One is not enough

As a certain president said about health insurance, my thought after a few days of reading about the Big Bang Theory and the cosmic microwave background is, "Cosmology is complicated. Who knew?"

Well, I course I did know, so when a tackle a book addressing the large questions about how and why the universe (universes?) began, I also decide to read at the same time a book that will be a bit easier on the mind. 

My second book this time around is Gail Collins' history of American women from the 1960s on. I look upon it as an easy book not because of its subject matter, but its time period. The 1950s onward is my favorite period to study in American history -- I lived through a lot of it -- so I know it well. But I always want to know more.

                                          Callisto seems to approve of my book choice

Now, Gail Collins is a Cincinnati native -- right across the Ohio River from me -- and a columnist for The New York Times. In my humble opinion, she is the best columnist at The New York Times, having assumed the "humor" column from the great Russell Baker. Collins is, you might remember, the one who kept reminding us during the 2012 election about Mitt Romney's vacation trip to Canada with the family dog strapped to the roof of his car.

Anyway, I have started the first few chapters of her book, and am finding it enjoyable. Well written, it reads like a series of her columns.