Just a Little Shout-Out If you're in the mood for some light but thought-provoking summer reading, take a look at the piece by Burkhard Bilger in last week's New Yorker, called "Falling." (Wish I could link to it, but TNY hasn't put it on-line.)

Burk is an old friend from Yale—we were in Branford College together—and in addition to being one of the nicest guys you could ever meet, he is an absolutely lovely writer. He also has a knack for choosing fascinating, intriguing and eccentric subjects.

His article is about a Frenchman, Michel Fournier—do click the link, it's quite a site—who wants to parachute to the Earth from 25 miles up in the atmosphere. Sound crazy to you? It does to me, too. But Fournier's not the only person to have this bizarre impulse, and as Burk explores the history of high-altitude skydiving, you begin to realize that he's really writing about the human impulse to do things that have never been done, to push the limits of our bodies and our minds.

Sometime an evolutionary psychologist will put a name to this, if one hasn't already, but I am sure there's a sound evolutionary reason why some people have this passion to jump from the edge of space back to the planet's surface, even if it kills them.

But there's no need to search for the science, if you don't want to; on another level, it's a wonderfully romantic, crazy, brilliant piece of writing. Don't miss it.  ¶ 1:03 PM