I finished a collection entitled German Essays on Science in the Twentieth Century. I've been reading it on-and-off for a while. I enjoyed the articles by the physical scientists and biologists a great deal. I enjoyed some others less. The only one I didn't finish was an essay by the philosopher Karl Vossler entitled Language and Science. That one made my eyes cross.

Now I'm reading From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life by Jacques Barzun. I bought the book last year when I was reading a sequence of books on history, but I didn't actually start until today. I've enjoyed the first few chapters. Barzun writes in a lively style, and he focuses on people and the details of the times he describes. If only my high school history texts had been like this! Then again, I'd hate to see any general field of study judged by the merit of an average high school text.

And now the fourth of July has come and gone. I napped, walked, read, and wrote today. I did no work. I did stroll in the sun, whistling and humming and thinking to myself. I had raisin bread with breakfast and corn and tomatoes for dinner, and quiet disturbed only by the sounds of fireworks. That's all I can ask from a day, and more.

• Currently drinking: Water with a bit of lime juice