After thinking about this some more, I’ve come to the conclusion that it wouldn’t work. Maybe with some other book, but not with Molecular Biology of the Cell.
A.J. Jacobs could read 100 pages of the Britannica and then pick 5 interesting entries to write about, add some anecdotes about how he used his new knowledge in his daily life and voilà. That wouldn’t work with a textbook, I’d end up summarizing almost everything because it’s all inter-linked and that’s not something I want to do.
I’ll keep an eye open for another book that could be turned into a book diary, and I’m certain I’ll find a few cool stand-alone parts in Molecular Biology of the Cell that I can write about here, but for now I’m putting this project on ice.
March 4, 2008 at 7:35 pm |
I’ve had the same idea, but inspired by the much more appropriate for the purpose “Bodywatching” by Desmond Morris, which explains the whole human body from (first and foremost) an evolutionary perspective (but oftentimes from lots of other angles too), body part by body part. Very fascinating reading, and each subject very self-contained. Warmly recommended.
March 4, 2008 at 11:19 pm |
Thanks for the recommendation! I’ll add it to my list.