I surprised myself as a former academic how little time I had for this books lecture-like detours. Palmer's informational tangents on historic European personages out of the 18th century began to grate. Then there was the (granted, imaginative) construction of a future society that basically was a compare & contrast of that time. Is it fun think up a hybrid scifi that incorporates something new with your research? Sure, for a time. I found my patience ran thin quickly. It's an achievement nonetheless.