What a wierd week to start blogging again. Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett died today. I’m laying out in my hammock in the yard and a car just drive by playing the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back”. I can’t even begin to say how odd it is and how sad it makes me to find out that Michael Jackson is dead. Such a piece of my childhood… Farrah doesn’t impact me the same way. Odd odd odd.

I’m currently reading a few books other than Infinite Jest. I’m about halfway through Sean Carroll’s The Making of the Fittest. This one is really appealing to the evolution geek in me in the way that The Ancestor’s Tale was. I love books that are focused on how and why evolution happens instead of trying to spend all their time trying to convince you that it did. This book starts with the idea that the reader already understands evolution up to a point and is really just looking to get a peek behind the scenes on how it works. What specific DNA changes caused howler monkeys to develop trichromatic color vision? What specific mutations gave rise to icefish having no red blood cells and antifreeze in thier veins? How does the statistical math work for spreading a trait throughout a population? What about the probability of mutation in the first place? How does natural selection preserve some traits and abandon others? All of this is covered and covered well with excellent examples, cutting edge research, and fascinating depth. Loving it, I’m telling you, loving it!

– Post From My iPhone

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