History
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Think Differently
Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t…
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WFH over de computer
‘Voor de schrijfmachine is het nu wachten op de doodklap van de computer. Terecht ? Meneer. Menéér. De computer is toch niet beter! Wat is daar beter aan? Zo’n ding is misschien een vooruitgang op kantoor, een brief ziet er netjes uit. Maar voor particulieren? De mens is nu eenmaal feilbaar, nietwaar? Fouten in mijn…
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Koken
‘De gemiddelde kooktijd is sterk gedaald in Nederland. Door de week ligt die nu nog maar op 17 minuten. Dat noem ik niet koken, dat is assembleren.‘― Theo Roos (1997)
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The Discoverers, Daniel J. Boorstin (ISBN 978-039472625-0, Vintage)
This book by Daniel Boorstin was first published in 1983. I read the Dutch translation around 1995 at which time it made quite an impression on me. In my mind it was still among the best books I have read. End of last year I decided to read it again but in the original English…
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The Making of the Atomic Bomb : 25th Anniversary Edition, Richard Rhodes (ISBN 978-1451677614, Simon & Schuster)
Last year ‘revolved’ about the history of the atomic bomb with the Oppenheimer movie being released. To brush up on my Oppenheimer I read 2 biographies, one by Abraham Pais and the other one the Pulitzer Prize winning American Prometheus. And then I decided to finally read book by Richard Rhodes about the making of…
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Napoleon. Deel 2: van Keizer tot mythe, Johan op de Beeck (ISBN , 9789022329979, Manteau)
New summer holiday so time to re read part 2 of the Napoleon biography from Johan op de Beeck. Although equally good as part 1 this book was a bit harder to get through the second time. It has not so much to do with the writing but all the more with the events in…
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Tumbas : Frits Zernike
Famous Dutch physicist and Nobel laureate Frits Zernike lies buried in graveyard Zorgvlied in Amstelveen near Amsterdam. He is buried together with his sister Elisabeth who was a writer and a poet. In the nineties the tombstone was removed and a new one was ‘inaugurated’ recently. If you understand Dutch you can watch a short…
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London Science Museum
Whenever I visit a city I have a look if there are any interesting science museums. In London we planned to go to the Natural History museum but during on trip in the underground we saw an advertisement for the Science Museum and the temporary exhibition of ZimingZhong, mainly British clockworks given to the Chinese…
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J. Robert Oppenheimer. A Life, Abraham Pais (ISBN 9780195327120, Oxford University Press)
With the Oppenheimer movie coming out I decided to read a biography first. I didn’t have the one from Kai Bird on which the movie is based (has been rectified in the mean time) but I did have 3 other books on Oppenheimer patiently lying in the library waiting to be read. After googling a…
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Interview with Richard Rhodes about The Making of the Atomic Bomb
I was surfing the web for some information about the Oppenheimer movie and came across this interview with author Richard Rhodes on YouTube in May 2023. Really interesting to hear Rhodes talk about the many people he talked to in the course of writing this book and others. Well addition to reading the actual book.



