FEB 2018
AUDIO BOOK REVIEWS
by Jonathan Lowe
Couple
centuries back the call “go west, young man!”
propelled settlers and homesteaders into the Louisiana
Purchase and beyond into New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona,
Nevada, Utah, and California. Our mythic vision of
“conquering” the west envisioned cowboys
and ranches with cattle and crops abundant. Indians
were resettled onto reservations, although many did
not go quietly. Fast forward to today, with many millions
of people inhabiting oasis cities like Vegas, Phoenix,
and Los Angeles, sustained by dams and water projects
that feed water out for irrigation, and cause rival
special interests to lobby for rights to dwindling
supplies. Farmers, ranchers, and the general voting
public still yearn to maintain the values represented
by “taming” the west, six gun in holster,
cattle lasso at the ready. It is a powerful image,
not one easily refuted. What refutes it? Science.
The west is drying up, due in part to climate change,
growing populations using up underground water that
fell as rain centuries earlier (when no one lived
there), cattle production, and dams redirecting river
water to irrigate fields instead of replenishing underground
reserves. Those who think short-term and expect the
government to solve the problem are in for a big surprise.
According to the author of CADILLAC DESERT,
a classic examination of the history of water in the
west, “unless people change, the desert will
reclaim the west. The desert cities will see a mass
exodus.” This audiobook by Marc Reisner,
read by Francis Spieler and Kate Udall, contains
an apocalyptic postscript by Lawrie Mott. California
wildfires and droughts will increase in time, while
flooding and hurricanes will dominate the eastern
seaboard. Some of the points made by the book, whose
subtitle is “The American West and Its Disappearing
Water,” are: 1) Instead of cattle we should
raise bison, which require much less water. (Settlers
killed bison for sport by the thousands from trains.)
2) Dams on rivers exist in the thousands, but are
not sustainable, and kill untold millions of fish
like salmon. Some are dangerous, such as several located
near earthquake faults in California. A wall of water
twenty stories high coming down main street is not
something a non-superhero could survive. 3) No single
politician has or will ever be able to solve this
problem. It is too complex. Just ask Jack Nicholson’s
character in the movie Chinatown. (The Owens Valley
water wars that inspired the film are but one of the
scandals explored in the book.) No one can predict
when exactly it will happen, and few are even asking.
Short term profits beat long term solutions in American
politics, as everyone scrambles for their cut before
the bowl goes dust.
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Fake
News, “alternative facts,” and bogus
science is more viral now than ever. Over 100,000
videos on Youtube tell us the Earth is flat. The
“History” Channel suggests the pyramids
were built by Ancient Aliens, relying on ancient
writings and drawings as “evidence.”
Throughout history, mankind has struggled to understand
life's mysteries, from the mundane to the seemingly
miraculous. Static societies endured for ages, without
progress, because creativity was suppressed. Challenges
to dogma were met with death. In THE BEGINNING
OF INFINITY, David Deutsch, an award-winning
pioneer in the field of quantum computation, shows
why man’s ego colors his faulty interpretations
of events and observations. The human eye, he argues,
is the least important tool of science, and the
most easily fooled. Things are rarely what they
seem, and no justification or authority is needed
to arrive at truth. What is needed is to recognize
flaws of logic, which have plagued mankind for thousands
of years. Static thinking, mired in superstition
and error, is our past, but need not be our future.
Listening to this 20 hour audiobook is like getting
a college degree in physics, biology, math, and
geology. You will no longer be victim to those who
would manipulate your beliefs for profit. Called
one of the most profound science books ever written
by the NY Times, it shows why explanations have
a fundamental place in the universe. They have unlimited
scope and power to cause change, and the quest to
improve them is the basic regulating principle not
only of science but of all successful human endeavor.
This stream of ever improving explanations has infinite
reach. Optimistic in outlook, the book shows how
we are subject only to the laws of physics, but
they impose no upper boundary to what we can eventually
understand, control, and achieve. A most relevant
Must Read narrated by the always
focused and listenable Walter Dixon.
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Finally,
in science fiction, some flashback relevance exists
in RICH MAN’S WAR by Elliott Kay:
No one walks away from business with the three biggest
corporations in the Union of Humanity. Cutthroat trade
deals and bloody covert operations make that clear
as the star system of Archangel tries to break free.
Yet despite all their power, the Big Three are more
vulnerable than anyone knows—leaving them desperate
to make an example of Archangel. Tanner Malone would
gladly avoid such struggles. He’d rather run
out the clock on his enlistment in the Archangel Navy.
Instead, he’s been ordered back into the front
lines of a cold war that quickly grows hot. He doesn’t
know about his government’s shady deals, or
about the old enemies lurking in the shadows. All
he knows is that the sky is falling—and he’ll
have to fight harder than ever if he doesn’t
want to be crushed beneath it.
POOR
MAN’S FIGHT: Quick-witted Tanner
Malone has bombed the Test, an all-important exam
that establishes how much he owes for his corporate-funded
education. With his future plans crushed under a mountain
of debt, Tanner enlists in the navy of his home star
system of Archangel. But he hasn’t factored
in the bullying shipmates, the civil war brewing on
the border, or the space pirates. As Tanner begins
basic training, the government ramps up its forces
to confront the vicious raiders wreaking havoc throughout
human space. Led by the complex and charismatic Captain
Casey, the outlaws never let their egalitarian and
democratic ideals get in the way of a little murder
or mayhem. Assigned to the front lines, Tanner learns
there’s only one way to deal with his ruthless
foes, cruel comrades, and the unforgiving void of
space. He’ll have to get up close and personal.
Both novels are narrated by Timothy Pabon,
whose crisp and engaging voice animates the text with
a Hunger Games tone
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Jonathan
Lowe is author of five novels, including Postmarked
for Death, now being recorded by Atlanta
actor Les Cassamas for release mid-Feb. Set in the
Tucson post office, the thriller is also an ebook
and paperback at Amazon. |
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Click a link for
more Audiobooks at
AMAZON |
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