The Technologists by Matthew Pearl

I’m afraid I have to start off by telling you that this wonderful novel will not be published until the cold month of February 2012. That being said, I just now finished reading the advance copy and thoroughly enjoyed it. Mr. Pearl is well-known for his historical novels, based on some fact, with a lot of mystery, intrigue and imagination thrown in, and very well written they are (check them out!!!).

The Technologists follows the small first graduating class of MIT, and as much as the students are infatuated by technology, the world  outside the walls of their dear school is frightened by the rapid advances in mechanics,  technology and science itself. A series of bizarre mechanical catastrophes threatens Boston and the new Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1868.

My uncle is a graduate of MIT (geology), and my daughter of Harvard (their rivals), and I live in Massachusetts, so I particularly enjoyed this fascinating novel, and especially appreciated that the author filled the reader in at the end as to which characters were based on actual people and all they accomplished in their lives.

Kraken The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid

I highly recommend this fascinating book. Author Wendy Williams explores the science of squid in an entertaining and informative style, I could not put it down. This is a book for anyone with even the slightest curiosity about biology, sea creatures or the world we live in!