The Magician's Book - Laura Miller

This book made me want to read more literary criticism. Or more literature in general. I wish I were half as smart as the author, or could speak so thoughtfully on a subject.

I read and re-read the Chronicles of Narnia as a child. At some point, someone clued me in to the religious symbolism, and while it didn’t relate to me, I still loved the books. I even kept reading them as a kind of comfort food as an adult. Then a couple of years ago, I read comments about them by Philip Pullman (author of the His Dark Materials trilogy), and he talked about the sexism, racism, and elitism in the books. Also about the disturbing view of religion and God (how God functions to punish people in the books, how death is presented as better than life). And I thought Pullman was so on the nose that I couldn’t read them anymore in good conscience. So I was really excited to read a book about Narnia from someone who had also loved them, and also was a skeptic. I was not disappointed.

Laura Miller divides the book into three sections. In the first, she talks about why the Chronicles of Narnia work for children. She talks about the magical writing and the way children approach the books. I thought her observations were dead-on. Then she talks about the problems with the books – the sexism, racism, and elitism that Philip Pullman identifies. She doesn’t pull any punches, but she also observes that if we judge writers by contemporary standards of conduct, we can’t read much great literature. In the third section, she talks about how Lewis’s life influenced his writing of the Chronicles, his friendship with Tolkien, and the context in which the books were written.

One of the unexpected pleasures in this book is reading about what other famous writers think of the Chronicles of Narnia, like Neil Gaiman (Stardust, among much else) and Susanna Clarke (Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, which is also a wonderful book).

I feel so much better educated for having read this discussion of the Chronicles of Narnia. I’m planning to re-read it (and them).

The Magician's Book: A Skeptic's Adventures in Narnia
Laura Miller
2008

Available from Amazon

Why Evolution Is True - Jerry Coyne

A compelling discussion of the evidence for evolution, from geology, genetics, morphology, archeology, and more. He talks about interesting issues I hadn’t even realized were problems. Like, if evolution is incremental, how do different species arise out of the same parent species? The answer is that one group of individuals become isolated from the rest, and then the two groups can evolve separately. This makes a prediction: a species should be most closely related to another species that is separated from them by some kind of geographical barrier. And in fact, this is true. There are seven species of snapping shrimp on the west side of the Isthmus of Panama, and seven species of snapping shrimp on the east side. And the closest relative of each species of snapping shrimp on the west side is one of the seven species on the east side of the Isthmus of Panama. Which is just what you would expect if, 3 million years ago, there were seven species of snapping shrimp near Panama, then the Isthmus of Panama rose out of the water, separating each species into two groups, which then evolved independently of each other.

I know that people who believe evolution is false are not really influenced by the evidence, but I loved learning about the evidence. It made me feel so much smarter and more connected to the natural world.

Why Evolutions Is True
Jerry Coyne
2009

Available from Amazon

Infrastructure - Brian Hayes

Sorry for the long delay. We moved to Maryland in mid-June, and things have been crazy. But hopefully now I'll get back to regular posting.

This is a guide to industrial structures, written in the style of nature guides by a long-time science writer. It’s totally fascinating. He explains all sorts of things I’d never thought to wonder about before. Why do high-tension power lines sometimes have three lines running side-by-side in a triangle formation? (It’s to reduce coronal discharge because the electricity acts as if it is traveling in a single line with the diameter that of the triangle.) What is the difference between open-pit mining and strip-mining? (Open pit digs down in an inverted cone, while strip mining digs up huge swaths of land to get at ore that is widely dispersed but not very deep.) The pictures are awesome, and the author is excellent at explaining complicated things.

We just moved to Maryland, and the very last thing I did before leaving was take a load of trash to the dump. And with my new insight into all things industrial, I discovered the road to the dump is filled interesting things to look at. There was a gas pipeline station, a massive electrical substation, and, of course, the dump. My husband tells me that there’s a dump near our new house, and I can’t wait to go out and see what there is to see there.

I highly recommend this book – it’s going to be my Christmas present for all my geeky friends and relatives.

Infrastructure: A Field Guide to the Industrial Landscape
2008
Brian Hayes

Available from Amazon