Current and imminent reading:

The Ancestor’s Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution, by Richard Dawkins

Thanks to 3 Quarks Daily for pointing me in the direction of this work. I sincerely hope you’ll take a look at Dawkins’s 2004 “Notable Book of the Year” (and, yes, I know it’s 2006, now, thank you – but I was freakin’ busy, okay?), because right about now – with all the stupid things going on out there with regard to the ludicrous attacks on the theory of evolution by ignorant/backward people – it’s a very good time to bone up on your scientific knowledge and understanding.

The Moon of Hoa Binh, by Cong Huyen Ton Nu Nha Trang and William L. Pensinger

This is what I am currently attempting to read, and, let me tell you, it is no small undertaking, this one. It is a 1704 page challenge, called “the Vietnam War’s War & Peace” by one reviewer. Here is the official synopsis-in-a-nutshell:

Set in the intelligence underworld of Saigon in 1968 and at a scientific conference in Kyoto nine years later, the novel involves a murder mystery, a scientific exegesis, a metaphysical treatise, a psychological diatribe, through which aspects of the Vietnamese and Japanese cultures and their contemporary histories are explored.

Yeah; it’s so like that. I recommend, if you are so inclined, that you visit the site dedicated to this obscure, fascinating work. The site offers a longer synopsis, information about the authors (who are married), bonus materials and “Genealogical Mosaics of [the main character's] Identity Transparency”.

Scientific American (Special Edition)

“The Frontiers of Physics” is the title, and the issue covers everything from surpassing the standard model and the future of string theory to violations of relativity and the mysteries of mass. None of which I am especially knowledgeable about, but all of which I am interested in.