fighting the lack of good ideas
Karl Ernest Meyer and Shareen Blair Brysac present what should be a fascinating history of the modern Middle East in their recent book Kingmakers: The Invention of the Modern Middle East. I have been interested in Middle Eastern history (ancient and modern) for many years, and so was excited to see this book as I…
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I first came across Why Nations Fail at my local Half Price Books. After seeing it on the shelves a couple times, but still being unsure about whether I really wanted to read it or not, I reserved it at my local library. Now I wish I had bought it (and likely will) – Daron…
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I’ve ogled To Engineer is Human by Henry Petroski for several years. So when I saw it at a local used book store for just a couple dollars, I snagged a copy. Along with some of his other works, such as The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance, I’ve found the titles interesting, and…
The way people moved up the ladder in IT during my early days (starting in 1975) was to take on new projects that allowed them time to master the new software and become the local expert. As you became the local expert on many new software products, management became very comfortable giving you more and…
I have been interested in volcanoes for a long time. I first wrote about them for a college essay in 1999, but my attraction to them began far earlier. Most likely it was triggered by hearing from my mom that her wedding day was the first time she’d ever really had allergies – just 6…
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Paul Graham is one of my favorite essayists. The following are some excerpts from his excellent 2004 essay, “The Age of the Essay“. The most obvious difference between real essays and the things one has to write in school is that real essays are not exclusively about English literature. Certainly schools should teach students how…
It was with great excitement I reserved Atlas of the Year 1000 from my local library. John Man’s work did not disappoint (excluding the humorous typo of “a a” when only the single article use was intended). Starting with the Americas, then working Eastward to Europe, the Islamic region, and Asia before moving back west…