Crichton’s most pro-science novel was probably The Andromeda Strain… where the story ends with the virus mutating all by itself to a harmless strain, with the scientists doing nothing, and the scientists almost nuking themselves.

One could argue that he was just telling a good story… until his 2004 novel State of Fear, where he basically declared global warming a hoax and portrays people trying to fight climate change as terrorists.

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skullsinthestars - Black lives matter

@drskyskull

Jan 1

Time for an #OldSchoolDungeonsAndDragons that is truly classic! Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes (1976), by Robert Kuntz and James Ward!

This book was the fourth and final supplement to the original "0th edition" D&D rules. It starts with a pretty amusing foreword by the editor. One of the rare times I know of that an editor admits "loathing" the project they worked on!

Curiously, the latter part of the foreword shows that the book was designed to address another early problem in D&D: power "Monty Haul" gamers! Basically: "Here are the stats of literal gods. If your characters are more powerful, you're doing something wrong."

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skullsinthestars - Black lives matter

@drskyskull

Dec 30, 2021

Let's do a quick #OldSchoolDungeonsAndDragons: Pillars of Pentegarn (1982), by Rose Estes!

Obviously, this book, which was also labeled a "Pick-A-Path Adventure," uses the same format as classic "Choose Your Own Adventure" books, that exploded in popularity with the first book in 1979.

What I didn't know is that the Endless Quest books were part of a TSR initiative to develop curriculum programs for reading and problem solving! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endless_Q…

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skullsinthestars - Black lives matter

@drskyskull

Oct 3, 2021

Sherlock Holmes wasn't afraid to throw fists. From a 1904 issue of The Strand.

Yep every photograph of a school from the early 1900s looks like a scene you encounter in a haunted house just before all the children unhinge their jaws and rush at you

From an interview with Pierre Curie. The assistant to the Curies, M. Danne, wasn't having it when the interviewer tried to give credit to Pierre alone.

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