Mark R. Kelly
» Founder in 1997 and site-runner for 20 years of Locus Online (Hugo Award winner in 2002). Founder in 2012 and still site-runner of sfadb.com (Science Fiction Awards Database). Retired in 2012 after 30 years as a software engineer for a certain rocket engine factory.
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Monthly Archives: September 2022
Kasner & Newman, MATHEMATICS AND THE IMAGINATION
Here is another older book out of my library, one to set alongside George Gamow’s One Two Three… Infinity, which I reviewed back in August. This book is even older. Published in 1940, this is Mathematics and the Imagination, by … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Mathematics
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Parameters of Abortion
Two items about abortion today, one from Richard Dawkins about the illogical premise of the anti-abortionists; another about continued Republican efforts to criminalize abortion to the point of executions of women.
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Politics, Religion
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Memes and Dreams, Obsessions and Abuse
Do people really not want to work? Why do people have anxiety dreams about school long after graduating? Plus items and politics and religion.
Posted in Politics, Psychology, Religion
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Commitment to America and Zombie Economics
Washington Post, Eugene Robinson, 26 Sep 2022: The only agenda that unifies the Republican Party is revenge
Posted in Conservative Resistance, Politics
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Which Books to Read, Dumb Politicians, Politics as a Joke
How do I choose which books to buy, or read? A case example. Also: about dumb politicians, and about politics as a joke. A few times here I’ve discussed my methods and thought processes to identify which books to read, … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Psychology
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Maureen F. McHugh, “The Cost to Be Wise”
This week’s Sunday novella is “The Cost to be Wise” by Maureen F. McHugh. It was first published in the anthology Starlight 1, published in 1996. Subsequently it’s been published, aside from these Dozois anthologies, in the author’s collection Mothers … Continue reading
Posted in science fiction, Short Fiction
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The Consilience of Science Fiction
Let’s do something different today. What is this blog about, and what am I trying to support, or promote? It’s about the idea that science fiction is a key way of thinking about the world, maybe the best way.
Posted in science fiction
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Prognostic Myopia: More about Justin Gregg
Picking up from where I left off yesterday. My basic summary of this book is: humans are not “stupid”; the issue is that human intelligence has both good and bad consequences, and apparently we can’t have the good without the … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Evolution, Morality
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Justin Gregg: IF NIETZSCHE WERE A NARWHAL (2022)
Here’s a recent nonfiction book with a provocative thesis and some interesting points which nevertheless I give a mixed review of. Perhaps helpful to consider scoring the book along several independent parameters, like on some of those cooking shows, e.g. … Continue reading
Posted in Book Notes, Evolution, Morality
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Math, Existential Security, and Lots of Links
Abstract matters NYT, Alec Wilkinson guest essay, 18 Sep 2022: Math Is the Great Secret This is by the man who wrote a book, published earlier this year, A Divine Language: Learning Algebra, Geometry, and Calculus at the Edge of … Continue reading →