Professor Mark Csele's Home Page - Favourite Movies and Books

Books

On this page I've outlined books and movies that pique my interests.

A pet hobby is the history of science and technology, I have a collection of science books, most companion books to some of the best science series ever. Among my prized collection is COSMOS by Carl Sagan (I also have the seven DVD set of the series) and CONNECTIONS by James Burke (I had used that series in a course I taught for over five years). CONNECTIONS was bought on e-bay as it is out-of-print (at least until 2007 when it was reprinted in paperback). Among all of the science series I've ever seen, CONNECTIONS is the best and most thorough. Covered in the series are such things as the origins of the steam engine (including the Newcomen engine) and refrigeration (as used to brew lager beer in Germany during the summer months). If you've seen any of Burke's works (like the newer Connections series) this one is a must-see.

Tesla Books I also have an extensive collection of books outlining the works of Nicola Tesla including translations of his original works. Most famous for the high voltage coil that bears his name, I have always admired the mad genius who brought us, more importantly, three-phase power (exploited by Westinghouse as the distribution method for AC power at the turn of the century - see the Rankine GS page for an example of an early-1900s generating station using Tesla's three-phase system). Of course I've always been fascinated by Tesla coils, though, and one day hope to build a small, optimized, RF-powered coil (i.e. one without a spark gap but rather driven by an electrically 'cleaner' source).

Another interest is 20th century military history - my interests include the application of available technologies to military ends as well as the development of technologies such as spaceflight. Ever since I had seen Das Boot I've been interested in the history of the submarine and have enjoyed reading a number of books on the subject including:

Submarine by Tom Clancy. A fascinating, non-fictional look at modern submarine operations.
The Navy Times Book of Submarines by Brayton Harris, a truly excellent account of the use of submarines in both World War I and II
Dark Waters by Lee Vyborny, the story of the NR-1 - the smallest nuclear sub ever created and used in the cold war
Under Pressure by A.J. Hill, the story of the dramatic rescue of the post WW1 submarine S-5. A very engaging book written in a storylike style
Blind Man's Bluff by Sherry Sontag which details submarine usage in espionage activities during the cold war

On the topic of the development of the atomic bomb:

The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes. A 788 page work tracing the complete development of the bomb from the 1910's to it's dropping on Hiroshima in 1945.
A Nuclear Family Vacation: Travels in the World of Atomic Weaponry by Sharon Weinberger & Nathan Hodge. This was a surprisingly refreshing look at "nuclear tourist" sites such as Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, and missile silos. The book was written in a surprisingly engaging style!

Other interests include espionage especially during the cold war period. A few good books I've read on that topic include:

Hidden Secrets by David Owen, on espionage and spy techniques
The Wizards of Langley by Jeffrey Richelson, outlining espionage activities and techniques during the cold war
The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliff Stoll, a true story outlining the hunt for the infamous German computer hacker Markus Hess during the late 1980's.

Finally, I find the development of the early spaceflight program interesting, especially the development during the Mercury project:

Flight by Gene Kranz is the best account of the development of the early spaceflight ptogram I have ever read. I highly recommend this book and gave several copies as Christmas gifts to colleagues. Required reading for all engineers!

And speaking of must-reads as an engineer, here's a few on the development of the computer:

Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder, outlining the development process of a new Data General minicomputer in the 1970's including the incredible process of debugging the machine!
Inside Intel: Andrew Grove and the Rise of the World's Most Powerful Chip Company by Tim Jackson. Aside from covering Intel itself, the story provides insight into development of the entire industry including such key technologies as DRAM, the CPU, and EPROM.

Classic Television Programs

A little shrine to what I consider as the best TV action series of all time, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE.

For those of you who loved this show you can occasionally (once every few years) find a string of reruns on TV-LAND or other 'oldies' channels.

Currently, I'm into CSI-type dramas (although I think I'm getting overloaded owing to the plethora of them out there - the original CSI and NCIS are still good). If there is one interesting thing to be said for CSI, it has made 'mass spectrometer' a household name! I like a lot of older shows as well ... stuff like MacGyver (light and fluffy) and The Pretender.

I'm not a big fan of 'reality' TV, and the last time I saw MTV they had no music - just a bunch of ... well ... let's just chock it off to outgrowing that. Think I'll stick to reruns of the 'Bugs Bunny' show for something more cerebral :)

Movies

Here is a list Of My All-Time Favorite Movies. No surprises, a good number of these are spy-thrillers steeped in military history.

Das Boot A realistic (and sometimes depressing) view of life aboard a World War II German submarine. Still the best submarine movie despite a number of others which have been produced lately (including U-571 and K-19 of which the latter is my second favorite)

The Bourne Trilogy Full of action and intrigue, all three films were enjoyable and provided edge-of-your-seat thrills

James Bond Movies My favorites being 1971's "Diamonds Are Forever" (not surprising given my enthusiasm for lasers) and the 1965 classic "Thunderball". My recent favorite is "Goldeneye". Most appealing are the gadgets.

Airplane! The original. Full of sight gags and puns this is surely one of the funniest movies of all time. (and don't call me Shirley)

True Lies In general I like action movies but this one surpasses most. Its the 'movie with three endings' ... just when you think its over the action starts again. I like Cameron as a director in general (Terminator-2, Abyss, Aliens - all good films) but he really outdid himself on this one!

The Hunt For Red October I like all the Tom Clancy movies, really. This, Clear and Present Danger, and Patriot Games all rank high! As well, I like Clancy's non-fictional writing such as 'Submarine'.

The Fugitive Well done and suspenseful actioner starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. I still like watching this one despite having seen it over a dozen times!

Die Hard Along with Cameron, McTiernan is also one of my favorite directors. This action-packed movie starring Bruce Willis was one of his best offerings. A few somewhat improbable scenes (like the air shaft) but you don't watch movies like this for realism, right?

Westworld, Looker I like a number of Sci-Fi movies including those by Michael Chrichton starting with The Andromeda Strain. Looker (directed by Chrichton) is one of my faves but unfortunately has a 'dated' look about it - its one of those 'concept' films.

It's A Wonderful Life A classic directed by Frank Capra. Its as required at Christmas time as brandy and EggNog.

Dirty Harry What can I say, I liked Clint in the Sierra Leone spaghetti westerns (especially The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly with Lee VanCleef) and I liked him as a cop in the Dirty Harry series as well. Classic stuff ... go ahead, make my day!

The Guns Of Navarone I like a good spy movie and this classic starring Gregory Peck and David Niven is a good actioner.

Of course I still enjoy a good cartoon - classic ones from Warner Bros. - with Wile E. my favourite character. Click on the pic to the left to go to the Non-Stick Looney Home Page with all sorts of sound bites and graphics - great for customizing your Windows Box when you're bored.

The B Side (If movies had a B Side, this would be it ...)

I've got a warped sense of humour (don't we all) and so here's my list of 'you gotta see it once, but you probably can't stomach it more than that' movies:

Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes Good luck in sitting through the whole thing. Makes me squeamish just thinking about the horror of it all (sitting through the movie, that is ... glad I didn't pay to see this one).

The Soldier Directed by the same guy who did 'The Exterminator' (never heard of that either, huh?). An excellent concept for a movie but poor acting does the movie in. Still, if you're into 'concept' films like I am (and can separate 'good concept' from 'bad acting') it is worth a rent (OK, at least a 99 cent rent)!

Night Of The Living Dead, Part II The 80's sequel. It was a cult classic with the guys at the dorm and we'd have pizza and beer watching it on a 10-inch TV equipped with a homebrew decoder. Take it as a joke and you'll have fun - don't expect a serious horror film here.