What are you reading? June 2, 2018

• Started this week
• The Empty Quarter by David L. Robbins.  Military/spy stuff, set in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, I am on p. 83.
• In progress this week
• Earthman's Burden by Gordon Dickson and Poul Anderson. An old science fiction book about how humans discover the Hoka, perhaps the funniest aliens ever. I am on p. 135. 
• The Machiavellian Moment by J. G. A. Pocock. I am on p. 16. Multidisciplinary social science/history.   
• This Idea is Brilliant edited by John Brockman.  Short essays on a wide range of ideas by experts. I am on p. 129.
• A New History of Western Philosophy by Anthony Kenny. This is a very good history of the subject, well written and clear.  Kenny follows an unusual strategy in that he takes two approaches: He first covers each era in a more-or-less chronological order, then he looks at the big topics of that era in a systematic way.  I am on p. 624, in the Enlightenment.
• On hold this week (books started but put aside, without prejudice)
•  Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker. Why the Enlightenment is still important, why life is still good.  I am on p. 55. 
• Death in Brittany by Jörg Bong.  A mystery. I am on p. 25. 
• The Drawing of Trump and its Postponement by Fred L. Karpin.  I am on p. 53. A classic on the play of the hand in bridge. 
• Finished this week
• Significant Figures by Ian Stewart. Brief biographies of famous mathematicians. My review.