Final Thoughts: Furry Logic

Furry Logic: The Physics of Animal Life

by Matin Durrani & Liz Kalaugher

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  3.0 Stars

The principles of physics lie behind many of the ways animals go about their daily lives.  Scientists have discovered that the way cats and dogs lap up liquids can be explained by the laws of surface tension, how ants navigate is due to polarized light, and why pistol shrimps can generate enough force to destroy aquarium glass using their "elbows!"

Each of Furry Logic's six chapters tackles a separate branch of physics and, through more than 30 animal case studies, examines each creature's key features before describing the ways physics is at play in its life, how the connection between physics and animal behavior was discovered, and what remains to be found out.  Science journalists Matin Durrani and Liz Kalaugher make the incredible interdisciplinary world of animals accessible to all, in an enthralling and entertaining read.

I skipped update posts for Chapters 5 and 6 for my own reasons, as I was more determined to finish what was left of the book than I was in making updates.  This book took a bit longer for me to complete than I'd expected, but life has been quite busy, and there were other books I was wanting to read.  But I've been enjoying Furry Logic, and so I was quite determined to get it read, rather than delegating it to the 'DROPPED' or 'ON HOLD' pile.  The only thing that had been keeping me were other obligations, really, and nothing to do with the book itself.

The truth is, Furry Logic was a formidable read, not exactly a hundred percent enticing, but at the very least, it was presented in a way that I found enjoyable and tolerable.  It doesn't escape my notice that I HAD found parts of this book a little bit boring (which would explain why it was so easy to set it aside for a couple weeks without touching it), and that while the chattiness of the writing style would have bugged me in other books (certain previous Flat Book Society reads), it actually ended up growing on me in this book.

I think the main appeal is that the authors stuck with the subject they promised to present: "The Physics of Animal Life."  There were no random tangents into random historical moments that had nothing to do with the subject, and there were no prolonged, unnecessary ramblings about key people who contributed to the science of certain studies of discoveries.  The authors stuck to their animals, presenting each topic of physics with several examples... and to be honest, that was interesting enough for me.

As much as I hate to compare and contrast certain books, it's hard not to do so.  While certain previous books tended towards mocking or condescending tones, I found this book rather sincere in its presentation.  The authors are immensely fascinated with their subjects, with the animals in this world, and with the way in which physics and biology work together to explain how and why animals do the things they do.  They bring up key names and players in all of the studies presented, and keep to the facts, with maybe a few odd one-liner quips that in no way insult said key people nor their studies.  And in that presentation, I found myself fascinated by the world that this book was presenting to me... enough that I really DID start doing my own searches for pictures, videos, and other information about the gecko, or the pond-skater, or the mantis shrimp.

If I were honest, this book wasn't the best in the world, as I'd mentioned earlier, it DID end up getting a little boring in certain places.  And in fact, between those last two chapters, I found that I'd sort of forgotten what Chapter 5 was about, having to go back to confirm that there was something to do with turtles and magnets and electricity or something.

Chapter 6 was a bit more interesting with the archerfish and how it spits at prey above the surface of the water to obtain food.  I found some of the light scatter analogies a bit tacky (Zombies crossing a line?  Really?), but overall, it was an enjoyable chapter that had me finishing the book a lot earlier than I'd thought I would (I was under the assumption that it would probably be another week or so before I finally finished this book).

Overall, while this book DID provide a lot of science about the animals and the physics presented, it also feels like a rather "skim the surface" type of "facts list" book, where the subject is interesting enough to keep your attention, but not quite enough to satisfy your curiosity.

I will give a kudos to the photo plates that present at the end of my Kindle edition.  Those were neat to look at, and also gives a nice recap summary of the highlights of this book.

Here are a couple of my favorites, including the archerfish photo plate above:

I like how they were able to capture the trajectory and movement of the water while the dog is shaking.  And also, doggy is just cute.  And also, poor doggy in the background is probably getting drenched.  O.O

This particular photo plate, I just found fascinating, as I had trouble picturing the mosquito expelling that drop of blood while feeding.  It's not the prettiest picture in the world, but it still comes off rather artistic... in a physics kind of way.  If that makes any sense.

Reading Update for Furry Logic | Chapter 4

Furry Logic: The Physics of Animal Life

by Matin Durrani & Liz Kalaugher

~ Goodreads ~


Chapter 4: Sound: Good Vibrations

I wanna say that this chapter wasn't as exciting as the previous ones, if only because I don't remember a whole lot about it aside from the term "stealth echolocation."  I admit, it could have also been my own issue that had my mind wandering while reading about sounds and vibrations.

The peacock thing was pretty interesting as well, but only because the amusing emphasis on peacock mating made for a nice chuckle.  And also, elephants are cool, what with their triangulation of sound to determine distance and direction.

The chattiness of the authors' writing styles seems to have ebbed a bit... either that, or I've just gotten used to it enough that it doesn't bother me anymore.  So this book is coming along quite nicely.

Nevertheless, this is what I highlighted in this chapter as the most memorable:

The conflict between the physics working against the bat and its good hearing means there's a 'sweet spot' for ultrasound at a particular noise level where the bat's just near enough to echolocate the moth and the moth's just near enough to hear the bat.  At this position the bat's better hearing exactly compensates for the echo it receives being weaker (because of the extra attenuation) than the sound going directly to the moth.  Bat 0, Moth 0.  If, however, the bat beams out ultrasound louder than this noise level, it's a 'moth win' as the moth hears the bat from further away, whilst the bat can't detect the echo, and the insect flies away.  Bat 0, Moth 1.  Only by beaming out ultrasound more faintly than this threshold can the sharp-eared barbastelle detect the eared moth without the moth hearing.  Bat 1, Moth 0.  The ultrasound pulse from the bat is quiet and the echo that bounces back is quieter still, but the bat sense it because its hearing is so good.  The sound reaching the moth is louder, as it has only travelled one way.  But, being a cloth-ears, the moth can't detect it.  Unlucky, eared moth: you're dinner.

Reading Update for Furry Logic | Chapter 3

Furry Logic: The Physics of Animal Life

by Matin Durrani & Liz Kalaugher

~ Goodreads ~


Chapter 3: Fluids: When Things Get Stickier

Chapter 3 of Furry Logic started off pretty strong, but I think I lost my way around the aerodynamics section of the fluids topic.  Not that it all wasn't very interesting, but I found myself more drawn to talk of the pond skaters walking on water, and the dwarf seahorses hunting copepods.  The latter half of the chapter found the debate on the bumblebee's impossible flying capabilities to be amusing, as well.

While still kind of tacky in some aspects, I think the humor is starting to grow on me, as I chuckled a few times on two or three different occasions, even as I rolled my eyes.  I particularly found the study of how quickly certain animals emptied their bladder quite fun, as it truly does "make people laugh, and then make them think."  I surely would have never thought that calculating how quickly animals urinate could be so thought-provoking.  Though as the book states, an animal in the wild needs to do the deed quickly as it's a rather vulnerable position, and the last thing it wants is to get jumped while relieving itself.

The transition in this chapter from liquid to gas, and from one animal to another, was a bit easier to follow than the transitions in the previous chapters, though it didn't escape my notice that it somehow still felt like two different topics.  Nonetheless, this was quite an enjoyable chapter and I really learned a lot of new things.

Finally, I leave you all with two things I found that tickled me in this chapter.

This quote, because it made me snort:

Flap your hand about underwater at the swimming pool and you'll feel the water push back.  Flap your hand in the air in the changing room and all you'll feel is disapproval.

And these photos, because, well Bumbledore...

... another old term for bees and noisy insects, the dumbledore, gave its name to the music-loving headmaster in a series of books about a schoolboy wizard...

Is that right...?

Obviously my take away from this book may be a little juvenile different from everyone else...

Reading Update for Furry Logic | Chapter 2

Furry Logic: The Physics of Animal Life

by Matin Durrani & Liz Kalaugher

~ Goodreads ~


Chapter 2: Forces: The Big Push

It's interesting how much physics can be used to describe certain animal characteristics--stuff that you probably don't think much about if you were strictly a biologist.  As I've mentioned before, this book is pretty informative, and I found the sections about the gecko and the trap jaw ant the most engrossing.

Though while I'm finding this book an easy read, it doesn't escape my notice that the chapters meander a lot from one subject to another.  The subject transitions aren't exactly smooth, and I sometimes find myself a little lost.

Meanwhile, I found this tidbit the most interesting:

'When you squirt a gecko with water, the water just flies off,' says Stark.  'It's really hard to wet a gecko.  The toe-pads are superhydrophobic and you can see the water beaded on top.'  In extremely wet conditions, the same property that makes the water bead up creates small pockets of air around gecko feet, according to Stark.  'If you push a foot that's really water-repellent through water, you've now got an air bubble around that material so that when they press down they stay dry and can make that close contact still.'

I would love some of that gecko trait in my next rain coat, please.

Here's a bit of ScienceNews I stumbled across while doing a cursory search of gecko's and their water-repellent feet:

Reading Update for Furry Logic | Intro and Chapter 1

Furry Logic: The Physics of Animal Life

by Matin Durrani & Liz Kalaugher

~ Goodreads ~


Introduction:  Furry Physics
Chapter 1: Heat: The Warm-Up Chapter

I've been swamped with books and some non-bookish activities lately, so I hadn't really had time to make any updates, even though I've been thinking about it.

Mainly, I'm finding that Furry Logic isn't too bad, reading-wise.  It's an extremely chatty book with some rather lame attempts at humor, but ultimately, it's quite informative.  Unlike some of the previous Flat Book Society reads, I like that this book is more focused on its subject, despite the outline being a little meandering.

Colleagues and other biologists, as well as other persons of interests are mentioned here and there, and their contribution to the subject at hand is talked about.  But the authors refrain from inserting too much of their own interpretations of these people's personal lives, which I appreciate.

Overall, I AM finding this book rather informative and easy to read.  The badly executed humor is probably the biggest of this book's problems.  Otherwise, I'm finding this book pretty interesting in some aspects.

First Impression: The Disappearing Spoon

The Disappearing Spoon

by Sam Kean

~ Goodreads ~

Progress:  31 of 346 pages (9%)


Admittedly, Chemistry was probably my worst subject in school (both high school and college).  So why I decided that I'd just casually join in on this month's Flat Book Society read is beyond me.  Maybe I just thought that, not being a required read for some class, I'd be able to enjoy it more... or at least not fret as much about what I'm understanding.

And really, the only thing that I've gotten out of this book so far is that the outlining is atrocious.  Don't get me wrong, the writing isn't terrible, and the subject matter has lots of potential--some of the information is actually pretty interesting.  And when I actually understand one of the paragraphs after deciphering all the chemistry jargon, I think I might have learned something new.

Not that that's helpful, because I promptly turn around and forget what I've just learned.  It probably doesn't help that the organization of the telling feels pretty scattered.  The author jumps from one thing to another, and then back so quickly that I'm at a point where I just quietly move on because I'm embarrassed to admit that I had no idea what he was trying to present.

There is SO MUCH jargon.  This does not feel like a science book for casual readers who enjoy fun science.  This feels like a lot of chemical name-dropping.

Meanwhile, I had fallen asleep twice reading just the introduction.  And we hadn't gotten to the elements yet.  Not really.  And I'm not sure who's fault that is--mine or the book's.  Maybe I just don't have the capacity to follow the content?

I'm probably going to give this book a few more chapters to see how well I fare.  I mean, I took chemistry classes and I work in a hospital lab.  Some of this stuff HAS to make sense at some point, right?  No matter that I really wasn't all that great at chemistry, mind you.

Random Bookish Update: The Disappearing Spoon and Penguins in the Library!

My library hold for the Flat Book Society read this month alerted me some time last week, but due to schedule constraints, I hadn't had time to pick up the book until today.  After browsing for a little while and not finding anything else I wanted to check out--which is probably a good thing since I've got what feels like a million books on my plate right now anyway--I headed out of the library....

... only to turn right back around when I spotted their display by the entrance.

Oh my, SO MANY PENGUINS!  Aren't they all so cute?!

Needless to say, I got super giddy and excited.  If we haven't already figured it out yet, I have an immense love for penguins.  I mean, I love animals, in particular (monkeys, pandas, mice, dogs...  Dino Baby! Rawr!).  I've used any number of these for many a blog post and reading games.

Heck, Peek-a-Boo Penni Penguin, alongside Magnetic Monkey, has sort of become my bookish/game mascot.


Meanwhile, back to the Flat Book Society pick, The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean, the official book club read starts tomorrow, but I might go ahead and jump in if I get a chance, just to get a head start, as well as get an idea how I want to divide out parts for when to read.

Because I've finished a couple other books I've been reading, I'm at least not juggling too many current reads at the moment.  I'm listening to The Neverending Story on audio book, which is a pretty slow process right now as I'm really only listening to it during commutes, or if I need to multi-task.  I just started Amanda Quick's I Thee Wed, my second Reading Assignment book for Professor AuthorLuv's course.  I also started the fourth Cormoran Strike installment a couple days ago and am letting myself move through this one slowly, as has always been the case with previous Cormorant Strike novels.

Not too much to handle, right?

That's a Wrap: The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs

The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs

A New History of a Lost World
by Steve Brusatte

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  2.5 Stars

The dinosaurs.  Sixty-six million years ago, the Earth’s most fearsome creatures vanished.  Today they remain one of our planet’s great mysteries.  Now The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs reveals their extraordinary, 200-million-year-long story as never before.

In this captivating narrative (enlivened with more than seventy original illustrations and photographs), Steve Brusatte, a young American paleontologist who has emerged as one of the foremost stars of the field—naming fifteen new species and leading groundbreaking scientific studies and fieldwork—masterfully tells the complete, surprising, and new history of the dinosaurs, drawing on cutting-edge science to dramatically bring to life their lost world and illuminate their enigmatic origins, spectacular flourishing, astonishing diversity, cataclysmic extinction, and startling living legacy.  Captivating and revelatory, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs is a book for the ages.

Brusatte traces the evolution of dinosaurs from their inauspicious start as small shadow dwellers—themselves the beneficiaries of a mass extinction caused by volcanic eruptions at the beginning of the Triassic period—into the dominant array of species every wide-eyed child memorizes today, T. rex, Triceratops, Brontosaurus, and more.  This gifted scientist and writer re-creates the dinosaurs’ peak during the Jurassic and Cretaceous, when thousands of species thrived, and winged and feathered dinosaurs, the prehistoric ancestors of modern birds, emerged.  The story continues to the end of the Cretaceous period, when a giant asteroid or comet struck the planet and nearly every dinosaur species (but not all) died out, in the most extraordinary extinction event in earth’s history, one full of lessons for today as we confront a “sixth extinction.”

Brusatte also recalls compelling stories from his globe-trotting expeditions during one of the most exciting eras in dinosaur research—which he calls “a new golden age of discovery”—and offers thrilling accounts of some of the remarkable findings he and his colleagues have made, including primitive human-sized tyrannosaurs; monstrous carnivores even larger than T. rex; and paradigm-shifting feathered raptors from China.

An electrifying scientific history that unearths the dinosaurs’ epic saga, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs will be a definitive and treasured account for decades to come.

This is one of those books that could have been cut down in size readily if we edited out a lot of the details of personal facts.  The author tended towards rambling when he starts talking about his own trips to different countries, his own achievements, and his discoveries.  He also gives more personal background information about a lot of his colleagues than I really cared to know about, and made general, sweeping declarations about how someone was "the single most important contributor to such and such" which made me feel kind of wary.

He also liked to remind the reader that he's a very, very outstanding paleontologist, and that he's worked with lots of great paleontologists, and that he, alone, has made several discoveries, none of which he actually gives names to.  Repeatedly.

There was a lot of repetition of information, bogged down with details as well.

There's a particular part of one of the chapters that kind of stood out to me, because he spends about five or six pages describing the shifting of lands that started breaking apart the super-continent of Pangaea.  He describes volcanic activity and lava flow, and how it was what had caused the first mass extinction pre-dinosaur domination.  This particular fact was talked about, repeatedly in those few pages.  Those first few paragraphs had already told me what I needed to know about the end of the Triassic period.  But he went on as if he thought he hadn't already given me enough information to understand the global significance of this event.  It got to a point where I forgot that there was another point to this particular chapter.

I'm tempted to count the many times he described Tyrannosaurus Rex's body shape and structure, specifically emphasizing the creature's puny, pathetic arms--I think there might have been at least six instances... within a couple pages.  I think I get it.  And I figure I already knew this information without it being harked upon.  And I feel like maybe we should think about T-Rex's feelings when you keep insulting his itty-bitty arms, because that's just rude.  It took him an entire chapter of emphasizing those tiny arms on this enormous apex predator before getting to the point: Why the tyrannosaur still had said small arms anyway?

The rest of the chapter wasn't actually bad, truth be told, if he'd have just stuck with the science.  Instead, he tried to be dramatic, opening the chapter with a tacky introduction, seen through the eyes of a triceratops, describing the T-Rex attack of several hadrosaurs.  It seemed highly unnecessary.  As did many of his other dramatic introductory scenes to a couple other chapters in the book.

Not all of this book is so terrible, however.  If it's one thing I could deduce while reading this book, it was that our author is, indeed, knowledgeable and passionate about his career and the study of dinosaurs.  There were a few fun new facts I, personally, learned about dinosaurs.  And if he was so inclined to go further into some evolutionary studies, I'd be interested.  He certainly touched on evolution several times.  And you even get a pretty good look at the timeline of the pre-dinosaur era, the rise of the dinosaurs, their evolution over millions of years, and then the final fall of their dominance on Earth.

I didn't need a dramatic telling of the "dinosaur outside his window" to know about the "birds are dinosaurs" tidbit.  It's one of the things they teach in a basic science course, y'know.  And his exclamation is a bit oversimplified anyway.  I did, however, appreciate that he then went into the journey that paleontologists went through to finally make and prove the connection between dinosaurs and birds, though.  But his declaration seemed a bit out of tone and unnecessary in light of the fact that, as I already said, this is something you learn in a basic science or biology course about evolution.

And, in a nutshell, evolution is so much more complicated than a simple declaration that "birds are dinosaurs."

This book could have actually been quite informational (and it was, in a way), and it could have been much more interesting to read.  But there was too much non-dinosaur story telling involved, which really just managed to make me impatient with the book.  It certainly could have used a good edit to cut out unnecessary information.

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This book was read for the Flat Book Society as well as 24 Festive Tasks, for the New Year's Eve Book Task.

The Flat Book Society

And since we don't really have a graphic for the New Year's Eve door yet, I give you a brief reintroduction to Dino Baby!  Rawr!

I am the true apex predator!
I dominate all of your squee's!

Some Rambling Thoughts: Get Well Soon

Get Well Soon: History's Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them

by Jennifer Wright

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  2.5 Stars

See Also:  Reading Updates for Get Well Soon

A humorous book about history's worst plagues—from the Antonine Plague, to leprosy, to polio—and the heroes who fought them

In 1518, in a small town in France, Frau Troffea began dancing and didn’t stop.  She danced herself to her death six days later, and soon thirty-four more villagers joined her.  Then more.  In a month more than 400 people had died from the mysterious dancing plague.  In late-nineteenth-century England an eccentric gentleman founded the No Nose Club in his gracious townhome—a social club for those who had lost their noses, and other body parts, to the plague of syphilis for which there was then no cure. And in turn-of-the-century New York, an Irish cook caused two lethal outbreaks of typhoid fever, a case that transformed her into the notorious Typhoid Mary and led to historic medical breakthroughs.

Throughout time, humans have been terrified and fascinated by the plagues they've suffered from.  Get Well Soon delivers the gruesome, morbid details of some of the worst plagues in human history, as well as stories of the heroic figures who fought to ease their suffering.  With her signature mix of in-depth research and upbeat storytelling, and not a little dark humor, Jennifer Wright explores history’s most gripping and deadly outbreaks.

One of my fellow reader/reviewers over at Booklikes had stated that this book read like a compilation of blog entries, written by "an overconfident twenty-something with an only superficial grasp of history and medicine and science."  I seconded that statement, because the writing style in this book is extremely informal, with a lot of opinionated side-quips, and tons of speculation masquerading as scientific fact or historical data.  I'm not saying that this book doesn't have anything to offer, but to be honest, it doesn't offer what it seems to have been marketed to offer: a look at history's worst plagues and the heroes who fought them.  Instead, I feel like the title should have been changed to something along the lines of "Some Sensational Stories About Plagues, Medical Horrors, and History that Interested This Author."

The book is very Anglo-centric, focusing mostly on how these plagues affected America or the European nations.  But a cursory search of, say, leprosy, shows that this is a disease that impacted, and still impacts, hundreds of countries never mentioned in this book.  Wright's focus, however, was the leper colony of Moloka'i and the story of Father Damien.  While I didn't mind reading about the wonder who was Father Damien, this chapter on Leprosy left a lot to be desired.

Much like a lot of her other chapters, Wright doesn't dwell very long on the science of each plague, and instead spends a good amount of time on tangents and speculative asides.  In fact, she doesn't spend a whole lot of them with the plagues themselves, because a lot of her side tangents, some of which have nothing to do with the plague (re: Comoddus's incestuous lusts circa 'The Antonine Plague') take up more pages than were necessary.

After the first couple chapters in this book, I realized that I'd have to change my mindset before continuing on.  The writing style wasn't what I'd been expecting, and even up to the end, still wasn't a writing style that worked for me.  There were too many of those opinionated side-quips, too many random and ill-used pop culture references, and a lot of times, Jennifer Wright will insert her own imagining of how she would recreate certain parts of history if left to her devices.

I'm always trying to rewrite the scripts for history, the way some people must mentally rewrite the scripts for disappointing episodes of their favorite television shows.

First of all, yes I can relate to mentally rewriting scripts for disappointing episodes of a favorite television show; and at least Wright is aware of her own habits.  Of course, I also don't try to sell my rewritten scripts as fact in a popular science book, currently worth $12.99 via Kindle.

As I think I might have mentioned in another update, this book tries too hard to be informal and personal by adding random pop culture references, and short humorous (?) commentary, possibly in an attempt to lighten the mood of the context.  After all, this is a book about devastation and tragedy, with millions of deaths and a lot of suffering communities and nations over history.  I'm never opposed to dark humor, but you have to do it right.  At some points, Wright DID manage to make my lips quirk, but other times, I just didn't quite understand her humor.  The timing always felt off, or the insertions felt awkward.  Whatever it was, it didn't work for me.  And a lot of times, I didn't understand the connection--I grew up in America, but I've never been big on the pop culture trivia.

She also inserted exclamations almost everywhere!  Even when said exclamation probably wasn't warranted!  A lot of her opinions were exclamations!  A lot of her speculations and asides were exclamations!

But they failed to really do the job of being exciting or surprising in their exclamation point usage.

If it is one thing I will say in favor of this book, it's that Jennifer Wright truly DOES seem passionate about the subject and each plague's impact on human life and society.  Her stance on vaccinations, hygiene, sanitation, general health... all good points to emphasize.  Her stance on behaviors towards humankind and the diseases that afflict us is sincere--the message not to treat people badly just because of the disease is a good one.  Being kind, supportive, and understanding is a message I think needs to be put out there more often.  We don't become afflicted with something deadly as a punishment from some higher judgment--diseases don't pick and choose who they affect, and pathogens aren't discriminatory.

As a popular science book, she could have focused more on the science and medicine of these plagues she is show-casing.  But show-casing is really what she is doing in this book, choosing specific stories that seem to interest her about each plague rather than giving more details about the specific plague itself.  Truly, the only chapter I felt had the most sincere presentation was the 'Smallpox' chapter, but unfortunately, she didn't tell me anything I didn't already know.

But the rest seemed to hinge greatly on some sensational aspect of each disease: Syphilis and the rotting noses, Tuberculosis and how people glamorized it, for examples.

Then there were the chapters on 'Dancing Plague' and 'Lobotomies,' which, in honest truth, I don't see as counting as true plagues.  Lobotomies as a medical horror I can see, but this is a book about plagues, so if she truly wanted to write a book about medical horrors that included a chapter on lobotomies, she should serious reconsider the title to her book.

I can see this book interesting a lot of people, if only because it DOES present a lot of tidbit information that many might find intriguing.  In some instances, you DO find yourself wanting to learn more, from a much more detailed, well-informed source.  In some chapters, she DOES manage to tell me things I didn't already know, although I would confirm her facts from my own research if inclined to do so.  For the most part, this book is, at best, an overview, which I feel would have been better off in a blog format, where expectations might be a bit lower than as a book you had to pay for.

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Flat Book Society - September 2018 Read

 ~*~*~*~

Halloween Bingo 2018
(anything related to the end of the world, doomsday cults, or a post-apocalypse world)

**This book was approved by our Halloween Bingo hosts for the Doomsday square, and by default, the Creepy Raven Free Space.**

Collective Reading Updates: Get Well Soon

Get Well Soon: History's Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them

by Jennifer Wright

~ Goodreads ~

The most recent updates will be added to the top each re-post.

Here is a cautionary **SPOILER WARNING**  just in case I have inadvertently given away anything significant to the story itself.  I will do my best not to mention any big spoilers, but I don't always check myself accordingly.

Buddy read at Booklikes - tags: flat book society; get well soon

Review for Get Well Soon

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Progress on 9/6/18:  22% read

I'm kind of reading one plague a day, though I may not be updating daily.  However, at some point, I might just stop updating completely and just try to finish the book.

Meanwhile, I'm happy to say that the chapter on Smallpox has so far been the most interesting chapter to me, even if it's the one disease that I had already had some knowledge on.  Smallpox is something that is pretty much always covered in all biology or science courses in school, as it often times is the precursor for covering how vaccines came about, as well as the mention of Edward Jenner.

I feel like this chapter is the one in which Jennifer Wright is the least opinionated, and drops the fewest pop culture references (so far), and aside from her short detour in the beginning detailing the Spaniard invasion of the Americas, wiping out the Incan and Aztec civilizations, she pretty much kept to the disease itself, with descriptions of symptoms, the course of the disease, as well as the foray into variolation and vaccination.

Though truth, I found her description of DIC quite amusing--"blobby clots" indeed--as it seems a bit comical for a condition in which your body pretty much is triggered to use up all it's clotting factors, followed by excessive bleeding, which can't be staunched because your clotting factors are being used up, but those clotting factors keep being activated because your body is bleeding.  It's a vicious cycle, which ultimately leads to a person bleeding to death unless you can find the underlying trigger and fix it, while at the same time dumping outside blood products into the body to help keep it alive.

I've never personally been in the vicinity of a patient when this has happened, but I've been in the general direction doctors and nurses are yelling at when they need more blood, plasma, platelets, take your pick, to dump into their patient, STAT!  Truthfully, even as a behind the scenes medical personnel, it's a bit scary knowing that there is a person bleeding non-stop from an as-yet unknown cause.  We sometimes joke that DIC is basically a term for "I have no idea why, but this patient is bleeding from every possible orifice!"

Anyway, as far as this book goes, I think I'm likely to stick with it, with this new mindset, and hope that the rest of the chapters are a little more like this one.

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Progress on 9/5/18:  16% read

I'm a little late on this update, but I'd been sitting on my thoughts about both the chapters on the Bubonic Plague and the Dancing Plague.

First of all, after adjusting my reading mindset a little bit, I found Jennifer Wright's writing style a little bit easier to understand--mind you, this doesn't mean that I like it, and in fact, I'm pretty sure I'm still not quite getting into it.  And after reading through other's updates, I think I might have pinpointed a couple reasons why I'm having trouble enjoying her writing style (among a couple other reasons I came up with myself).  Mainly, it's the fact that her telling is less to do with science and history, and more to do with speculation and opinion.

I appreciate that she DOES sprinkle each section with statistics and facts, little tidbits of information here and there that, like Whiskey mentioned, makes you want to run off and do your own research on the subject--because Wright doesn't exactly give you a lot to go on aside from those tidbits.

That being said, the chapter on the Bubonic Plague was actually quite riddled with information that made the reading of it a bit more interesting.  I can see what her goal is, directing our attentions to the general reactions of society back then, as well as how best to react if another pandemic were to surface--a sort of, learning from history, if you will.

I'm still finding her pop culture references a bit hard to grasp--someone else mentioned that the book could quickly become dated based on the specific references made.  This conversation then ended up pointing out that the references were also very American-centric.  While I don't mind pop culture references, nor the fact that the references are American-centric (I did grow up in America after all), I'm also going to be the first to admit that I've already glossed over several of them because I couldn't quite figure out the reason behind those references--the usage of some didn't click for me, even if I was familiar with some of the names.  (Just because I grew up in America, doesn't mean I paid attention to American pop culture.)

Meanwhile, I'm still finding the humor a bit lacking, and that might be my own personal opinion.  Rather than finding her tone amusing or sarcastic, I'm actually finding the timing of her humor and color commentary a bit awkward.  I'm sure others would find it inappropriate, considering the content of this book, but I have no problem with a bit of dark humor... if used properly, whether to help readers better relate with these tragic times, or just to bring a bit of lightheartedness into the telling of times that were quite devastating.  But on a personal level, I'm not feeling the humor... just some awkwardness.

And, finally, I also DO agree with one thing concerning the Dancing Plague, and that is that, I wish she could have also delved further into some more scientific, or medical details about it.  It might have helped if she'd elaborated on some of the other instances in history, rather than simply dropping a quick note about these other instances, and then moving on.  Comparing the Dancing Plague to the tragedies of killing fields in Khmer Rouge might have been in bad taste--as someone had pointed out, "apples and oranges."

---

Progress on 9/3/18:  6% read

I'm seeing that I'm kind of the minority in my enjoyment of this book so far.  To be fair, I've only just finished the chapter on the Antonine Plague, and I also happened to drift off a few times while reading this fairly short chapter.  So maybe I didn't really pick up on the content of this chapter, or maybe I'm not getting Jennifer Wright"s writing style all that well.

Her tendency to drop commentary using pop culture bugs me a little bit, because some of those random one-liners don't feel like they mesh well with the content.  I don't mind a little bit of dry humor, or sometimes even a slight comic addition in non-fictional books--in fact, it will usually help make things move along more smoothly.  But the timing of her humor seems a bit off, to me, personally.

Meanwhile, the chapter on the Antonine Plague seemed to meander outside the actual subject of the plague so frequently, and also so randomly, that I think that's where my attention ends up drifting.  There were tangents to do with the Roman soldiers and what they were wearing (which I thought was interesting, even if off-topic), to Commodus and his lustful activities (as well as speculation on his incestuous ways).  None of which necessarily contributed to the topic of the plague, though I see where Wright was trying to go with these extra tidbits of information.

I wish there had been a little bit more about the plague itself, rather than just constant emphasis on how this plague was the true culprit for the Roman Empire's fall.

Anyway, I'm hoping that my wavering attention span was just a fluke and that I start getting into the book more.  There are random facts here and there that are quite interesting, and I had even highlighted a couple quotes I found that I liked.

Otherwise, the entire chapter on the Antonine Plague honestly felt like reading one of my old research essays I'd slapped together, with an additional mishmash of extraneous information, in an effort to reach a specified page count.

Flat Book Society | September 2018 Read

Get Well Soon - History's Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them

by Jennifer Wright

~ Goodreads ~


I have totally been slacking off in all Flat Book Society activities the past year after finishing Forensics.  With my reading slump lifting now, and so much more activity going on at Booklikes, I'm ready to start participating in reading activities again.

The next Flat book Society read will be Get Well Soon by Jennifer Wright, which we have already determined is eligible for the Free Space of Halloween Bingo, so at least it won't feel like an extra read on top of the twenty-five Halloween Bingo squares we all plan to read for as well.

I've done a cursory search of the library and found that this book doesn't yet exist in it's system.  And I'm concerned that even if I were to recommend it, it may not get added by the time the club starts reading.  So... I'm going to make the executive decision to just go ahead and purchase the book via Kindle since it's been a long time since I've actually done a big book splurge anyway.

Meanwhile, on another whim, I decided to create a book club page where I will track all the book club reads I participate in.  You can find this page on my menu bar at the top of the blog, or here.

Some Thoughts: Forensics What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA, and More Tell Us About Crime

Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA and More Tell Us About Crime

**Also known under the title 'Forensics: The Anatomy of Crime'

by Val McDermid

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  2.5 Stars

Val McDermid is one of the finest crime writers we have, whose novels have captivated millions of readers worldwide with their riveting narratives of characters who solve complex crimes and confront unimaginable evil.  In the course of researching her bestselling novels McDermid has become familiar with every branch of forensics, and now she uncovers the history of this science, real-world murders and the people who must solve them.

The dead talk—to the right listener.  They can tell us all about themselves: where they came from, how they lived, how they died, and, of course, who killed them.  Forensic scientists can unlock the mysteries of the past and help serve justice using the messages left by a corpse, a crime scene, or the faintest of human traces.  Forensics draws on interviews with some of these top-level professionals, ground-breaking research, and McDermid’s own original interviews and firsthand experience on scene with top forensic scientists.

Along the way, McDermid discovers how maggots collected from a corpse can help determine one’s time of death; how a DNA trace a millionth the size of a grain of salt can be used to convict a killer; and how a team of young Argentine scientists led by a maverick American anthropologist were able to uncover the victims of a genocide.  It’s a journey that will take McDermid to war zones, fire scenes, and autopsy suites, and bring her into contact with both extraordinary bravery and wickedness, as she traces the history of forensics from its earliest beginnings to the cutting-edge science of the modern day.

I can't deny that the direction, inspiration, and point behind this book is in the right place.  It seems that author Val McDermid had set out to showcase and introduce forensics and its role in criminal justice, and has done exactly that.  And this book was enjoyable in its own way, with a lot of information, certainly well-researched.  The writing is easy to follow, and each chapter is formatted in the same fashion, with introductory, history, experts, and case examples.

Unfortunately, if I had to describe this book to friends or interested parties, I'd have to go with something akin to: "An Introductory Textbook to the History of Forensic Science."  It certainly reads like a textbook--previously I had mentioned to a friend that this book reads like a jumble of news articles and case reports that don't have the full story of each of the cases presented.  That it's just a copy-and-paste of the author's interview notes, with word-for-word quotes, and pre-approved descriptions and character histories of each expert she had interviewed.  There were certain moments in some chapters where she introduces the reader to a certain expert, but then awkwardly incorporates a description of said expert, that can ONLY be described as very awkwardly inserted.

This is jarring to me as a reader, because then I spend a good moment wondering why the author used such a descriptor, and wondering if those were her words, or if that is how our mentioned expert wants to be introduced in the chapter.  Or maybe they were words given to our author by friends or associates of said expert.  I mean, why do I need to know some random personal lifestyle tidbits about our toxicologist or facial reconstruction expert?

As I got further into each of the chapters, I wasn't really sure how to describe the book anymore.  Is it an introductory textbook?  Is it a collection of badly edited news articles and case reports?  I read a few updates for this book that liken parts of the writing to purposefully creating sensationalized phrases and exclamations of the case examples just to get the reader's attention--something I DID come across a few times that seemed highly unnecessary.

I found that a few sentences here and there, or a piece of dialogue or quote, would occasionally present that felt like it had nothing to do with the subject or the case example being discussed.  Again, I would end up taking a moment to wonder to myself why this particular quote was incorporated.

I felt like the book could have served better by delving just a tad bit deeper into the sciences or the procedures of each forensic science technique.  I mean, I don't need a full semester of Genetics or Anthropology, or anything like that, but at least give me more than just the bare minimum.  I came to a point in the book where it felt like I was just a short, hand's grasp away from getting the full story of the subject presented, as well as the case example used to illustrate said subject... right before we hit a wall and stop discussing the topic.

There felt like there were a lot of: "... and then our forensic expert used his/her expertise to help solve the crime."  And I'm still staring at those last sentences of that paragraph wondering just exactly what our expert did to come to his or her conclusions.  Meanwhile, the chapter has moved onto another case example, or another part of the subject and how wondrous this technique was in becoming a great tool for criminal investigations.

I mean, I already know that there have been a lot of advances in forensics--I took some classes in college a long time ago, and have always been interested in the subject.  I don't really need that point reiterated several times within each chapter.

And I would have liked for the subject and the case examples to be a bit less incomplete.  I understand that science is an ever-evolving field, and that we couldn't possibly know everything there is to know about stuff like Toxicology, or Anthropology, or DNA testing.  I get that some cases go unsolved, and even the best of experts or techniques are helpless.

But if you present me with an example of a case that used a specific technique to become solved, I want to know exactly how our experts came to those conclusions.  Not just, "And then we used digital forensics to determine our suspect's guilt."  Okay... but what exactly was used, and what evidence was studied?  And how did that lead to a guilty verdict?

I can't really pinpoint where in the book, but this particular conclusion came about with each case example enough times for me to begin wondering about it.

Truthfully, I'd been fully intent on taking notes and posting updates about my thoughts on each chapter and subject.  And while other, outside circumstances kept me from being able to post updates, I also kind of gave up on taking notes because there didn't seem to be a whole lot of notes worthy of being taken.  I had added exactly one post-it note to the book, wherein I highlight (not literally) an all too well-known and common phrase that has always been associated with Forensic Science:  The Locard Principle--"Every contact leaves a trace."

So instead of fully enjoying the book after going into it with all sorts of interested excitement, I found myself more interested in the barely skimmed names and case examples that were brought up.  I started making note of some of these names and wondering if I'd have better luck learning about this subject by doing a bit of research on my own.  Because, at best, each chapter may be lengthy, but they certainly feel incomplete to me.

I'm left wondering whether or not I've missed part of the story somewhere.  I'm left wanting to know more about how certain conclusions came about.  I'm left with an unfinished story that had all the build-up and all the unwanted tangential tidbits, and no explanation of how that conclusion was come to.  I'm left with a list of names and cases that I now have to look up if I want more information, because my curiosity was piqued, but not satisfied.

This book took me over a month to finish reading.  Whether it was because of personal reasons or the book itself, I can't possibly say for sure.  But I felt like this book dragged, and yet gave little to satisfy my expectations.  There were a lot of generalizations, and what truly DID annoy me in each chapter was the great emphasis on how "THIS VERY TECHNIQUE" was what helped break a case wide open and convict criminals, and establish truth, and save babies...

It's been a very long time since I've had my last forensic science class, or my last criminal justice course.  But I'm not sure an entire case truly hinges on the test results of one specific branch of forensics.  I mean, I work in a hospital lab, and a patient's diagnosis certainly isn't based off of one particular test result, but instead should be concluded based on multiple factors.

Certainly, this isn't a terrible Introduction to Forensic Science book.  It's not really a science book, per se as there is very little science about it.  It might interest many other people who are into journalistic accounts of case files, Wikipedia style.  It may interest someone who simply wants a skimmed surface of the overall subject.

It will certainly get you wondering who all these names are that get brought up randomly.  And making notes of them in case you ever feel like you want more information.

Again, it just wasn't what I'd expected to get, and maybe that's the only fault in this reading experience.


***

16 Festive Tasks - Newtonmas

The Flat Book Society | November Read

Forensics: The Anatomy of Crime

** Also known under the title 'Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA and More Tell Us About Crime.'

by Val McDermid

~ Goodreads ~



I'd been quietly following the activities of a new book club for the past couple months and became interested, especially when the November Read was announced, and then I got really excited.  So after doing a random exploration of The Flat Book Society's discussion pages and reading list, I decided that joining this club would be tons of fun!

I will be attempting my participation in this November read as well as I can.

This is a subject right up my alley, after all, and probably a great place to start with joining The Flat Book Society Book Club.  I love me some crime fiction; and I DO have a degree in Forensic Science, even if that was almost ten years ago and never actually used.  So this will be an interesting read to see if I recall anything I learned, and how much has changed over the years.

I haven't read non-fiction in a very long time--unless you count little articles here and there that I skim for work, some that amount to about two or three pages of useful material and puts you to sleep.  There was also that autobiography by Neil Patrick Harris that I listened to the audio book of over two or three years ago.