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Atmospheric Disturbances

Atmospheric Disturbances, by Rivka Galchen explores the consensus view of reality. Descartes asked the same question in his Meditations. He wondered if a dream in which things seemed real was actually reality. Galchen discusses parallel universes and manages to be funny. Read it slowly and savor every scene. I'm about to read it again while I hope for a simulacrum from Galchen. Let me know what you think!

Here's an interview with Rivka Galchen.

This is the official website.

Here's another interview with Rivka Galchen:

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ellen Bush on January 21, 2009 at 9:43pm

This book sounds very interesting. Reality is not what many people I know think it is. Where can one get this book? Is it a recent publication or could it be found at a library?

Permalink Reply by Michael Levin on January 21, 2009 at 10:26pm

Ellen, I checked the Houston library and they have a copy at Meyer Branch. You can call them and have it transferred to your "local" library. It's also at Amazon
Let me tell you little about Rivka Galchen. She went to med school and got her MD. Then, she worked for a year in South America. She came back to the States and got a Master of Fine Arts and wrote "Atmospheric Disturbances". It's about a psychiatrist named Leo who is married to Rema, an attractive woman from Argentina, quite a bit younger than him. It's also about Leo's patient Harvey, who is quite a character. I loved Galchen's character development in the book. Leo is almost stoic. He's a serious guy who tries consciously not to"talk down" to people. Rema is a little ditzy. And, Harvey is classically psychotic. You'll love it!

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