Galing sa booksale

 

This book, Noli Me Tangere (The Social Cancer) and a lot more can also be downloaded from gutenberg.org. 

I really feel bummed because of this

Sir Terry Pratchett begins process that could lead to assisted suicide

Sir Terry Pratchett, the author, has started the formal process that could lead to his assisted suicide at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland.

The 63-year-old, who has a rare form of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, said he had received the consent forms recently and was now considering whether to sign them.

Sir Terry, made the decision to request the forms after accompanying a motor-neurone sufferer to the Dignitas clinic for a controversial documentary to be screened on Monday evening on BBC TWO.

I have enjoyed many hours of pleasure reading his books.

Quote from Terry Pratchett

I was reading Jingo and was struck by this phrase, so rather that typing it up i looked up the first line in google so I can copy and paste it here:

"It was much better to imagine men in some smoky room somewhere, made mad and cynical by privilege and power, plotting over the brandy. You had to cling to this sort of image, because if you didn't then you might have to face the fact that bad things happened because ordinary people, the kind who brushed the dog and told their children bedtime stories, were capable of then going out and doing horrible things to other ordinary people. It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone's fault. If it was Us, what did that make Me? After all, I'm one of Us. I must be. I've certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No-one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We're always one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things."

Copied and pasted from LiteraCita

Remembering Solzhenitsyn

I probably would not have read Alexander Solzhenitsyn's works if I were not a socialist. His stature as a critic of the Soviet Union and it socialist system made me curious about his works. I remember finding a copy of 'One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch' on sale from National Bookstore. It's back cover was missing but I bought it anyway because I wanted to read it. I was expecting a book full of political polemics, but found a book full of human relations, and this made it a more effective critique of Soviet authoritarianism in particular and authoritarianism in general.

The problem was aside from the back cover, the book was also missing the last page. I had to read the lat page at National Bookstore where I borrowed a copy for a few minutes. 'Ivan Denisovitch and his other books 'Cancer Ward', 'The First Circle', and 'August 1914', strengthened in me, an abhorrence of authoritarianism.

The Soviet Union is now in the dustbin of history, but it's lessons should not be forgotten, so should Alexander Solzhenitsyn's works.

Lessons from "The Propaganda Movement"

Kung napansin niyo yung kanang bahagi ng blog na ito, isa sa mga binabasa kong libro ngayon ay ang "The Propaganda Movement" ni John N. Schumacher, S.J. Matagal ko na balak magbasa ulit ng mga libro tungkol sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas, pero ngayon ko lang inumpisahan. Nasa umpisa pa lang din ako ng Libro ng Fr. Shumacher pero may mga nabasa ako na gusto kong ibahagi.

Ang una ay ang tolerance, sanay na tayo na maski na karamihan sa ating mga kababayan ay mga Katoliko, marami na ring kasapi ng ibang relihiyon. At nasanay na rin tayong respetuhin ang iba't ibang relihiyon ng ating mga kababayan.

Nasanay na tayo sa ganitong sitwasyon, pero ayon sa libro ni Fr. Schumacher, hindi laging ganito ang sitwasyon, noong panahon ng kastila, bawal ang ibang relihiyon, kaya nga

"The new Constitution of 1876...aroused bitter protest from the Vatican and the Spanish bishops, for though it proclaimed Catholicism as the religion of the Spanish nation,...it nevertheless tolerated the private practice of other religions."

Hinayaan lang yung ibang relihiyon, nagalit na sila. Sa ngayon marami ang nagsasabi na ang relihiyon nila ang tunay na relihiyon, pero ikaw ang may kapagyarihan pumili kung anong relihiyon ang para sa iyo. Nasa iyo ang kapangyarihan, huwag nating hayaan bumalik sa nakaraang sitwasyon na isang relihiyon lamang ang nagsasabi kung anong relihiyon ang para sa iyo dahil pag nangyari iyon, sila na ang may kapangyarihan. Sila na ang magsasabi kung paano ka mabubuhay, sino pakakasalan mo, sino iboboto mo, ano ang dapat mong malaman.

Pangalawa, palagay ko ay itinuro sa akin ng lahat ng naging guro ko sa kasaysayan ang naging papel ni Gregorio Sancianco sa Propaganda Movement, ang problema hindi ko siya naaalala. Naaalala ko si Pedro Paterno, pero si Sancianco hindi. At hindi ko maubos maisip bakit hindi ko siya maalala. Si Gregorio Sancianco ay sumulat ng isang libro, ang "El progreso de Filipinas". At ayon kay Fr. Schumacher

"Sancianco's book anticipates most of the principal themes of the later Filipino nationalist campaign: administrative reform , eradication of corruption, in the government, recognition of Filipino rights as loyal Spaniards, extension of Spainish law to the Philippines, curtailment of the excessive power of the friars in the life of the country, and assertion of the dignity of the Filipino."

at nabasa ni Rizal yung libro niya at

"Jose Rizal at least was impressed by it. Writing from Madrid in 1882 to his brother, he mentioned the proximate return of Sancianco "the author of El progreso de Filipinas" implying that the book was known at least to him and his brother"

para siyang si Juan Bautista ng rebolusyon, kinailangan pa na ilang panahon para maging handa ang mga pinoy sa reporma at rebolusyon, at sina Rizal at Bonifacio na ang umani ng kahandaang ito.

Popular Bookstore

I was near Timog these last 2 days so I decide to visit Popular Bookstore.

I first heard of Popular Bookstore when it was still located in Doroteo Jose St., in Manila. A lot of leftist/activists visited the store to buy hard to find leftist books.

One of the books i was able to buy from Popular Bookstore is the "Freethinker's Reader"



The book is a collection of essays by Bertrand Russel, Robert Ingersoll, Carlos Esteban and H.L Mencken about atheism. At a time when the mere mention of the word atheism brands you a a godless anti-government, communist radical, finding this book was liberating. This book was evidence that I was not alone, that there were others who thought as I did.

As I was browsing through the shelves I stumbled upon a book that was written by "nobel prize nominee" E.E. Escultura.



The book is a collection of essays by E.E. Escultura not really about the struggle for peace, as the title suggests, but more on the anti-imperialist movements during the 1980's.

So if your looking for hard to find books or you just want to browse for books you won't normally find at National Bookstore, you should visit Popular Bookstore.

E-books

I forgot to bring my books yesterday so I started to read an e-book sent by TOR books. The book "An Old Man's War" by John Scalzi tells of a future Earth where old people enlists to fight for Earth's colonies in return for being made young again. It's an interesting premise, and Mr. Scalzi's novel entertained me enough that I finished it in two days.

I would not have been able to read the book if not for the fact the TOR books have followed in Baen books footsteps and is giving away free e-books of some if its authors for readers to enjoy. I discovered David Weber and John Ringo from Baen's Free Library and I think I will be looking for Mr. Scalzi's novels from here on.

Why?

Terry Pratchett, the author of the Discworld series of novels was diagnosed with early
onset Alzheimer's.

Bummer.

Thanks to Pharyngula

For those who love books

Nighttime Stories from xkcd

Packrat

I passed by Booksale in SM North Edsa and saw this book



I've been a fan of Asimov for over a decade now and the book was priced at only 30 pesos so even though I know I already own a copy, I still bought it. I always reason out that I can always present duplicate books as presents to friends. Now when I got home I saw that not only did I one copy, I already have two, with different covers.

 

Now I don't know what version I will give out. In the end I will probably just keep them all.

Mammals are Great

Several days ago, Micketymoc bought Christopher Hitchen's new book, God is not Great. Since I was also contemplating buying it, I asked him if he can post a review of the book. He most graciously agreed.

Here now is micketymoc's review of Christopher Hitchen's new book, God is not Great

His recommendation:

"If you’re an atheist fresh out of the closet, god is not Great is exactly the kind of book you need."

Which leads me to tentatively decide to buy the book only if I can find it in a bargain bin sometime in the future.

My Books

Discovered this site, http://www.shelfari.com/ where one can list the books one owns. Not yet finished listing all my books, hopefully this page will automatically update itself.

Harry Potter 7

Warning: Spoiler Alert

For those who don't know yet, the latest Harry Potter book leaked about 2 days ago.
Below is what happened in the book. (Sa mga hindi pa nakaka-alam, may nag pirata sa internet ng pinaka-bagong libro ng Harry Potter. Nasa ibaba ang nangyari sa libro.

Good triumphs over Evil
(Wagi ang kabutihan laban sa kasamaan)

Now you know, you can rest in peace.
(Ngayong alam mo na, puede ka ng mamahinga)

Additions to my Reading List

The problem is I'm in the middle of finishing the Aubrey-Maturin series, all 20 of them so these books are way back in the list.

The Newest (Christopher) Tolkien Novel

The Lost Tolkien Novel

"There are two kinds of Tolkien fans. There are the day trippers, the weekend warriors, who've read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and seen the movies and let it go at that. Then there are the hardcore — the Uruk-hai of Tolkien readers — who have delved further, into The Silmarillion and beyond, who seriously grok the deep history and elaborate geography and endless mystical genealogies of Middle Earth."

I don't know if I'm going to be flattered because I've read the Silmarillon and delved into the Lost tales and Unfinished tales, and the tales of Tom Bombadil, thereby making me superior to the "weekend warriors" or insulted because I was not able to read all the tales in the Tales books or that I found most of the stories in the Tales books (that I own, I did not buy all of them) boring and thereby making me less than a "Uruk-hai". I'm just an ordinary orc I guess. Just take the article with a grain of salt however because it's final paragraph is:

Just heed this warning: The Children of Húrin is a darker, bitterer tale than we're used to seeing from Tolkien. Its hero is proud and imperfect and willful — more Boromir than Frodo — and his story is full of accidents and disasters, poisoned barbs and ruinous betrayals and grievous misunderstandings. Which makes sense: after all, if the good guys had beaten the forces of darkness in the First Age, they wouldn't have been stuck with Sauron in the Third.

Which any Tolkien reader would know is incorrect. The good guys did defeat the forces of darkness in the First age, after all if they didn't, there would not have been a Third age.

Most Significant SF & Fantasy Books of the Last 50 Years

from Tikistitch via Pharyngula

Put the ones you've read in bold.

1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
3. Dune, Frank Herbert
4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein (started not finished)
5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
6. Neuromancer, William Gibson
7. Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.
13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
15. Cities in Flight, James Blish
16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett (looking for a cheap copy to buy)
17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey
22. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson
24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl
26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling
27. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
31. Little, Big, John Crowley
32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute
38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
39. Ringworld, Larry Niven
40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner (started, not finished)
45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein
47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks (just started reading)
49. Timescape, Gregory Benford
50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer

15 out of 50, not very good, at least I know the books I should be looking for now

The Stuff of the Universe

or How the Universe got its Spot part 2. Part 1 is here

I am now in the middle of this wonderful book. Janna Levin has made the book accessible to those scientifically challenged, like myself. People already familiar with the scope of the book may still find it interesting because she liberally doses the book with anecdotes about the quirks of the different people that has opened up the body of knowledge she is now trying to explain and expand.

The first few chapters are really a recapitulation of what any college, even high school level student might have taken up. Newtonian physics, Special Relativity, General Relativity, Quantum theory, black Holes and the Big Bang. I have encountered this topics before and quite familiar with them, but two insights (?), points that Ms. Levin makes me realize how beautiful the universe is.

The first one, is that the theory of General Relativity was created because the Special Theory of Relativity conflicted with Newton's Theory of Gravity.

"despite the impeccable condition of Newton's theory, Einstein realized that gravity violated one of the sacred tenets of special relativity. As mentioned, the main conflict with special relativity is that Newtonian gravity allows information to be communicated faster than the speed of light. If the sun were to suddenly collapse, according to Newton's theory we would immediately feel the gravitational change. This is no different from expecting an event in Iceland to instantaneously later the course of events in China. Einstein's theory of special relativity forbids anything, any form of information, to travel faster than the speed of light. Information of any kind must be encoded in the form of energy or mass, after all E=mc2. Information is encrypted on stuff, and stuff travel slower than, or at, the speed of light. The force of gravity should be no exception. Any information about gravitational change, should travel slower than, or at, the speed of light. To ensure this, Einstein had to discover the essence of gravity..." (page 45)

And he did, he had to learn Riemannian geometry to do it, so he did. This is a very concrete example of how the scientific method works, you find a conflict in theories and you find an explanation (theory) that better fits reality. And all of humankind benefits.

The other point is this:

"...In the primordial universe there was essentially only hydrogen and helium with only trace amounts of heavier elements. There was no oxygen and no carbon, and so no water and no basis for organic life. The primordial universe was a sterile cauldron.

Much of the material synthesized in the center of stars gets ejected back out into space when the star dies. Eventually new stars and planets can form from the star's scattered remains. This next generation of stars, and more importantly, their satellite planets, can be made from heavier elements like carbon and oxygen. Plasma can form on the surface of planets. Maybe on one with optimal conditions, complex molecules form and an inanimate broth waits for the sparks to generate organic life. Voila. a few hundred million years later, Africa blooms and here we are.

We have the peculiar realization that we are made of the stuff of stars. I was sitting on the back of my astronomy class at Columbia when I learned this." (page 80)

She may have been in Columbia, but I was in a jeepney commuting to work when I realized this. It was a humbling yet euphoric moment. To be made of the stuff of stars, What a feeling.

To Infinity and Beyond

I've started reading this book, How the Universe got its Spots: Diary of a Finite Time in a Finite Space by Janna Levin. And the operative word here is started. From the title, the book is about the Universe, but before going there, she discusses mathematics and mathematicians.

The first line of the book perked my interest

"Some of the great mathematicians killed themselves. The lore is that their theories drove them mad, though I suspect they were just lonely, isolated by what they knew."

Of course this line, reminded me of my favorite mathematician, EEE. I hope that he is just a little mad, and I fervently hope that he is not lonely.

In the second chapter, she went into a discussion on infinity and the theory of Ludwig Phillip Cantor called transfinite arithmetic. I thought I was getting along fine with the ideas, countable infinite numbers, infinite rational numbers, infinite irrational numbers, and then the bombshell, some sets of infinite numbers are larger than others. HUH? how can this be? Of course she gave an explanation:

"Cantor realized that the set of irrational numbers was infinite in a way that was so huge as to be uncountable. They cannot be represented by one integer divided by another and some require an infinitely long desciption, such as pi or the golden ratio. An uncountable infinity could never be put into one-to-one correspondence with a countable infinity and so the irrational numbers must be of a larger infinity than the natural numbers"

And this is where I got lost. reminding me why I preferred political science as my undergradute course. I will still read the book, hopefully finish and increase my understanding of mathematics and the universe. Hopefully, this book will not drive me mad. If you can find the book, maybe you can join me in this adventure.