Herman > Recent Status Updates

So far, this book is a very thorough look at Oppenheimer's life. It gets deep into the relationships he cultivated as his life developed. His peers and acquaintances read like a who's who in the physics and political world. A truly fascinating historical figure. A truly engrossing read so far.

What a pleasant surprise this read is. I was expecting a technical, boring account of fossils. Instead, the author turns an esoteric topic into a fascinating account of what he learns from a few fossilized bones discovered.
Pretty cool.

The accounts of these Greatest Generation examples are super interesting. They truly were ordinary people doing extraordinary things. They stepped up to the plate after suffering through the great depression, and winning a war.
So far, so good.

I started this book just two days ago and I'm already on page 108 of this book. What a great start. What a great topic. The Greatest Generation was a group of people who really knew how to take care of themselves, without complaining.
I am liking the examples that Tom Brokaw has chosen to exemplify this generation in this book.

I like Stephen A's accounts of the ordeals that these guys go through in their lives as Air Force warriors. The hurry up and wait way of life. The stress that these guys go through every time they go up on a mission. It's bad enough that they are facing the Nazi enemy, but to add to the stress, there are the dangers they face from their own equipment. No wonder they have circles under their eyes. They age quickly.

George McGovern and his peers are now in Italy and preparing for their first missions. The story behind the story is that the whole bombing campaign was not as successful as US historians claim it to be.
It was a hit-or-miss endeavour, and those airmen who completed 35 missions and their ticket home were just plain lucky.

John Muir paints quite a peaceful, bucolic existence of the high sierras in the Spring of 1869.
It must've been so serene and a beautiful way to make a living (raising sheep) in the mountains in this time.

I just started this book yesterday, and I am already on page 54 fo this account.
Another sign that I really like the author, Stephen Ambrose, style of writing. This read is based on the main character, real-life George McGovern. He ran for president in 1972.
I knew about him then. I just didn't know he had such a heroic existence during the Second World War.

By now, Nikola T is on the wane with his projects. He has lost the support of JP Morgan and JJ Astor won't talk to him.
He is a man full of good ideas, but no one to back him up.

I highlight the passages that are interesting to me. So far, I have highlighted at least one passage per chapter. And there are a lot of chapters.

Tesla has proven his inventor/engineering chops, and by now is quite the social butterfly in New York City. His success with the AC motor has provided this acclaim. Now he is concentrating on wireless lighting. Very cool.

This guy was just a plain smart and driven person. He started his focus on the AC motor at a very young age. He knew his stuff early on.

This read gets more interesting with every chapter. This city was the Alpha + city of its time.
It had libraries, scholarship, lighthouses, people of all stripes, nations, and wealth. And even mild weather. What was not to like about this place?
But, alas, even paradise gets hit with tsunamis. At this point, Christianity has established itself in the city. And about to make its mark.

It's amazing to me how advanced human civilization was "2000 FREAKING YEARS" ago. The scholars at the Alexandria Library and research center had already figured out the earth was not flat, calculated the diameter and circumference of the planet, invented geometry and trigonometry, and developed some medical techniques. AND, along the way, also collected about all the books (scrolls) of the known world. Impressive

Alexandria has a fascinating history. As this book accounts for. Alexander the Great never set foot in his namesake city. He came, he saw, and he decided to build a city at the location that connects three continents. After his death, Ptolemy took up the cause to get this city built. At this point, the city has been established, and the library is well underway to being the place to be.