Recently read: The Principles of Uncertainty

[Originally published at the now defunct group blog explananda.com]

Maira Kalman. The Principles of Uncertainty

The first thing I noticed about this book when I picked it up was its weight. It’s much heavier than is normal for a book of its size, a solidly put together book with nice, thick pages. The Principles of Uncertainty takes us through a year of the author’s musings, free associations, memories and travels, from May 2006 to April 2007. There are a few pictures, and an accompanying text, but the main attractions are the illustrations, which are gorgeous and wonderful to look at. The accompanying text is occasionally effective, but I often found it a bit too cutesy for my taste. On the whole, though, this book was a real pleasure to read, and will, I expect, be a pleasure to dip back into from time to time.