Gregory Todd Williams

It would seem that my need to meticulously record things has replaced my 2004 list of beer with a new 2005 list of the books I’ve read. I’ve read very little since the beginning of the month when my new computer arrived, but here’s a list of books I’ve read since the beginning of January:

The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder

This is a wonderful account of the people and effort involved in bringing the Data General 32-bit MV/8000 “Eagle” to life.

Author’s Choice Monthly Issue 20 by Kim Stanley Robinson

This is a hard-to-come-by collection of A Sensitive Dependence on Initial Conditions, Muir on Shasta, and History of the Twentieth Century, With Illustrations, published in 1991 and found at Powell’s. I had read (but didn’t remember) Muir on Shasta and History of the Twentieth Century, but they’re both just as good the second time around. A Sensitive Dependence on Initial Conditions is a great look at history, possible worlds, and … well, a sensitive dependence on initial conditions.

Forty Signs of Rain by Kim Stanley Robinson

The first in a new KSR trilogy (!) dealing with global warming. This was an exceptionally quick read, and a great story. I particularly liked the book starting with an NSF grant proposal for “Mathematical and Algorithmic Analysis of Palindromic Codons as Predictors of a Gene’s Protein Expression.” Sounds similar to the (long-term) goals of the Genomics Group at Wheaton.

Sojourner: An Insider’s View of the Mars Pathfinder Mission by Andrew Mishkin

A great look at the rover-side of the Pathfinder mission, its history, people, failures, and successes.

Round Ireland With a Fridge by Tony Hawks

An absolutely hysterical account of Tony Hawks attempt to win a bet by hitchhiking around the circumference of Ireland with a fridge in one month. Along the way, he and the fridge get into all sorts of great adventures.