Tag: good thinking

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: 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: 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: The Matter of Everything by Dr. Suzie Sheehy

Pooja Kashyap

The Matter of Everything is penned by an accelerator physicist Dr. Suzie Sheehy. The book introduces us to the time when physicists were about to unravel the mysteries of matter via exploration of subatomic particles. And it all started with a serendipitous discovery by the German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen, who in 1895, was working with a cathode ray tube in his laboratory. He noticed that the phosphor-coated screen was giving off a green coloured light when exposed to a cathode ray tube.

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Interview: Wa’d AbuZurayk, a Neurotherapist and Paediatric Occupational Therapist, Jordan

Pooja Kashyap

Wa’d AbuZurayk is the first qualified neurotherapist and paediatric occupational therapist in Jordan. She has attained her licensed device from Germany. The device is both FDA and internationally approved. She is also the founder of Ujeed, Child Development Consultations in Amman, Jordan. These days most of her time is occupied with families to create their own unique narrative through neurotherapy, occupational therapy and a pinch of magic. With the help of neurotherapy, Wa’d aims to retrain the brain to develop new skills and increase brain fitness. While at the same time…

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Book Review: Immune by Philipp Dettmer

Pooja Kashyap

As the name suggests, Immune: A Journey into the Mysterious System that Keeps You Alive written by Kurzgesagt founder, Philipp Dettmer talks about the inner workings of the human immune system. A world which totally relies on pathways and chemical signals. And where each and every tiny molecule has a very well-defined role. Dettmer has explained scientific concepts related to human immune system in the most interesting and comprehensible manner. His description of various cellular components metaphors and similes makes it straight-forward to understand and easy to visualize, for instance,…

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Book Review: The Biology of Belief by Dr. Bruce Lipton

Pooja Kashyap

The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles by Dr. Bruce Lipton came around the time when epigenetics was peeking over the horizon. The book talks about an individual’s belief system. As per which, thoughts, either positive or negative, have power to change our mental state, and hence our bodies and physical well-being. Understanding in physics graduated steadily. From Newtonian classical physics to Einstein’s theories of relativity followed by quantum mechanics, the physics of sub-atomic particles. According to Dr. Bruce, similar transition was missing in Biology.…

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Interview: Dr Philipp Simons, Materials Scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Pooja Kashyap

Dr. Philipp Simons recently hit headlines with his new paper on miniature glucose fuel cells for implantable devices. According to him, human body is saturated with glucose hence, harvesting this energy to power implantable devices is an achievable feat. Dr. Jennifer L.M. Rupp from Technical University Munich in Germany, also Dr. Simons’ thesis supervisor, postulated that battery takes up 90% of an implant’s volume. Interestingly, the new fuel cell will mask the implant and power it with no volumetric footprint. Their innovative approach to solve medical problem gave me an…

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Interview: Dr Federico Paolucci, Research Scientist at Superconducting Quantum Electronics Lab, Italy

Pooja Kashyap

Dr Federico Paolucci is a Research Scientist at Superconducting Quantum Electronics Lab (SQEL) nested in Pisa, Italy. He has co-authored papers like Electrostatic field-driven supercurrent suppression in ionic-gated metallic Josephson nano transistors, Bipolar Thermoelectric Josephson Engine and Thermal superconducting quantum interference proximity transistor to name a few. His recent research involves tuning the thermal properties of a superconductor by controlling its spectral characteristics. And this made me intrigued to get in touch with him and requested him to squeeze-in some time from his busy schedule for an interview. Nothing excites…

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Book Review: Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari

Pooja Kashyap

Dataism is the new religion! – is the motif running across Harari’s Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow. As with its predecessor, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, the book deals with evolution and the abilities that humans acquire as we move along the evolutionary scale. And how we process these capabilities only to fabricate a world where there is no place for us.

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Interview: Dr Arthur Suvorov, An Astrophysicist at The Manly Astrophysics, Australia and Uni. of Tübingen

Pooja Kashyap

Dr. Arthur Suvorov is an astrophysicist at The Manly Astrophysics in Australia.  He did first class honors degree at Monash University, in a double-dose of mathematics with physics on the side. Followed by his PhD from Melbourne Uni. His areas of interest include various aspects of neutron star. Lately, he collaborated with Universidad de Murcia, Spain in a project entitled “Magnetically supramassive neutron stars”, paper of which is also published in Physical Review Letters (DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.105.L061302).   Dr. Suvorov is also the recipient of one of the most prestigious Humboldt…

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Book Review: The God Equation by Dr. Michio Kaku

Pooja Kashyap

Dr. Michio Kaku is a well-known figure in science academia. He is a master story teller. His super power is, he can make science graspable for non-science people like myself. In The God Equation: The Quest for a Theory of Everything, Dr. Kaku talks about three things: physics from creation to present, the effort put behind in unifying all known physical forces and the theory of dimensions, string theory.

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Book Review: In His Own Words by Nelson Mandela

Pooja Kashyap

In His Own Words: From Freedom To The Future: Tributes And Speeches by Nelson Mandela is one of those books, which everyone must read once in their life time. Nelson Mandela was, indeed, a prolific writer as well as a gifted speaker. He became an epitome of freedom around the world after his South African history in 1994. I have always looked up to him for his patience, diligence and integrity.

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Book Review: Brief Candle in the Dark by Richard Dawkins

Pooja Kashyap

Brief Candle in the Dark: My Life in Science is the second volume of Richard Dawkins’ memoirs, first being An Appetite for Wonder: The Making of a Scientist. As expected, the autobiographical memoir is not a chronological tale, rather it is a series of anecdotes. In fact, Dawkins writes, “If you don’t like digressive anecdotes, you might find you’re reading the wrong book.”

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