Exploring the Universe

The urge to blog is striking again.  It comes in brief, infrequent spurts….always inspired by something.  The inspiration can come from watching Oprah, death of a pet, or viewing TED videos, but today it comes from reading. 

I’ve always been an avid reader.  Some of my earliest memories are of visiting the library and picking out books that would whisk me away from everyday life.  I had a talent for finding books on the most arcane topics.  One I remember was about how the white migration of North America displaced the American Indian.  The one passage that stayed with me all these many years was of an Indian chief who stated that the white man could not be stopped after he held and studied a revolver for the first time. 

Another memorable book was about life on Parris Island during World War II.  One small incident was a hurricane striking the island and the subsequent disruption of daily activities.  Don’t remember now why I was so taken with the telling of that tale, but I remember talking about it at the dinner table that evening.  Within just a couple of seconds my Dad’s ears perked up and he started asking questions.  Turns out that he was on Parris Island during that hurricane, he filled in the details that the book left out.

So, for me reading has always been exciting.  I’m prone toward the non-fiction on a wide variety of topics.  Currently it’s Bill Bryson’s book, “The History of Almost Everything”.  The book is somewhat mistitled  as at page 180 it really seems to be about the history of science, which as it turns out is fascinating.

The older I get the more I marvel at how little I learned during my formal education.  If I had a ‘do over’ I would insist on being home schooled and I would explore topics like this book covers.  Who knew the history of science could be so fascinating….and funny!!

Bryson goes back to the 1300/1400’s and delves into how scientific theories were formed, who the characters are that formed them and how wrong they could be.  I never knew, as an example, that there was/is so much controversy over how old the Earth is and the Universe for that matter.  I mean, in the big scope of things, who really cares!!!

I have now been enlightened on things like ‘quarks’ and ‘fission’ and ‘super conductors’.  I have always known that Lead and CFC’s were very bad for us and the environment, but I never actually knew why…now I do.  It’s also interesting to learn how difficult well educated minds can be to change.  Bryson shares over and over again how science has moved forward and the implications of getting the leading scientists to embrace the new theories.  Plate tectonics is an excellent example.  

So, I still have 350 pages of my ebook to read before the Cincinnati Public Library reclaims it.  But I think I’ll get it finished in plenty of time and may move on to another Bryson book “In A Sunburned Country” ….Bryon’s take on Australia. 

Plenty of time to explore even more!!!