New Year -- New Resources

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Another reason to like ebooks

I came out to Seattle to visit my sister and attend her oldest's high school graduation. Being the resident Reader-Geek in the extended family (otherwise full of engineers or math whizzes who are also serious athletes), and knowing she liked math and science, I asked if she had ever read an novel about a scientist?  She couldn't think of one, but I remembered Flatland, Edwin Abbots' quirky, 1880 novella subtitled "A Romance in many dimensions," the story of a two-dimensional world.  I instantly downloaded the 99 cent classic to her mother's Kindle.

Now, I know there's not necessarily any better chance that she will read the book (after finals) than if I had mailed a print copy to her, but at least she knows it's at hand while she may still remember our conversation.  I did think it was hopeful that when I described the story, she immediately asked, "How do they pass each other in only 2 dimensions?"  I had probably read it more for the romance than the geometry, and the question would never occur to me.

Do you have favorite novels about science, math, and non-English major subjects you would recommend to a 16-year old?  Let me know.

1 comment:

  1. Novels about science/math not immediately springing to mind, but all the teenage tech geeks I know loved Godel, Escher, Bach; the Hitchhiker's Guide books; Brief History of Time; and Ender's Game. (Admittedly I read the latter 3 of those at 13 so maybe she's already read them too.)

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