Author Archives: Mark R. Kelly

Stephen King, THE INSTITUTE (2019)

Posted on 7 December 2019 by Mark R. Kelly

This is a solid contemporary thriller with SF (or perhaps fantasy) elements. As I’ve said before I like Stephen King but read only about his every third or fourth book, just the ones that seem to have some, to me, … Continue reading →

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Isaac Asimov: THE EARLY ASIMOV (1972)

Posted on 18 November 2019 by Mark R. Kelly

This is a book I’d never read before, and debated recently about whether to ever read it. On the one hand, life is too short to read every book one might have accumulated, and this book consists, frankly, of all … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Sustainability and Rural Living

Posted on 15 November 2019 by Mark R. Kelly

Problem? Or solution? Sarah Smarsh: Something Special Is Happening in Rural America. Subtitle: There is a “brain gain” afoot that suggests a national homecoming to less bustling spaces. Writing from Wichita The nation’s most populous cities, the bicoastal pillars of … Continue reading →

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Robert A. Heinlein: SIXTH COLUMN (1941/1949)

Posted on 14 November 2019 by Mark R. Kelly

This was the earliest novel-length work by Heinlein, though it was serialized in Astounding magazine (Jan, Feb, and March 1941) and not published in book form until 1949, by which time two or three other Heinlein novels had been published … Continue reading →

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Link and Comments: Scientists Underestimating Climate Change

Posted on 14 November 2019 by Mark R. Kelly

NYT, Eugene Linden: How Scientists Got Climate Change So Wrong, subtitled, “Few thought it would arrive so quickly. Now we’re facing consequences once viewed as fringe scenarios.” Because, despite the cynicism of the anti-science crowd, scientists as a group are … Continue reading →

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Link and Comments: Why Trust Science?

Posted on 11 November 2019 by Mark R. Kelly

Naomi Oreskes, a professor at Harvard, just published a book, Why Trust Science?, which has gotten a fair amount of coverage in various review and interview venues. Her main point, I gather, is that science isn’t so much about the … Continue reading →

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Link and Comments: School Debates and Motivated Reasoning

Posted on 11 November 2019 by Mark R. Kelly

From last month: NYT, Are School Debate Competitions Bad for Our Political Discourse? subtitled, They can be a good credential for aspiring leaders, but they favor a closed-minded and partisan style of argument. By Jonathan Ellis and Francesca Hovagimian, at … Continue reading →

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Robert Silverberg: REVOLT ON ALPHA C (1955)

Posted on 8 November 2019 by Mark R. Kelly

Robert Silverberg’s first novel was published in hardcover by Thomas Y. Crowell in 1955 and then went through many printings as a thin paperback edition from Scholastic Books; see http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?2796 for a list of all editions, and cover images. I … Continue reading →

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Arthur C. Clarke, PROFILES OF THE FUTURE (1962..1999)

Posted on 31 October 2019 by Mark R. Kelly

This is a book first published in 1962, a nonfiction book speculating on potential technological developments and human achievements. The subtitle is “An Inquiry in the Limits of the Possible.” Clarke revised it three times, the last in 1999 (he … Continue reading →

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Richard Dawkins: OUTGROWING GOD: A Beginner’s Guide (2019)

Posted on 30 October 2019 by Mark R. Kelly

This book, clearly aimed at younger readers, repeats many of themes from his earlier 2006 book THE GOD DELUSION, boiled down and made even more pointed. The first part of the book is structured as a series of “but what … Continue reading →

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