Tag: book review

Book Review: Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche

Pooja Kashyap

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844–1900) is known for his provocative and unconventional ideas. He often expressed views that were in direct opposition to prevailing religious, moral, and societal norms, particularly when it came to his criticisms of Christianity. He challenged many deeply ingrained beliefs and values of his time. His rejection of Christian morality and emphasis on individual will and self-assertion align with certain aspects of pagan thought and provide a philosophical foundation for those seeking to break free from Christian historical and social dominance.

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Book Review: The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins

Pooja Kashyap

I am a big fan of Richard Dawkins works. I have already read his four books, namely, The Selfish Gene, The God Delusion and Brief Candle in the Dark. And I find them remarkable in the sense that he perfectly chooses his words to prove the clarity of his thoughts. As a science educator, his ideas are impeccably backed up with obvious logics. Which promotes scientific and logical understanding to the fundamental questions of persistent false belief held in the face of strong contradictory evidence.

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Book Review: Passion for Mathematics by Clifford Pickover

Pooja Kashyap

Recently, I came across the works of Clifford Pickover. I finished reading Surfing Through Hyperspace and I found it extremely interesting, and so I decided to try another book from his vault – Passion for Mathematics. This book is equally fascinating. I liked the presentation of the content. Firstly, the various mathematical ideas are introduced with diagrams and puzzles, which helps in understanding the notion better. Secondly, quotes are sprinkled here and there to give the subject some poetic effect and depth to abstract concepts. Thirdly, the brain teasers and…

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Book Review: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Pooja Kashyap

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a beautiful book written by Rebecca Skloot in 2010. It is about a poor African American woman who came down with a rare cervical cancer in 1950s. After giving birth to her fourth child, Henrietta grew suspicious of a lump in her cervix. To clarify things, she went straight to Johns Hopkins Hospital. The doctor took a biopsy by extracting sample cells for examination. Although she couldn’t survive, after a few sessions of x-ray therapy and radium treatment. She died at the age…

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Book review: Surfing Through Hyperspace by Clifford A. Pickover

Pooja Kashyap

Surfing Through Hyperspace: Understanding Higher Universes in Six Easy Lessons by Clifford A. Pickover hovers around the concept of fourth dimension. In simple words, it’s a walkthrough of higher dimensions.   Clifford A. Pickover is an American author, editor, and columnist in the fields of science, mathematics, science fiction, innovation, and creativity. A futurist and science writer, Pickover likes to contemplate realms beyond our 3-dimensional reality. Interestingly, he puts his ideas down on paper for readers like us to experience his visualizations.

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Book Review: The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert

Pooja Kashyap

In The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, Elizabeth Kolbert explores the current state of biodiversity loss and the role that human activities have played in causing it. Kolbert is an American journalist and author. She is the editor of “The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2009” and the author of “The Prophet of Love: And Other Tales of Power and Deceit,” “Field Notes from a Catastrophe,” and “The Sixth Extinction,” for which she won the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction in 2015. The Sixth Extinction provides a detailed analysis…

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Book Review: Running Rewired by Jay Dicharry

Pooja Kashyap

Running Rewired: Reinvent Your Run for Stability, Strength, and Speed by Jay Dicharry is more of a workable program than a book to read. Jay is a physical therapist, teacher, biomechanics researcher, in Oregon, USA. His REP Lab is a national destination for elite athletes because he diagnoses and rebuilds injured endurance athletes. Along with Running Rewired, he has also written Anatomy for Runners: Unlocking Your Athletic Potential for Health, Speed, and Injury Prevention, which I’ll be reading and of course reviewing in the near future.

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Book Review: The Technological Singularity by Murray Shanahan

Pooja Kashyap

The Technological Singularity by Murray Shanahan hovers around a hypothetical event that is, a time in the future when AI has totally eclipsed human intelligence. What then? There will be an exponential progress in technology that’ll create a future too difficult to predict.   Some experts, however, suggest that AI then can solve some of the world’s most pressing problems such as climate change, disease, and poverty. While others believe that the singularity could lead to the end of humanity as we know it.

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Book Review: Genius Foods by Max Lugavere

Pooja Kashyap

Human brain, is one of the most remarkable developments of evolution. Research has shown that it is capable to develop and adapt throughout our lives. New experiences and environmental changes are instrumental to its ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections and pathways. Also called as neural plasticity or brain plasticity. Yet, there are factors that could be detrimental to our brain health. Poor diet, no physical activity, chronic stress, and insufficient sleep are some triggers that can have negative effects on brain function and cognitive performance.

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Book Review: Wholeness and the Implicate Order by David Bohm

Pooja Kashyap

Our perception of the reality is not whole rather it is fragmented, this is the essence of Bohm’s Wholeness and the Implicate Order. David Bohm was a theoretical physicist who made significant contributions to the field of quantum mechanics. He was known for his causal and nonlocal interpretation of quantum mechanics, which challenged traditional views of the subject. He was also known for his work in other areas of physics and philosophy, including the concept of “implicate order” and his contributions to the understanding of the relationship between consciousness and…

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Book Review: Tau Zero by Poul Anderson

Pooja Kashyap

My favourite thought experiment is the notion that as an individual approaches the speed of light, time slows down. Now let’s extrapolate it to Big Crunch scenario. What if an individual travel at the speed of light and reaches the end of universe? According to Russian Physicist Alexander Friedmann, end of the universe depends on its density. Therefore, universe cannot stay stable for ever, it could either expand or contract. Gravity, with the help of matter, could slow down the expansion, then stop, and ultimately reverse it. Everything collapses within…

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Book Review: The Brain by Dr. David Eagleman

Pooja Kashyap

Dr. David Eagleman is a neuroscientist at Stanford, NYT bestselling author, Writer/Host of THE BRAIN on PBS, and the list continues. After listening to his podcasts and TED talks, I decided to pick-up one book from his vault – The Brain: The Story of You. The book is an interesting read and at some points, quite an eye opener. Here, Dr. Eagleman reviews how the human brain develops and make sense of the data that it receives from sensory systems. We are built to perceive only thin slice of perception,…

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Book Review: The Story of the Dinosaurs in 25 Discoveries by Donald R. Prothero

Pooja Kashyap

Since the origin of life in 3.5 billion years ago, hundreds of millions of species might have lived on planet earth. Most of those are extinct by now. In his exceptional book, The Story of the Dinosaurs in 25 Discoveries: Amazing Fossils and the People Who Found Them, Donald R. Prothero has tried to surface those species that led to the landmarks in evolution. The idea was to signify evolutionary transition from one group to another. An interesting read for those who are looking for history of dinosaur science. Very…

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