Childhood's End

Another one of the giants of science fiction's golden age is no longer among us. Arthur C. Clarke was 90 when he died today at his home in Sri Lanka. News accounts here, here, and here.
Clarke was a prolific writer of fiction and nonfiction. He's probably best known as author of 2001: A Space Odyssey, but he also developed the concept behind the constellation of communications satellites that ring our planet 23,000 miles above the equator. His idea of a space elevator in Fountains of Paradise has always been one of my favorites, and with the development of carbon nanotubes is now within the realm of possibility.

(Photo from BoingBoing showing Clarke and friends on his 90th birthday.)

The MBA bookshelf

David Newmark links to an article of interest to MBA types regarding some alternatives to one's "must have" book collection. Click on the article, 10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead) by Geoffrey James for his reasoning. I have read (or at least skimmed) most of the books on both lists. I tend to side with James.

His Top Ten:

1. The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam by Barbara Tuchman (Knopf, 1984)
2. The Dilbert Principle by Scott Adams (Harper Business, 1996)
3. The Art of War by Sun Tzu (various editions)
4. Crazy Bosses by Stanley Bing (Collins, 2007)
5. The Book of Proverbs (in the Bible)
6. The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli (various editions)
7. The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E.B. White (various editions)
8. How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff (W.W. Norton, 1954)
9. The Complete ‘Yes Minister’ by Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay (BBC Worldwide Americas, 1989)
10. A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing by Burton G. Malkiel (W.W. Norton, 2007)

Let this serve as a reminder to me to spend more time reading books instead of the laptop screen.