The Extravagant Universe is written by Rob Kirshner, a Harvard astronomer. Dr. Kirshner writes so entertainingly about cosmological affairs such as dark matter, red giants, and Einstein's proposed cosmological constant, that reading his book is worthwhile even if it is light years above a non-astronomer's grasp. For example: Dr. K. casually reports that astronomers have found 14 billion year-old stars but a universe only 12 billion years old. Somehow he accounts for this. If you are at all starstruck, this book will interest you despite its equations and arcane references, and you will look at the night sky differently.
Hamlet's Dresser is a moving memoir by Bob Smith, who is a teacher, director, and above all, a lover of Shakespeare. Smith was born in Stratford, like his hero, but this was Stratford, Connecticut. His father was gruff and distant and his mother unhappy and unable to cope well with Bob's severely retarded younger sister. A sad background and a lonely boy - but when he was 10, Bob heard some lines from Shakespeare, including "In sooth I know not why I am so sad." (Merchant of Venice) Bob had no idea what a sooth was (truth, reality), but he clung to Shakespeare as a drowning person grabs a log. His first job was as a teenager when the American Shakespeare Festival came to Stratford; he helped the actor playing Hamlet change his clothes. Smith never went to college, but he has directed Shakespeare's plays in universities, prisons, and his favorite venue - homes for the elderly. The Bard of Avon saved Smith's life; now he is passing on that blessing.
Mysteries! Alexander McCall Smith is a professor of medical law
at Edinburgh University; he was born in Zimbabwe and also taught law at
the University of Botswana. His first mystery (1998) was The No.
1 Ladies' Detective Agency, and his main character is Mma (a title
of respect used even with family members) Ramotswe. She seldom uses her
first name, which is Precious. "She was a good detective and a good woman
in a good country, Botswana, a place of peace that has never had political
prisoners," the author tells us. Mma Ramotswe is up in her 40's, once married,
and, as she puts it, "traditionally built," which seems to mean a bit short
and hefty. She sets up her detective agency because she thinks this is
work she could do. Almost at once she has clients, including a wife with
a missing husband, and the parents of a boy who may have been kidnapped
by witch doctors. Book #2 in this series is Tears of the Giraffe
and #3 is Morality for Beautiful Girls. #4 is The Kalahari
Typing School for Men. You have to love these titles; you will
also love these 4 small books.
-- Alice Racher