Readlists, robots, and chess
A new feature and a review of "The Chess Revolution: From the Ancient World to the Digital Age" by Peter Doggers
On Tuesday, we announced an update for our Substack: Readlists. Our weekly Substack will now include a list of books that fit into a fun category. It’s like a playlist, for books.
On Thursday, we posted Brody C. Eldridge’s review of The Chess Revolution: From the Ancient World to the Digital Age by Peter Doggers (Puzzlewright Press, 2024). It included the fascinating overlap between chess and AI. Eldridge writes: “Doggers’ analysis reveals one important aspect of chess as a modern sport: the sport is a laboratory for the AI revolution to conduct its experiments.”
You can find the full review here: https://www.orangeblossomordinary.com/reviews/chess-a-microcosm-of-the-ai-revolution
Readlist: AMERICAN ANIMALS ( Elizabeth Stice)
Aldo Leopold, Sand County Almanac
Aldo Leopold was a great twentieth-century writer and conservationist and this book is very much in the Wendell Berry vein, observing and appreciating his environment. There are passages describing the birds on his property and the changing of the seasons. It emphasizes that we should each have a sense of a “land ethic,” but you won’t feel preached at.
Steven Rinella, American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon
Steven Rinella has written multiple books and he’s a poster boy for American hunting (and his own show, MeatEater). This book is all about the history of the buffalo and its place in our country, along with some actual buffalo encounters. You will come away more intrigued by the buffalo than you already probably are (after all, who isn’t?).
Dan Flores, Coyote America: A Natural and Supernatural History
This book is what it sounds like, stories of coyotes and analysis of what they are and what they mean to us. Some of the most interesting passages involve Native American coyote stories. You’ll also find out why they’re everywhere in America right now and why they likely always will be. No roadrunner propaganda in this book.
Dan Flores, American Serengeti: The Last Big Animals of the Great Plains
This one also includes buffalo, but so much more. When we think of the Great Plains we likely don’t think of it as the kind of place you’d take a safari, but this book may change your perspective on that.
John McPhee, The Founding Fish
If you haven’t read anything by John McPhee, you’re missing out. Easily one of the best and most interesting writers for the general audience, this book is all about shad. Yes, really. Shad. It’s a good example of what great writing can do and a meditation on a relationship between a fish and a country. From history to lore to his own fishing adventures, you’ll enjoy reading along with McPhee and learning about shad (really).
Nate Blakeslee, American Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West
If the buffalo has a rival for icon status in America, it may be the wolf. We once hated them, now most of us want them back, and managing their return has been complicated. This book looks at their reintroduction and many of the human and wolf personalities involved in the Yellowstone reintroduction. You may have a favorite wolf after you read it.
BONUS: This Patagonia Films video “Range Rider” is all about keeping an eye on wolves and the complications involved. And this podcast from The Rest is History is all about beavers.