标签：book reading

[Japan] Naoki Komuro: “For Those Who Dislike Mathematics—An Engaging Reader That Reveals the Mysteries of Mathematics”

History of Science & Scholarship2007.01.28
[Japan] Naoki Komuro: “For Those Who Dislike Mathematics—An Engaging Reader That Reveals the Mysteries of Mathematics”
[Japanese] Komuro Naoki: “For People Who Hate Mathematics—A Fun Reader Revealing the Mysteries of Mathematics,” translated by Li Yuzhao, Harbin Publishing House, 2nd edition, September 2006 To put it bluntly: a lousy book! More precisely, this is the worst popular mathematics reader I have seen so far! I had never imagined that a popular mathematics book could be written so poorly. This book may perhaps let readers know the “importance” of mathematics, and may perhaps even help some readers come to like mathematics. But this introduction to the book is an insult to mathematics! The issue of the language of God, and the place of the “being” problem in the…
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2007年1月28日
[EN] Frank Furedi: “Where Have All the Intellectuals Gone?” —☆

Culture & Public Commentary2007.01.28
[EN] Frank Furedi: “Where Have All the Intellectuals Gone?” —☆
[English] Frank Furedi: Where Have All the Intellectuals Gone? Translated by Dai Congrong, Jiangsu People’s Publishing House, September 2005 Page 1 A number of unforeseen circumstances prompted me to write this book. In May 2001, I wrote an article for the Sunday Times titled “What Are Universities For Nowadays?” in which I aired some of my concerns about the direction in which British universities were developing. The article focused on the relative lack of academic stimulation and challenge on today’s campuses. I recounted some of the stories students had told me about how deeply bored they were with their university careers; I pointed out that all too often students could…
book reading culture notes truth
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2007年1月28日
[U.S.] Stephen J. Pyne: “A Brief History of Fire”

History of Science & Scholarship2007.01.27
[U.S.] Stephen J. Pyne: “A Brief History of Fire”
[Mei] Stephen J. Pyne: A Brief History of Fire, translated by Mei Xueqin, Niu Ruihua, Jia Jun, et al., reviewed and edited by Chen Rongxia, Sanlian Bookstore, April 2006 This is a distinctive work of environmental history. Taking “fire” as its theme, the author narrates the history of interactions among fire, nature, and human beings. This book prompts people to rethink the relationship between ecology and humanity. How should human beings treat the environment in order to be “natural”? Whether in the eyes of technocrats or environmentalists, allowing a great fire to rage unchecked through forests and wilderness is by no means a good thing. To the former, it is…
book reading culture technology notes
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2007年1月27日
[English] John Barrow: “Art and the Universe”

History of Science & Scholarship2007.01.27
[English] John Barrow: “Art and the Universe”
[English] John Barrow: *Art and the Universe*, translated by Shu Yunxiang, Shanghai Scientific & Technical Publishers, October 2001 I had read half of this book earlier, and today I finished the other half as well. Barrow’s range is quite broad; the subjects covered in this book include astronomy, geography, mathematics, physics, history, culture, religion, language, fine arts, music, and so on, so it is hard to give a concise overview. On the Peking University website for the history and philosophy of science, there is an introduction: http://hps.phil.pku.edu.cn/viewarticle.php?sid=666 But even there, it seems, the book’s distinctive qualities are not really pointed out. In fact, cosmology is by no means the theme…
book reading culture notes history of science
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2007年1月27日
Robert E.D. Clark: “Science and Christian Faith”

History of Science & Scholarship2007.01.26
Robert E.D. Clark: “Science and Christian Faith”
Robert E.D. Clark: “Science and Christian Faith,” trans. Huang Huo, Life Meaning Press This odd little book was picked up secondhand on Kongfuzi, and it seems not to be a proper publication, because apart from the author, translator, and publisher, all other publication information, including the date of publication, is missing. The publisher is based in Hong Kong, but the book is in simplified Chinese. Even so, it comes from the renowned Catholic Fu Jen University, not from some ordinary street-preaching pamphlet, and it has a certain scholarly quality. Page105 and following Let us list some of the ways faith enters into science: 1. Scientists must believe that there…
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2007年1月26日
[U.S.] Charles Simpson: “Doing Scholarship Honestly—From Freshman to Professor”

History of Science & Scholarship2007.01.26
[U.S.] Charles Simpson: “Doing Scholarship Honestly—From Freshman to Professor”
[U.S.] Charles Simpson: “Doing Scholarship Honestly — From Freshman Year to Professor,” trans. Gao Yuanbao and Li Xiaojie, East China Normal University Press, July 2006 This book is utterly meaningless to me, but I still bought it: first, to keep as part of my collection; second, to see whether it was worth recommending to others (the verdict: not much need). The book is simply about the most basic standards of integrity and norms in college study and research. Honesty is not a skill, but merely an attitude; many things ought to be known without being taught. Of course, after all, young people’s self-awareness is not always sufficient, so these old…
book reading notes scholarship education
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2007年1月26日
[U.S.] George Marsden: “Understanding American Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism”

Culture & Public Commentary2007.01.26
[U.S.] George Marsden: “Understanding American Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism”
[U.S.] George Marsden: *Understanding American Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism* Xing Ding posted on 2007-01-26 00:20:35 [U.S.] George Marsden: *Understanding American Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism*, translated by Song Jijie, proofread by Chen Zuoren, Central Compilation & Translation Press, May 2004 Introduction, p. 1 Fundamentalists are evangelical believers who are furious about certain things. That sounds simple, yet it is extremely precise. Jerry Falwell even took it as a vivid definition of fundamentalism. Introduction, p. 4 The basic beliefs of evangelicalism include (1) the Reformation doctrine of the Bible’s ultimate authority; (2) the Bible’s record of God’s real, historical acts of salvation; (3) the salvation of eternal life on the basis of Christ’s atonement;…
book reading culture science notes
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2007年1月26日
[U.S.] George O. Abel et al., Science and the Weird

History of Science & Scholarship2007.01.24
[U.S.] George O. Abel et al., Science and the Weird
[U.S.] George O. Abel et al., *Science and the Strange*, jointly translated and compiled by the China Institute of Popular Science Research, Shanghai Scientific and Technical Publishers, September 1989 I picked up this old book on Kongfuzi.com (its condition is rather poor; it seems to have been soaked in water, though that does not affect reading it). This book was written by many renowned scientists in an effort to push back against mystical science. It deals with astrology, water monsters and wild men, spiritualism, paranormal powers, witchcraft therapy, the Bermuda Triangle, aliens, UFOs, and other fashionable doctrines of mystical science. Besides a few specialist scientists from various fields, the authors…
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2007年1月24日
[U.S.] Neil Postman: “The Disappearance of Childhood” —☆

AI & the Future of Technology2007.01.24
[U.S.] Neil Postman: “The Disappearance of Childhood” —☆
[American] Neil Postman: *The Disappearance of Childhood*, translated by Wu Yanlian, Guangxi Normal University Press, 2004 This is also one of those books from which I can hardly bear not to excerpt everything; I strongly recommend it! However, since I already made Postman’s *Amusing Ourselves to Death* one of the “Little Ancient Quarterly Recommendations,” I won’t designate this one as a “quarterly recommendation” as well. Like *Amusing Ourselves to Death*, *The Disappearance of Childhood* also takes media criticism as its theme, but its perspective is quite different—*Amusing Ourselves to Death* is concerned with the passing of reason and thought, whereas *The Disappearance of Childhood* is concerned with the passing of…
book reading culture notes media
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2007年1月24日
[Japan] Yamazaki Shigeaki: Misconduct by Scientists—Fabrication, Falsification, and Plagiarism

History of Science & Scholarship2007.01.23
[Japan] Yamazaki Shigeaki: Misconduct by Scientists—Fabrication, Falsification, and Plagiarism
[Japan] Yamasaki Shigeaki: “Misconduct by Scientists—Fabrication, Falsification, Plagiarism,” translated by Yang Jian Cheng Yuanyuan Yan Lingna, Tsinghua University Press, May 2005 This book is not bad, but compared with the one in the Eight Facets of the Wind series, *People Who Betrayed the Truth*, it is probably still far inferior. As the authors of these two books have both made clear, exposing scientists’ misconduct is by no means motivated by some kind of “schadenfreude,” nor is it a form of entertainment, like a tabloid reporter exposing scandals. Rather, it is about facing up to problems and prompting thought. Scientists are not gods; as human beings, they will always make mistakes…
book reading science notes scholarship
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2007年1月23日