#  English 187R Reading List 

 



English 187R “Thinking through Writing: Science Themes” is a one year old open enrollment creative writing/creative non-fiction course that aims to bring physics and literature into closer conversation. We will consider a variety of writing genres and ways to engage with science concepts: non-fiction, journalism, fiction, poetry, etc. Broadly aimed at anyone keen to explore creative writing in an open and experimental way, it is intended equally for science students keen to approach their work in a new way, ie thinking about science through writing, and for humanities students who would like a non-mathematical introduction to physics concepts. While equations will occasionally be part of the course, no mathematical calculation is required, nor are there problem sets. Rather, through a combination of sciencebased and literary prompts, as well as through experiential and thought experiments, students will explore the course’s themes in words.



 

 

 

## **Reading List**

###### Peter Galison

- “Synchrony,” *Einstein’s Clocks, Poincare’s Maps: Empires of Time*

###### Bertrand Russell

- “Touch and Sight: The Earth and The Heavens,” “What Happens and What Is Observed,” and “The Velocity of Light,” *The ABC of Relativity*

###### Virginia Woolf

- “Time Passes,” *To The Lighthouse*

###### Richard Feynman

- “The Value of Science”

###### Percy Bridgman

- “The Concept of Time”

###### Ted Chiang

- “Story of Your Life”

###### Luis Borges

- “The Garden of Forking Paths,” “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius,” *Ficciones*

###### W.G. Sebald

- Chapters 1-3, *The Rings of Saturn*

###### Italo Calvino

- “The Distance of the Moon,” “A Sign in Space,” “The Light Years,” *Cosmicomics*

###### Robert MacFarlane

- “Dark Matter,” *Underland: A Deep Time Journey*

###### Tracy K. Smith

- “My God, It’s Full of Stars”

###### Maggie Nelson

- *Bluets*, 1-45

###### Jenny Erpenbeck

- “The Girl,” *The Visitation*

###### Mary Somerville

- “Section IX,” *On the Connection of the Physical Sciences*

###### Fanny Howe

- “To Be Buried Where,” *Night Philosophy*

###### William Egginton

- “Introduction: Where Did It Go?” “Heisenberg” (pp. 180-188), “Forking Paths,” *The Rigor of Angels: Borges, Heisenberg, Kant, and the Ultimate Nature of Reality*

###### Stephen Kern

- “Introduction,” “The Nature of Time,” *The Culture of Time and Space 1880-1918*

###### Leanne Betasamosake Simpson

- “22.5 Minutes,” “song for dealers,” *This Accident of Being Lost*

###### Piero Martin

- “The Second,” *The Seven Measurements of the World*

###### Marcel Proust

- “Combray,” *Swann’s Way*

###### Sean Carroll

- “Time,” *The Biggest Ideas in the Universe*

###### Ken Liu

- “Timekeepers’ Symphony”