The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks

I do not read much science fiction.  Many years ago I read Asimov's Foundation series when it was still just a trilogy, but I wasn't too impressed, probably because, back in those days science reality (the moon landings, Vikings and Voyagers) was more impressive. 

The Algebraist is similar in scale and subject matter to the Foundation books, but Banks is a much better writer than I remember Asimov to have been. He is  clever and witty and makes his strange worlds and even stranger life forms, seem quite believable.  I particularly liked the ancient, shambolic, laid-back Dwellers, beings who have lived in the atmospheres of gas giant planets for billions of years.  I found it gripping while I was reading it but, as with all science fiction, the moment I had finished it, the excitement evaporated like a dream after you wake up.

I could see The Algebraist being made into a film, but it would have to be practically all CGI.

Breaking the Spell by Daniel C. Dennet

Daniel Dennet is a philosopher who is best known for applying evolutionary ideas to philosophical problems such as free will and consciousness.  In this book he turns his attention to religious faith.  His main idea is that religion is so persistent and so important that it is about time it was properly studied by science.  He tries to allay people's fears that this would destroy faith or 'Break the Spell' (in doing so, he shows he has faith in the robustness of religious faith) and also gives some indications of how scientific theories of religion could be constructed and what questions they should answer.

I think this is one of the more accessible of Dennet's books; it doesn't contain as much technical philosopy as Consciousness Explained or Freedom Evolves.  I could easily imagine Church of England vicars and bishops reading it (and agreeing with a lot of what it says).

Like all Dennet's books, it is full of memorable phrases and ideas.  First, cephalopods as honorary vertebrates:

In the United Kingdom, the law regarding cruelty to animals draws an important moral line at whether the animal is a vertebrate.  ...  It's a pretty good place to draw the line, but laws can be amended, and this one was.  Cephalopods -- octopus, squid, cuttlefish -- were recently made honorary vertebrates, in effect, because they, unlike their close mollusc cousins the clams and oysters, have such strikingly sophisticated nervous systems.  ...

Next, the idea of the dilution of responsibility:

Do you ever ask yourself: What if I'm wrong?  Of course there is a large crowd of others around you who share your conviction, and this distributes -- and, alas, dilutes -- responsibility, ...

On the arbitrariness of the effects of sexual selection:

And if an influential sample of our female ancestors had happened, for no good reason, to have a taste for males who jumped up and down in the rain, we guys would now find ourselves unable to sit still whenever it rained.

On the creation of religions:

Two or three new religions come into existence every day, ... 

 On accepting obviously inadequate explanations:

... a disorder often encountered in the humanities and social sciences: premature curiosity satisfaction.

On the importance of written texts to the survival of religions:

A text inked on papyrus or parchment is like the hard spore of a plant that may lie undamaged in the sand for centuries before finding itself in suitable conditions to shed its armour and sprout.

On the immorality of unquestioning faith:

... those who have an unquestioning faith in the correctness of the moral teachings of their religion are a problem: if they themselves haven't conscientiously considered, on their own, whether their pastors or priests or rabis or imams are worthy of this delegated authority over their own lives, then they are in fact taking a personally immoral stand.

Monkey by Wu Cheng-en

A classic tale from China translated by by Arthur Waley.  It is the story of a monkey king who creates mayhem in heaven and, as a result, is entombed under a mountain for 500 years.  Then he agrees to escort a Buddhist monk on a journey to India to fetch scriptures, they are joined by various helpers on the way and have lots of adventures.   I read this book to my daughter (who was then 11) and we both enjoyed it.

The final few chapters,  in which they return to China, have a different atmosphere from the earlier ones: they are overtly religious and less playful; maybe they were added to the original at a later date?

Daniel Jackson's New Book

Daniel Jackson, creator of the Alloy specification language has a new book out.  It is called Software Abstractions - Logic, Language, and Analysis.  It apparently is already available in the USA and is to be published in the UK at the end of this month.  I popped into Waterstone's this evening and ordered my copy.   More details, including sample chapters are available from the book's web-page at MIT Press.

From the sample preface, I like Jackson's description of his experiences using an automatic specification analyzer:

The experience of exploring a software model with an automatic analyzer is at once thrilling and humiliating. Most modelers have had the benefit of review by colleagues; it’s a sure way to find flaws and catch omissions. Few modelers, however, have had the experience of subjecting their models to continual, automatic review. Building a model incrementally with an analyzer, simulating and checking as you go along, is a very different experience from using pencil and paper alone. The first reaction tends to be amazement: modeling is much more fun when you get instant, visual feedback. When you simulate a partial model, you see examples immediately that suggest new constraints to be added.

Then the sense of humiliation sets in, as you discover that there’s almost nothing you can do right. What you write down doesn’t mean exactly what you think it means. And when it does, it doesn’t have the consequences you expected. Automatic analysis tools are far more ruthless than human reviewers. I now cringe at the thought of all the models I wrote (and even published) that were never analyzed, as I know how error-ridden they must be. Slowly but surely the tool teaches you to make fewer and fewer errors. Your sense of confidence in your modeling ability (and in your models!) grows.

And from the sample introduction there is:

When good abstractions are missing from the design, or erode as the system evolves, the resulting program grows barnacles of complexity. The user is then forced to master a mass of spurious details, to develop workarounds, and to accept frequent, inexplicable failures.

From now on I won't be able to start up Microsoft Word without the vision of a foundering barnacle-encrusted ship coming into my mind!

Update on Sat 2006-05-13 by Tristram Brelstaff

Apparently the UK publication date has been put back to May 28th.

Two Herons, a Chiffchaff and a Greater Spotted Woodpecker

Today was my first day back at work after a week off. Coming out of Farnborough North station this morning a pair of herons flew overhead.  One gave a kraak call (like the heron at the beginning of Tarka the Otter) and they flopped off at tree-top height, along the railway towards Wokingham.   Over the bridge, a chiffchaff was singing high up, first from a tree top, then from some power lines (the ones fitted with little 'springs' to make them more visible to low-flying swans).  A minute later, in the woods, a greater spotted woodpecker landed in a tree just above me, showing the red patch under its tail. 

You don't get that from a car!