the end of the book there are details of every battleship class ever built. Changed my idea of how useful battleships were in World War II, and how protected against air attack.

Naked Masks: Five Plays by Luigi Pirandello, Luigi Pirandello. Reading "Six Characters in Search of an Author" and "Henry IV". I recently re-watched an old documentary on Pirandello's plays on youtube, and remembered I had this in my collection. If you are philosophically inclined, I'd definitely watch the documentary.

Caesar's Legions, Stephen Dando-Collins. I'd read Caesar's Commentaries. When I saw this in a used bookstore in Gettysburg, I read a few pages and really liked it. It's told in more detail than actually exists (the actions and words of individuals), but fun to read.

Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut. It's been on my list for a long time. Strange but very interesting. Glad I finally read it.

(JB)Understanding Pendulums, L.P. Pook. Looking for new perspectives on an old bit of physics. A little disappointing. For some kinds of pendulums, too much math without much explanation; for others, not much math or explanation.

(DNF)What Is Coming, H.G. Wells. Writing in 1916, Wells projects forward to the world after the Great War. He correctly foresaw that there would be no lasting peace.

(DNF)Richard III, William Shakespeare. The Dover-Wilson Complete New Shakespeare version. The character of Richard III is such a jerk, I found it hard to finish.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera. Most philosophical love story I've ever read. Caution: explicit content. I like his distinction between kitsch and what is real. I keep trying to figure out which part of my life is which.

A River Again: The Story of the Schuylkill River Project, Chari Towne. This is the story of the first publicly funded river clean-up in the country: our very own Schuylkill River. By the 1940s, it was choked with coal mine waste and sewage. Pennsylvania partnered with the Army Corps of Engineers to clean it up, decades before the environmental movement of the 60s fought for other river cleanups. Perhaps that's a measure of how bad the Schuylkill was! Now, the fish are back and the river is relatively clean.

Buying the book helps support the Delaware River Keeper Network. From their website: "The Delaware Riverkeeper Network is a vigilant and vocal advocacy organization that has been working throughout the Watershed for over 25 years and is powerfully positioned to identify and address challenges that face our River and communities."

Othello, William Shakespeare. Wow - Shakespeare at his best. I think Hamlet is still my favorite, but this one is a close second. From the Cambridge Shakespeare collection edited by Dover-Wilson I purchased used on abebooks.

The Great Equations, Robert Crease. Interesting stories behind the history and development of some of the more famous equations. Very insightful. Definitely better toward the end with relativity and especially quantum mechanics.

Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare. Wow - a master of oration and intrigue. I now have the Dover-Wilson Complete New Shakespeare. Very excited.

Contributions to the Founding of the Theory of Transfinite Numbers, Georg Cantor. (Free Google eBook) Rereading! Cantor - the man who tamed infinity and brought it into the mathematical fold. The lowest transfinite (infinite) number is not the whole series 1, 3, 4, ... rather, it is the first number after all the numbers you know.

Chelkash & Other Stories, Maxim Gorky. It's been sitting on my shelf for over two decades and I needed some fiction. But wow - the man can write!

"Foundations of the Theory of Manifolds", Georg Cantor. Translated in The Campaigner Magazine, vol. 9 nos. 1-2 which seems to be some sort of Socialist publication from the 70s. CAUTION: this copy of the magazine lives on a site hosted by larouchepac.com, as in Lyndon LaRouche. I was just looking for a translation and this was available. I am once again becoming fascinated with the idea of infinity and transfinite numbers. I never feel as if I completely understand, so I keep reading.

MacBeth, William Shakespeare. I love Shakespeare, but this play sucked. Too many Deus ex Machinas and sub plots. We don't have any of Shakespeare's originals, only later copies and the editor did say that this was one of the most "mutilated" ones. This one was clearly modified in many parts. I'm not linking the version I read because it's not worth sending you there. I've ordered the Complete New Cambridge Shakespeare - I'm hoping that Dover Wilson did a better job of re-creating something close to the original.

Dune, Frank Herbert. Read it a long time ago. I was looking for something light to read before bed.

(JB)Makers of Mathematics, Stuart Hollingdale. After reading The Calculus Wars, I wanted to look more closely at the work of Newton and Leibniz.

(JB)The Essential Shakespeare, John Dover Wilson. Sketch of Shakespeare and his life by the editor of Shakespeare's work that I respect the most.

Sixty Days that Shook the West, Jacques Benoist-Mechin. Account of the stunning German victory on the western front in 1940. What the heck happened? After reading it, I realize that the French didn't just roll over and die. Many fought for weeks under what amounted to hopeless circumstances. The account of the French and British politicians during this whole fiasco was most interesting.

The Calculus Wars: Newton, Leibniz, and the Greatest Mathematical Clash of All Time, Jason Bardi. Story of the dual development of Calculus and the academic duel that erupted as a result. Bardi's style is a little more on the popular side of popular science. I wish he was a little more serious and better about saying which stories are well-documented and which are less so. I would recommend it, though.

2016-2017

(DNF)Tycho & Kepler: The Unlikely Partnership that Forever Changed Our Understanding of the Heavens, Kitty Ferguson. I know some of the story, but I'd like to know more.

Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas, Herman Melville. Not my favorite Melville, but not bad either.

Indian Trails to Super Highways, William H. Shank. I'm curious to find out more about the decision to put the turnpike through King of Prussia.

The First Long Turnpike in the United States (address to the Lancaster County Historical Society, Oct. 1916), C.L. Landis. (Free Google eBook) I was curious about the road and its connection to the long valley we live in. Unfortunately, he focuses on Lancaster County.

The True Story of an American Nazi Spy, Robert Miller. Bill Colepaugh lived 42 years right here in King of Prussia, was an active member of the community, well-respected, generous with his time and money - all the while no one knew that he had been convicted of treason and was sentenced to death by hanging during the war. Born in Connecticut, he was brought up to love Germany and things German, later traveling to Germany as a young man during the war to volunteer for the German Army. The Germans instead trained him as a spy and sent him back with a German accomplice on a U-boat. They were put ashore near Bar Harbor Maine, and within two days were in New York City. No one knows for sure what their mission was, but it was pretty clear that they were in no hurry to carry it out. After a squabble over money which ended with Bill being left out in the cold, he turned himself in. Despite cooperating with the FBI, he was sentenced to death by hanging. Roosevelt's death and the end of the war with Germany saved his life, but he spent the next 15 years in federal prison. A model prisoner, he was released in 1960 and ended up in King of Prussia, PA where no one knew his past. In 2002, his story came to light again due a USA Today reporter looking for some sort of precedent for the John Walker Lindh phenomenon (Lindh was American-born, but was captured fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan.) Colepaugh was already old and in the early stages of Alzheimer's by that time. The story is told by Bob Miller who was a friend of Colepaugh's for 18 years before the news came out. Highly recommended.

Who Was Dracula: Bram Stoker's Trail of Blood, Jim Steinmeyer. The story behind Bram Stoker's novel - the original Dracula novel written in 1897. If you are interested in Henry Irving, Oscar Wilde, Walt Whitman, or Vlad Tepes then this is an interesting story. Bram Stoker himself was a big, kind-hearted, dutiful, and mediocre Irishman without much of an interesting story who somehow created a legend.

The Keep, F. Paul Wilson. There was a movie made from this book back in the 80s. The idea of a guardian waiting patiently for centuries, waking up at the moment evil loomed always fascinated me. I was thinking about the movie recently & decided to read the book.

(DNF)Ishi in Two Worlds: A Biography of the Last Wild Indian in North America, Theodora Kroeber. Many years ago, I saw a made for TV movie about Ishi, a Native American who in 1911 was found in California. He was the last of his people and was still living a mostly Pre-Columbus life. I saw the book in a used book store and picked it up.

America's War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History, Andrew Bacevich. Not sure why Iran hates us so much? Confused about where the Taliban came from? Or ISIS? Bacevich takes the long view and traces the history of US intervention in the middle east from the 1970s. When you read the long history, it all starts to make sense. You may be surprised to learn that we supported Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden first, and that many in that part of the world remember our interference in their affairs whereas most Americans don't even know about it.

(JB)Simulacra and Simulation, Jean Baudrillard. Postmodern philosophical view that progress has removed society so far from reality that we live in a world that we don't even realize is not real. He doesn't really define his terms, and like many continental philosophers he mostly engages in observations without analytical argument. But I think I'm understanding more of it the second time through. A good example is a zoo. We know it is a simulation, and that it is simulation of something that is in contrast to our unnatural urban/suburban/rural world. But in reality is not a simulation of anything real - there is no wilderness where these animals could live any more. Large African mammals, for instance, are mostly preserved in the large national parks in African nations. Although the animals are free to roam there, it is not "natural." Baudrillard felt that there was a lot of this - simulations to contrast with where we are now, but simulations of things that no longer (or never did) exist. I suppose reality shows would be another example.

The Wrecking Crew: The Inside Story of the Best Kept Secret in Rock and Roll, Kent Hartman. Fascinating story of the session musicians who played most of the music of the hits in the 1960s. You thought it was the Beach Boys? The voices were, but the instruments on the studio recordings were played by these guys. The Grass Roots? The Crystals? The Ronettes? The Byrds? The Mamas & the Papas? The Association? Simon and Garfunkel? They played their own instruments on the road, but the studio recordings were done by the Wrecking Crew! There's also a documentary about them, available on DVD or Netflix.

(JB)Our Magic, Nevil Maskelyne and David Devant. Really three books: The Art in Magic, Theory of Magic, and Practice of Magic. Maskelyne and Devant, both excellent magicians, attempt to lay the foundation underlying the creation of wonder in audiences. It never ceases to amaze me how similar magic and teaching are.

Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon, Kim Zetter. Which nation unleashed the first round of cyber warfare against another nation? The first documented case was us - we did it. Interesting book - the same US government that is trying to secure our infrastructure from foreign terrorists is covertly gathering exploits to use against other nations. It sounds good, until you realize that gathering exploits and not alerting Google, Microsoft, Firefox and others so that they won't be patched leaves the rest of us at risk in the meantime. And hopefully none of these exploits is being used to spy on us: the citizens of the US.

The Dilemma of Determinism, William James. Essay on determinism vs indeterminism (free will). I looked up this lecture because of a quote that I stumbled across: "actualities [actual events] seem to float in a wider sea of possibilities from out of which they are chosen; and, somewhere, indeterminism says, such possibilities exist, and form a part of truth."

Brandywine: A Military History of the Battle that Lost Philadelphia but Saved America, Michael C. Harris. Strangely, I grew up next to a Revolutionary War battlefield (Brandywine), and now I live near another Revolutionary War landmark (Valley Forge). And the two are connected: Washington lost the Battle of the Brandywine in September 1777, and in December ended up at Valley Forge after a circuitous retreat. This book is highly recommended for those who would like a real insight into the Continential Army, Washington as a general, and the British, beyond patriotic talk and textbook generalities.

(JB)The Mind's I: Fantasies on Self and Soul, Douglas Hofstadter and Daniel Dennett (editors). Reflections, musings, essays and stories on the idea of self and soul written by psychologists, computer scientists, science fiction writers and philosophers. When I first bought the book in a used book store, I didn't realize that my Aunt Fanya is named in the list of people acknowledged for inspiration and ideas.

2015-2016

Bloody Roads to Germany: At Huertgen Forest and the Bulge - an American Soldier's Courageous Story of Worl d War II, William Meller. Amazing little book of his journey from raw recruit to veteran to POW. If you're into military history, I highly recommend it.

They've Been Down So Long Getting Up's Still on Their Minds, Michael E. Tolle. Tolle uncovers patterns shared by all the towns along the Schuylkill during their rise and decline up to about 1980. The towns: Pottstown, Royersford, Spring City, Phoenixville, Norristown, Bridgeport, Conshohocken, and West Conshohocken. After 1980, some began to bounce back while others have continued to languish. Tolle explores why.

Pennsylvania Geology Summarized and Geologic Hazards in Pennsylvania, Arthur Socolow (PA State Geologist). Small booklets on PA geology. Just doing some background research on limestone and sinkholes.

What Killed Downtown? Norristown, Pennsylvania from Main Street to the Malls, Michael E. Tolle. Saw him speak at a KoP Historical Society meeting. Did you know that the shopping Mecca in this area was Norristown's Main St from the 1920s to the 1950s? Lack of parking and the new strip malls appearing at every crossroads outside of town killed it. A very sad story.

(JB)Physics for the Inquiring Mind, Eric M. Rodgers. (Used) Progressive college physics text from the 70s. An excellent resource especially for the history of physics.

The Design of Everyday Things, Donald A. Norman. Excellent book! Highly recommended for engineers and designers. Many of his suggestions have come true. Obvious and simple design principles, which infortunately get ignored all too often. Design should be visible, have a natural mapping to familiar things, and should give appropriate feedback.

(JB)Life in Shakespeare's England, edited by John Dover Wilson. A collection of Elizabethan prose compiled by Dover Wilson to give readers the idea of what life was like in England at the time.

Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card. Very enjoyable little book.

The Complete Book of Wargames, Jon Freeman. Wargaming was an old hobby of mine that I seem to be returning to. These would be board games where the board was a map, overlaid with hexagons; small square carboard counters representing regiments, divisions, corps or armies could be moved from hex to hex. Although this type of wargame mostly died out by the late-80s, they're still available on e-bay and there are still websites devoted to them.

The Cambridge Shakespeare Hamlet, William Shakespeare, edited by John Dover Wilson. Dover Wilson spent a lot of time piecing together clues about Shakespeare's lost originals and Elizabethan English language. I feel as if I'm reading Hamlet for the first time and really understanding it.

(JB)An Introduction to Information Theory: Symbols, Signals and Noise, John R. Pierce. Reading the introduction about the origins and basics of Information Theory. This is a Dover Book. I love Dover Books. They make me feel as if I could learn about anything.

Sound Man: A Life Recording with The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Eagles. . ., Glyn Johns. Engineer and producer Glyn Johns has no end of stories of working with the greats of classic rock. An honest and direct narrative that reads like a history of rock and the music business with all of its beauty and ugliness.

(JB)The Complete Jarrett, Guy Jarrett, with explanations and diagrams by Jim Steinmeyer. Guy Jarrett was an expert designer of illusions in the early part of the 1900s, as well as a keen critic of the magicians of his time. He published his thoughts in this book, which is re-published here by Jim Steinmeyer (himself a designer of illusions as well as historian of magic) with explanations and diagrams.

What Happens in Hamlet, John Dover Wilson. I remember finding this book on Bill Scutta's shelf in the old Writing Center many years ago. It opened up so many new vistas in my favorite Shakespearean play for me. Bill Scutta's long since retired and the Writing Center changed into things, which changed into other things... in short, time passed and I miss those old vistas. I purchased a copy on abebooks.

Moby Dick, Herman Melville. My first copy was bought in 1986, and I have never gotten all the way through it. I found a beautiful old hardback Modern Library version of it at a yard sale. On March 23, 2016 I finished the book - a thirty year voyage. But I am left with questions about what Melville actually thought about God, Fate, and the many misfortunes that befall human kind. As far as his characters go: Starbuck piously prayed before it but was powerless to do anything. Stubb laughed it all off with bravado. Flask hid from it. Ahab, alone of all, attacked it - and the God behind.

(JB)The Science of Mechanics, Ernst Mach. (Free Google eBook.) Mach wrote the definitive history of mechanics, showing the development of ideas such as mass, rotational inertia and kinetic energy. I was browsing it looking for some perspective on an interesting puzzle brought up by one of the physics teachers at the Demo Day at UM, 10/17/15.

Hamlet, William Shakespeare. Absolutely my favorite Shakespearean play. Cleansing the palette after The Martian.

The Martian, Andy Weir. It was ok. It did teach me that what I want in fiction is something more than just the solving of scientific and engineering puzzles.

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, William Blake. He reads like someone from the 1900s, not the 1700s. Way ahead of his time.

The Mons Myth: A Reassessment of the Battle, Terence Zuber. We were all taught that the little British Expeditionary Force, outnumbered and outgunned, sacrificed itself - stood its ground and delayed von Kluck's 1st Army in World War I just long enough to foil the Schlieffen Plan, mowing down the Germans in droves until overwhelmed. Zuber once again delves deep in the archives and comes up with a very different story: one of British incompetence. He shows very convincingly that the British were prepared to fight a colonial war and were really unprepared for the well-drilled German Army that they met.

The Real German War Plan 1904-14, Terence Zuber. You never know when new research will invalidate something everyone thought was true. There was no Schlieffen Plan in World War I. The Schlieffen plan was used as evidence of German aggressiveness, but the real story seems different. The French and Russians actually planned and executed offensives on day 15 after mobilization, and all of the early battles took place on German soil. Very much appreciated the research.

(DNF)Go Set a Watchman, Harper Lee. Didn't really grab me so I decided not to finish it. Several times I ran into passages which were word-for-word duplicates of ones in To Kill a Mockingbird. I think she wrote Watchman first, but used the material in it to write Mockingbird.

To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee. (Found it at a yard sale.) When Ms. Newhart bought me a copy of Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee, I thought I'd better read To Kill a Mockingbird first. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Few authors can immerse you in a world as effectively as Harper did. Love the characters and the story.

(DNF)Supersense: Why We Believe the Unbelievable, Bruce Hood. (Found it used, cheap at abebooks.com.) Hood argues that the supernatural plays a role in our everyday thinking, even among skeptics.

The March on Paris and the Battle of the Marne, Alexander von Kluck. (Free at Archive.org) Account of the German 1st Army's march through Belgium and France at the start of World War I by the army commander himself. Von Kluck is pretty openly trying to defend his actions at the opening of the war when Schlieffen's plan to wheel through Belgium and flank the French line was supposed to bring the Germans a rapid victory in the west. He mostly blames poor communication with his ill-informed supreme command. It's pretty obvious to me, though, that Schlieffen's plan depended on the extreme right wing of the German Army marching and fighting continuously for more than two weeks straight, all the while becoming weaker in numbers (left behind to guard), supplies (stretched supply lines) and energy (no time for rest), until at the decisive moment they would be the fewest, weakest and most exhausted. I think the plan was doomed from the start.

The Physics of Wall Street: A Brief History of Predicting the Unpredictable, James Owen Weatherall. Physicists have found their way into many areas that needed their expertise with modeling data, discovering laws and formulating theories. Perhaps not surprisingly, Wall Street is one of those areas.

(JB)Philadelphia in the World War: 1914-1919, The Philadelphia War History Committee. (Free Google eBook) Fascinating compendium of all that went on in Philly relevant to World War I. Lots of interesting little tidbits, such as what they did with German ships and sailors that happened to be in the harbor when war broke out. I also found out that the 28th division was originally a PA National Guard division, called into federal service. There used to be a sign on US 202 in King of Prussia: '28th Division Highway.' I always wondered about that.

(JB)Journal of the Engineer's Club of Philadelphia vol. 37 (1920) (Free Google eBook). Found this when I was searching for World War I books. Fascinating record of the talks given at the Engineer's Club meetings. They had talks on all kinds of things, from the engineering aspects of gas warfare, to how best to create low-cost housing, to the switch-over from coal to oil.

Operations of the British Army in the Present War: I. The Retreat from Mons, George Stuart Gordon. (Free Google eBook) Official British military history of the beginning of World War I.

In the Firing Line: Stories of the War by Land and by Sea, A. St John Adcock. (Free Google eBook) Mostly letters home from British Soldiers at the very start of World War I. Though battles they went through pre-date trench warfare, you can already see the problem: by their account, any exposed troops were mowed down very quickly. Many of them re-tell the rumors of German atrocities which sometimes exaggerated and sometimes not wholly factual.

The Schlieffen Plan: Critique of a Myth, Gerhard Ritter. Gerhard shows that the casual view that Schlieffen's plan might have worked if the younger Moltke had only followed it is sadly mistaken. Schlieffen's plan was a desperate gamble no matter how Moltke shifted the forces around.

(JB)Speculations on the Fourth Dimension, Charles Hinton (edited by Rudolf v.B. Rucker.) A sort of extension of the Flatland story originally by Edwin Abbott.

(JB)On Certainty, Ludwig Wittgenstein. Ludwig was a philosopher who felt that many philosophical dilemmas stemmed from being fooled into thinking a concept exists apart from the way we talk about it. This particular book consists of his notes on an article by G.E. Moore, who tried to argue from common sense that certain things must be true. Wittgenstein meditates deeply on how what we accept as evidence is driven by the types of beliefs in question. It's a bit like that quote attributed to George Carlin: 'Tell a man that there are 100 billion stars in the universe and he'll believe you. Tell him that a bench has wet paint and he'll have to touch it to be sure.' Some beliefs hold fast on very little evidence while others seem to require more.

(DNF)Embedding Formative Assessment, Dylan Wiliam and Siobhan Leahy. Teacher stuff.

The Humbugs of the World, P.T. Barnum. (Free Google eBook) Deceptions and cons of all sorts in business, history, religion and more from the premier purveyor of entertainment, the circus master himself: Phineas Taylor Barnum.

2014-2015

Dice, Deception, Fate and Rotten Luck, Ricky Jay. Few people in the world know as much as Ricky Jay does about the history of magic and scams - or are as skillful with a deck of cards.

The Science of Interstellar, Kip Thorne. When Christopher Nolan made the movie Interstellar, he consulted with the man who is one of the giants of thought in General Relativity: Kip Thorne. Kip only agreed to help with the movie if what was shown was either (1) based on actual physics, or (2) based on plausible speculative possibilities according to physics. Unfortunately, Kip's explanations and diagrams are not always as clear as one would hope.

Three Years in Field Hospitals of the Army of the Potomac, Anna Holstein. (Free Google eBook) Anna lived right here in Upper Merion, in the old white house on Henderson Rd, across from the Giant shopping center. She left a comfortable life behind and volunteered to be a nurse with the Army of the Potomac in the Civil War. Wonderfully written and filled with heart-wrenching stories of pain and sacrifice, but optimistic and patriotic throughout. I think all the American Cultures students should parts of this book.

(DNF)The Book of Ammon, Ammon Hennacy. Life story and thoughts of a socialist, anarchist, union orgranizer, Christian, and protester against two world wars. No amount of adversity, persecution or jail time stopped him working for what he believed in. (A bit expensive to buy new; I found it used on AbeBooks.com)

(DNF)The Lost Art of Finding Our Way, John Edward Huth. One of the most ancient of human skills is going by the wayside. Can you navigate without your phone? Without a map?

Why Evolution is True, Jerry Coyne. Coyne so nicely lays out the evidence for evolution. Highly recommended.

Contributions to the Founding of the Theory of Transfinite Numbers, Georg Cantor. (Free Google eBook) Cantor - the man who tamed infinity and brought it into the mathematical fold. The lowest transfinite (infinite) number is not the whole series 1, 3, 4, ... rather, it is the first number after all the numbers you know.

The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway. I had read it in high school, and didn't really enjoy how it went on and on. Now that I am older, I was struck by Hemingway's loving descriptions and his painter's style of broad brush strokes. A good read.

Seeing Voices: A Journey into the World of the Deaf, Oliver Sacks. If you have any interest at all in human behavior, read Oliver Sacks. Start with The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.

(DNF)Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift. (Free Google eBook) I always meant to read it. I knew about Lilliput, but I did not know about Brobdingnag or the other imaginitive places. Seemed a little strained after a while - he keeps coming up with undiscovered places with strangely sized and behaved people which seem to be thinly veiled commentaries on British Society. After the first two-thirds, I'd had enough.

(DNF)Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic, Henri Bergson. Insightful philosophical study of why things are funny. The main thing I get from it is that it is evolutionary (he doesn't seem to go in that direction.) Comedy stems from not adapting to circumstances. That would make a lot of sense: adapt or be laughed at - a sort of social push toward adaptation.

Twilight of the Idols, Friedrich Nietzsche (translated by Walter Kaufmann). (re-read it) I highly recommend the Kaufmann translations, and I would definitely not recommend any of the older translations. Nietzsche was subtle and used a lot of double meanings which only a careful translator would be able to pick up on. I recommend The Portable Nietzsche which has a nice selection of a lot of his thought, including the complete Twilight of the Idols.

Abraham Lincoln in the Kitchen, Rae Katherine Eighmey. Part historical investigation and part cookbook. I highly recommend the Corn Dodgers.

Free Will, Mark Balaguer. The author carefully goes through various arguments for and against free will and shows - somewhat convincingly - that the question of whether we have free will is really an unresolved question that will only be answered by neuroscience, not philosophy.

The Piazza Tales, Herman Melville. (Free Google eBook) From the author of Moby Dick, a series of tales and sketches. The first tale - The Piazza - was my favorite. It's perfect Melville: lush, philosophical descriptions of the most mundane things, and with a surprise, melancholic ending. One of the sketches led to an amazing revelation for me: Both Melville and Darwin were on the Galapagos islands within about 5 years of each other! In 1854, Melville published The Piazza Tales, and then in 1859, Darwin published The Origin of Species. Two men, one island group, and two totally different books. Amazing!

The Accidental Universe, Alan Lightman. Deep essays on the universe by someone equally at home in physics as in the humanities. Good read.

Michelson and the Speed of Light, Bernard Jaffe. Bio of the first American to win a Nobel Prize in the sciences - Albert Michelson.

Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle, Daniel L. Everett. I was very interested in reading this book, after reading a blurb about it in Science: the story of a Christian missionary who came to lose his faith after living with an isolated group in the Amazon, the Piranha. Although not as well-written as one would think coming from a linguist, it turned out to be mostly the story of how he and his family lived among the Piranha and his long struggle to learn the language (for the purpose of translating the Bible). Thrown in there also is a bit of modern linguistic theory (which the Piranhas are unwittingly helping to re-write), and his loss of faith. The most interesting part to me was the similarity with Melville's experiences among the Typee: how happy and stress-free they were, how much they laughed and enjoyed life. Both groups seem to focus on the NOW. It really made me think about the percentage of my time I spend thinking about the past or the future, and not really noticing the world around me right now. By the way, the title comes from a common expression the Piranhas would say before bed instead of 'good night' - and they weren't kidding.

The Sword of the Golem, Abraham Rothberg. Historical fiction about the Jews of Prague in the late 1600s, and one rabbi's attempt to bring to life a golem to protect his people. Not a happy tale. Some interesting connections to the Des Pres book, though.

The Survivor: An Anatomy of Life in the Death Camps, Terrence Des Pres. The word on the street is that when people are in desperate situations, it's dog-eat-dog and every man for himself. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In the worst, most extreme situation - being in a death camp - precisely the opposite happened. To survive such a horrid situation, people helped each other, shared, even gave gifts, and above all: organized.

Typee, Herman Melville. (Free Google eBook) From the author of Moby Dick, the apparently true story of how he escaped from a ruthless captain only to find himself trapped in an island paradise with very nice but possibly cannibalistic natives. Brings up some very interesting questions about modern vs traditional cultures in terms of health and morality.

2013-2014

The Disaster Diaries: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Apocalypse, Sam Sheridan. One man sets out on a non-fiction journey to learn what it takes to survive TEOTWAWKI (look it up). Very interesting and full of sociological and psychological insight. It's not just about having a gun and guarding your stash of canned food.

The Secrets of Stage Conjuring, Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin. (Free Google eBook) Robert-Houdin is generally considered the father of modern magic. Both the formal dress and the tendency to use mechanical devices began with him. Incidentally, he is also the person who a little known performer named Erich Weiss named himself after and became Houdini.

Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad. (Free Google eBook) Painful story of a witness to the Congo under Belgian imperialism. Interesting perspective - Conrad in some ways rises above the European viewpoint of the time, and in some ways is a perfect slave to it.

The Mariner's Chronicle, Being a Collection of the Most Interesting Narratives of Shipwrecks, Fires, Famines and other Calamities Incident to a Life of Marine Enterprise (Vol. IV), Archibald Duncan. (Free Google eBook) Still more harrowing tales of shipwrecks. Seems like the worst thing that could happen back then was to wash ashore where the people had been previously abused by Europeans.

Interesting and Authentic Narratives of the Most Remarkable Shipwrecks: Fires, Calamities, Providential Deliverances and Lamentable Disasters on the Sea, R. Thomas. (Free Google eBook) More harrowing tales of shipwrecks. Fascinating how people cope when taken out of their comfortable life and are thrown into desparate situations.

The Loss of the Essex - Destroyed by a Whale: The Sufferings of the Crew, Who Were Driven to Extreme Measures to Sustain Life, R.B. Forbes. (Free Google eBook) Gripping account of the survivors of the whaleship Essex, which was rammed by a whale and sank in the Pacific in 1820, thousands of miles from land.

Miracle Cures: Saints, Pilgrimage, and the Healing Power of Belief, Robert A. Scott. Interesting thoughts on the role belief plays in healing.

The Lost World, Arthur Conan Doyle. Free Google eBook. More late 1800s science fiction. Scientists trek out and find a plateau in South America filled with dinosaurs.

(DNF)Lost Mountain, Erik Reece. Heart-breaking tale of how beautiful wooded mountains in the Appalachians are being entirely destroyed and the waste rocks and dirt are being used to bury the stream valleys. All for cheap coal used to make your electricity. Heartbreaking - I couldn't finish it.

(DNF)Wisdom 2.0 Ancient Secrets for the Creative and Constantly Connected, Soren Gordhammer. (available used.) Great suggestions for mindfully using technology rather than falling into the addiction of constantly checking your email, text messages, facebook, twitter, etc.

The Warlord of Mars, Edgar Rice Burroughs. Free Google eBook. Third in the John Carter series.

The Gods of Mars, Edgar Rice Burroughs. Free Google eBook. Second book in the John Carter Series. Just as fast-paced and exciting.

A Princess of Mars, Edgar Rice Burroughs. Free Google eBook. Fast-paced adventure of Jon Carter who is transported to Mars and fights with and against the many different races and creatures on Mars. Written in the early 1900s.

The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu, Sax Rohmer. Free Google eBook. I thought this would be like the many other novels I've read from the late 1800s, early 1900s, but I was disappointed to find out that it contains an unhealthy dose of racism. The novel is about an enormous conspiracy of the Chinese to take over the western world.

Huygens and Barrow, Newton and Hooke: Pioneers in mathematical analysis and catastrophe theory from evolvents to quasicrystals, Vladimir I. Arnold. Interesting treatment of the mathematics and physics Newton and some of his contemporaries discovered.

2012-2013

Does My Head Look Big in This?, Randa Abdel-Fattah (2007). Interesting story of a girl's decision to wear the hijab. Special thanks to Aalaa Jandali for convincing me and several other teachers to read it.

Dracula, Bram Stoker (1897). The original.

Thirty Strange Stories, H.G. Wells (1898). More old school science fiction.

The destruction of Mephisto's greatest web: or, All grafts laid bare; being a complete exposure of all gambling, graft and confidence games, with stories illustrating the methods employed by the different "operators,", H.K. James. Interesting expose of con games from 1914. Free Google eBook.

Fooling Houdini: Magicians, Mentalists, Math Geeks, and the Hidden Powers of the Mind, Alex Stone. One guy's journey from novice to expert in the magic world with some interesting connections to mathematics and psychology.

How the States Got Their Shapes, Mark Stein. Fascinating stories behind all the little twists and turns in the state borders.

The Trouble with Physics, Lee Smolin. Interesting take on modern physics and string theory from a noted physicist.

The Secret Life of Words: How English Became English, Henry Hitchings. Fascinating history of English, with the stories of how hundreds of words entered the language.

Hallucinations, Oliver Sacks. Oliver is a neurologist who collects amazing stories of brain phenomena.

Charles Fort: The Man Who Invented the Supernatural, Jim Steinmeyer. The story of Charles Fort - a collector of strange phenomena.

Rip van Winkle/The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Washington Irving. Free Google eBook.

The Last Greatest Magician in the World, Jim Steinmeyer. The story of Howard Thurston and more from a great historian of magic & designer of illusions.

The Element, Ken Robinson. Education should be more than preparing kids to take tests - it should encourage creativity.

Tales of Space and Time, H.G. Wells (1900). A little old school science fiction.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert M. Pirsig. Rereading a great book.

Majjhima, Digha, Samyutta, and Anguttara Nikayas, returning to an old interest of mine - rereading parts of the Pali Buddhist scriptures

"The Psychology of Conjuring Deceptions" (American Journal of Psychology, July 1900), Norman Triplett - not available anymore. Neat old article on magic and how we get fooled.

"Psychology of the Art of Conjuring" by Max Dessoir (Introduction to Herrmann the Magician, H.J. Burlingame 1897.) Another neat old article on the psychology of magic.

"Meaning" (Philosophical Review, July 1957), H.P. Grice. Philosophy of Language stuff

"Reference and Definite Descriptions" (Philosophical Review, 1966), Keith Donnellan. Philosophy of Language stuff

"On Referring" (Mind, July 1950), Peter Strawson. Philosophy of Language stuff.

2010-2011

Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Learned to do the Impossible and Disappear, Jim Steinmeyer. Fascinating on many levels. Great history of magic from a man who has designed illusion for David Copperfield, David Blaine, Criss Angel & others. But also an insight into the fact that teaching & magic may not be as far apart as I thought...

Art & Artifice, Jim Steinmeyer. More from a great historian of magic & designer of illusions.

Spiritualism: A Popular History from 1847, Joseph McCabe. (Free Google eBook.) Great history of the early talking-to-the-dead and seance thing, written in 1920. There were many frauds.

Is Spiritualism Based on Fraud? , Joseph McCabe. Expose of the methods used by many fraud mediums.

Spirit Slate Writing and Kindred Phenomena , William E. Robinson. (Free Google eBook.) Another expose of the methods used by fraud mediums, written by a then-famous magician in 1898.

Revelations of a Spirit Medium. (Free Google eBook.) Anonymous, tell-all confession of a spirit medium and how he did his tricks, published in 1891. He did surprisingly simple tricks that fooled thousands, including skeptics and scientists. Well-written and biting in his critique of other mediums and those scientific men who investigated spirit mediums.

Spiritualism: Its History, Phenomena and Doctrine, J. Arthur Hill. Hill was a believer in Spirituallistic phenomena. Not very convincing, but I thought I should read it for balance. Published in 1918.

Maskelyne's Book of Magic, Jasper Maskelyne. Lots of tricks and advice from a third generation magician from a well-known magical family at the turn of the last century.

Parlour Magic. (Free Google eBook.) Despite its name, a book of mostly scientific experiments & cool demonstrations from 1838. Again, science & magic intersect!

Magic, Albert Hopkins. (Free Google eBook.) Loaded with tricks as well as some of the early history of magic from 1901.

Magic and Its Professors, Henry Ridgley Evans. (Free Google eBook.) More tricks and early history of magic from 1903.

Gallimaufry, Michael Quinion. Cheap from Daedalus Books. Cool book of words that have fallen out of use in the English language.

(DNF)An Introduction to Existentialism, Robert G. Olson. Existentialism is not what I thought it was.