Perlkönig

The books I read, the music I listen to, and the games I play

Board Game: “Bohnanza”

Rating: 3/3. If you’ve known me for long, you know I’m an avid gamer. While I enjoy games in any medium, nothing beats face-to-face, tabletop gaming. (I still think Bridge is the greatest of man’s creations.) And when it comes to face-to-face gaming with a group of non- or semi-gamers, nothing beats a rousing round of Bohnanza.

“Colour” by Victoria Finlay

Rating: 2/3. Victoria Finlay is one adventurous woman. From the Australian outback to war-torn Afghanistan, Finlay explores the origins of various colours and how they ended up on canvasses and clothes. It’s not enough for her to simply read and research, instead she must herself visit the places and people involved. The resulting narrative goes beyond simply “the facts” and becomes instead a colourful recounting of a fascinating journey (which includes all the facts too).

“The Pattern on the Stone” by Daniel Hillis

Rating: 2/3. Hillis does an excellent job of providing a brief, only mildly technical, yet crystal clear picture of what a computer actually is, how its components work, and how levels of abstraction allow this seemingly simple device to accomplish the myriad of tasks computers perform for us today.

“Reality is Broken” by Jane McGonigal

Rating: 2/3. This is a fairly long review. Basically, this is a good book that tackles difficult subject matter. It’s well written and provides an optimistic (if not naively so) view of games and how they can change the world.

“The Unfinished Game” by Keith Devlin

Rating: 2/3. This is a primarily historical text that looks at the foundation of probability theory: a correspondence between the French mathematicians Blaise Pascal and Pierre de Fermat. He traces the developments from their letters to modern probability theory and risk management. It’s a book for general audiences. It’s a short read and focuses mainly on history.

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  • Who am I?

    My name is Aaron Dalton. See the "About Me" link for more information. The name Perlkönig is a combination of my favourite programming language (Perl) and the title of one of Franz Schubert's most famous lied (Erlkönig).

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