Tag Archives: book review
How We Got to Now
Steven Johnson starts off How We Got to Now with a very cool story: One little-known consequence of the invention of the printing press in 1450 by Johannes Gutenberg was that thousands of people suddenly discovered they were farsighted. Before … Continue reading
Book Review: The Ideas That Conquered the World
The Ideas That Conquered the World By Michael Mandelbaum PublicAffairs, New York, NY, 2002 The Ideas That Conquered the World was published with some fanfare in 2002, in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 9/11. I can’t remember how … Continue reading
Book Review: David and Goliath
Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book, David and Goliath, is really a collection of stories, variations on the theme of lopsided conflicts, of the weak prevailing against the strong. Apparent strength can mask great weakness, and there are often diminishing returns, even … Continue reading
Book Review: An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth
Remember Chris Hadfield? Sure you do. He’s the Canadian astronaut who sang Space Oddity from the International Space Station, from a tin can far above the world. Back on Earth and now retired, he’s written a book; An Astronaut’s Guide … Continue reading
Book Review: The End of Power
Moisés Naím uses a lot of words that start with “d” to describe what’s happening to power these days; dilution, dissipation, disruption, diffusion, and decay. The full title of his book is The End of Power: From Boardrooms to Battlefields … 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
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
The Black Swan
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, options trader cum philosopher, defines a Black Swan as an extremely improbable event that has huge impact. Think 9/11 or the current subprime lending crisis. The title comes from the fact that black swans – the birds … Continue reading
Reading Like a Writer
Reading Like a Writer is a book for aspiring writers that teaches by example. In it, Francine Prose, author of about two dozen works of fiction and non-fiction, examines various aspects of writing by quoting and then analyzing the works … Continue reading
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