reviews

A poets touch... Author:  Carlo Rovelli It’s a bit of a spoiler title.  But if we're honest, going back as far as Copernicus and Galileo, it’s been pretty clear that Reality is Not What it Seems.  Whether we’re trying to appreciate that the Earth isn’t flat as it appears or that the Sun isn’t actually revolving around us, humans have always struggled to understand the world as it really is.  Ever since Einstein shocked the scientific world one hundred years ago, that struggle has become increasingly strange.  Fortunately, there are gifted writers like Italian physicist Carlo Rovelli who can explain [...]

No recipes included… Author:  Bill Schutt Don’t eat people.  It’s a pretty basic rule.  But just how critical is this mandate?  As civilization has changed over the millennia, many of society’s taboos have gradually drifted away, becoming almost quaint from a modern perspective.  What’s different about cannibalism?  In a thoroughly entertaining investigation, biology professor Bill Schutt reveals why the deed is a lot more common than you might think.  It’s simply entitled Cannibalism, but the topic is anything but simple.  In the interest of good taste, I’ll provide a reassuring notice to the easily distraught.  He’s neither pro nor con, [...]

A nighttime stroll on New Year's Eve: remembering poetry, feminism and advertising in 1930s Manhattan  Author: Kathleen Rooney During the 1930s, a gifted young poet and brilliant ad woman named Margaret Fishback worked for R.H. Macy’s in Manhattan. She wielded her “needle-sharp couplets” to sell everything from hosiery to air conditioners. Not only did she adore her job, but during her prime she was the highest-paid female advertising copywriter in the world. Fishback died in the mid-1980s and was long-forgotten—until author Kathleen Rooney re-discovered her, thanks to a close friend and librarian who was archiving Fishback’s papers. Rooney felt an instant [...]