And now for something totally different...my summer reading list!  I know you’re excited now!  On occasion I stray away from my red necked-ness and delve into the socially unacceptable pastime of reading.  You thought “Horton Hears a Who!” would have taxed my brain beyond recovery, didn’t you?  Au contraire!  Without further ado, here goes:

Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson – Okay, this one is about as thick as a can of Spam lying on its side.  Don’t let that scare you off.  It starts when he was a young’un and goes all the way through till he died.  He wasn’t the best husband in the world nor the best father, but probably the greatest genius of all time.   He published his greatest works in 1905, four papers that changed the course of our universe.  His involvement with the atomic bomb was virtually non-existent.  His German roots kept him from being able to receive security clearances and some people even declared he was a communist.  Einstein, a pacifist, despised authority and wanted little more than to perform his “thought experiments”, go sailing and visit with friends.  This book provides a wealth of information about Einstein based on his personal memos and letters.  This is a fabulous book if you are an Einstein fan because you actually get to see how human he was.

A Brief History of Time by Stephan Hawking – Steve, Steve, Steve...you are a brilliant physicist but your writing sucks.  I’ve read this book a couple of times and thought I was ignorant, but I’ve now come to the conclusion that it’s not me.  Prof. Hawking is unequivocally the greatest living genius of our time.  He holds the same title that Sir Isaac Newton did back in the 1600’s.  That’s all well and good, but Steve, you need to break this thing down a little better.  If you know someone that claims they “understood” everything this book was about, then you know a world acclaimed physicist or a damn good liar.  Actually, this book does a pretty good job with one of the most difficult subjects possible.  Don’t read it once and give up.  Hang in there and you’ll get a better understanding of why you haven’t won a Nobel Prize in Physics.

Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman by Richard P. Feynman – This is a wonderful book by a truly colorful character.  Dick Feynman worked on the Manhattan Project with Teller, Oppenheimer, Niels Bohr, and a cast of thousands.  Feynman was a true brainiac that loved to think just to be thinking.  He delved into everything from physics to biology, from music to women.  He loved to play the drums and hang out with prostitutes, took up drawing and painting just to see if he could, was an accomplished safe-cracker and, of course, a Nobel Prize winner.  He had a great sense of humor but I’d bet he’d get on your nerves after while.  Read this book and see just how wacky a genius can be.

1776 by David McCullough – If you want to know what America REALLY stands for, read this book!  This should be required reading for every American citizen.  It provides a small piece of the puzzle of how the 1770’s colonists, with little more than a chest full of pride and a couple of stale biscuits, defeated Britain, the greatest power in the world.  The only problem I had was that I had seen the movie and I pictured Jeff Daniels as George Washington through the entire book.

E=mc2 by David Bodanis – That’s supposed to be E=mc squared, but I can’t do a superscript.  This is a very good book if you want to know the how’s and why’s of this famous equation.  It traces the equation from it’s conception to present day and how it has enabled us to make scientific leaps like no other time in history.  But if the idea of turning mass into energy ain’t your cup of tea, you won’t make it through the book.  And if it is your cup of tea, you might not learn anything new, but it will get those synapses to popping like when you were young.

Moby Dick by Herman Melville – Yeah, that’s right!  Moby Dick!  This is a classic American novel.  Not my usual literary fare, but it’s pretty good, though.  It’s got stranger names than some of my ancestors; Ishmael, Ahab, Queequeg, Peleg, Daggoo, Tashtego and Stubb.  This book has more symbolism than you can shake a stick at.  But I’ll tell you what...I’ve worked for people like Ahab and I know exactly how the crew of the Pequod felt.  Somebody should have hauled off and knocked him right out of his pivot-hole.  Seriously though, I was reluctant to read it, but I’m glad I did.

The Pleasure of Finding Things Out by Richard P. Feynman – I’m not through with this one yet.  It covers some of the same territory as Surely You’re Joking, but also has transcripts of some his speeches and lectures.  The man was a not only a genius, but a prophet as well.  His discussion of computers (thirty years ago) was right on target with the technology we’re experiencing today.  I’m eager to finish this and move on to more of his writing.

    Okay.  That’s it for now.  If you made it this far, then leave a comment because I can not only write...I can read, too!  Plus, I need all the encouragement I can get.