What are you currently reading?

[Ken B]

The notion of causality (ie A causes B) is extremely fundamental but very poorly understood.  The social sciences in particular appear clueless about causality.  When scientists tried to answer the question "does smoking cause cancer", it turned out they lacked the tools to properly study the question.

Daniel Pearl has led the charge amongst the machine learning crowd to tackle this fundamental problem, and invented a "causality calculus" to that end.  This book is his attempt to discuss his (and others') progress in the field to lay persons (such as myself).

The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect
by Judea Pearl and Dana Mackenzie

I am reading the book slowly because I think the book may be IMPORTANT.  Hopefully he won't disappoint.

I am reading it too, also slowly. So far my likely winner of Book of the Year.
If you want a related recommendation, Statistics Done Wrong.

[Karl Henning]

BOY - I've not responded to this thread in a LONG time, but I'm always reading - below are a half dozen books, half finished and the other half ongoing - reading these over the last few months - if any interest, please ask - Dave

This looks of interest, Dave  0:)

[Ken B]

BOY - I've not responded to this thread in a LONG time, but I'm always reading - below are a half dozen books, half finished and the other half ongoing - reading these over the last few months - if any interest, please ask - Dave

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Looks like interesting stuff. Just bought the Winchester as an audio book.

[Karl Henning]

In fairness, yes, all of interest.

[SonicMan46]

This looks of interest, Dave  0:)

Hi Karl - bought the musical instruments book in hardcover - just $18 from Amazon (see pic below) - well organized w/ plenty of pics (go to Amazon and peruse the half dozen images of the inside of the book, if interested) - brief (just over 200 pages) but well written w/ nice overviews on the development and history of the instruments.

For those into country music, the 3rd edition (since 1968) of Bill C. Malone's Country Music USA is a MUST - the best single volume on the topic w/ excellent discussion of the pre-WW II musical roots - over 500 pages in length - highly recommended if the genre is of interest?  Dave

Bill C. Malone (born August 25, 1934) is an American musician, author and historian specializing in country music and other forms of traditional American music, he is a noted scholar. He is the author of the 1968 book Country Music, U.S.A., the first definitive academic history of country music.[1] Malone is Professor Emeritus of History at Tulane University and now resides in Madison, Wisconsin. (from his Wiki bio)

[bwv 1080]

[Mahlerian]

7-33 sets.

Good book though.

[aligreto]

7-33 sets.

Good book though.

Recommended to aid with comprehension or develop further insights? Is there anything else worth considering here? Genuine interest.

[Mahlerian]

Recommended to aid with comprehension or develop further insights? Is there anything else worth considering here? Genuine interest.

I was being a little facetious about that first comment, though because of that book's constant reference to them, I have come to understand what a 7-33 set is.

Still, while the book does discuss some of the technical details of the music, there's also a good explication of the growth of Takemitsu's style and its aesthetic, not merely technique.  Burt tries to connect these things.  There are a good number of score excerpts, and I suppose the main audience is people who have studied music rather than the layman, but I don't know of any comparable book that is geared entirely towards a general audience.

This book, containing some of Takemitsu's writings translated into English, is nice to have, but it doesn't really go into depth about any of the subjects involved, and only a few of the essays touch on his own music much at all:


I've never read this one, which seems to be out of print:

[aligreto]

I was being a little facetious about that first comment, though because of that book's constant reference to them, I have come to understand what a 7-33 set is.

Still, while the book does discuss some of the technical details of the music, there's also a good explication of the growth of Takemitsu's style and its aesthetic, not merely technique.  Burt tries to connect these things.  There are a good number of score excerpts, and I suppose the main audience is people who have studied music rather than the layman, but I don't know of any comparable book that is geared entirely towards a general audience.

This book, containing some of Takemitsu's writings translated into English, is nice to have, but it doesn't really go into depth about any of the subjects involved, and only a few of the essays touch on his own music much at all:


I've never read this one, which seems to be out of print:

Thank you for the comments.

[bwv 1080]

7-33 sets.

Good book though.

Still on  the 50s and early 60s - Requiem and so forth, the 7-33 set is the first part of the row for Le Son Calligraphie

7-33 btw is Forte's nomenclature for the set 0,1,2,4,6,8,10 (counting semitones from 0).  It also can be thought of as a whole tone scale with an added note

[SimonNZ]

Finished:



Started:

[SimonNZ]

took a break from the jazz book to knock off this quick read:

[Ken B]

took a break from the jazz book to knock off this quick read:

Is it good? I've only read Fear& Loathing, but it was screamingly funny.

[SimonNZ]

Is it good? I've only read Fear& Loathing, but it was screamingly funny.

Its more straightforward less wild than his later style. Its a light fun read nevertheless and captures a time and place well (Puerto Rico in the late 1950s). I'd recommend it, but its by no means essential reading.

I was curious after seeing the movie which does kind of vaguely follow the book, but exaggerates the Thompson character's excesses so they're more in line with Fear and Loathing.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Today I read "A Scandal in Bohemia". What a great story, Irene Adler is such an amazing character! Outsmarting Sherlock Holmes is an admirable achievement. It's too bad Doyle never used her again, although I can see why she is often portrayed as a love interest of Holmes in other media.

[vandermolen]

Today I read "A Scandal in Bohemia". What a great story, Irene Adler is such an amazing character! Outsmarting Sherlock Holmes is an admirable achievement. It's too bad Doyle never used her again, although I can see why she is often portrayed as a love interest of Holmes in other media.

Yes, that's a great story. Charles Augustus Milverton is another one I like very much.

[Ken B]

Yes, that's a great story. Charles Augustus Milverton is another one I like very much.

Yes that's one of the best.

[SonicMan46]

.....................
Started:

 

Boy, I read that book years ago and still in my collection (inserted above w/ different cover) - from the late 1970s - never updated, I believe?

I've read Collier's bios on Armstrong, Goodman, and Ellington, although in my current collection I have other newer books on these jazz greats which seem to be better (BUT, hard to say w/o doing back-to-back comparisons) - hope that you enjoy!  For 'general' jazz books, I've like Gary Giddins' more recent books.  Dave

[Karl Henning]

Yesterday, I finally finished reading:

[asin]0815605358[/asin]

A book so good, I shall write up a proper review.  The final chapter, "Aftermath," is heartrending in its relentless description of the butchery and "sausage-making" of the network "preparing" the show for syndication.  Folks, if you have not watched Rod Serling's Night Gallery as reissued on DVD, you have only watched a mangled facsimile of the show.