summer reading

[deeann mikula hartmann]

On Wed, 11 May 2005, Rick, who floats on clouds wrote:

> So, what is everyone who is in school going to read over the summer, or has
> read as of late that warrents notice?

School?!  What does school have to do with it?  Well, I guess I'll be
taking Phlebotomy and Anatomy&Physiology, so I guess I am "in school"
after all.  These are the books I'm currently reading, some are
technical/medical, but most are not:

*Mind Hacks, by Tom Stafford, an OReilly Book.  Neuroscience for geeks
with tricks for exploring your brains limitations (like the classic
blind spot demonstration.) Im telling you, if you are a geek and at
all curious about why your brain doesnt function like a computer, you
MUST READ THIS BOOK.  Its enthralling!  Its killing me that Im not
reading it right now!  But I must stop reading it for a minute so I
can proselytize it.

*Rapid Interpretation of EKGs, by Dale Dubin.  Not required for my
job at this point, but it would make all of the cardiac calls a whole
lot more interesting if I could understand the subtle diagnoses.  Im
determined to be able to read EKGs like a pro within a few months.  If
so, Id better get back on that bandwagon!

*Principles of Neural Science,by Eric Kandel and James Schwartz.  My
old textbook from a neuroscience class oh so many years ago, I found
it in a used book store.  It was like running into an old friend!  Ah
the caudate nucleus, Id forgotten youd existed, and you, the medial
lemniscus, youre still around!  Reviewing this stuff is GREAT FUN,
believe it or not.  All of the things Id thought Id forgotten!

*The Best Buddhist Writing 2004, by Melvin McCleod.  Great modern
essays on Buddhism.

*Sons of the Profits, by Bill Spiedel.  The Seattle history book that
goes along with The Underground Tour. Its the non-sanitized version of
the founding of Seattle, with all the corruption, prostitutes, opium
and general mayhem.  Woohoo!

*Collapse: How Societies Choose to Succeed or Fail, by Jared Diamond.
If you lked his book Guns, Germs and Steel (which I highly recommend
also) then you'll love this equally readable discussion of how
societies collapse.  I recommend reading both, as Guns, Germs and
Steel discusses how societies succeed, and this is the obvious next
point for discussion.

*Godel, Escher, Bach, by Douglas R. Hofstadter.  I've always had this
inkling that math, music and art were related, but couldn't ever
figure out how.  It sort of makes my brain hurt to think about it, but
this book is helping tease out the mathematical underpinning of music
and art.  It makes my brain hurt, but in a good way.


And yes, I really am reading all of these books right now.  I don't
play video games or watch TV, or spend much time surfing the web. I
read at least an hour before bed every night, in addition to just
curling up with a good book in the garden for a few hours.


Deeann Mikula Hartmann

"The limits of my language mean the limits of my world."
   --Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus