The trilogy goes over several years, from the Games selection and completion in book 1, the follow-up games in book 2 and the post-2nd-games period in book 3.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Finished (E-Reader) - "Mockingbird" - Suzanne Collins
"Mockingbird" finished the "Hunger Games" trilogy - a very nice series of books, fast read. Central character is a younger teenage girl in post-apocalyptic U.S. (seems like). The Hunger Games are a Survivor-type game, but the characters actually die - only one survivor is permitted. Each region has two champions chosen at random, one male, one female, with the exception of the Capital region, which runs the games, and uses the annual event as a reminder of their win of the civil war.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Finished (Audiobook) - "The Hidden Reality" - Brian Greene
"The Hidden Reality" is a nice addition to my current physics streak.
Ran across some nicely explained phenomenon like:
- Truly infinite size of the universe means that there are only so many re-combinations of atoms in any given region, so by definition, there have to be "matched" regions of the universe, as infinity allows for the same combinations to exist by statistics alone.
- the surface area of a black hole contains the maximum amount of information possible in an area (can't remember exactly, but something like 1 bit per Plank lenght or squared Plank length). This leads to a weird model of the universe where the contents of the universe can be considered holographic displays of the information contained on a distant "surface" region
- creation of new universes may be ongoing and relatively frequent - a few initial conditions may force expansion and creation. - white holes play a part.
- a nice chapter on whether or not we could tell if we were in a computer-simulated universe. Short answer - no (they can always tweak our memories etc. if they want to) - longer answer - it might be difficult to maintain the illusion because of inherent rounding that would be required on fundamental parameters of the universe. However, it may be that the universe itself is not continuous, and eventually there are specific discrete values that underly reality that are not rounded or estimated.
- a common theme is the non-centrality (no longer earth in centre of universe, no longer sun in centre of galaxy, galaxy of any particular importance of universe) that extends to the universe being one of a multi-verse, each multiverse being established on every possible combination of key variables (ratio of electrons to protons, e, mass of elementary particles...). Thus, the particular values we uncover are really not "meaningful", they just happen to be the values of one of many universes that would provide conditions that give rise to intelligent life. This also provides a possibility of a universe that is made up of ultimate nothing (not even space, time, etc.) which really gets the guts moving problematically.
I must say that this is the first book that made me re-think the basic premise - maybe infinite doesn't mean "infinite", maybe the models are showing the absurdity of the underlying premises, as opposed to revealing heretofore un-imagined worlds and dimensions. Perhaps the very consistency in the mathematical models of the universe show that it is a mathematical, not physical, model they are explaining.
Ran across some nicely explained phenomenon like:
- Truly infinite size of the universe means that there are only so many re-combinations of atoms in any given region, so by definition, there have to be "matched" regions of the universe, as infinity allows for the same combinations to exist by statistics alone.
- the surface area of a black hole contains the maximum amount of information possible in an area (can't remember exactly, but something like 1 bit per Plank lenght or squared Plank length). This leads to a weird model of the universe where the contents of the universe can be considered holographic displays of the information contained on a distant "surface" region
- creation of new universes may be ongoing and relatively frequent - a few initial conditions may force expansion and creation. - white holes play a part.
- a nice chapter on whether or not we could tell if we were in a computer-simulated universe. Short answer - no (they can always tweak our memories etc. if they want to) - longer answer - it might be difficult to maintain the illusion because of inherent rounding that would be required on fundamental parameters of the universe. However, it may be that the universe itself is not continuous, and eventually there are specific discrete values that underly reality that are not rounded or estimated.
- a common theme is the non-centrality (no longer earth in centre of universe, no longer sun in centre of galaxy, galaxy of any particular importance of universe) that extends to the universe being one of a multi-verse, each multiverse being established on every possible combination of key variables (ratio of electrons to protons, e, mass of elementary particles...). Thus, the particular values we uncover are really not "meaningful", they just happen to be the values of one of many universes that would provide conditions that give rise to intelligent life. This also provides a possibility of a universe that is made up of ultimate nothing (not even space, time, etc.) which really gets the guts moving problematically.
I must say that this is the first book that made me re-think the basic premise - maybe infinite doesn't mean "infinite", maybe the models are showing the absurdity of the underlying premises, as opposed to revealing heretofore un-imagined worlds and dimensions. Perhaps the very consistency in the mathematical models of the universe show that it is a mathematical, not physical, model they are explaining.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Read (Comics) "FF#1" and "Fantastic Four 587-588"
At the end of Fantastic Four 587, Johnny Storm (the Human Torch) sacrificed himself to save his teammate and family. 588 was the followup and funeral. Not generally a fan of "death" stories, as they generally are revised and thus are somewhat of a cheat.
FF#1 though, is a nice re-visioning of the Fantastic Four, with Spider-man taking the place of the Human Torch. At least the first issue seems to capture some of the feeling of the original - The Thing more brooding over the Torch's death is similar to The Thing that was formed during the original space mission. Marvel has done a lot of damage to the Spider-man character over the last few years, it is nice to see him away from his home books, where we can ignore the "deal with the devil" and the "sorry, fans, that you bought the deal with the devil - boy are you dumb" followup and see the character a little more like the "real" one.
FF#1 though, is a nice re-visioning of the Fantastic Four, with Spider-man taking the place of the Human Torch. At least the first issue seems to capture some of the feeling of the original - The Thing more brooding over the Torch's death is similar to The Thing that was formed during the original space mission. Marvel has done a lot of damage to the Spider-man character over the last few years, it is nice to see him away from his home books, where we can ignore the "deal with the devil" and the "sorry, fans, that you bought the deal with the devil - boy are you dumb" followup and see the character a little more like the "real" one.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Finished (Audiobook) - "The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet" - Neil deGrasse Tyson
Liked this book - a "history" of the demotion of Pluto. Lots of letters, arguments, poems, songs - it is interesting how much feeling goes into the classification of celestial objects.
It is nice to hear the types of discussion that go on in taxonomy - lists and labels aren't really scientific, the science underlies them, but the actual organization and definition can go many different ways - made for interesting read.
It is nice to hear the types of discussion that go on in taxonomy - lists and labels aren't really scientific, the science underlies them, but the actual organization and definition can go many different ways - made for interesting read.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Finished (E-Reader) - "Catching Fire" - Suzanne Collins
Read the 2nd book in "the Hunger Games" trilogy. The young folk are in trouble as they get chosen again to compete in the Hunger Games. Rebellion is brewin'.
A good read, very fast - killed it in a day. Looking forward to the third.
A good read, very fast - killed it in a day. Looking forward to the third.
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