What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

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JimC
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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by JimC » Thu Jul 07, 2022 8:44 am

My classroom management technique?

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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by Sean Hayden » Thu Jul 07, 2022 9:13 am

:lol: --a necessary element for sure

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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by pErvinalia » Thu Jul 07, 2022 9:21 am

macdoc wrote:
excellent, will be on the classroom bookshelves for my kids this year.
so should this be - it is a wonderful gripping novel ...
Image
ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVOURITE READS OF THE YEAR

The Ministry for the Future is a masterpiece of the imagination, using fictional eyewitness accounts to tell the story of how climate change will affect us all. Its setting is not a desolate, postapocalyptic world, but a future that is almost upon us. Chosen by Barack Obama as one of his favorite books of the year, this extraordinary novel from visionary writer Kim Stanley Robinson will change the way you think about the climate crisis.

Industry Reviews

Robinson is one of the world's finest working novelists, in any genre

Bestseller Robinson again tackles climate change head-on in this gutsy, humane view of a near-future Earth careening toward collapse . . . Robinson masterfully integrates the practical details of environmental crises and geoengineering projects into a sweeping, optimistic portrait of humanity's ability to cooperate in the face of disaster. This heartfelt work of hard science-fiction is a must-read for anyone worried about the future of the planet - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A deeply realised world that feels more like a peep into our future than a work of fiction - New Scientist
A breathtaking look at the challenges that face our planet in all their sprawling magnitude and also in their intimate, individual moments of humanity - Booklist
Looked this one up on my council library and Brisbane City Council library and all copies are out. Popular book.
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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by Brian Peacock » Thu Jul 07, 2022 10:58 am

ImageImage

Arkady Martine is very much in the Herbert vein. Taught and breathless political thrillers ranging across an expansively imagined Empire.

Image
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Clinton Huxley » 21 Jun 2012 » 14:10:36 GMT
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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by Tero » Thu Jul 07, 2022 11:23 am

A guy wrote a book 1493. It's pretty good. Then another guy wrote a book 1492. I have it. What to do? Compare and contrast?

Then, the 1493 guy had already written 1491. It's before Columbus gets here. I dunno. Read it for completeness?
https://esapolitics.blogspot.com
http://esabirdsne.blogspot.com/
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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by Brian Peacock » Thu Jul 07, 2022 11:40 am

Just skip straight to 1450!
Rationalia relies on voluntary donations. There is no obligation of course, but if you value this place and want to see it continue please consider making a small donation towards the forum's running costs.
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"It isn't necessary to imagine the world ending in fire or ice.
There are two other possibilities: one is paperwork, and the other is nostalgia."

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"This is how humanity ends; bickering over the irrelevant."
Clinton Huxley » 21 Jun 2012 » 14:10:36 GMT
.

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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by Tero » Thu Jul 07, 2022 12:26 pm

1450 China: China grows under Ming Dynasty, with capital at Beijing. Agriculture,
navigation, Confucianism, and art thrive. Chinese trading ships export tea,
silk, and porcelain to India, Africa, and Europe, with Guangzhou as a major
trading post.
1450 Europe Nothing but The printing press is developed.
1451 Isabella born
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_I_of_Castile
https://esapolitics.blogspot.com
http://esabirdsne.blogspot.com/
Said Peter...what you're requesting just isn't my bag
Said Daemon, who's sorry too, but y'see we didn't have no choice
And our hands they are many and we'd be of one voice
We've come all the way from Wigan to get up and state
Our case for survival before it's too late

Turn stone to bread, said Daemon Duncetan
Turn stone to bread right away...

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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by macdoc » Fri Jul 08, 2022 12:30 am

After reading The Aviators figured I'd go to the source.
Image

What fantastic almost mythical human and an astonishingly skilled pilot.
The book is lyrical. How he actually accomplished that solo flight is an incredible feat of endurance fighting sleep and weather. Good read ....so was The Aviators.
Have just enough piloting in my life to appreciate that aspect.
My favorite sailplane and was thrilled to see it in the Smithsonian.
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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by macdoc » Wed Jul 20, 2022 2:03 am

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write what you know....while the 60s and 70s feel remote for us in the first world tho alive and well in my brain ....this is a reminder of the gigantic changes in China.
Good read.

now on to ancient China

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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by macdoc » Wed Jul 27, 2022 6:06 pm

Amazing what that treasure fleet acomplished ...learned a lot. Apparently even touched on N Australia, plus east Africa and part way up the Red Sea and the scale of the fleet and size of the ships...mind bending...
Incredibly, the largest ships in the fleet (called "baoshan," or "treasure ships") were likely between 440 and 538 feet long by 210 feet wide. The 4-decked baoshan had an estimated displacement of 20-30,000 tons, roughly 1/3 to 1/2 the displacement of modern American aircraft carriers. Each had nine masts on its deck, rigged with square sails that could be adjusted in series to maximize efficiency in different wind conditions.

The Yongle Emperor ordered the construction of an amazing 62 or 63 such ships for Zheng He's first voyage, in 1405. Extant records show that another 48 were ordered in 1408, plus 41 more in 1419, along with 185 smaller ships throughout that time.
The largest of the junks were said to be over 400 feet long and 150 feet wide. (The Santa Maria, Columbus's largest ship, was a mere 90 by 30 feet and his crew numbered only 90.) Loaded with Chinese silk, porcelain, and lacquerware, the junks visited ports around the Indian Ocean.
The other reason was that Zheng He traveled with an estimated 27,000 to 28,000 sailors, marines, translators and other crew members. Along with their horses, rice, drinking water, and trade goods, that number of people required a staggering amount of room aboard the ship. In addition, they had to make space for the emissaries, tribute goods and wild animals that went back to China.
we might have had a very different world ....

.....

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The man can write. Very engaged. Thanks to whoever recommended him √
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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by pErvinalia » Wed Jul 27, 2022 11:01 pm

Norwegian Wood... Scandinavian porn! :{D
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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by macdoc » Thu Jul 28, 2022 3:26 am

Uh no ...Japanese set in the 60s in Japan and no porn - very little sex but very evocative writing I like.
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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by Clinton Huxley » Fri Jul 29, 2022 10:14 pm

Ed Yong’s “An Immense World”, about the senses of different animals and shit. Umwelt and all that caper. What does it taste like to be a bat? Very good.
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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by JimC » Sat Jul 30, 2022 6:34 am

Cheers, Clinton! Don't be a stranger!
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Re: What are you reading now? (Chapter 2)

Post by rasetsu » Sat Jul 30, 2022 11:50 pm

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