Self-Study

Having completed the most recent work of prose fiction I've been reading earlier this week (The Shadow Rising, Book 4 of the Wheel of Time series by author Robert Jordan) I have resolved not to continue with that series or indulge myself in any other prose fiction until I have either begun the coming science filled fall semester of classes at MCTC or completed reading two works of science focused non-fiction. First of these two texts is my Wife's textbook for her Introduction to Chemistry course at MCTC. While I was able to get my self placed to take Principles of Chemistry this fall, skipping the Intro course and proceeding directly to the college level course on the subject I believe it would be wise to refresh my memory on the basics of the subject a little bit (and perhaps begin drilling myself on the Periodic Table as well) before I jump back into it in an academic context.

The second text I mean to read (perhaps I ought to say re-read) is The Physics of Superheroes by Professor James Kakalios of the University of Minnesota [Twin Cities]. This is a phenomenally fun book and I would suggest it be read by . . . anybody semi-literate in English (or any other language it may have been translated to). This book is really great. I read it shortly after it was first published; purchased directly from the author himself at Minnesota's then premiere annual comic book convention, FallCon. Man-oh-man, if only I'd been paying closer attention to the Freshman Seminars when I entered the U of MN back in Fall of 1999. Perhaps I'd have taken the course that was the basis for this publication and found myself focused back on the sciences, where I belong, that much earlier in my life! But I digress . . . In any case, I cannot stress enough how informative, accessible and laugh-out-loud funny this book is. If you've ever had even the remotest interest in superheroes, physics, or even broad trivia I strongly advocate that you read this book.

N.B. Rampant use of links in this post done without the website owner's knowledge. Hopefully that won't cause any legal problems or something.