Author Archives: Harry Katz
Book Review: Winner Take All
Winner Take All: China’s Race for Resources and What It Means for the WorldBy Dambisa MoyoBasic Books, New York, 2012 Dambisa Moyo’s latest book, Winner Take All: China’s Race for Resources and What It Means for the World, is supposed … Continue reading
Book Review: The Presidents Club
The Presidents Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive FraternityBy Nancy Gibbs and Michael DuffySimon & Schuster, New York, 2012 Zillions of books have been written about individual US presidents and their times in office; biographies, autobiographies, histories, and critiques. The … Continue reading
Underground New York Public Library
I came across this article about New York photographer Ourit Ben Haim’s project photographing people reading books on the New York Subway. Her blog is http://undergroundnewyorkpubliclibrary.com/. If you click on any of the photos, you’ll get taken to her Flickr collection. … Continue reading
Book Review: 17 Equations That Changed the World
In Pursuit of the Unknown: 17 Equations That Changed the WorldBy Ian StewartBasic Books, New York, 2012 17 Equations That Changed the World: It’s a greatest hits collection! 17 of your all-time favorite equations from the worlds of mathematics, physics … Continue reading
Religion for Atheists
Alain de Botton thinks religion is too useful to be left entirely to the religious. In his latest book, Religion for Atheists: A Non-Believers Guide to the Uses of Religion, he looks at some of the “best bits” of religion … Continue reading
Good weekend for articles on writing
From the NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/the-neuroscience-of-your-brain-on-fiction.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&ref=opinion “Reading great literature, it has long been averred, enlarges and improves us as human beings. Brain science shows this claim is truer than we imagined.” Flipping it around, there are some hints here for writers on … Continue reading
Book Review: Reinventing the Sacred
Reinventing the Sacred By Stuart A. Kauffman Basic Books, New York, 2008 I really admire the scope and boldness of Stuart Kauffman’s 2008 book Reinventing the Sacred. Prof. Kauffman is a biologist and complexity theorist. He sets out not merely … Continue reading
Cosmopolitanism
Kwame Anthony Appiah’s book, Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers, is about finding ways for different people, and peoples, to live together in our increasingly globalized world. Born in England, raised in Ghana, and now a professor of philosophy … Continue reading
Jeffrey Sachs @ Seattle Town Hall
Prof. Jeffrey Sachs spoke yesterday evening at Seattle Town Hall about his new book The Price of Civilization: Reawakening American Virtue and Prosperity. For anyone not familiar with his work, Jeffrey Sachs is about as far left as you get … Continue reading
Pakistan’s War with Itself
Pamela Constable gave a talk at the UW Law School this evening to the Seattle World Affairs Council about her latest book, Playing with Fire: Pakistan at War with Itself. Constable is a deputy foreign editor at the Washington Post. … Continue reading
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