Teaser Tuesday (7 December)

On every Tuesday, MizB of ShouldBeReading hosts Teaser Tuesday, in which we share two-sentence tidbits from our current read(s). As always I cheat. My teasers are below. On a more serious note, 7 December is also the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, which killed thousands of people and forced the United States into an active role during the Second World War. It might be appropriate at some point today to consider the lives lost in Hawaii and the Philippines, for whom a quiet Sunday morning turned into a fight to survive.

And now that I've depressed you with thoughts of explosions and death, here's a little levity.

"How long until I stand for reelection?"

"Two years, three months, and nine days, Madam President."

"Is there any way to rig it so I lose next time?"

"I'll try, but I regret to inform you that your approval ratings are excellent."

"Do what you can."

(p. 184, Zero Sum Game. David Mack.)

As insightful as some of their speculations about nature were, most of the ideas of the ancient Greeks would not pass muster as valid science in modern times. For one, because the Greeks had not invented the scientific method, their theories were not developed with the goal of experimental verification. So if one scholar claimed an atom moved in a straight line until it collided with a second atom and another scholar claimed it moved in a straight line until it bumped into a cyclopes, there was no objective way to settle the argument.

(p. 22, The Grand Design. Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow.)

"Captain Dax," he said. "I am Commander Marius of the warbird Dekkna. Your vessel is outnumbered, outgunned, and surrounded."

"I'll give you two out of three," Dax said, flashing a cold smile at the Romulan. "You definitely outnumber us, and I can't deny we're surrounded."

Her cockiness seemed to throw Marius off. He frowned. "You will lower your shields, surrender your vessel, and prepare to be boarded."

"The hell I will." 

(p. 151, Zero Sum Game. David Mack.)