One dinner-time in a mountain hut The common room was full and every available seat occupied. Twelve or thirteen tables which can each comfortably seat six people had nine or ten squeezed in. Despite the crush I was feeling isolated: … Continue reading →
Harry, my dear old chap I had to write and tell you what I thought about that book of yours which dropped through my letterbox the other day. To be honest, I didn’t think it would be up to much: … Continue reading →
Alcohol and Alpine mountaineering The refuge is run by guardian Gérard. “He’s evil,” averred my guide Rob on our way up to the refuge. We’d been talking about this and that, and our conversation had touched on the topic of … Continue reading →
A French couple on a mountain path There is a certain type of French couple for whom there ought to be a generic name. This French couple — let’s call them Bernard and Eveline — are not necessarily an old … Continue reading →
Greene surveys our understanding of the nature of everything from the sub-atomic to the whole universe. He covers Einstein’s special and general relativity theories, quantum mechanics, entropy and the directionality of time. So far so good, and although some results … Continue reading →
In the early 1830’s Charles Darwin was a young man, scientifically inclined, with a general interest in the natural world and particular interests in botany, zoology and geology. He had gained a BA from Cambridge, and would have progressed naturally … Continue reading →
Getting there Monday 24 April 2006 Easyjet flight from London Heathrow (LHR) to Basel (BSL) No. 50 Bus from airport (buy tickets from machine) to Basel rail station (SBB, Swiss Rail) Train from Basel SBB to Basel Bad (Basel’s German … Continue reading →
Just about everything I would want to say about this excellent book is in JT’s review in the Travel Literature blog, but I will just add one thought. As a Persian scholar and someone who has travelled widely in the … Continue reading →
If you are interested in the questions central to this book – how and why human minds have evolved – but are not closely in touch with the latest academic and scientific thinking on the subject, be warned: this book … Continue reading →
For many British people there is a blank period of history covering the decade and a half from the end of the Second World War. In south-east Asia the Federation of Malaya, as it was then, gained independence in 1957; … Continue reading →