Essay: The Closest Extra-solar Planet to Earth

The Closest Extra-solar Planet to Earth: What's Alpha Centauri Bb Like and How Can We Get There? by Les Johnson

Baen Books. Free Nonfiction 2013 (Kindle Locations 471-473). Baen Books. Kindle Edition. 

Quotes:

We clearly need a new type of space propulsion. Fortunately, nature has provided us with some possibilities and none will require us to rewrite the laws of physics

There is a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri. What do we do about it?

Synopsis:

This is a brief article about the then recently discovered world orbiting Alpha Centauri B. It discusses several possible ways for humans to travel there. Such as a matter/antimatter powered drive, nuclear fusion, solar and laser sails and nuclear pulse drive. It also covers the limits and problems of each, and after concluding that a trip to the planet within a current human lifetime is unlikely pivots to getting better look at the planet by building a new type of space telescope that would use the concept of gravitational lensing to get us images of the planet that is not possible for any space telescope currently in operation.

Thoughts:

One thing I found funny in the article, which is the reason why it's the first quote from it, is the writer's concern about not re-writing the laws of physics. I always find that kind of thing amusing because the history of science is a history of re-writing the laws of physics, chemistry or any other branch of science you care to name. I've never read anything by Les Johnson before this, but I do intend to read more by him. He's a good writer who writes with great clarity. Outside of being a writer he also works for NASA. One option that he left out of the article was a magsail, short for magnetic sail. I think they provide a viable option for travel to the nearer stars, and in a shorter timeframe than the other options he included. Though there would still have to be many years, perhaps of decades, of development done before such a craft could launch.

Essay: The Amazon's Right Breast

 The Amazon's Right Breast by Tom Kratman was an essay included a collection of free nonfiction from 2011 released by Baen Books.

Quotes:

"Eros makes Mars his Bitch."

"It’s interesting, isn’t it, that in trying to equate racial integration with gender and gender-orientation integration, people in favor of the latter ignore the history of military racial integration."

Synopsis:

Primarily this essay is concerned with the author's opposition to integrating women in the combat arms of the military. It uses historical examples, both pro and con. But goes into detail of why some of the examples that have worked (for certain values of worked) in the past in other societies wouldn't work in a modern western society.

Thoughts: 

If I'd known what the subject of the essay was before I started it, I probably wouldn't have read it. Not because I disagree with the basic sentiment, but just the opposite. I not only agree, but I find that those on the other side of the issue are either too dishonest, or too stupid to have a constructive discussion about it. That's why my synopsis is a bit sparse to say the least. Overall it's well written and has some interesting examples, including some I wasn't aware of. That said, there are some boomerisms I found annoying. Overall though it is a very good work on the subject, just beware the boomer if you choose to read it.

Essay: Broca's Brain

    Broca's Brain is the first essay, not counting the introduction, in the eponymously named book "Broca's Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science" published in 1979 and written by Carl Sagan. I think the book is, in part or in whole, made up of essays previously published elsewhere. But the version I'm writing about is the one found in this book.

Quotes:

This quote is in reference to a head preserved in a jar at a museum in France.

"These forgotten jars and their grisly contents had been collected, at least partly, in a humanistic spirit; and perhaps, in some era of future advance in brain studies, they would prove useful once again. I would be interested in knowing a little more about the red-mustachioed man who had been, in part, returned to France from New Caledonia."

"But I am not sure the scientists are entirely free of the motives of those New Guinea cannibals; are they not at least saying, “I live with these heads every day. They don’t bother me. Why should you be so squeamish?”?"

Synopsis: 

The essay begins as a series of impressions and thoughts Sagan has about some old exhibits in the Musée de l’Homme in France. Some of the more noteworthy include heads preserved in jars, skulls and a bundle of femurs. This includes his thoughts on the motives of those who collected the artifacts and put them together into exhibits. Eventually he discovers a preserved brain and see it is marked as formerly belonging to Paul Broca. Here Sagan covers some of Broca's achievement's and writes about what he believes the best practices are to avoid abuse in scientific research.

Thoughts:

I first read this essay many, many moons ago when I was much younger and found the book in a used book sale at my local library. More recently I found it on sale for the Kindle and for nostalgia as much as anything bought it. The original got lost in a move years ago.

The part I found most interesting was the discussion of Broca's accomplishments and I wish more of the essay had been devoted to that. This is much the same reaction I had when I first read it. What is changed is my reaction to Sagan's handwringing over the supposed racism, sexism, and jingoism motivating those who put the exhibits together. When I was younger I found it merely annoying, now I find it tiresome, and more than a bit disingenuous.

Paul Broca was responsible for some great advances in our understanding of how the brain works, and I would've preferred more of that and less of, "People in the past had bad wrongthink opinions!"