Sunday, August 13, 2006

Not the best time

This was not the best weekend to fly! (but perhaps we should be thankful people are still dressed on the plane). And, since it was a quick trip, I didn't check any bags which helped with all the flight changes, but it meant that not only did I have to buy all new sundries including toothpaste when I got there, but then I had to throw them out on the return!

Was reading Susskind's latest The Cosmic Landscape: String Theory and the Illusion of Intelligent Design, and one of the flight attendants asked me about it. She knew a bit about string theory and was very interested in time. I was impressed, though I did find it strange that she kept insisting something about how physicists need to take time into account, despite my protestations that time indeed plays a pretty big role.

I'm not done with the book but my general impression is favorable. Some of his explanations seem better than other popularizations, and has narration is less dry. He's got a goal for the book and simply needs to educate you to get you there. Other books take an approach which seems more along the lines of "let's keep feeding you different stuff till you explode." I've got a few issues with some of his arguments, but I appreciate hearing them.

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