A Scientific Research Vault
If you’ve ever wondered why time flies during vacations but crawls during awkward silences or like me if you often engage in thought experiments related to time, then you’ll surely like Dean Buonomano’s Your Brain Is a Time Machine, first published in 2017.
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Have you ever felt that curious while looking up at the night sky? The idea that we are so puny in the vastness of space doesn’t make you wonder sometimes about the mysteries that lie beyond our understanding? That’s exactly the idea Marcus du Sautoy explores in The Great Unknown: Seven Journeys to the Frontiers of Science, first published in 2016. He has tried to explore the limits of human knowledge. And somehow, it’s both humbling and electrifying, which makes the book so fascinating to read.
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Have you ever found yourself trying to solve a problem on your own, sticking with your gut and your own trial-and-error? But then there are times when you just can’t figure it out and end up watching what others are doing, hoping to pick up some clues? That back-and-forth between figuring things out solo and learning from others is what this study really dives into. It looks at how people balance learning on their own versus copying others depending on how well they’re doing.
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I picked up The Order of Time because I figured, a 158-page book might talk about time in terms of cause and effect, the default way we tend to understand it. You know, things happen, one after another, and we measure that with clocks. But nope. Rovelli has something else in mind.
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If you’re even a little bit curious about how a brain builds itself before we’re born, Zero to Birth: How The Human Brain Is Built is a book you’ll want to spend time with. It was first published in 2022 and is written by neuroscientist William A. Harris. What makes it so compelling is how clearly it lays out the stages of brain development without dumbing things down.
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As travel was on the cards, I decided to pick up a book that’s rich with storytelling, conversational and intriguing, without being a 500-page commitment. Helgoland (170 pages) felt like the perfect choice. I had started it two weeks ago but never found the time to finish it. It was first published in 2020. There’s something about reading while traveling that makes the experience even better. It’s like hanging out with a favorite author…and the best part? They never judge you for rereading the same sentence five times. (lol)
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While I was researching into the existential risk from artificial intelligence, I found “Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies” by Nick Bostrom, who is a philosopher and researcher in AI. The book came out in 2014. Since it focuses on the potential dangers of artificial intelligence, I decided to grab it and start reading right away. More or less I enjoyed going through it as it explores the challenges presented by the prospect of AI exceeding human cognitive abilities, (though, to be honest, if chatbots get any smarter, I might have to…
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In this book, Haruki Murakami takes his readers to a journey where they may experience a thin line between forgotten memories and existential musings. The City and Its Uncertain Walls was first released in April 2023 but it was all set for English reading audience in November 2024. The book is built on a short story written by the author himself in 1980s.
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This document is a written version of a speech given by Richard P. Feynman in 1959, huge shout out to Michigan State University for putting this over internet. Feynman talked about the exciting potential of working with tiny things. He believed that there is a lot we can discover in this area, even though it isn’t directly about basic physics. He was sure that looking into this area could help us grasp difficult subjects more easily and could have many useful applications. Below are some of the ideas covered by…
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The Singularity is Near, When Humans Transcend Biology by Ray Kurzweil talks about some exciting times ahead where our intelligence could evolve and go beyond almost everything. We might even transcend the current biological limitations and unlock our imagination in ways that feel unfathomable today. We might live in a world where the line between reality and VR will begin to blur, over all, we’d redefine the way we experience existence today. The book was first published in 2005.
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The Cosmic Code: Quantum Physics as the Language of Nature by Heinz R. Pagels talks about the discoveries that have happened in physics in terms of the structure of matter, the universe’s origins and the nature of quantum reality. It was first published in 1982. The book highlights the importance of scientific discoveries for our understanding of the universe and our place within it. All the complex ideas are clearly explained combined with author’s personal reflections. And at the culmination, the author has beautifully presented a case of science running…
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“Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime” is a non-fiction work authored by American theoretical physicist Sean M. Carroll. It was first published in 2019. The book talks about the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics, with a focus on the Many-Worlds interpretation.
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The Dark Forest is the second book in the “Remembrance of Earth’s Past” trilogy, written by Cixin Liu in 2008. Like its prequel, The Three-Body Problem, this one is also an interesting mix of particle physics, geo political issues, virtual reality games along with an alien contact. The first book of the series lays the foundation of something epic that is bound to happen. Ye Wenjie is not happy with contemporary humanity and believes that people are responsible for her father’s death. In a fit of rage, she invites an…
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Sally Adee in “We Are Electric: Inside the 200-Year Hunt for Our Body’s Bioelectric Code, and What the Future Holds” takes us into our inner most layer which is but a hidden circuitry that powers nearly all forms of life. Even the tiniest cellular functions are governed by intricate electrical signals. This bioelectricity influences everything from our health to our consciousness. This book made its debut in 2023, and I’ve been jotting down my thoughts on it for the past couple of months. Today, I finally decided it was time…
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Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter was first published in 1979. Famously known as GEB, the book touches upon everything – consciousness, self-reference, computer science, formal systems, proofs, mathematics, abstract structures, codes, language, music, storytelling, conversations etc. At the beginning, I’d like to mention that I’m not qualified to review this book, as I lack a background in mathematics. Despite my difficulty in understanding complex concepts, from what little I’ve grasped, I believe this is one of the most profound works I’ve encountered so far.
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