theomnivorescientist's reviews
371 reviews

The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran by Hooman Majd

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

 Iran. Everything is not as it seems. With an Iranian diplomat father, an ayatollah grandfather, British educated, American journalist, Farsi-speaking Majd gives an inside account of the modern Iran. We travel through modern Tehran during the later half of the 2000s as Majd explains Iranian idiosyncrasies like 'taarouf' (a way of self-deprecating bordering on lengthy polite diplomacy which is common to Iranian conversations), the concept of a 'laat' ( Farsi is amusing...a laat is our common neighborhood hooligan ), and an amazing eye-opener on Persian cats. This book showed me the side I have always wanted to see. The traveling journalist's account of his own country. Majd visits opium-smoking gatherings, religious functions at Qom, and late-night parties in Tehran. The picture of post-1979 Ayatollah Khomeini-led revolution that still flows in mainstream media is just passe. We meet Khatami, Ahmedinejad, Rouuhani, and many other religious and political characters throughout the book. For those who pronounce Iran as 'Eye-raan' this book is such a medication. The Islamic schism of Arab Sunni vs. Persian Shia is very well-defined albeit I wanted more on this topic.

Modern Iran is a fabric of ancient Persian pride (haq is an important aspect which governs Iranian socio-political canvas), the necessity of Islamic sinews in governance, and a balance of complexes about its place within the Western political space about its nuclear power ambitions. Amidst all this I never knew tomatoes were so expensive in Tehran. This book is a great start to my read-about-other-cultures resolution for 2021. 

Quantum Mechanics: The Theoretical Minimum by Art Friedman, Leonard Susskind

challenging informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

The Cutting Room by Louise Welsh

adventurous challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

 The Cutting Room by Louise Welsh is an engaging thriller and surprisingly good for a debut novel. Set in Glasgow, the story follows an antique dealer called Rilke who happens to be auctioning the property of a recently deceased rich man. While Rilke inventories the house he finds a secret room with questionable books and chilling photographs that might have been criminal in nature. It's a thoughtful depiction of the netherworld of voyeurism, pornographic tendencies, and forbidden tastes with a touch of historical perspective from post World War II. Given this premise I suggest readers to carefully choose this book. Excellent work for a debut crime novel. 

The Killings at Kingfisher Hill by Agatha Christie, Sophie Hannah

lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Pathfinders: The Golden Age of Arabic Science by Jim Al-Khalili

adventurous challenging informative inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced

5.0

 Jim Al-Khalili is a British theoretical physicist best known for his science programmes on BBC. One of them is Science and Islam. If you are more of a visual person watch the series. But Pathfinders is the book every science lover needs to read. The premise: the scientific revolution in Europe had its roots in the Golden Age of Islamic science in the 16-17th centuries. Modern science was not possible if not for all the Arabic, Christian, Jew scholars in cities like Baghdad and Cordoba who translated Greek texts, thousands of them before they even begin to improvise upon them. Anyone who knows where we got the words for algebra and alchemy, well Islamic figures like Ibn Sina, Al-Khwarizmi, Al-Biruni, Al-Kindi, and many more developed ideas in mathematics, medicine, chemistry, optics, philosophy, etc. Some of these polymaths rekindled the importance of Aristotle and improvised Ptolemaic science which would be crucial when the flames of scientific enquiry reached Europe for its next leg. The book is extremely detailed with illustrations from ancient texts. There has been a recent surge of books which tackle the influence of Arabic science and history but this one is a nice place to start. 

Down to Earth: Politics in the New Climatic Regime by Bruno Latour

challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0

 While looking into geopolitics and the effect of the pandemic on the world I came across Bruno Latour's interview in the Guardian. Eventually, I picked up Down To Earth. The whole message of this book is how we have arrived at today's world because of the mounting technological progress, immigration pressure, and populist uprisings all accelerating climate change at an unprecedented rate. The Earth seems no longer shared as a home to all citizens but fought upon by drawing more boundaries than ever. Latour inspires that it is finally time to give up on the fight of right vs left and come to alternative strategies and think about our place back to the Terrestrial, the earth, shared. A balance between rational and moderation. Centrists will adore this book but eventually, Latour doesn't provide 'solutions'.
Some background on Latour: The sensational French philosopher was all in the news in the 1970s when he argued that scientific facts are not solely objective realities but a product of the scientific community. Opposed by many scientists and purists who think scientific facts are impervious to social constructs, Latour did an extensive study with actual lab technicians, students, and researchers and laid out the process by which any fact is produced and published. He argued that the gap between the sciences and the public is that the laboratory life is invisible from the public eye. Now after decades with anti-maskers on road, Latour's work has found meaning as to why a vast section of society is sceptical of proven scientific facts. 

The Quantum Astrologer's Handbook by Michael Brooks

adventurous challenging funny informative inspiring medium-paced

3.75

Gerolamo Cardano or simply Jerome Cardano was an Italian Renaissance polymath whose interests ranged from mathematics, astrology, biology, medicine, philosophy, to gambling. His gambling habits led him to devise the foundations of probability. Moreover, Cardano accepted the role of imaginary numbers making him a great influencer for quantum physics. Michael Brooks gives this science biography a twist when he himself visits Cardano in a cell ( the premise is that some unknown nature of physical laws provides Brooks with the means to visit Cardano in flesh ) where he has been imprisoned for sexual impropriety. They discuss Jerome's life, from poverty to his years of medical studies, to his influence in Italian city-states, his tumultuous family life, his gambling addiction, and his feud with Tartaglia ( another great mathematician ) over the solutions to cubic equations. It is quite a romp to read about public math contests where mathematicians provide problems to their rivals, challenge them publicly, and if one could not solve them in a given time were publicly chastised and humiliated. Oh, 16th century Italy was a scientist's paradise. The delicious historical snippets alternate with quantum physics concepts. For the uninitiated, this might need several trips to Wikipedia or introductory undergrad physics course books. Before I read this book I had no idea about Cardano or 16th-century mathematicians and the concepts they were struggling with. A bit wiser now. 

Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer

slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Only a masochist of the highest order ( yes, hello, me 🙋) can go through 700 pages of teen-whine-diarrhoea.  Having read the Twilight books twice ( once fresh in college and then a couple of years back as the mature adult that I am now) I have grown to appreciate the subtleties of the Bella-Edward trope. They were kids in love. Simple. And if you think you were any better in high-school you are fooling yourself. So yes I 'hate-read' Midnight Sun. A totally unnecessary book if ever there was. It's even worse than my opinion about Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Like enough milking of the proverbial cow, Jesus. Or the golden goose or unicorn. The egg isn't golden. It's just fake gold paint. So I read it. I realized that 'hate-reading' accompanies me more than I would like it to be. There are books I leave after the first chapter. And then there is this. Meyer has managed to make even Alice annoying as hell's bells in this. I hear she has ideas for 4-5 more books. Good god. Review: DO NOT READ THIS! 

Classical Mechanics: The Theoretical Minimum by George Hrabovsky, Leonard Susskind

challenging informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

Anybody who has wanted to go beyond the popular science books about physics and its challenges should pick up a pen and a notebook, sit down, and work through this book. You will be amazed at how intuitive and seamless Susskind's lectures are which comes only through decades of teaching and perception about what students of physics need. Moreover, if you have had algebra, trigonometry, and high-school calculus it's a smooth ride.  One of the best 'bridge' books that offer both the fun of a pop-science read in its narration and the introduction to the mathematics of higher physics. 

Fresh and Light by Donna Hay

4.0