John Barrow – ~*LunaSea*~

Barrow, John D. The Book of Nothing: Vacuums, Voids, and the Latest Ideas about the Origins of the Universe. Pantheon Books, 2000.

Reason read: January is supposed to be the month you clean the slate. A fresh start with nothing remaining from the previous year.

If you want to fill your head with trivia to use as a neat party trick, read and retain interesting facts from The Book of Nothing. There is a plethora to chose from. You can start with knowing that a guy named Al-Kharizmi came up with the practice of grouping numerals in threes, separated by commas. Sound familiar? William Shakespeare, if you read his works carefully, explores the concept of nothing in Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear. The study of nothing helped scientists to understand barometric pressure. I could go on and on.
In short, The Book of Nothing is the exploration of the concept of nothing from every angle, but with a subtle sense of humor. Don’t believe me? Read the notes section of The Book of Nothing and you’ll see. Barrow’s comments are great.
The deepest pleasure I gleaned from reading The Book of Nothing was the myriad of quotations Barrow used from every walk of life. To illustrate his points Barrow quoted philosophers, educators, historians, musicians, artists, playwrights, mathematicians, the BBC, activists, scientists, psychologists, physicists, astronomers, comedians, even a Canadian naval radio conversation (which was my favorite, in case you were wondering).

Confessional: I had a hard time slogging my way through The Book of Nothing. Even the structure of modern mathematics was mind-boggling to me. Math and science were my least favorite subjects ibn school. The only word I really felt comfortable with was Boolean.

Author fact: Barrow wrote a ton of science and mathematics books. I am only reading the Book of Nothing for the Challenge.

Book trivia: The Book of Nothing is chock full of interesting illustrations and quotations, ancient and current.

Play list: Al Jolson, the Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever”, Cole Porter’s “Heaven Knows”, Queen, and Kris Kristofferson.

Nancy said: Pearl did not say anything specific about The Book of Nothing.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust in the chapter called “Zero: This Will Mean Nothing To You” (p 256).

Fleming, Fergus. Barrow’s Boys: New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1998.

Reason read: February is Exploration Month.

I was excited to finally read Barrow’s Boys as Fergus promised a plethora of primary sources – the best kind when reading about adventure that involves exploration, danger, and cannibalism! [Although, I have to admit it was not easy to read about the starvation, desperation, and death.] In times of peace, what better use of the navy than to go exploring? The burning question of the day was where did the river Niger go? When that expedition initially failed John Barrow started a second expedition, setting his sights on the Northwest Passage and Antarctica. What was out there? As Second Secretary to the Admiralty in 1816 Barrow was aware of these unanswered questions. Using elite naval officers Barrow put together a string of ambitious expeditions that spanned the world.

Author fact: Fleming is one of those jack of all trades kind of guy. He trained to be an accountant and a barrister in London, England. He has worked as a furniture maker and an editor. He is obviously a great writer as well. As an aside, I think he looks like Liam Neelson.

Book trivia: Barrow’s Boys includes maps. Lots of maps. Each one is dedicated to a different expedition. Barrow’s Boys also includes two sections of black and white photographs.

Nancy said: Pearl said in Book Lust that Fleming was chatty, entertaining, and historically accurate. All things I would want in a story. She then goes on to say (in Book Lust To Go) Fleming’s biography is one of her favorites. She calls it “enthralling (p 83).

BookLust Twist: from a bunch of places. Book Lust contains Barrow’s Boys in two different places: in the chapter called “Adventure By the Book: Nonfiction” (p 8) and again in chapter “Here Be Dragons: the Great Explorers and Expeditions” (p 110). Barrow’s Boys is also in Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Explorers” (p 83).