Schatzker presents a hypothesis about why we are experiencing an obesity epidemic. His thesis is that the processed food industry has disconnected our ability to self-regulate our eating behaviour. He places part of the blame on the emphasis, starting in the 1940’s, on government regulations to “improve” the food supply. Pellagra was a disease of… Read More: The End of Craving — Mark Schatzker »
I’ve been reading several books recently on lifespan/healthspan. My concerns probably go back to watching my mother’s last few years — the physical and mental decline were sad to watch. As I age, is there anything I can do to minimize the decline. Attia has (apparently) had a social media presence and this book is… Read More: Outlive — Peter Attia »
Published in 1999, this book discusses the “classic” philosophy of consciousness and the scientific evidence on what is actually going on in the human brain. An interesting read. I think a lot of Dennett’s model on consciousness are pretty much the current scientific thinking. A good read. Somewhat dated in that he is arguing against… Read More: Consciousness Explained — Daniel C. Dennett »
A “memoir” by Bob Dylan, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature. The book’s chapters describe various phases of Dylan’s life. Part biography, but the main focus is on the artistic creativity and the internal growth during those periods. Very impactful writing. I felt I was experiencing those periods of his life inside his head.… Read More: Chronicles, Volume One — Bob Dylan »
Schneier is a security “guru”. In this book he takes the idea of a hacker in the computer/security area and broadens the concept of a hacker to any complex system of rules and/or regulations. He applies these concepts in an analysis of many of the areas of today’s society. I’m not sure of what to… Read More: A Hacker’s Mind — Bruce Schneier »
The first in a series of books explaining the equations in Physics. This book is on “space, time, and motion”. The idea behind the series is that understanding what the equations mean is straight forward. The hard part of a working Physicist’s job is being able to fill in the details of these equations for… Read More: The Biggest Ideas in the Universe — Sean Carroll »
Harden is a professor of clinical psychology at University of Texas, Austin. She studies the influence of genetics on life outcomes. The book describes the methodology and tools used in her research and the related findings. The goal of the book is to argue that these findings can be used to improve the life outcomes… Read More: The Genetic Lottery — Kathryn Paige Harden »
This book is a history of Ukraine from the time of the ancient Greeks (Herodotus) to (almost) the present — 2021. The main reason I picked up this book is to understand why my grandparents (and great grandparents) came to Canada. Here’s what I think was going on: In the late 1800’s, western Ukraine (Bukhovina)… Read More: The Gates of Europe — Serhii Plokhy »
A history of textiles from the palaeolithic to the present. Postrel argues that the technology of textiles is the underlying source of a lot of modern-day science and industry. The archaeological record is sparse because the materials do not last, but the evidence does exist. Context: My Aunt Annette was a university professor in “home… Read More: The Fabric of Civilization — Virginia Postrel »
A biography of Peter Higgs and his particle, the Higgs Boson. Are all famous physicists on the spectrum? Seems so. The biographical information in the book is limited. Higgs is a very private person. The majority of the book presents the historical context of standard model in particle physics and the history of the Cern… Read More: Elusive — Frank Close »