Category Archives: Books
The Climate Book
Climate change is happening now. Record-setting heatwaves, devastating forest fires, intense tropical storms and extreme flooding are no longer distant predictions, they’re daily events. In The Climate Book, Swedish environmental activist Geta Thunberg has gathered the expertise of over 100 … Continue reading
Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention — and How to Think Deeply Again
Do you have trouble focusing these days? Are you getting interrupted by so many notifications, beeps and pings that you can’t concentrate on anything? Are you reaching for your phone every two minutes to check for the latest updates, likes … Continue reading
The Reading Crisis
Book bans in the US have sunk to new depths of stupidity. In May, Amanda Gorman’s poem The Hill We Climb, which she read aloud to the whole country at Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021, was banned from a Florida … Continue reading
Introduction to Modern Climate Change
Introduction to Modern Climate Change is a college level textbook aimed at both science and non-science majors. Don’t let that put you off. Anyone with basic high school algebra and chemistry can read this book and learn an incredible amount. … Continue reading
Climate Change: A Very Short Introduction
The centuries-long rivalry between Oxford and Cambridge Universities isn’t limited to just boat races and rugby matches. Both esteemed universities have recently published updated versions of their introductory books on climate change. I’ve read and reviewed a number of … Continue reading
God, Human, Animal, Machine
A chatbot called ChatGPT, released last year by OpenAI, has brought new intensity to the controversy about artificial intelligence. If you haven’t used ChatGPT yet, I encourage you to try it. I’ve included some helpful links at the end of … Continue reading
Hidden Figures
I heard about the movie Hidden Figures a few years ago but never saw it. Recently, the inscrutable algorithms at Instagram started dropping clips from the movie in my feed. I’ve no idea why but I’m grateful. They got me … Continue reading
Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes
I’ve been a fan of Sherlock Holmes since I was a teenager. I’ve always admired the great detective’s ability to solve crimes with a combination of keen observation, deductive reasoning and imagination. I also envied his ability to discern someone’s … Continue reading
Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village
If you’ve ever read or watched any of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple stories, or seen the Midsomer Murders TV series, or even some of the episodes of Inspectors Morse or Lewis, then you’ll know that picturesque English villages are actually … Continue reading
Escape from Model Land
Have you ever noticed that when you buy something online they show you a bunch of other stuff under a heading like “you might also enjoy?” Obviously, the retailer is trying to get you to spend more money on their … Continue reading
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