Reading Freely

Sunday, September 16, 2012

The Sun's Heartbeat

The Sun's Heartbeat: and Other Stories from the Life of the Star that Powers Our Planet
2011 pages
290 pages

Consider the sun. For thousands of generations, it has loomed over our kind, radiating heat and light down from above, illuminating our lives and stimulating growth. The ancients worshipped the sun, and not without cause: its description as the giver of life is more literal than poetic. Such is the strength of the sun that it crosses a chasm of 93 million miles in only eight seconds, and its every fluctuation can have dire consequences for those of living on Earth. It is all-important, almost mythical -- and only in the 20th century have we truly begun to understand its reality. An inspiration for divine perfection and stability through the ages, the sun is a writhing, chaotic ball, containing energies that stagger the imagination. In The Sun's Heartbeat, Rob Berman reflects on the importance of the sun -- on how our understanding of it has matured through the ages, and how utterly mesmerizing it still is.

We know, of course, that life is impossible without the sun: the food chain rather depends on it. But how many people appreciate that life as we know it wouldn't even exist without solar energy? Not only is the sun the source of all our energy, but its cosmic rays stimulate the mutations that make evolution possible. And even more fundamentally, our atoms were forged through the life and death of stars: their pulsing cores turn basic elements into the heavier ones which constitute the planets and ourselves. Neil deGrasse Tyson, a prominent American astrophysicist, writes that this knowledge makes him want to grab people in the streets and ask -- "Have you heard this?" Berman shares the same excitement about the sun, the same giddy enthusiasm: solar science is clearly kind of awesome to behold. While his zeal for communicating can be a little awkward of times, like an high school teacher using teenage slang, it's expressed perfectly in the chapters on the aurora and eclipses. His description of totality is taken with such care that all the fear, reverence, and wonder of the ages is reborn on the page. This is the peak of a work that abounds in captivating pieces on the history of solar science, starting with Galileo peering at the sun through a telescope and discovering its spots. Berman conveys to the reader an understanding of the sun framed through a history of our questions about it, and the approach succeeds wonderfully. Its slight weakness in organization is more than overwhelmed by the fascinating information and the passionate way it is presented.

Related:
Storms from the Sun: the Emerging Science of Space Weather, Michael J. Carlowicz

Friday, September 14, 2012

Books in the News

"Fuel Efficiency Standards Have Costs of Their Own", New York Times
11 September 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/12/business/fuel-efficiency-standards-have-costs-of-their-own.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Synopsis: while President Obama has been successful in forcing manufacturers to adopt stricter fuel efficiency standards, in the long run this isn't truly helpful, because it doesn't change drivers' behavior. Americans' problem is not that they use oil too messily: their problem is that they use too much oil, period. Energy economists in the article recommend that the US adopt gas taxes increases more on par with those of Europe: only high prices at the pump will adopt drivers to abandon gas-guzzlers.

Related to: The Green Metropolis, David Owen

In The Green Metropolis, Owen also stresses the need to make Americans aware of how truly expensive our auto-dominated society is by raising the gas tax: he also emphasizes that we can't consume our way out of environmental consequences. We can no longer afford wasteful lifestyle, or be content with the consolations of greenwashing. In the book, Owen advocates adapting to the energy demands of the 21st century by abandoning sprawl for walkable cities, where we can likewise ditch cars. He takes an economical approach to environmentalism, which I think carries a stronger argument. Experience it in brief in an interview titled "Your Prius Won't Save You".

Relatedly, The Economist has a series of articles on on how people are already adapting by biking more, including one published on 8 September claled "Vive la révolution"

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

This Week at the Library (12 September)

About a week ago, ten inches of rain were dumped on my hometown in 24 hours, leading to widespread flooding. Various services around town were disrupted, meaning the people who -- inexplicably -- journeyed to the library in the midst of the downpour found it with only intermittent Internet access, with leaks in the roof and library folk running around trying to cover books and equipment. And on top of this, a hamster escaped. Twice.

Seriously, it made headlines. As the director said, "From the sublime to the ridiculous." I have managed to do some reading, though, in between the water-treading and hamster-chasing.

I read two books within a day of starting them: Summer of my German Soldier by Bette Green, which is a bit of teen fiction about a lonely young Jewish-American girl who befriends a German POW, who makes her realize she does have worth, despite the opinion of her parents, and makes her look beyond simple prejudice. It's a sweet story, albeit a trifle sad. The other was a Star Trek book -- the sequel to Plagues of Night -- which I'll give full comments to later.

I'd prefer to give Consuming Power: A Social History of American Energies a regular review, but it is plainly obvious that I am not going to find the time anytime soon, especially given that I can't seem to help reading books even when the pile of books I want to review is high enough to appear as a radar blip. My guilt is alleviated by the fact that despite its quality, this is not a book that will be read by a mass audience. Sure, I wolfed it down, but I'm contemplating three books on garbage and waste management and wondering if two out of the three will suffice to meet my needs. My own reading tastes are a bit...eccentric.

Essentially, Consuming Power examines the way American choices regarding technology -- specifically, which technologies to use, and in which ways -- shape society. It's short for the timespan it covers, but dense; the word muscular comes to mind. Nye wastes no words: : every sentence carries with it the meat of facts or analysis. He has grievances with those who believe certain technologies always have particular effects on society, like the introduction of the automobile leading to a society whose transportation infrastructure is wholly oriented toward cars. Human choices created the highways and subsidies cars thrive in, and human choices eroded the rail networks that once tied the nation together. The choices we make regarding which technologies to invest in dictate our future actions, however: the United States will be hard-pressed to move away from an automobile-oriented system if even it badly wants, and needs to. Other nations -- which made different choices regarding the automobile -- have more options.

While this argument has its merits, I think Nye overestimates the role of human choice. We seem to be a species dedicating to following the path of least resistance: if a technology allows us to do a thing, and it occurs to us to do it, we'll happily do it without sitting down and thinking terribly long about the consequences. Geography and history had more to do with Europe's different approach to cars than human choice: Europeans couldn't sprawl around sloppily because they don't have an entire continent of land to waste. At the same time, this criticism reinforces Nye's other argument, that choices dictate future choices. Once arrangements have been made for one system, it's difficult to adopt to another. Europe would find it difficult to impose suburban sprawl on itself. While Nye doesn't have an obvious agenda, he's plainly not impressed with the way Americans have so limited themselves and their future energy options. The course of our energy history, it seems, is have put more eggs into fewer baskets.

Consuming Power is a strong read for those interested in American economy, industry, and energy.

=============T=H=E===W=E=E=K===I=N===Q=U=O=T=E=S===========

"I think maybe good changes will come when our leaders are better and there aren't any evil dictators," I said.
Anton nodded. "There are those who would agree with you. But leaders don't usually spring forth to impose their will upon a helpless people. They, like department stores, are in business to give people what they think they want."

(Summer of my German Soldier, p. 142).

"No one is more keenly aware of advertising's ubiquity than the advertisers themselves, who view commercial inundation as a clear and persuasive call for more -- and more intrusive -- advertising. With so much competition, the agencies must spend more than ever to make sure their pitch screeches so loud it can be heard over all the others. David Lubars, a senior ad executive with the Omnicom Group, explains the industry's guiding principle with more candor than most. Consumers, he says, 'are like roaches -- you spray them and spray them and they get immune after a while.'"

p. 9, No Logo. Naomi Klein.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Teaser Tuesday (11 September)

Tuesday's the time for teasing...

A typical Kernaghanism is to compare and contrast the plush living conditions of the dogs on the set of 101 Dalmatians with the shacks in which the Haitian workers live who sewed Disney pajamas decorated with the movie's characters. The animals, he says, stayed in "doggie condos" fitted with cushy beds and heat lamps, were cared for by on-call vets and served beef and chicken. The Haitian workers live in malaria- and dysentery-infested hovels, sleep on cots, and can rarely afford to buy meat or go to the doctor. It is in this collision between the life of brand and the reality of production that Kernaghan works his own marketing magic.

p. 352, No Logo. Naomi Klein.

Prior to leaving for Haiti, I went to a Wal-Mart store on Long Island and purchased several Disney garments which had been made in Haiti. I showed these to the crowd of workers, who immediately recognized the clothing they had made...I helped up a size four Pocahontas T-shirt. I showed them the Wal-Mart price tag indicating $10.97. But it was only when I translated the $10.97 into the local currency -- 172.26 gourdes -- that all at once, in unison, the workers screamed with shock, disbelief, anger, and a mixture of pain and sadness, as their eyes remained fixed on the Pocahontas shirt....In a single day, they worked on hundreds of Disney shirts. Yet the sales price of just one shirt in the U.S. amounted to nearly five days of their wages!

p. 353, No Logo, Naomi Klein. Quoting Charles Kernaghan.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

The Most Glorious Fourth

When the American Civil War began in 1861, no one imagined that it would devastate the countryside for four long years. All the attempts to bring the war to a quick end, in one decisive battle, failed, turning the war into one of attrition. Most of those failures were those of the Union army's, and for the first two years of the conflict it seemed as though the Union might actually remain broken. But then, on the Fourth of July in 1863 -- the anniversary of the nation's birthday -- two battles came to an end. In the west, the Federal siege of Vicksburg ended in the surrender of the city to General Grant; in the east, General Lee sent the pride of his army to be slaughtered on the center of the Union lines in Gettysburg -- ending his invasion of the north, and crippling his strength. Either battle might have marked the turning point of the war: together, they were death knell of the ill-born confederacy. The Most Glorious Fourth is the story of the struggles that culminated on that Independence Day, but not one that celebrates the turning point of the war: instead, using Abraham Lincoln as a grounding figure, Schultz paints the day as a mixed blessing -- both a triumph and a tragedy as a missed opportunity to end the war in 1863.

Telling the story of these two struggles at the same time is difficult, given their varying scales. The Vicksburg campaign lasted months; Gettysburg was a three-day affair. The whole of Gettysburg -- all of the skirmishes, movements, what-if questions, stunning decisions -- took place during three days where Vicksburg was a foregone conclusion. Schultz tries mightily, though, and manages to make it work for the most part. The spotlight is somewhat split: Vicksburg takes center stage in the first half of the book, while Gettysburg dominates the second half. Schultz's approach is more casual than one might expect from a serious history of the period; at times, it reads almost like a novel, complete with dialogue. It's definitely more popular history than scholarly, but that's no serious detraction. Readers completely unfamiliar with the history of the war, but nonetheless interested in these two battles, will be served ably. The section on Vicksburg isn't as detailed or harrowing as I expected: Schultz is strongest when addressing Gettysburg.

Ultimately, Schultz's recommends itself not because of the military narrative, but for the way he demonstrates the human side of war and reflects on the battle's aftermath. While it' s not a social history of the war, nor does it use the harrowing experiences to criticize the conflict, the recurring role of civilians was refreshing and illustrates that the costs of war are not limited to those who volunteered to go into danger. At Vicksburg, mothers are forced to flee with their children into caves to take refuge from the shelling of the city, while living on increasingly-scarce rations: in Gettysburg, not only were the food and goods of the town in demand by both armies, but the town itself became a battlefield. One woman rebuked a Confederate sharpshooter from trying to use her attic as his nest, realizing he would draw fire upon her home. Her concern was not unjustified, for Gettysburg did claim its civilian casualties. And rather than exulting in the days' triumphs, Schultz reflects on the day as one that was ultimately disappointing. Abraham Lincoln, who is seen throughout the work visiting the telegraph office to find out if there's any news of the fate of his army -- and the nation -- is not overjoyed to learn that Vicksburg has fallen, thus giving the Union complete control of the Mississippi and dividing the Confederacy on the same day that Lee's invasion was repulsed. Instead, he is disappointed at his newly-appointed general (Meade)'s lack of tenacity. Instead of seizing the opportunity to crush or trap Lee, Meade licks his wounds for days after the battle. By the time he orders the army into action, the Army of Virginia had stolen across the Potomac to the safe retreat of the south. Schultz's work is the first Gettysburg history I've read which doesn't end with Lee's defeat, but follows the action of his and Meade's army in the days that follow.

The Most Glorious Fourth is an easy and engaging read, obviously of interest to American Civil War aficionados.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Plagues of Night

The dust had scarcely settled after the last great Borg War when the battered Federation found itself facing yet another threat when numerous hostile species on its borders created the Typhon Pact, a confederacy that soon entered into a Cold War with the gravely wounded Klingon and Federation powers. The first four Typhon Pact novels (and a fifth work, a novella) each explored one of the constituent members of the Pact while at the same time establishing the new polity as a potent force to be reckoned with. Those tales of espionage and politics set the stage, and now David R. George has delivered the first Typhon Pact 'epic', one which spans the quadrants and involves the Enterprise-E and the far-flung crew of Deep Space Nine.

After the events of Star Trek: Destiny, billions were dead and the Federation utterly exhausted, and yet no relief was to be found. In the wake of such calamity, six powers hostile to the Federation and ringing its borders sought strength in unity. They created the Typhon Pact, a confederacy of scum and villainy, and changed the map forever. The Federation and its greatest ally, the Klingon Empire, were soon engaged in a "cold war" with the Typhon Pact. The first four novels of the series each focused one of the constituent members of the Pact (the Breen, the Romulans,) while following the opening power plays between the two polities. Tales of espionage and political wrangling followed, and the stage was set. David R. George has delivered the first Typhon Pact "epic", one which spans the quadrants and involves both the Enterprise-E and the far-flung crew of Deep Space Nine. Plagues of Night is the opening act, ending on a cliffhanger that saw me stand to my feet in astonishment.

The Federation and the Typhon Pact are not, technically, at war, but both strive to maintain the balance of power that will keep the peace -- through means that threaten it, like covertly attacking one another's shipyards to steal data. Although the Typhon Pact novels established the Pact as a potent force to be reckoned with, they aren't simple villains. Each power has its own ambitions, and the leaders of the Romulan Star Empire dearly want peace. Plagues of Night uses the events of the first four novels (especially Zero Sum Game and Paths of Disharmony) to establish rising tension between the Federation and the Pact, and both the RSE and Federation leaders want to prevent said tension from erupting into open war. But the achievements of diplomacy -- trade agreements and a joint scientific mission into the Gamma Quadrant -- are threatened to perversely turned into the spark of war when things go terribly wrong.

In addition to creating a thriller of a scope we've not seen since the Destiny books, George provides the long-awaited return to the Deep Space Nine cast of characters. The DS9 relaunch was seemingly abandoned when Destiny came onto the scene: there's a five-year gap between the last DS9 book and the events of that magnificent trilogy. Readers were teased with what might have happened in the meantime in Rough Beasts of Empire, and here the station takes center stage under its new commanding officer, Ro Laren. Character growth in Plagues of Night centers on Sisko, who is still grappling with the aftermath of decisions he made after Unity. Abandoned by the prophets, and fearful for his family's safety, Sisko is a man without a friend -- tremendously lonely. And bless his heart, it's going to get worse.

I purchased this book online, and I figured after I read it I'd buy the second book. I couldn't wait. Yesterday, I drove an hour or so to the nearest bookseller and hunted down a copy of the conclusion. I...cannot wait.

Related:
Star Trek Typhon Pact on TvTropes