Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Pigments, Paint, and People

What is Color? The Global and Sometimes Gross Story of Pigments, Paint, and the Wondrous World of Art by Steven Weinberg

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I signed up for my core science requirement in my sophomore year of undergrad. I heard from my advisor and my classmates that the color science course was a good one for theatre majors, fun and easy. Then, on the first day of class, the professor thoroughly destroyed both of those rumors. I dropped it immediately, forgot about my science requirement entirely, and ended up fulfilling it with an 8 AM astronomy course the summer AFTER I should have graduated (I got a C on […]

Surprisingly Dull Bones

The Bone Lady: Life as a Forensic Anthropologist by Mary Manhein

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When I was young, one of my dreamed-of professions was to be an archeologist. I have no propensity for science nor any patience, so needless to say that dream went unfulfilled. But I have remained fascinated by the subject, from digs to dinosaurs to graves. This interest led me to pick up The Bone Lady by Mary Manhein, a surprisingly dull book about her work as a forensic anthropologist. Manhein runs a lab in Louisiana and was given the nickname “The Bone Lady” by colleagues. […]

Are Dinosaurs Dumb? No!

The Panda's Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History by Stephen Jay Gould

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I am, as several other essays emphasize, an advocate of the position that science is not an objective, truth-directed machine, but a quintessentially human activity, affected by passions, hopes, and cultural biases. I read Stephen Jay Gould’s The Mismeasure of Man a few months ago, and mentioned to my brother that while I enjoyed it, for some reason I thought it was going to be a collection of science essays on a variety of topics. My brother promptly sent me Gould’s The Panda’s Thumb: More […]

Diving In Too Deep

Submersed: Wonder, Obsession, and Murder in the World of Amateur Submarines by Matthew Gavin Frank

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Before the murder of journalist Kim Wall by inventor Peter Madsen hit international headlines, few had heard of the world of amateur submarines, a small but obsessive group chasing the chance to go ever deeper. Like the author, I am very claustrophobic, and deeply suspicious of deep water, so of course the stories of spelunkers and divers fascinate me. And while I remember following the story of Kim Wall’s murder as it unfolded in the news, I didn’t follow it all the way until the […]

If Stacy McAnulty is involved, you have a winner

Our Solar System! A Stellar Neighborhood by Stacy McAnulty

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In September 2025 Our Solar System! A Stellar Neighborhood by Stacy McAnulty and illustrated by Stevie Lewis will be available. I was able to read via an online reader copy, but I know that a final copy will see itself becoming gifts for friends, family and local libraries. This is a new addition to the solar system/planet/space books that have gone before.  This introduction to the solar system has a slightly younger tone and feeling than the author’s other works. That is not to say […]

Just because it is spring, doesn’t mean you can’t read a book about winter things

Brown Girl in the Snow by Yolanda T. Marshall and Marianne Ferrer

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September 2025 is the start of the Autumn/Winter release books. And this year (2025) so far has it looking like there will be some terribly hot titles. I am not just talking about whether they have “hot themes” (immigration, new school, historical events) or are from or set in a warm climate, I am talking  about whether they are going to be talked about and if they are going to get noticed and which ones are going to get awards and recognition. And Brown Girl […]



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