I certainly know from my own experience that if I don’t read, writing is that much harder, so right now I am seeking out interesting reads. Reading fuels writing, both in general creativity and in actually improving the quality of my writing.
Classic Papers from PNAS
Edwin Hubble’s A relation between distance and radial velocity among extra-galactic nebulae introduced astronomy to the concept of an expanding universe. And Barbara McClintock’s The origin and behavior of mutable loci in maize revolutionized the biotech world with the discovery of transposons, also known as jumping genes.
PNAS has many more classic papers available; these are just what I’m looking at now. And they also have some nice commentaries available on them to put them in context.
The Crucifixion by Fleming Rutledge
Rutledge is a pastor/theologian I’ve only recently discovered. Here, she has an engaging book with theology that is both academically presented and very much applied to our life and times. I’m immersed in the read but also moving slowly because it’s kinda advanced (even if well-written).
Grad school things
Textbooks, papers, class materials, protocols. I’m starting up a new program in bioengineering and hope to showcase some of the papers involved here.
Random poems
Nothing in particular, but I’ve been randomly drawing from collections of Emily Dickinson, William Shakespeare, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning as I have time. I need to avoid burnout, after all, so why not occasionally read something like, “I started early, took my dog // And visited the sea. // The mermaids in the basement // Came down to look at me” because how is that not one of the most charming things ever.
Also, of course, Consilience has my interest. Science-themed poetry? Yes please. The first volume had some great reads and I’m looking forward to the next one (theme: Uncertainty).
- Anything interesting you’ve been reading lately?
Bio by the Bay 