My father and I call and text like typical 21st century family, but we also maintain written correspondence like 19th century intellectuals. (Occasionally we even write like them: planning a holiday visit might be phrased as “Cherished father, I propose myself the pleasure of waiting upon you and my mother this Michelmas…”). We’re both English … More Recent Reads: “No Time To Spare”, by Ursula K. Le Guin
Despite his popularity as a science fiction writer, the late author Douglas Adams championed the value of planet Earth. In the late 1980s, he teamed up with zoologist Mark Cawardine for a BBC radio series called Last Chance to See, in which the pair tracks endangered species around the globe. Adams’ 1990 book chronicling the … More Last Chance To See Our Planet: 30 Years, 2 Reviews, 1 Earth
Rise of the Rocket Girls promised an intersection of two of my favorite non-fiction genres: science, and the too-often-overlooked impact of women in history. I expected a book comparable to Radium Girls, which portrays its subjects as memorable personalities in a suspenseful narrative; or Code Girls, the captivating account of female cryptologic analysts during WWII. … More Book Review: “Rise of the Rocket Girls” by Nathalia Holt
I recently undertook a campaign to study more canon science fiction classics, such as Philip K. Dick’s story “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”, inspiration for the iconic movie “Blade Runner”. Although I enjoyed some of the concepts, the dated portrayals of women in both versions rankled me. Thus the early trailers for Blade Runner … More Do Androcentrists Dream of Electric Wombs? A Movie Review of “Blade Runner 2049”
After moving three times in as many years, my Laddie and I vowed to accumulate less stuff. And so last December, instead of exchanging presents, we bought ourselves a single joint gift: a new game console. We agonized for weeks over which system to get, but finally settled on the PS4 because it was the … More Review: “Horizon: Zero Dawn”
As if 2016 hadn’t already stolen enough of our beloved icons, this week we said goodbye to a pair of women who changed the face of science and science fiction, respectively: astrophysicist Vera Rubin, whose work confirmed the existence of dark matter, and actress Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in Star Wars. Rubin made tremendous … More Farewell to Leading Ladies of Science and Sci-Fi
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