tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post3381820911701903462..comments2023-09-27T07:44:19.769-04:00Comments on Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction: What's in a book?Sabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-7881276129258775072010-03-14T16:12:25.294-04:002010-03-14T16:12:25.294-04:00Ursula Le Guin
In its silence, a book is a challe...<b>Ursula Le Guin</b><br /><br /><i>In its silence, a book is a challenge: it can't lull you with surging music or deafen you with screeching laugh tracks or fire gunshots in your living room; you have to listen to it in your head. A book won't move your eyes for you the way images on a screen do. It won't move your mind unless you give it your mind, or your heart unless you put your PlatoHagelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00849253658526056393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-20325942291828661262010-03-10T14:31:53.221-05:002010-03-10T14:31:53.221-05:00@Igor: Popular science books are also an efficient...@Igor: <em>Popular science books are also an efficient vector for spreading subtle misconceptions in the general public.</em><br /><br />A general public is by definition no expert. So one had better provide it with ideas which are half right-half wrong rather than with no conception at all. Half by half, each one can tend to understand things that are very complicated. But if you begin teaching Jérôme Chauvethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02545307794681614263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-86261538455404154862010-03-09T08:21:59.733-05:002010-03-09T08:21:59.733-05:00Steven let us know he has "a sick addiction t...<a rel="nofollow">Steven let us know he has "a sick addiction to Science books"</a><br /><br />Unfortunately true. I could probably buy a new ford F-150 fully loaded had I put the money I spent on books in a piggy bank rather than books. <br /><br />I'd rather have the knowledge. <br /><br />Or both. And a Shelby Cobra, since I'm dreaming, dream big.<br /><br />My son is in his Steven Colyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10435759210177642257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-45892477772936283292010-03-09T06:31:20.611-05:002010-03-09T06:31:20.611-05:00Hi Bee,
Like I said earlier I totally agree that ...Hi Bee,<br /><br />Like I said earlier I totally agree that books are still the most powerful of tools when it comes to learn and know about things and yet I would say a well structured and delivered lecture comes in at a close second. So I guess this really has me as old fashion. The advantage of z lecture is that the speaker can place emphasis on what they feel important and to have their Phil Warnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15671311338712852659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-7721708576377854342010-03-08T20:03:01.220-05:002010-03-08T20:03:01.220-05:00Another bullet-point advantage that a science book...Another bullet-point advantage that a science book can have over a research article is honesty. <br /><br />A book allows an author to set out what they really think about a subject without worrying about anonymous peer review forcing them to edit for style, or to delete or rewrite sections that don't correspond to a current popular consensus viewpoint. <br /><br />I'm not sure that ErkDemon (Eric Baird)https://www.blogger.com/profile/00430413494529535159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-27127987528365664452010-03-08T19:45:44.795-05:002010-03-08T19:45:44.795-05:00... certified science textbooks //also// often spr...... certified science textbooks //also// often spread subtle misconceptions ... but are less efficient at spreading them to the general public, because fewer people actually read them. :)ErkDemon (Eric Baird)https://www.blogger.com/profile/00430413494529535159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-15913210888341582522010-03-08T08:27:17.854-05:002010-03-08T08:27:17.854-05:00In my opinion, books and research articles are jus...In my opinion, books and research articles are just like houses and bricks. A professional researcher, who will be asked to build new kinds of brick, new sorts of pipe, etc. may however always bear on mind how his own part is to be integrated within the whole, so books can help in keeping the whole picture in sight despite focusing on details. More or less, reading an (excellent) introductory Jérôme Chauvethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02545307794681614263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-84596979880895827382010-03-07T20:10:24.659-05:002010-03-07T20:10:24.659-05:00Hi Maxine,
Oh yes, that's true. What a pain i...Hi Maxine,<br /><br />Oh yes, that's true. What a pain it was to order a book, especially if it wasn't printed by a German publisher. It would take forever to get it. Nowadays you can have it shipped overnight! (I also have to admit I haven't yet read the other articles except the Editorial. I'm lagging behind with, well, everything it seems.) Best,<br /><br />B.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-45511630280409454772010-03-07T19:23:58.067-05:002010-03-07T19:23:58.067-05:00Hi Bee,
This piece I find to resonate particularl...Hi Bee,<br /><br />This piece I find to resonate particularly strongly for me, since I consider how I think and undertand the world to have been in a large part guided and shaped by the books I have read over the years. Although I would admit to the majority of them being of the popular science and related text book variety, there are others that stand as philosophical writings or simply good Phil Warnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15671311338712852659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-59156605892205893172010-03-07T19:18:45.354-05:002010-03-07T19:18:45.354-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Phil Warnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15671311338712852659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-10788464677864536252010-03-07T11:26:00.662-05:002010-03-07T11:26:00.662-05:00I agree that the internet has made it so much easi...I agree that the internet has made it so much easier not just to find books on the subject you are interested in, but to find them per se so that you can read them, via Amazon, Abe books and all (which connect into many small and second-hand booksellers). When I was younger, you just had no chance of getting a book that wasn't in print/in stock somewhere. Now, you can order it online and it Maxine Clarkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06628509319992204770noreply@blogger.com