Archive for Reading
Last month I finished Green Mars, the second part of the Mars Trilogy by famous US sci-fi writer Kim Stanley Robinson. After the first book, this one is even better and longer.
I always liked the science fiction genre as well as sciences - both social and hard ones - and truly loved this book as it contains the best of both aspects and is truly fascinating.
Other aspects of the book that I enjoyed : the depth of relations between characters, the politics, the terraformation of Mars… All this lead me to give a grade of 19/20.
Last month I finished a fantastic science fiction book I had been reading for three months. As it is the first part of a trilogy, I think I will stay on the Red planet for a long time.
Kim Stanley Robinson is a sheer genius and if you like sci-fi, I strongly recommend you reading his books. However, he is quite a fond of science, real science.
His book is thus literally packed with data on Mars itself, but also on many sciences including genetics, bio-engineering, and yes dear reader, environmental questions. Continue reading »
Nouveau logo, nouvelle maquette, nouveau site Internet mais toujours la même passion pour l’astronomie, le magazine Ciel & Espace revient encore plus fort.
J’étais avant de lire ce mensuel plutôt intéressé par l’astronomie, mais depuis que je le retrouve dans ma boite aux lettres chaque mois, c’est une véritable passion.
Je détaillerai dans l’article d’aujourd’hui ce que j’ai retenu de cette nouvelle formule ainsi que de Ciel & Espace en général. Continue reading »
Odeur du temps, par Jean d’Ormesson
Posted by: on March 23, 2008 in Tags: Culture, En Français, Reading
J’ai fini le mois dernier Odeur du temps par Jean d’Ormesson de l’Académie Française. Excellent à plus d’un titre, il constitue selon moi un must.
Un véritable plaidoyer pour la lecture, c’est ce que propose cet ouvrage qui est un recueil d’articles que l’auteur a publié notamment dans le Figaro des années 1970 à nos jours.
Combler ses lacunes de culture littéraire “classique” devient un plaisir et même quelque chose allant de soi tant ce livre donne envie de lire. Continue reading »
Terra Economica - mars 2008
Posted by: on March 19, 2008 in Tags: En Français, housing, Reading, Sustainable development
Au sommaire de Terra Economica ce mois-ci, on peut lire entre autres une série d’articles très intéressante sur l’isolation des bâtiments en France.
Un sujet passionnant pour moi depuis que je m’ intéresse à ce sujet primordial depuis la rédaction de mon mémoire de Master.
Terra Economica prouve encore ce mois-ci qu’un autre monde, plus humain et plus respectueux de l’environnement est possible. Continue reading »
David Bowie once sung that there is Life on Mars, but scientifically this has to be proved. However, there are already avalanches of carbon dioxide ice.
The picture on the left was taken last month by a NASA mission. It shows clearly that such a phenomenon occurs in the Northern Hemisphere of the planet.
This happens as I am reading Red Mars, an excellent sci-fi book. To learn out more on both the avalanches and my reading, I invite you to Continue reading »
Review of Plan B 2.0 by Lester R Brown
Posted by: on February 3, 2008 in Tags: Environment, Reading, Sustainable development
As I just finished this book from the renowned founder of the Earth Policy Institute, I will give you my review of what I consider an essential reading on environmentalism.
I consider it a must read as it brings not only solutions to most problems our Planet and Mankind are facing, but also hope for a better world.
Indeed, the book provides concrete and realistic solutions to vital issues like soil erosion, water and energy shortages or overpopulation. Continue reading »
The Revenge of Gaïa by James Lovelock
Posted by: on December 30, 2007 in Tags: Climate change, Culture, Reading, Sciences
I read this month The Revenge of Gaïa, the latest book from one of the major ecological thinkers of our time, Dr. James Lovelock.
This book is not optimistic as the author believes it is already too late to work on sustainable development and that we have to operate a sustainable retreat.
I truly enjoyed this as there are many elements worth reading, such as why nuclear is a chance and not a menace for us or what could be the solutions. Continue reading »
My selection of books I read in 2007
Posted by: on December 20, 2007 in Tags: Culture, Reading, Sustainable development
As we are now near Christmas, and as I am willing to do a best of of what I read in the past months, I will outline in today’s article my favourite readings of 2007.
From science fiction and comic books, to serious readings on sustainable development and astrophotography, I recommend you a dozen articles, one per month.
This way you will find some ideas of great books for your loved ones or yourselves. And if you really want to offer me a book, you can a look at this page. Continue reading »
Collapse, how societies choose to fail or succeed
Posted by: on August 23, 2007 in Tags: Culture, Reading, Sustainable development
The book I review today is an excellent one on history, geography and sustainable development. Dr. Jared Diamond’s idea when writing it was to compile facts and figures about societies’ collapses and failures.
This is done in order to allow us not to repeat the same mistakes done by the Maya, the Vikings in Greenland and many ancient civilizations that ended dramatically.
During nearly 600 pages, the author gives an impressive class on those civilizations and why they failed and died. The last part of Collapse is dedicated to how WE can avoid big problems in the very next decades. Perhaps the best book I read this year.
