Book #3
"The Day We Found the Universe" by Marcia Bartusiak. This well known science professor and writer very clearly describes how a relatively small number of astronmers starting in the late 19th century and continuing to the early 20th century, the 1920s more precisely, revolutionised astronomy and astrophysics. They did this by meticulously using mostly telescopes, eventually the famous 60, 100, and 200 inch reflector telescopes in California and elsewhere. In a few decades our understanding of the universe went from one galaxy, ours, the Milky Way, and one universe, to a vastly expanded universe composed of virtually countless galaxies.
Book #4
"The Capitalist Philosophers - The Geniuses of Modern Business - Their Lives, Times, and Ideas" by Andrea Gabor. This book is about I don't remember exactly how many, eight or more, mostly or entirely American academics and business men{maybe one woman}. Almost all of them were unknown to me. Each of them in their individual and not very harmonious ways helped create the modern 20th century corporation that out invented and out produced and eventually defeated socialism and communism. The "conversion" of Chinese communism and the collapse of the Soviet Union and Soviet Block took much of the oblivious liberal-left wing world by surprise{including me}.
Book #5
"Dancing at the Dead Sea"- Tracking the World's Environmental Hotspots by Alanna Mitchell. This Canadian author is a very engaging science and travel writer. The writing in this subject is often alarmist, but there is no argument that we are not only living in, but causing the "6th massive extinction" in a billion years of the earth's history. The only reasonable debate is how long will it last, how extensive will it be, and whether humans will eventually be included in it.
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