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Current Non-Fiction reads

Just started Katherine Hayles' How We Became Posthuman.

In this age of DNA computers and artificial intelligence, information is becoming disembodied even as the "bodies" that once carried it vanish into virtuality. While some marvel at these changes, envisioning consciousness downloaded into a computer or humans "beamed" Star Trek-style, others view them with horror, seeing monsters brooding in the machines. In How We Became Posthuman, N. Katherine Hayles separates hype from fact, investigating the fate of embodiment in an information age.

Hayles relates three interwoven stories: how information lost its body, that is, how it came to be conceptualized as an entity separate from the material forms that carry it; the cultural and technological construction of the cyborg; and the dismantling of the liberal humanist "subject" in cybernetic discourse, along with the emergence of the "posthuman."

Ranging widely across the history of technology, cultural studies, and literary criticism, Hayles shows what had to be erased, forgotten, and elided to conceive of information as a disembodied entity. Thus she moves from the post-World War II Macy Conferences on cybernetics to the 1952 novel Limbo by cybernetics aficionado Bernard Wolfe; from the concept of self-making to Philip K. Dick's literary explorations of hallucination and reality; and from artificial life to postmodern novels exploring the implications of seeing humans as cybernetic systems.

Although becoming posthuman can be nightmarish, Hayles shows how it can also be liberating. From the birth of cybernetics to artificial life, How We Became Posthuman provides an indispensable account of how we arrived in our virtual age, and of where we might go from here.
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Sounds interesting. Bring on the Blade Runner references.
 
King Solomon's Ring, by Konrad Lorenz .
Actually, i'm reading the french book -- Il parlait avec les mammifères, les oiseaux et les poissons.

Professor Lorenz describes his main findings and thoughts up to that point concerning life and scientific studies, vividly and easy to understand. He tells us about wolves, fish, greylag geese, ducks and about animal personalities that became famous, such as the jackdaw Tschock ( Le Choucas ), or duckling "Martina".
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And also,
Here Am I - Where Are You? The Behavior of the Greylag Goose - Konrad Lorenz .
 
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Techniques de la Spéléologie sous-glaciaire - French Federation of Speleology (Alpine )
Beer good have a quick look at it ! They talk in french ( less the first sentence ) , but you can understand the essence of this journey, adventure and research .
Besides, you already know about Ice and Mixed Climbing :D
 
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^^ Gaaah. Not a hobby I'd pick myself. :)

I'm reading anthropologist Lasse Berg's Skymningssång i Kalahari (Evensong in Kalahari), the sequel to his previous book Dawn in Kalahari which I'm told is supposed to be out in English though I can't find it right now. In both books, he traces mankind's development over the last 150,000 years, from hunter-gatherers in southern Africa to the modern world, how we spread and more importantly, why. He makes some very interesting arguments - for instance, unlike a lot of people today, he argues that mankind's success isn't because we're clever bastards who destroy and kill everything we come across, but because we are fundamentally friendly people who only got as far as we did because we cooperate and solve conflicts better than any other animal. (Within a given group, of course.) I saw him give a speech recently, and he's a fantastic speaker - stepped up in front of a few dozen frozen lily-white Stockholmers wrapped in overcoats and said "How wonderful to be greeted by all these fangless African smiles! And you walked all the way here on your hind legs too, you're all adorable!" Brilliant speaker, brilliant writer.
 
Whoah. Sounds interesting. Almost like a companion to Guns, Germs, and Steel.

Let me know when it comes out in English.
 
I'm about halfway through The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic--and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson. All I can say is, thank heaven for clean water!
 
I am reading Me and My Dad by Paul O'neill w/Burton Rocks
One of the core players of The New York Yankess dynasty of the late 90's and early 2000's, Paul O'Neill wore the pinstripes with pride and was beloved by all Yankee fans. Paul writes from the heart in this book describing his relationship with his father and how influential his father was to his success as a major league ball player.
 
beer good said:
^^ Gaaah. Not a hobby I'd pick myself. :)
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Free-style :buttrock
Technique des Sondages Sous-glaciaires par André Bourgin
Forages glaciaires à grande profondeur. Etudes glaciologiques.
L'exploration des glaciers en profondeur, travaux à la Mer de Glace. Ract-Madoux (M.) et Reynaud (L.)
 
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Triomphe et tragédies à l'Eiger : A la conquête de la face nord 1932-1938 - Rainer Rettner, Agnès Couzy .
Petit manuel de météo montagne, Jean-Jacques Thillet et Dominique Schueller .
Petit manuel de médecine de montagne - De l'ampoule à l'oedème pulmonaire et de la randonnée à l'expé - Emmanuel Cauchy- aka Docteur Vertical -

apmcdn.priceminister.com_photo_rettner_rainer_triomphe_et_tragc802cb5b592a8223eeff67e075e3ce87.jpg​
 
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I'm currently reading A Sense of The World by Jason Roberts. It's a biography of James Holman, a blind man in the 19th century who traveled the world. It's great so far!
 
I'm currently reading The Fashion File: Advice, Tips, and Inspiration from the Costume Designer of Mad Men as my break from coursework revision reading.
 
Currently reading The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature by David Suzuki and Amanda McConnell. This book is a good reminder that we need to respect and tread lightly on this planet if we're to leave it for our children and grandchildren
 
L'exploration géologique des Alpes franco-italiennes, Jacques Debelmas .
Geologie des chaines alpines issues de la Téthys, Jean Aubouin .
Paysages: Itinéraires d'un géologue et Le tour de France d'un géologue : nos paysages ont une histoire, François Michel .
Roches et minéraux du monde, Ronald Bonevitz .
Médecine de l'alpinisme et des sports de montagne, Jean-Paul Richalet et Jean-Pierre Herry .
 
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