Richard Feynman’s The character of physical law

A very interesting read. As usual, it is amazing to see the ease with which Feynman explains complex ideas. And, there are always new ideas and concepts that one learns! Strongly recommended.

Rebecca Makkai’s I have some questions for you

A gripping, good read! Strongly recommended.

How life works by Philip Ball

The books is called a user’s guide to the new biology. It is a fabulous guide!

The book emphasises the rigorous and in depth studies of genomes can only be of limited use in biology. There is really no blueprint and the rules that govern life are not prescriptive but generative. At some level, the book argues, the idea of blueprint for life in genome idea actively hinders our understanding life as is.

I enjoyed the later part of the book wherein concepts such as symmetry breaking and phase separation the catastrophe theory and attractors in dynamical systems are used to explain some of the biology. The section on chemical morphogenesis is the one I enjoyed the most! The discussion of Maxwell’s demon is the second most enjoyed idea for me in the book. Apparently, “natural selection has been hugely concerned with minimizing the thermodynamic cost of computation”. Finally, it was also fascinating to see the role of fluid flow in positioning organs in the body. On the whole, I enjoyed the use of concepts known to me from physics and mathematics in biology the most and I would love to read more along these lines.

In summary, a great book and strongly recommended!

Cal Newport’s Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout

Reminded me of the book The Slow Professor that I read a while back — which, suprisingly, does not find a mention in this book. Overall, a quick and good read!

How to love in Sanskrit by Anusha Rao and Suhas Mahesh

A fun book! Parts of it is, obviously erotic! Parts of it is mischievous! Parts of it is moving!! Overall, strongly recommended!!

Clare Chambers’ Small pleasures

A fairly gripping read which became a bit slow towards the end but ended with a jolt! Strongly recommended!!

A couple of recent reads

Ku Azhagirisamy’s Naan kanda ezhtuthalargal and Alison Bechdel’s The secret to superhuman strength. Enjoyed the clear flow in Azhagirisamy’s writing and the subject matter; and, I am becoming a fan of Bechdel; this is her third book that I have read. Both are strongly recommended.

Cal Newport’s Deep work: rules for focussed success in a distracted world

This book came with very strong recommendations. An younger colleague recommended the book strongly to me; when I looked up, I realised that another friend and colleague has gifted this book to me about an year ago. This is, as one of the reviews says, ‘engaging and substantive’. It would certainly change the way you organise your work day and leisure time. Strongly recommended!

Ramachandra Guha’s The cooking of books: a literary memoir

A short book that you can (and, most probably will) complete reading in one or two sittings. Strongly recommended!

Michael Strevens’ The knowledge machine: how an unreasonable idea created modern science

This is a very thought provoking book and interesting book!

I have only known about Eddington’s expedition for checking Einstein’s theory of relativity; but I did not know that

Certain of Eddington’s contemporaries, however, found Eddington’s argument to be rather fishy, as have many later historians of science.

I also liked Bacon’s suggestion to scientists:

Bacon himself encouraged scientists to develop working hypotheses as they go along, “because truth emerges more quickly from error than from confusion”.

The main thesis of the book is what Strevens calls the iron rule which is supposed to tell the allowed moves in the game of modern science:

To regulate the game is the rule’s sole concern. Its first three great innovations — shallow explanation, the demand for objectivity, and the distinction between reasoning and official argument– …The fourth and final innovation, the “only” in “only empirical testing counts”.

The book also talks about the compartmentalisation that Newton had in his way of thinking which allowed him to be an alchemist, biblical scholar and the first rate scientist that he was. In fact, if you are interested in thinking about questions such as “do I have to be an atheist / non-believer to be a good scientist”, or, “why are some scientists make such irrational decisions when it comes to political or social issues while being very rational in their scientific endeavours”, this is the book. This book, at some level, also explains why doing science necessarily requires us to interact with fellow scientists and how we can not do science, in general, just by reading the published literature!

Having said that, I still have difficulty in accepting Streven’s ideas as to why seventeenth century Europe was ideally suited for the scientific enterprise as we know it today and how science is not a culture but a social practice. But what the book makes it unmistakably clear to me is that by studying science in all its varying forms, and, by engaging with science minded individuals of varying persuasions, we might be able to do much better as scientists and with all the narrow focus, there is still room for more expansive views.

A very engagingly written book and strongly recommended!