【推荐1】Book Reviews

Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility By Rebecca Solnit and Thelma Young Lutunatabua (Haymarket Books, 2023) Hope isn’t a lottery ticket, says activist and writer Rebecca Solnit. Rather, it’s a tool, and an essential one for anyone living through climate change today. This essay collection from scientists, policymakers, and activists balances showing the very real stakes (利害关系) of the climate crisis with making the case for possibility.

Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock By Jenny Odell (Random House, 2023) “What is time?” we’ve all asked ourselves and each other. For most of us the question is just a question, but not for Odell, who urges us to seriously reconsider the ways we spend it. Not bad advice, but her observations on, say, the importance of rest or the limitation capitalism has on the hours in our collective days can feel more like a mix of other people’s ideas than a new way forward.

Science Fiction: Voyage to the Edge of Imagination By Glyn Morgan (Thames & Hudson, 2022) Science Fiction, writes Nalo Hopkinson in this catalogue for the London Science Museum’s 2022 exhibition, “is the literature of social and technological change… it tests in order to discover the truth.” It upends our brains visually, too, as the images here will prove.

Meganets: How Digital Forces Beyond Our Control Commandeer Our Daily Lives and Inner Realities By David B. Auerbach (Public Affairs, 2023) Auerbach defines meganets as autonomous digital forces that have brought an unheard-of level of chaos to our politics, economy, and social lives. We might think that Microsoft, Google, etc. are in control of these networks; Auerbach suggests that what chatbots might really indicate are new modes of mass control and cheat.

【推荐2】For a long time, I kept a selection of books on a shelf next to my bed that I called my “heart books”. To qualify for a place on the shelf, a book had to be not only one I loved, but one that mattered. There was one book that never made it onto that shelf, though I read it in high school: Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg.

I can still remember the day I bought it. It was summer and I must have been 14 or 15. Desperate to get out of my house, I rode my bike into town and walked into the bookstore. I was going through the shelf of books on writing and it caught my eye. I picked it up, read a few pages, and bought it. Then I took it with me to a park, read the first few chapters, and opened my notebook to write.

It’s a fairly straightforward writing book. Goldberg’s method is simple: you choose a topic, set a timer, and write for 10, 15, or 20 minutes without picking up your pen. Free writing, timed writing, writing topics: anyone who has taken a creative writing class may have encountered these things. It’s not earth-shattering. There was nothing particularly new or unusual about the book so I can’t say why it attracted me so much. But it changed everything. I went from being someone who enjoyed writing to being a writer.

During my teen years and early twenties, following Goldberg’s method was at the core of my identity. No matter where I was or what I was doing, I filled notebooks. When I eventually started writing fiction, I did the same thing. The “I” in my notebooks became someone else, but I held to the same practice.

This writing practice led me to a writing group in Boston. It led me to my current career. It led me, in so many ways, to myself. Becoming a writer allowed me to become so many other things: an activist, a business owner, a farmer, a baker. . . Writing is where I found my confidence. It was where I became curious about the world. From that, everything else has followed.

【推荐3】How To Spend a Trillion Dollars

If you had a trillion (万亿) dollars and a year to spend it for the advancement of science, what would you do?

It’s an unimaginably large sum, yet it’s only around one per cent of, and about the valuation of Google, Microsoft or Amazon. You could solve the problem of the pandemic, for one, and get rid of malaria, and maybe cure all kinds of disease. You could end global poverty, offering enough food for human beings in the world. You could settle on the Moon and explore the solar system. You could build quantum computers, develop artificial intelligence, or increase human lifespan. You could even create a new life form.

Award winning writer Rowan Hooper is a senior editor at New Scientist and the host of the New Scientist Weekly podcast. How to Spend a Trillion Dollars is the eventual thought experiment but it is also a call to arms: these are all things we could do, if we put our minds to it and our money as well.

“In a world in which everything seems to be going wrong, this is a refreshingly optimistic book about what real solutions to the world’s biggest problems could look like — and the amount of money needed. Beautifully positive, clear and easily understood”. — Angela Saini, author of Superior

Weight: 500g

Sizes: 222 x 144 x 31 mm

【推荐1】During the Gold Rush, merchants needed a faster way to ship their goods to the West, turning every voyage into a race. The current record holder was the Surprise, which had made the New York to San Francisco trip in ninety-six days. Ellen planned to break that record with her ship, the Flying Cloud.

To achieve the goal, Ellen learned to use navigation (航海) instruments and do the complicated math calculations from her captain father. She also studied positioning charts made by Lieutenant Marthew, Ellen’s race against time began on June 2, 1851. It was her responsibility to keep track of the ship’s progress and current position and to plan the best course for it to follow. She chose a course different from the ones ships normally used and the Flying Cloud passed the equator two days less than ever before.

Heading south, when Ellen and the Flying Cloud was about to reach the Cape Horn, powerful wind slammed into the ship, tipping it sideways. Thirty-foot waves crashed over the deck. Ellen knew that the fastest way to get there was through the Strait of Le Maire. But it was risky. The narrow strip of water was only fourteen miles wide with rocky coasts on both sides. It would not be a problem on a clear day. But Flying Cloud was hit with their worst storm yet. Between the blinding snow and the lack of daylight, visibility was cut to almost nothing. Ellen used dead reckoning to plot a course she hoped would take the Flying Cloud toward the entrance to the strait.Finally, when the skies cleared, Ellen was relieved to see that she were right and everyone were safe on board. On July 22, lucky winds pushed the ship through the strait.Finally, at eleven-thirty the morning of August 3l, 185l, Flying Cloud had completed its voyage in eighty-nine days and twenty-one hours, beating Surprise’s record by an entire week.Crowds gathered on the beach to watch Flying Cloud’s arrival. News of the broken record spread quickly, making Ellen an instant celebrity. Her achievements were recognized in newspapers across the country, The success of her voyage required a combination of skill, experience and courage. Luckily, Ellen had them all.