Nerd Books and The Mother Hips

I somewhat unintentionally read 2 extra nerdy books in a row and I really liked them both. (Surprise, surprise.) So this week is a double book review week! Both books are extremely well written, AND written for normal human beings to read, not just science/math people. I promise.

1)      Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100 by Michio Kaku

Physics of the Future reads like a science fiction novel, but it's real life. Sort of. Kaku breaks down different scientific advances in 30 year increments. He talks about some serious science, but does it in a totally understandable way. Micro-chipped clothing, virtual doctors, and internet-enabled contact lenses will all play a part in our lives sometime in the next 100 year,s according to Kaku and the 300-some scientists he consulted with.  Most of the ideas in this book blew my mind. Take the space elevator, for example. According to Kaku, in the next 100ish years, society will figure out a way to send an elevator cable made of carbon nanotubes into space where it will hang out unsupported thanks to gravity and the earth's rotation. Then that cable will be used to TRANSPORT HUMANS INTO SPACE. IN AN ELEVATOR.  To quote Liz Lemon, "What the what?!"

2)      Simon: The Genius in my Basement ­­by Alexander Masters

 I had never heard of Simon Norton before I read an article about this book on NPR. He is a British math prodigy who, by all accounts, was headed to greatness (crazy high IQ, college degree at 15, PhD from Cambridge, etc) for his work on simple finite groups, but instead left academia and became a reclusive, possibly crazy, public transportation enthusiast.

Author Alexander Masters (left) with Simon Norton

The book is less about Simon and more about the author's process of writing about Simon. He is quite the character (he eats a lot of canned fish and has a bit of a hoarding problem.) But it also includes lots of information about Simon's work on simple finite groups (which I still don't really understand) including something called The Monster, but it's done with cheeky cartoons and jokes. And even though I didn't get the point behind simple finite groups, I could still somewhat understand and appreciate his work. (It also made me really glad I'm not a mathematician.)

This week's hot jam is Single Spoon by The Mother Hips. I was recently flipping through some Pandora stations I hadn't listened to in awhile (I've been pretty exclusively listening to 60's Oldies Radio) and Single Spoon came on. According to Pandora, I had given it a thumbs up at some point, but I didn't remember it. I'm glad I got to hear it again, because it's great. I like the old-timey feel and it has some great lyrics. I particularly like this part of the chorus: "Single spoon/Are you stupid?/Don't you know/That it takes two/To do the spoon" I love that they refer to spooning like a dance move. I also the verse about a pager. Yes, there is a whole verse about a pager. (To be fair, the song was released in 1996.)