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  • First Edition

    

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• ― db's.books said on Aug 4, 2009 about the Paperback edition| Add your feedback

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  • Most entertaining!

  • This is perhaps the most entertaining historical novel I have read. While it is fiction, Stephenson tells, among many other things, a most interesting story of how our early enlightened scientists dragged themselves and civilization out of the dreggs of superstition and alchemy into the age of empir ... Continue

    This is perhaps the most entertaining historical novel I have read. While it is fiction, Stephenson tells, among many other things, a most interesting story of how our early enlightened scientists dragged themselves and civilization out of the dreggs of superstition and alchemy into the age of empiricism and reason. As described by Stephenson, practicing true science is NOT a pretty picture.
    And while we witness the progress of the scientific age, we see that honesty in politics has not progressed one iota.

    

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• ― BobGoodwin said on Jan 25, 2009 about the Paperback edition| Add your feedback

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  • Quicksilver

  • Admittedly, the title caught my attention because of the software company (www.quicksilver.com) and the surfing gear franchise, too. Of the many "things" I personally adore, computers and surfing (like, waves in, like, California -- not just the Internet) are at the top of the list. Simply stated, N ... Continue

    Admittedly, the title caught my attention because of the software company (www.quicksilver.com) and the surfing gear franchise, too. Of the many "things" I personally adore, computers and surfing (like, waves in, like, California -- not just the Internet) are at the top of the list. Simply stated, Neal is AHEAD OF HIS TIME, even though he takes us back a few centuries via this masterpiece.

    Yet, he is futuristic enough to keep the reader thinking outside of the past and present. Sure, we live in the present grounded in the past... but when you read Neal's books (whether "Quicksilver" or one of his many others), you are transported to another world of thought that stretches your mind and its boundaries as we know them. Or think we know them. I need to re-read parts of this to ensure that I "get" him. He is brilliant, and I need to keep pace with his take on society (past, present and future), technology and their interface.

    

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• ― Kimberly Petrovic said on Oct 21, 2008 about the Hardcover edition| Add your feedback

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  • Copy 351/1000

    

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• ― AndyHat said on Apr 22, 2008 about the Hardcover edition| 1 feedback| 1 feedback

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  • I can't finish it!

  • I've started this book about 5 times. I just can't figure out what the book is about or who the main character is. Or if there is one. It could be just me. Quality of writing is good. Historical setting is interesting.

    

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• ― KyotoCutie said on Mar 30, 2007 about the Mass Market Paperback edition| Add your feedback

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