What can happen when you chase numbers!

Dilip D’Souza in Mint

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Condensed Matter / Nano

Primer from Doug Natelson: worth bookmarking!

Andrea Wulff’s The Invention of Nature

This biography of Humboldt by Andrea Wulff is inspiring and is a must-read. Strongly recommended!

RIP: Prof. Vishveshwara

Sorry to hear the passing away of Prof. Vishveshwara. I first met him  (and, I think, Prof. Saraswathi Vishveshwara) on a train journey from Mumbai — which turned out to be unforgettable since, as we were reaching Bangalore we heard about the abduction of the actor Rajkumar, and there were issues about local transportation. Soft spoken and known for his work with the planetarium, Prof. Vishveshwara will be missed.

Sarah Bakewell’s At the existentialist cafe

A nice read — mixing philosophy and biographical details of protaganists. Will make you search for some of the books on existentialism and read them. Strongly recommended. Here is a review.

Russell James’ Tenure hacks

Read on the recommendation of Xykademiqz. Good read, espeically, if you are an early stage academic. Some of the parts might not be relevant for us in India. However, on the whole, gives a very different perspective to teaching and research.

Peter Wohlleben’s The Hidden Life of Trees

Once in a while, you come across a book that completely changes the way you think about things. Wohlleben’s book did that to me for trees. For the past couple of weeks, I have been reading this wonderful short book and enjoying every page of it. As the subtitle of the book says, the book is about what the trees feel and how they communicate — discoveries from a secret world; and, what a fascinating secret world it is. After you read this book, the next time you take a walk, you will feel like giving the tree on the side a pat if not a hug. You will also feel the extrordinary urge to make all your friends read the book. Of course, the book will also make you worried and sad — worried about the way in which we carry out the destruction of these gentle giants and sad about the pain they have to go through simply because of our ignorance. A wonderful read and strongly recommended!

John Kaag’s American Philosophy

An entertaining read and strongly recommended. A couple of detailed reviews are here and here.

Louise Penny’s A great reckoning

A very satisfying and wonderful read. Strongly recommended.

 

Alan Warner’s Their lips talk of mischief

After reading The Deadman’s Pedal, I have become a fan of Alan Warner. Warner did not disappoint me with Their lips talk of mischief. Wonderful writing and thoroughly enjoyed reading the novel!