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These are not affiliate links. I will not earn any money if you buy something from this list. You will however support authors I like, which will hopefully encourage them to produce more work that we can all enjoy. I have always been a reader. When I was young, I would stock up on books before family trips. In college, I was a regular at the original Borders. My first summer in Ann Arbor, my apartment was across from a bookstore, which was cool. During the years of working on my PhD, I did not read as much as I would like because there was guilt that I would be doing anything not oriented towards finishing my dissertation. These days I am a Kindle addict. I value being able to download samples of books not because I can try before I buy but because I don’t spend money on books I don’t have time to read. When I worked downtown in Chicago, I read on the train. When I started working in the suburbs and had to drive, I discovered Audible. I almost miss commuting because I don’t spend ...

History of the Universe

November 30, 2023

The history of the universe is the story of ideas. In the beginning, the Big Bang spewed the ides of physics that became the universe. The idea of physics...light and matter and energy and how two atoms interact to form a molecule is the original origin story. In time, those physical reactions led to the formation of solar systems and planets. On at least one of those planets the right combination of physical reactions led to biological life. The idea of biology...information can be communicated through genetic codes. Biological organisms were not simply reacting to external stimuli the way that atoms did. They interacted. Evolution describes how a biological entity adapted to its environment. A butterfly adopts a certain type of color to appear to be a butterfly that is poisonous. This allows the butterfly to be fruitful and multiply. Seeds from plants discover ways to spread their influence... Sticking to animal fur... ...