Daily Thoughts 04/19/2015
I checked the Twitter and Facebook this morning for the library.
I enjoyed reading Clash of Eagles by Alan Smale. When the Romans enter North America in this alternate history they encounter the Cahokian tribes. In the real world, the Cahokia mounds are a mystery. No one is quite sure what happened to these people between 1200 a.d. and 1400 a.d.. The time setting is 1218 a.d. This allows a lot of license for Alan Smale to create a culture from scratch.
It also allows Alan Smale to speculate with technology. For example he draws on conjectures like Jim Woodman's Nazca ballooon http://juliannott.com/nazca/ and the idea of pre-colombian glider craft. There is even a bit on greek fire. This makes for interesting alternate history. It also makes for a tale about technological innovation and change.
The book is the first part of a three part series.
I also started reading Curiosity by Alberto Manguel. He opens with a critique of education for purely technical skill, arguing that education is meant to seek new things and ask questions about how the world works.
Web Bits
Metro Money: Growing Number of New Yorkers Are Using the
Library for Office Space
Library of the Future Is Here
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