The Making of the Fittest: Part II

The story continues with evolution. As modern technology unravels more and more of the DNA sequences that make up all of life, there are startling discoveries made. There are specific lines of DNA that are present in most species, "immortal genes" as the author put it. For billions of years, there have been few if little changes to those genes, while surrounding genes have either been entirely disposed of or heavily mutated. With these "immortal genes" scientists can now track the development of entire species from billions of years ago until now. This can be used as evidence to support evolution. The scientists also examine the so called "fossil genes" in order to determine environmental changes and why those disused genes actually fell out of use. After the discussion of that topic, the author returns to his main point: evolution is real. There is maybe 3 chapters just devoted to this point. He slams the writers who absolutely deny evolution, providing compelling evidence to refute every single one of their claims. In the end, the only thing evolution's opponents can use is religion, no scientific truth. this book is really good and is for the scientifically curious as well as those who do no put other agendas over learning.

The Making of the Fittest

DNA is the key to life, yet we understand very little about it. We might know what it is made of and the basic workings in how it functions, but there are vast unexplored areas on this topic. Evolution, one of the most controversial topics in discussion since Charles Darwin first proposed it in the 1850's, is strongly supported in this book. Through various methods, the author Sean Carroll states his case based on his own and other scientists' research. It is quite compelling but slightly challenging to understand as it requires some prior scientific knowledge to completely appreciate. I'm about halfway through this book and will continue reading. I find the topic of evolution and genetics very interesting, and this book clarifies many of the topics that go with that topic. A non-fiction book, The Making of the Fittest discusses the various mechanisms that go into evolution and the complexity of life on this planet, each piece of evidence usually getting its own chapter. I would not recommend this book to everybody, since it is quite complex with all the information presented. The reader must also actually appreciate the topic if they want to read the book, otherwise they are just wasting their time and effort. So anyone who wants to learn more about evolution and the key to life, as well as biology enthusiasts, this book would be good for you.

The Cardinal of the Kremlin

Yet another Tom Clancy book, The Cardinal of the Kremlin is set at the height of the cold war, when tensions between Russia and America were at its peak. The KGB and CIA, the espionage and counter-intelligence agencies of the respective countries, are everywhere, trying to root out the other and place their own agents deep into enemy territory. The CIA are fortunate to have a very high ranking Russian official on their payroll, Mikhail Filitov. He has been there for many many years, and was a celebrated war hero during WWII. For the 20 years he has been active, nobody has suspected him. Until now. A careless mistake has compromised his safety, and the CIA move to get him out of Russia. But not until he can obtain information on the new secret weapon the Soviets are developing in the middle of Afghanistan. The Americans are working on a similar weapon, a laser designed to destroy incoming nuclear missiles. They wish to know of any new breakthroughs that the soviets might come up with. A deadly game of intrigue plays out, spies being caught and assassinations taking place. An American scientist working on the project was kidnapped by KGB agents, at the same time as the KGB arrest Filitov. yet the soviet location for their weapon couldn't be in a worse place, right in the middle of the fighting between the Russian Army and the Mujaheddin. A band of Afghan fighters sneak to the compound and overcome the defenders, destroying much of the equipment. Meanwhile, American spies uncovered a nasty fact about the Soviet Premier, and blackmail him to defect to the United States, and bring Filitov with him, or face the consequences of having the information revealed. This book is a riveting novel, and despite being quite long, is enjoyable to read, being understandable. In classic Tom Clancy style, the plot is developed slowly, information about the characters only totally revealed near the end where everything comes together at the climax.

Flash Forward (break - 1/7/10)

At the brink of an amazing scientific discovery, everything goes wrong. At the same moment, the entire human population blacks out. During this time, everybody sees their future in the form of a dream, 21 years from the present day. Those who don't are assumed to be dead. As soon as the event ends, all hell breaks loose. Cars keep going, momentum moving them, and catastrophic crashes happen everywhere. People fall and get injured, buildings damaged by vehicles. Planes about to land or take off are now twisted heaps of metal and bodies. THe emrgency services cannot cope with this. Lloyd Simcoe is a scientist working at CERN, and his experiment involving the Large Hadron Collider started just as the flash forward did. His colleage and friend Theo Procopides is supposed to be dead within 21 years. This does not please him, and he works to the highest extent to prevent it. Theo's brother gives up on life, having a similar plight of not being able to acheive his dream, and kills himself. The team try to perform their experiment again; this time it is successful, but there is no flash forward event. The world is bewildered, and the search continues for the cause. This book is amazing, and the television series deviates a lot from the original text. I like the drama within the plot, building up the suspence until the reader can't take it anymore. It is moderately challenging but i recommend it to anybody. It it just good for any audience.

Deception Point pt 2. (12/18/09)

The flaw is noticed by other scientists now and Rachel tags along with a group of them to investigate. All the sudden, it seems to be hailing. But its not natural, rather a new weapon that shoots compacted snow as non-lethal projectiles to immobilize the group. Rachel, being an employee of a government intelligence agency, immediately recognizes the danger and attempts to flee. One of the the group is not so fortunate and is overtaken, killed by the special ops soldiers. Rachel and the other two, Michael Tolland and Corky Marlinson, manage to escape, thought to be dead by the soldiers. They are picked by a US navy submarine and are able to contact Rachel's boss as well as the president's advisor. The advisor ignores her plea, thinking it was some trick, but her boss immediately arranges for the scientists and her to be airlifted to safety. The Delta team also is notified by their anonymous controller that their targets are still alive, and continue the hunt. They take out the president's advisor on the way. Travelling to Tolland's ship, the group analyzes the meteorite again, and shocking discover it is all a scam, the "aliens" actually a species of deep-sea creatures that have been around for millions of years, hardly changing at all. At that moment, the Delta team arrives, and the group learns of the identity of the controller who is trying to kill them. This book is filled with many tiwsts and turns. The ending is completely unexpected. The majority of the plot had led the reader towards one conclusion, but the ending abruptly changing the direction, highlighting the subtle clues left in the text by the author. I enjoyed this book very much, being second to none but Angels & Demons.

Deception point pt 1. (12/11/09)

It's election year and Senator Sexton is gaining popularity with his anti-NASA rhetoric and plans for spending cuts. His daughter Rachel works as an analyst at the National Reconnaissance Office, a intelligence agency. The two could not be any more dissimilar, constantly fighting. When the president invites Rachel to verify an amazing discovery that NASA had made in the Arctic circle, her boss William Pickering offers to deny his offer for her in order to prevent any political fallout. She accepts the president's offer however and is immediately flown to the site where the scientists are working. What greets her is totally unexpected, a meteorite with alien fossils. The fossils look faintly similar to a modern day louse but much bigger and from slightly different time period, 100 million years ago. NASA claims that this meteorite must be proof that life exists elsewhere and that life on Earth was seeded. There is a catch though. Unknown to them all, a Delta spec ops team is watching their every move. So when one of the scientists notices a irregularity at the excavation site, he was killed and descretely dropped into the water filled hole where the meteorite was pulled from. Nobody notices. This is one of Dan Brown's better works, artfully written and very addicting to read. More to come.