Reading
Books
now being read�
Green
Hills of Africa.��� I thought I
would sublimate my habit of watching African wildlife videos on YouTube into
reading instead a master recounting African adventures.� Hemingway has connections to Oak Park since he was born here, and there is a historical society here in his name.
The
International Style.��� For one
of my architecture courses
I recently make a presentation on Mies van der Rohe,� a famous German-American architect who
changed American highrise architecture, built the campus and headed the
architectural department of a prestigious local
college, and headed the famous Bauhaus school of
architecture and design in Dessau, before it was closed under pressure by the
incumbent Nazis.�� In 1927 Mies headed a famous project in Germany
which was a collaboration of an group of international architectures he
chose.� In this later book, the authors
of this book later coined the term �International Style�� to capture the principles behind that style.
The
Secret of Childhood.��� After
spending a wonderful Christmas with my nephews Julian, Neil and Scott, and
talking education with Uncle Bob, I am inspired to read this seminal work by
Montessori.� Written early in the 20th
centuri, it is a manifesto about the science of studying the child�s absorbent
mind, surveying both the child�s world but also the failures and successes not
of budding ideas such as Freudianism, and also in biology, and parenthood.� The 20th is the century of the
child, and Montessori is one of its founders.
The
BFG.��� I hear this is the book
that develops an entire new language.� I
cannot wait!
Fantastic
Mr. Fox.��� Neil and Julian have
read it, so now I can talk to them about it.�
Not as colorful and meaningful a story as George�s, I thought, but I�d
like to know their take on the appeal.
George�s
Miracle Medicine.��� I finished
this on the return flight from San Francisco.�
It was my first Dahl book � I�m so glad I �forgot� to pass it on as a
gift from Neil to Julian.
The
Logical Leap.��� Here it is, the
theory of induction as � induced by analyzing the development of atomic
science, and other physics and chemistry.�
Can�t wait, after having listed to David Harriman�s tapes on the 19th Century
Atomic Wars.
The
Infancy of Atomic Physics.��� A
book I picked up yesterday at my local bookstore, to complete Harriman�s
100
Voices.��� Many interesting
perspectives on Ayn Rand as a person.� I
loved the interview with her editor from the New American Library � an hostest
socialist-Trotskyist who upon announcing it so to Ms. Rand, her reply was
something like, �That�s ok, as long as you�re a good editor.�
Book wish list�
On
Architecture.� In a bookstore in
Seattle I discovered author Ada
Louise Huxtable, an architectural critic (yuk!) for the New York Times and
the Wall Street Journal, most recently.��
She had intelligent things to say about the architecture of Le
Corbusier and Mies
van der Rohe, based on visits to some of their famous buildings and
discussions with their occupants.�
Talking to the customers � what a thing for an architect/critic to
do!� She attacks the notion that their
work is �stiff�, �un-livable,�� and
actually inflexible.�� I see this book
is� available at my local library.
Stuff�
Since I recently took some archirecture courses, my mind is on the subject.� In one
Teekay enjoying the sunshine in Houston. She liked being able to step about the kitchen door into heaven. And to watch birds on the bushes
My
reading Online
Harry Binswanger�s List.�� Philosophy professor, author, and one of Ayn
Rand�s students in the 60�s and publisher of the Objectivist Forum in the 80s, Dr.
Binswanger is now unique among philosophers, appearing on TV shows such as Glenn Beck, and publishing a newsletter
several times per week, as well as a compendium of acceptable emails (he has a
policy) sent to him by his thousands of subscribers.� Topics discussed are driven by both Dr.
Binswanger and by his readers, and range from politics to movies to sex to
techinical epistemology.� His moderated
emails have a unique format � he publishes the interesting emails he receives,
with his comments interspersed throughout as he sees fit.� Readers and writers love it � having a genius
critiquing you within your own writing, in a terse and conversational manner.� So many errors averted!� Harry about his forthcoming book: How We Know
(30 min.)