Haul My Money In In Crates

Bruce Springsteen's new album of Pete Seeger covers is very good.

Book 21: Against Method (Feyerabend)

Philosophy of science. Feyerabend argues against an idealized, reason-bound model of science. Scientists do not, he says, produce theories that match a given body of facts: every scientific theory is plagued with facts that don't match it. Why? Because facts all come with their own ideological assumptions. Much of the book is devoted to discussing Galileo's arguments for the motion of the earth.

Feyerabend thinks little of Popperian falsification, because it's far too strong: if we stuck to it, we'd have to throw out all theories.

Book 20: The Little Schemer (Friedman and Felleisen)

Excellent introduction to Scheme (a Lisp). Whimsical and low-key, but a good way to learn. I should read chapter nine (Y combinator) a couple more times, I think.

Book 19: Stockhausen Bio

Very interesting. A guy who basically followed his muse. Was it easier to do in 50s Germany with its greater appreciation of artistic innovation that it would be now?

Stockhausen's music is very hard for me to understand, but when I'm listening to it I feel as though there's some pattern just beyond my grasp. I suppose my musical life has consisted of learning to appreciate and play weirder and weirder music (where weirder means more complicated, abrasive or hard to understand), so it's good to know there are still (and, I'm sure, always will be) more worlds to conquer.

Book 18: A Deepness in the Sky

Kind-of-prequel to A Fire Upon the Deep, in that it concerns Pham Nuwen's backstory. Not as chock-full of amazing ideas as "Fire", but more gripping and emotionally intense. The villains are horribly villainous.

Book 17: Cat's Cradle (Vonnegut)

Sarcastic, depressing, and compassionate. Its self-consciously-fake religion is appealing, as opposed to Martel's Pi's opinions.

Book 16: Beloved (Morrison)

Wow, really good. Obliqueness reminded me of Gene Wolfe, which says more about me than it does about Morrison.