Lubinka's bookshelf: pop-science en-US Sat, 19 Apr 2025 01:02:06 -0700 60 Lubinka's bookshelf: pop-science 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI]]> 204927599 From the author of Sapiens comes the groundbreaking story of how information networks have made, and unmade, our world.

For the last 100,000 years, we Sapiens have accumulated enormous power. But despite allour discoveries, inventions, and conquests, we now find ourselves in an existential crisis. The world is on the verge of ecological collapse. Misinformation abounds. And we are rushing headlong into the age of AI—a new information network that threatens to annihilate us. For all that we have accomplished, why are we so self-destructive?

Nexus looks through the long lens of human history to consider how the flow of information has shaped us, and our world. Taking us from the Stone Age, through the canonization of the Bible, early modern witch-hunts, Stalinism, Nazism, and the resurgence of populism today, Yuval Noah Harari asks us to consider the complex relationship between information and truth, bureaucracy and mythology, wisdom and power. He explores how different societies and political systems throughout history have wielded information to achieve their goals, for good and ill. And he addresses the urgent choices we face as non-human intelligence threatens our very existence.

Information is not the raw material of truth; neither is it a mere weapon. Nexus explores the hopeful middle ground between these extremes, and in doing so, rediscovers our shared humanity.]]> 528 Yuval Noah Harari 059373422X Lubinka 4 4.14 2024 Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI
author: Yuval Noah Harari
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/19
date added: 2025/04/19
shelves: 2025, ai-computers, aei-didaskomenos, audio, award-winning, been-there-done-that, brainworx, business-finance, dark, eye-opening, general-non-fiction, goodreads-awards, history-non-fiction, history-will-teach-us-nothing, male-author, my-imaginary-friends, politics, pop-science, terrifying, thought-provoking, war
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection]]> 157981748 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780593243916.

Who and what are supercommunicators? They're the people who can steer a conversation to a successful conclusion. They are able to talk about difficult topics without giving offence. They know how to make others feel at ease and share what they think. They're brilliant facilitators and decision-guiders. How do they do it?

In this groundbreaking book, Charles Duhigg unravels the secrets of the supercommunicators to reveal the art - and the science - of successful communication. He unpicks the different types of everyday conversation and pinpoints why some go smoothly while others swiftly fall apart. He reveals the conversational questions and gambits that bring people together. And he shows how even the most tricky of encounters can be turned around. In the process, he shows why a CIA operative was able to win over a reluctant spy, how a member of a jury got his fellow jurors to view an open-and-shut case differently, and what a doctor found they needed to do to engage with a vaccine sceptic.

Above all, he reveals the techniques we can all master to successfully connect with others, however tricky the circumstances. Packed with fascinating case studies and drawing on cutting-edge research, this book will change the way you think about what you say, and how you say it.]]> 320 Charles Duhigg Lubinka 4 4.00 2024 Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection
author: Charles Duhigg
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves: 2025, aei-didaskomenos, audio, been-there-done-that, general-non-fiction, male-author, pop-science, psychology, thought-provoking
review:

]]> Around the World in 80 Trees 36205145
In Around the World in 80 Trees, Jonathan Drori journeys through time and across cultures, using up-to-date plant science to demonstrate how trees play a role in every part of human life. Ranging from the romantic to the regrettable, some of the stories illustrate the surprising historical relationships between people and seemingly familiar species, like the elm and the beech. Others showcase the exotic and the extraordinary, such as the exploding sandbox tree and the unique metal-hoarding tree of Polynesia.

Each of these strange and true tales—populated by self-mummifying monks, tree-climbing goats, and radioactive nuts—is illustrated by Lucille Clerc, taking the reader on a trip that is as beautiful as it is enlightening.]]> 240 Jonathan Drori 1786271613 Lubinka 5 4.57 2018 Around the World in 80 Trees
author: Jonathan Drori
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/13
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves: 2025, aei-didaskomenos, audio, based-on-real-events, eye-opening, food, general-non-fiction, have-books-will-travel, history-will-teach-us-nothing, pop-science, the-narrator-nailed-it, various-authors, why-oh-why-audio
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Muscle: The Gripping Story of Strength and Movement]]> 62585993 288 Roy A. Meals 1324021446 Lubinka 0 3.58 2023 Muscle: The Gripping Story of Strength and Movement
author: Roy A. Meals
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/25
date added: 2025/01/25
shelves: 2025, aei-didaskomenos, audio, fitness-health-wellbeing, general-non-fiction, life-s-too-short-for-novels, male-author, not-my-cup-of-tea, pop-science, meh, the-narrator-nailed-it
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science]]> 208580608 The acclaimed Pulitzer Prize finalist and #1 New York Times bestselling author of Galileo’s Daughter crafts a luminous chronicle of the life and work of the most famous woman in the history of science, and the untold story of the many young women trained in her laboratory who were launched into stellar scientific careers of their own

“Even now, nearly a century after her death, Marie Curie remains the only female scientist most people can name,� writes Dava Sobel at the opening of her shining portrait of the sole Nobel laureate decorated in two separate fields of science—Physics in 1903 with her husband Pierre and Chemistry by herself in 1911. And yet, Sobel makes clear, as brilliant and creative as she was in the laboratory, Marie Curie was equally passionate outside it. Grieving Pierre’s untimely death in 1906, she took his place as professor of physics at the Sorbonne; devotedly raised two brilliant daughters; drove a van she outfitted with x-ray equipment to the front lines of World War I; befriended Albert Einstein and other luminaries of twentieth-century physics; won support from two U.S. presidents; and inspired generations of young women the world over to pursue science as a way of life.

As Sobel did so memorably in her portrait of Galileo through the prism of his daughter, she approaches Marie Curie from a unique angle, narrating her remarkable life of discovery and fame alongside the women who became her legacy—from France’s Marguerite Perey, who discovered the element francium, and Norway’s Ellen Gleditsch, to Mme. Curie’s elder daughter, Irène, winner of the 1935 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. For decades the only woman in the room at international scientific gatherings that probed new theories about the interior of the atom, Marie Curie traveled far and wide, despite constant illness, to share the secrets of radioactivity, a term she coined. Her two triumphant tours of the United States won her admirers for her modesty even as she was mobbed at every stop; her daughters, in Ève’s later recollection, “discovered all at once what the retiring woman with whom they had always lived meant to the world.�

With the consummate skill that made bestsellers of Longitude and Galileo’s Daughter, and the appreciation for women in science at the heart of her most recent The Glass Universe, Dava Sobel has crafted a radiant biography and a masterpiece of storytelling, illuminating the life and enduring influence of one of the most consequential figures of our time.]]> 318 Dava Sobel 0802163823 Lubinka 5 3.93 2024 The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science
author: Dava Sobel
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/16
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves: 2025, based-on-real-events, biography, eye-opening, general-non-fiction, goodreads-awards, have-books-will-travel, heartwrenching, history-non-fiction, history-will-teach-us-nothing, oh-yes-it-s-you-at-last, pop-science, romance, sad, thought-provoking, war, we-should-all-be-feminists
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Structure of Scientific Revolutions]]> 61539 The Structure of Scientific Revolutions is that kind of book. When it was first published in 1962, it was a landmark event in the history and philosophy of science. Fifty years later, it still has many lessons to teach.

With The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Kuhn challenged long-standing linear notions of scientific progress, arguing that transformative ideas don’t arise from the day-to-day, gradual process of experimentation and data accumulation but that the revolutions in science, those breakthrough moments that disrupt accepted thinking and offer unanticipated ideas, occur outside of “normal science,� as he called it. Though Kuhn was writing when physics ruled the sciences, his ideas on how scientific revolutions bring order to the anomalies that amass over time in research experiments are still instructive in our biotech age.

This new edition of Kuhn’s essential work in the history of science includes an insightful introduction by Ian Hacking, which clarifies terms popularized by Kuhn, including paradigm and incommensurability, and applies Kuhn’s ideas to the science of today. Usefully keyed to the separate sections of the book, Hacking’s introduction provides important background information as well as a contemporary context. Newly designed, with an expanded index, this edition will be eagerly welcomed by the next generation of readers seeking to understand the history of our perspectives on science.]]> 226 Thomas S. Kuhn 0226458083 Lubinka 0 4.03 1962 The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
author: Thomas S. Kuhn
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1962
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: 77-pages-in-graveyard, 2024, audio, general-non-fiction, green-monster-of-jealousy, in-plain-english-please, male-author, not-my-cup-of-tea, pop-science, way-over-my-head
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Your Brain Is a Time Machine: The Neuroscience and Physics of Time]]> 35187183 Your Brain Is a Time Machine reveals that the brain’s ultimate purpose may be to predict the future, and thus that your brain is a time machine.]]> 304 Dean Buonomano 0393355608 Lubinka 0 3.88 2017 Your Brain Is a Time Machine: The Neuroscience and Physics of Time
author: Dean Buonomano
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: 77-pages-in-graveyard, audio, brainworx, male-author, meh, pop-science, psychology, time-travel, not-my-cup-of-tea
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman]]> 98685
Raised in Depression-era Rockaway Beach, physicist Richard Feynman was irreverent, eccentric, and childishly enthusiastic—a new kind of scientist in a field that was in its infancy. His quick mastery of quantum mechanics earned him a place at Los Alamos working on the Manhattan Project under J. Robert Oppenheimer, where the giddy young man held his own among the nation’s greatest minds. There, Feynman turned theory into practice, culminating in the Trinity test, on July 16, 1945, when the Atomic Age was born. He was only twenty-seven. And he was just getting started.

In this sweeping biography, James Gleick captures the forceful personality of a great man, integrating Feynman’s work and life in a way that is accessible to laymen and fascinating for the scientists who follow in his footsteps.]]> 531 James Gleick 0679747044 Lubinka 0 4.11 Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman
author: James Gleick
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.11
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: 77-pages-in-graveyard, audio, based-on-real-events, biography, male-author, speaker-for-the-deaf, not-my-cup-of-tea, pop-science
review:

]]> <![CDATA[How to Win the Premier League: The Inside Story of Football’s Data Revolution]]> 209194343 'The best book on football I have ever read' Daniel Finkelstein

'Deserves a place among the great modern books on football' Sam Wallace, chief football writer, Telegraph

The insider account of the data revolution that has swept through the modern football world written by one of its key architects, Ian Graham.

Between 2012 and 2023, Ian Graham worked as Liverpool FC's Director of Research. His tenure coincided with the club’s greatest period of success since the 1980s, including winning the Premier League in 2020 � Liverpool’s first league title after an agonising 30 years.

Here for the first time, Graham reveals the fascinating data that informed some of the club’s most pivotal moments of the past decade, from the appointment of Jurgen Klopp as manager in 2015 to the signing of Mohamed Salah in 2017. Along the way, he shares groundbreaking insight into the modern game, including how a season largely played behind closed doors transformed our understanding of a home-side advantage, or why the GOAT (greatest of all time) might not be who you think. And, in a game that is increasingly dominated by an elite few, Graham charts a path for the future where a data-savvy competitor will always find the edge.]]> 296 Ian Graham 1804950319 Lubinka 4 4.23 How to Win the Premier League: The Inside Story of Football’s Data Revolution
author: Ian Graham
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.23
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/20
date added: 2024/11/20
shelves: 2024, aei-didaskomenos, audio, based-on-real-events, business-finance, eye-opening, general-non-fiction, green-monster-of-jealousy, have-books-will-travel, history-will-teach-us-nothing, male-author, math, pop-science, thought-provoking, why-oh-why-audio
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Devil's Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance]]> 61089465 New York Times best-selling author on the source of great bounty—and now great peril—all over the world.

Phosphorus has played a critical role in some of the most lethal substances on earth: firebombs, rat poison, nerve gas. But it’s also the key component of one of the most vital: fertilizer, which has sustained life for billions of people. In this major work of explanatory science and environmental journalism, Pulitzer Prize finalist Dan Egan investigates the past, present, and future of what has been called “the oil of our time.�

The story of phosphorus spans the globe and vast tracts of human history. First discovered in a seventeenth-century alchemy lab in Hamburg, it soon became a highly sought-after resource. The race to mine phosphorus took people from the battlefields of Waterloo, which were looted for the bones of fallen soldiers, to the fabled guano islands off Peru, the Bone Valley of Florida, and the sand dunes of the Western Sahara. Over the past century, phosphorus has made farming vastly more productive, feeding the enormous increase in the human population. Yet, as Egan harrowingly reports, our overreliance on this vital crop nutrient is today causing toxic algae blooms and “dead zones� in waterways from the coasts of Florida to the Mississippi River basin to the Great Lakes and beyond. Egan also explores the alarming reality that diminishing access to phosphorus poses a threat to the food system worldwide—which risks rising conflict and even war.

With The Devil’s Element, Egan has written an essential and eye-opening account that urges us to pay attention to one of the most perilous but little-known environmental issues of our time.]]> 228 Dan Egan 1324002662 Lubinka 5 4.20 2023 The Devil's Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance
author: Dan Egan
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/01
date added: 2024/11/01
shelves: 2024, aei-didaskomenos, are-you-serious, audio, based-on-real-events, climate, eye-opening, fitness-health-wellbeing, food, general-non-fiction, have-books-will-travel, history-will-teach-us-nothing, life-s-too-short-for-novels, male-author, politics, pop-science, the-narrator-nailed-it, thought-provoking
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Elemental: How Five Elements Changed Earth’s Past And Will Shape Our Future]]> 63314876
It is rare for life to change Earth, yet three organisms have profoundly transformed our planet over the long course of its history. Elemental reveals how microbes, plants, and people used the fundamental building blocks of life to alter the climate, and with it, the trajectory of life on Earth in the past, present, and future.

Taking readers from the deep geologic past to our current era of human dominance, Stephen Porder focuses on five of life’s essential elements―hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus. He describes how single-celled cyanobacteria and plants harnessed them to wildly proliferate across the oceans and the land, only to eventually precipitate environmental catastrophes. He then brings us to the present, and shows how these elements underpin the success of human civilization, and how their mismanagement threatens similarly catastrophic unintended consequences. But, Porder argues, if we can learn from our world-changing predecessors, we can construct a more sustainable future.

Blending conversational storytelling with the latest science, Porder takes us deep into the Amazon, across fresh lava flows in Hawaii, and to the cornfields of the American Midwest to illuminate a potential path to sustainability, informed by the constraints imposed by life’s essential elements and the four-billion-year history of life on Earth.]]> 240 Stephen Porder 0691177295 Lubinka 4 4.05 Elemental: How Five Elements Changed Earth’s Past And Will Shape Our Future
author: Stephen Porder
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.05
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/30
date added: 2024/10/30
shelves: 2024, aei-didaskomenos, audio, climate, eye-opening, general-non-fiction, have-books-will-travel, history-will-teach-us-nothing, male-author, pop-science, the-narrator-nailed-it, thought-provoking, war
review:

]]> <![CDATA[AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference]]> 210319458 While acknowledging the potential of some AI, such as ChatGPT, AI Snake Oil uncovers rampant misleading claims about the capabilities of AI and describes the serious harms AI is already causing in how it's being built, marketed, and used in areas such as education, medicine, hiring, banking, insurance, and criminal justice. The book explains the crucial differences between types of AI, why organizations are falling for AI snake oil, why AI can't fix social media, why AI isn't an existential risk, and why we should be far more worried about what people will do with AI than about anything AI will do on its own. The book also warns of the dangers of a world where AI continues to be controlled by largely unaccountable big tech companies.
By revealing AI's limits and real risks, AI Snake Oil will help you make better decisions about whether and how to use AI at work and home.]]> 360 Arvind Narayanan 069124913X Lubinka 4 3.87 2024 AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference
author: Arvind Narayanan
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/23
date added: 2024/10/23
shelves: ai-computers, aei-didaskomenos, 2024, audio, eye-opening, general-non-fiction, green-monster-of-jealousy, history-will-teach-us-nothing, pop-science, thought-provoking, various-authors
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Uncommon Sense Teaching: Practical Insights in Brain Science to Help Students Learn]]> 55835996
A groundbreaking guide to improve teaching based on the latest research in neuroscience, from the bestselling author of A Mind for Numbers .

Neuroscientists and cognitive scientists have made enormous strides in understanding the brain and how we learn, but little of that insight has filtered down to the way teachers teach. Uncommon Sense Teaching applies this research to the classroom for teachers, parents, and anyone interested in improving education. Topics

� keeping students motivated and engaged, especially with online learning
� helping students remember information long-term, so it isn't immediately forgotten after a test
� how to teach inclusively in a diverse classroom where students have a wide range of abilities

Drawing on research findings as well as the authors' combined decades of experience in the classroom, Uncommon Sense Teaching equips readers with the tools to enhance their teaching, whether they're seasoned professionals or parents trying to offer extra support for their children's education.]]> 336 Barbara Oakley 0593329732 Lubinka 4 4.16 2021 Uncommon Sense Teaching: Practical Insights in Brain Science to Help Students Learn
author: Barbara Oakley
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/11
date added: 2024/04/11
shelves: 2024, aei-didaskomenos, audio, award-winning, brainworx, general-non-fiction, pop-science, thought-provoking, various-authors
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Ant Architecture: The Wonder, Beauty, and Science of Underground Nests]]> 55836281 An unprecedented look at the complex and beautiful world of underground ant architecture



Walter Tschinkel has spent much of his career investigating the hidden subterranean realm of ant nests. This wonderfully illustrated book takes you inside an unseen world where thousands of ants build intricate homes in the soil beneath our feet.

Tschinkel describes the ingenious methods he has devised to study ant nests, showing how he fills a nest with plaster, molten metal, or wax and painstakingly excavates the cast. He guides you through living ant nests chamber by chamber, revealing how nests are created and how colonies function. How does nest architecture vary across species? Do ants have architectural plans? How do nests affect our environment? As he delves into these and other questions, Tschinkel provides a one-of-a-kind natural history of the planet's most successful creatures and a compelling firsthand account of a life of scientific discovery.

Offering a unique look at how simple methods can lead to pioneering science, Ant Architecture addresses the unsolved mysteries of underground ant nests while charting new directions for tomorrow's research, and reflects on the role of beauty in nature and the joys of shoestring science.]]> 248 Walter R Tschinkel 069117931X Lubinka 0 4.18 2021 Ant Architecture: The Wonder, Beauty, and Science of Underground Nests
author: Walter R Tschinkel
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2024/03/15
date added: 2024/03/15
shelves: 2024, adventure, animals, are-you-serious, audio, general-non-fiction, green-monster-of-jealousy, how-bizarre, male-author, not-my-cup-of-tea, pop-science
review:

]]> <![CDATA[42 Reasons to Hate the Universe: (And One Reason Not To)]]> 136280929 If you've always suspected the universe was out to get you� you were right!

Yes, the universe we live in is cosmically beautiful and mysterious and all that crap. But it's also a bit of an asshole. After all, remember that you are just a group of atoms structured in a specific way for barely long enough to try to understand this thing we call existence. Those atoms could just have easily been used to make the dog shit you're cleaning off your shoe or the mold that grows on your bread! The fact is, when you zoom out to look at the universe and how it functions, you'll see that it's usually not in our favor, and many of the laws of physics are actively working against our survival. In this book, you'll discover

You're an aging mutantInvisible rays are melting our genetic codeThe Earth is covered in explosive pimplesLiterally everything is poisonousAnd more true and terrifying scientific facts!But don't worry! While it's true that there are (at least) forty-two grudges to hold against the universe, the good news is that there is also one very good reason to forgive them all and embrace the wild, improbable fact that we are alive (for now) and we should take advantage of it while we can. 42 Reasons to Hate the Universe (And One Reason Not To) is a hilarious, no-holds-barred exploration of all the reasons we shouldn't exist—but somehow do anyway. Rooted in scientific research but written simply so that evolved apes such as ourselves can understand where the heck we came from and where we're likely going, this book is for all the nerds and nihilists who know they're going down in the end but want to enjoy the rollercoaster ride of existence on the way.]]> 292 Chris Ferrie 1728272831 Lubinka 5 3.82 2024 42 Reasons to Hate the Universe: (And One Reason Not To)
author: Chris Ferrie
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/15
date added: 2024/02/15
shelves: 2024, audio, are-you-serious, based-on-real-events, beautifully-written, climate, dark, did-not-see-it-coming, eye-opening, favorite, funny, general-non-fiction, fitness-health-wellbeing, history-will-teach-us-nothing, how-bizarre, oh-yes-it-s-you-at-last, page-turner, pop-science, space, terrifying, various-authors
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through?]]> 125084292
Can you make babies in space? Should corporations govern space settlements? What about space war? Are we headed for a housing crisis on the Moon’s Peaks of Eternal Light—and what happens if you’re left in the Craters of Eternal Darkness? Why do astronauts love taco sauce? Speaking of meals, what’s the legal status of space cannibalism?

With deep expertise, a winning sense of humor, and art from the beloved creator of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, the Weinersmiths investigate perhaps the biggest questions humanity will ever ask itself—whether and how to become multiplanetary.

Get in, we’re going to Mars.]]> 448 Kelly Weinersmith 1984881736 Lubinka 5 4.04 2023 A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through?
author: Kelly Weinersmith
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/06
date added: 2024/02/06
shelves: 2024, adventure, aei-didaskomenos, audio, are-you-serious, based-on-real-events, dark, did-not-see-it-coming, eye-opening, funny, general-non-fiction, green-monster-of-jealousy, have-books-will-travel, history-will-teach-us-nothing, how-bizarre, i-read-the-book-for-the-narrator, male-author, female-author, oh-yes-it-s-you-at-last, on-the-road, open-end, out-at-sea, page-turner, politics, pop-science, postapocalyptic-dystopian, psychology, russia-n, space, thought-provoking, the-narrator-nailed-it, war
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Children of Time (Children of Time, #1)]]> 25499718
WHO WILL INHERIT THIS NEW EARTH?

The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age—a world terraformed and prepared for human life.

But all is not right in this new Eden. In the long years since the planet was abandoned, the work of its architects has borne disastrous fruit. The planet is not waiting for them, pristine and unoccupied. New masters have turned it from a refuge into mankind's worst nightmare.

Now two civilizations are on a collision course, both testing the boundaries of what they will do to survive. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, who are the true heirs of this new Earth?]]> 608 Adrian Tchaikovsky 1447273281 Lubinka 0 4.29 2015 Children of Time (Children of Time, #1)
author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at: 2024/01/29
date added: 2024/01/29
shelves: 2024, adventure, animals, are-you-serious, audio, award-winning, dark, did-not-see-it-coming, green-monster-of-jealousy, history-will-teach-us-nothing, hugo-awards-odyssey, male-author, not-my-cup-of-tea, on-the-road, out-at-sea, philosophy-religion, politics, pop-science, postapocalyptic-dystopian, psychology, repetitive, space, sci-fi, verbose, war
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes]]> 125116554
� Arthur C. Brooks, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School, and #1 New York Times bestselling author


From the author of the international blockbuster, THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MONEY, a powerful new tool to unlock one of life’s most challenging puzzles.

Every investment plan under the sun is, at best,an informed speculation of what may happen in the future, based on a systematic extrapolation from the known past.

Same as Ever reverses the process, inviting us to identify the many things that never, ever change.

With his usual elan, Morgan Housel presents a master class on optimizing risk, seizing opportunity, and living your best life. Through a sequence of engaging stories and pithy examples, he shows how we can use our newfound grasp of the unchanging to see around corners, not by squinting harder through the uncertain landscape of the future, but by looking backwards, being more broad-sighted, and focusing instead on what is permanently true.

By doing so, we may betteranticipate the big stuff, andachieve the greatest success, not merely financial comforts, but most importantly, a life well lived.]]> 240 Morgan Housel Lubinka 5 4.12 2023 Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes
author: Morgan Housel
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/21
date added: 2023/11/21
shelves: 2023, aei-didaskomenos, audio, based-on-real-events, business-finance, climate, did-not-see-it-coming, eye-opening, general-non-fiction, history-will-teach-us-nothing, history-non-fiction, life-s-too-short-for-novels, male-author, oh-yes-it-s-you-at-last, pop-science, psychology, thought-provoking, war
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dark Matter: The New Science of the Microbiome]]> 75629094

From a world-leading microbiome scientist and surgeon with over two decades of experience comes Dark Matter - the definitive book on the science of the microbiome and how unlocking its potential can protect our health, our immunity and our planet.

Why are we living longer, but not happier?

The microbiome - our inner ecosystem of viruses, bacteria and other microbes - is critically important to our health and wellbeing. It is given to us by our mothers at birth, adapts with us as we age, influences our moods, determines how fast we run and even who we choose as a partner.

Yet it is only now, as we are beginning to discover the microbiome's enormous potential, that we are realising it is in grave danger, being irrevocably destroyed through the globalisation of our diets, the war on bugs and the industrialised world.

But we can look to reverse this damage. Drawing on cutting-edge research and years of clinical experience, Kinross shows how to unpack the microbiome's secrets, explaining that if we work with, not against, our microbes, we can live better, healthier lives.]]> 344 James Kinross Lubinka 5 4.19 Dark Matter: The New Science of the Microbiome
author: James Kinross
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.19
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/21
date added: 2023/11/21
shelves: 2023, aei-didaskomenos, audio, eye-opening, favorite, fitness-health-wellbeing, funny, food, general-non-fiction, green-monster-of-jealousy, history-will-teach-us-nothing, i-read-the-book-for-the-narrator, male-author, memoir, oh-yes-it-s-you-at-last, pop-science, the-narrator-nailed-it, thought-provoking
review:

]]> Elon Musk 122765395 From the author of Steve Jobs and other bestselling biographies, this is the astonishingly intimate story of the most fascinating and controversial innovator of our era—a rule-breaking visionary who helped to lead the world into the era of electric vehicles, private space exploration, and artificial intelligence. Oh, and took over Twitter.

When Elon Musk was a kid in South Africa, he was regularly beaten by bullies. One day a group pushed him down some concrete steps and kicked him until his face was a swollen ball of flesh. He was in the hospital for a week. But the physical scars were minor compared to the emotional ones inflicted by his father, an engineer, rogue, and charismatic fantasist.

His father’s impact on his psyche would linger. He developed into a tough yet vulnerable man-child, prone to abrupt Jekyll-and-Hyde mood swings, with an exceedingly high tolerance for risk, a craving for drama, an epic sense of mission, and a maniacal intensity that was callous and at times destructive.

At the beginning of 2022—after a year marked by SpaceX launching thirty-one rockets into orbit, Tesla selling a million cars, and him becoming the richest man on earth—Musk spoke ruefully about his compulsion to stir up dramas. “I need to shift my mindset away from being in crisis mode, which it has been for about fourteen years now, or arguably most of my life,� he said.

It was a wistful comment, not a New Year’s resolution. Even as he said it, he was secretly buying up shares of Twitter, the world’s ultimate playground. Over the years, whenever he was in a dark place, his mind went back to being bullied on the playground. Now he had the chance to own the playground.

For two years, Isaacson shadowed Musk, attended his meetings, walked his factories with him, and spent hours interviewing him, his family, friends, coworkers, and adversaries. The result is the revealing inside story, filled with amazing tales of triumphs and turmoil, that addresses the are the demons that drive Musk also what it takes to drive innovation and progress?]]> 688 Walter Isaacson 1982181281 Lubinka 5 4.28 2023 Elon Musk
author: Walter Isaacson
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/03
date added: 2023/11/03
shelves: 2023, a-man-called-ove, adventure, ai-computers, are-you-serious, audio, award-winning, beautifully-written, based-on-real-events, been-there-done-that, biography, brainworx, business-finance, china, did-not-see-it-coming, eye-opening, general-non-fiction, goodreads-awards, have-books-will-travel, history-will-teach-us-nothing, how-bizarre, i-read-the-book-for-the-narrator, lgbtq, male-author, math, page-turner, politics, pop-science, romance, space, terrifying, the-narrator-nailed-it, thought-provoking
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Power: 5 Battlegrounds]]> 56312171
Whether you are a social media fanatic, a diehard AI aficionado, or a paranoid sceptic, it is impossible to escape the ubiquitous impact of AI. Artificial Intelligence is the brains bringing together quantum computing, nanotechnology, medical technology, brain-machine interface, robotics, aerospace, 5G, Internet of Things, and more. It is amplifying human ingenuity and disrupting the foundations of healthcare, military, entertainment, education, marketing and manufacturing.

Artificial Intelligence and The Future of Power argues that this AI-driven revolution will have an unequal impact on different segments of humanity. There will be new winners and losers, new haves and have-nots, resulting in an unprecedented concentration of wealth and power.

After analyzing society’s vulnerabilities to the impending tsunami, the book raises troubling questions that provoke immediate debate: Is the world headed toward digital colonization by USA and China? Will depopulation become eventually unavoidable?

Artificial Intelligence and The Future of Power is a wakeup call to action, compelling public intellectuals to be better informed and more engaged. It educates the social segments most at risk and wants them to demand a seat at the table where policies on Artificial Intelligence are being formulated.]]> 520 Rajiv Malhotra 9390356431 Lubinka 3 4.25 2021 Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Power: 5 Battlegrounds
author: Rajiv Malhotra
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2023/10/10
date added: 2023/10/10
shelves: 2023, audio, based-on-real-events, business-finance, dark, general-non-fiction, history-will-teach-us-nothing, india, male-author, meh, philosophy-religion, politics, pop-science, postapocalyptic-dystopian, repetitive, speaker-for-the-deaf, terrifying, thought-provoking, ai-computers
review:
While it contained plenty of valuable albeit terrifying information, the parallels to Indian mythology threw me completely off-guard in this context. And most certainly, the author's voice narrating the audio book was not a good choice, in my opinion - I found his reading haughty, mechanical and annoying.
]]> <![CDATA[The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human]]> 8574712 384 V.S. Ramachandran 0393077829 Lubinka 4 4.14 2010 The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human
author: V.S. Ramachandran
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/29
date added: 2023/08/29
shelves: 2023, audio, been-there-done-that, brainworx, eye-opening, fitness-health-wellbeing, general-non-fiction, male-author, me-myself-and-i, pop-science, psychology, rehash, verbose
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science that Will Transform Your Sex Life]]> 22609341
Researchers have spent the last decade trying to develop a “pink pill� for women to function like Viagra does for men. So where is it? Well, for reasons this book makes crystal clear, that pill will never exist—but as a result of the research that’s gone into it, scientists in the last few years have learned more about how women’s sexuality works than we ever thought possible, and Come as You Are explains it all.

The first lesson in this essential, transformative book by Dr. Emily Nagoski is that every woman has her own unique sexuality, like a fingerprint, and that women vary more than men in our anatomy, our sexual response mechanisms, and the way our bodies respond to the sexual world. So we never need to judge ourselves based on others� experiences. Because women vary, and that’s normal.

Second lesson: sex happens in a context. And all the complications of everyday life influence the context surrounding a woman’s arousal, desire, and orgasm.

Cutting-edge research across multiple disciplines tells us that the most important factor for women in creating and sustaining a fulfilling sex life, is not what you do in bed or how you do it, but how you feel about it. Which means that stress, mood, trust, and body image are not peripheral factors in a woman’s sexual wellbeing; they are central to it. Once you understand these factors, and how to influence them, you can create for yourself better sex and more profound pleasure than you ever thought possible.

And Emily Nagoski can prove it.]]> 400 Emily Nagoski 1476762090 Lubinka 5 4.28 2015 Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science that Will Transform Your Sex Life
author: Emily Nagoski
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2023/06/02
date added: 2023/06/02
shelves: 2023, aei-didaskomenos, audio, based-on-real-events, beautifully-written, definitely-should-reread, eye-opening, favorite, female-author, feelgood, fitness-health-wellbeing, funny, general-non-fiction, history-will-teach-us-nothing, lgbtq, oh-yes-it-s-you-at-last, pop-science, psychology, thought-provoking, we-should-all-be-feminists
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Battle for Your Brain: Defending the Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology]]> 60784561
Imagine a world where your brain can be interrogated to learn your political beliefs, your thoughts can be used as evidence of a crime, and your own feelings can be held against you. A world where people who suffer from epilepsy receive alerts moments before a seizure, and the average person can peer into their own mind to eliminate painful memories or cure addictions.

Neuroscience has already made all of this possible today, and neurotechnology will soon become the “universal controller� for all of our interactions with technology. This can benefit humanity immensely, but without safeguards, it can seriously threaten our fundamental human rights to privacy, freedom of thought, and self-determination.

From one of the world’s foremost experts on the ethics of neuroscience, The Battle for Your Brain offers a path forward to navigate the complex legal and ethical dilemmas that will fundamentally impact our freedom to understand, shape, and define ourselves.]]> 288 Nita A. Farahany 1250272955 Lubinka 5 3.81 2023 The Battle for Your Brain: Defending the Right to Think Freely in the Age of Neurotechnology
author: Nita A. Farahany
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/03/26
date added: 2023/03/26
shelves: 2023, aei-didaskomenos, audio, based-on-real-events, brainworx, did-not-see-it-coming, eye-opening, female-author, fitness-health-wellbeing, general-non-fiction, history-will-teach-us-nothing, pop-science, psychology, terrifying, thought-provoking, war
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Art of More: How Mathematics Created Civilisation]]> 56648606 Bestselling science writer Michael Brooks takes us on a fascinating journey through the history of civilisation, as he explains why maths is fundamental to our understanding of the world.

1, 2, 3 � ? The untrained brain isn’t wired for maths; beyond the number 3, it just sees ‘more�. So why bother learning it at all?

You might remember studying geometry, calculus, and algebra at school, but you probably didn’t realise � or weren’t taught � that these are the roots of art, architecture, government, and almost every other aspect of our civilisation. The mathematics of triangles enabled explorers to travel far across the seas and astronomers to map the heavens. Calculus won the Allies the Second World War and halted the HIV epidemic. And imaginary numbers, it turns out, are essential to the realities of twenty-first-century life.

From ancient Egyptian priests to the Apollo astronauts, and Babylonian tax collectors to juggling robots, join Michael Brooks and his extraordinarily eccentric cast of characters in discovering how maths shaped the world around you.]]> 336 Michael Brooks 1912854953 Lubinka 5 4.06 2021 The Art of More: How Mathematics Created Civilisation
author: Michael Brooks
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2023/03/15
date added: 2023/03/15
shelves: 2023, aei-didaskomenos, audio, based-on-real-events, eye-opening, funny, general-non-fiction, have-books-will-travel, history-non-fiction, male-author, math, page-turner, pop-science, the-narrator-nailed-it
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Some Assembly Required: Decoding Four Billion Years of Life, from Ancient Fossils to DNA]]> 51199750
Over billions of years, ancient fish evolved to walk on land, reptiles transformed into birds that fly, and apelike primates evolved into humans that walk on two legs, talk, and write. For more than a century, paleontologists have traveled the globe to find fossils that show how such changes have happened.

We have now arrived at a remarkable moment, prehistoric fossils coupled with new DNA technology have given us the tools to answer some of the basic questions of our existence: How do big changes in evolution happen? Is our presence on Earth the product of mere chance? This new science reveals a multibillion-year evolutionary history filled with twists and turns, trial and error, accident and invention.]]> 267 Neil Shubin Lubinka 0 4.06 2020 Some Assembly Required: Decoding Four Billion Years of Life, from Ancient Fossils to DNA
author: Neil Shubin
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2023/02/16
date added: 2023/02/16
shelves: 2023, animals, based-on-real-events, audio, general-non-fiction, male-author, pop-science, way-over-my-head
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Revolutionary Genius of Plants: A New Understanding of Plant Intelligence and Behavior]]> 35721619 Plant Revolution—a fascinating, paradigm-shifting work that upends everything you thought you knew about plants—makes a compelling scientific case that these and other astonishing ideas are all true.

Plants make up eighty percent of the weight of all living things on earth, and yet it is easy to forget that these innocuous, beautiful organisms are responsible for not only the air that lets us survive, but for many of our modern comforts: our medicine, food supply, even our fossil fuels.

On the forefront of uncovering the essential truths about plants, world-renowned scientist Stefano Mancuso reveals the surprisingly sophisticated ability of plants to innovate, to remember, and to learn, offering us creative solutions to the most vexing technological and ecological problems that face us today. Despite not having brains or central nervous systems, plants perceive their surroundings with an even greater sensitivity than animals. They efficiently explore and react promptly to potentially damaging external events thanks to their cooperative, shared systems; without any central command centers, they are able to remember prior catastrophic events and to actively adapt to new ones.

Every page of Plant Revolution bubbles over with Stefano Mancuso’s infectious love for plants and for the eye-opening research that makes it more and more clear how remarkable our fellow inhabitants on this planet really are. In his hands, complicated science is wonderfully accessible, and he has loaded the book with gorgeous photographs that make for an unforgettable reading experience. Plant Revolution opens the doors to a new understanding of life on earth.]]> 240 Stefano Mancuso 1501187856 Lubinka 5 4.02 2017 The Revolutionary Genius of Plants: A New Understanding of Plant Intelligence and Behavior
author: Stefano Mancuso
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2023/02/07
date added: 2023/02/07
shelves: 2023, adventure, aei-didaskomenos, audio, climate, eye-opening, fitness-health-wellbeing, food, general-non-fiction, have-books-will-travel, history-will-teach-us-nothing, life-s-too-short-for-novels, male-author, pop-science
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Life Force: How New Breakthroughs in Precision Medicine Can Transform the Quality of Your Life Those You Love]]> 59530244 INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Transform your life or the life of someone you love with Life Force—the newest breakthroughs in health technology to help maximize your energy and strength, prevent disease, and extend your health span—from Tony Robbins, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Money: Master the Game.

What if there were scientific solutions that could wipe out your deepest fears of falling ill, receiving a life-threatening diagnosis, or feeling the effects of aging? What if you had access to the same cutting-edge tools and technology used by peak performers and the world’s greatest athletes?

In a world full of fear and uncertainty about our health, it can be difficult to know where to turn for actionable advice you can trust. Today, leading scientists and doctors in the field of regenerative medicine are developing diagnostic tools and safe and effective therapies that can free you from fear.

In this book, Tony Robbins, the world’s #1 life and business strategist who has coached more than fifty million people, brings you more than 100 of the world’s top medical minds and the latest research, inspiring comeback stories, and amazing advancements in precision medicine that you can apply today to help extend the length and quality of your life.

This book is the result of Robbins going on his own life-changing journey. After being told that his health challenges were irreversible, he experienced firsthand how new regenerative technology not only helped him heal but made him stronger than ever before.

Life Force will show you how you can wake up every day with increased energy, a more bulletproof immune system, and the know-how to help turn back your biological clock. This is a book for everyone, from peak performance athletes, to the average person who wants to increase their energy and strength, to those looking for healing. Life Force provides answers that can transform and even save your life, or that of someone you love.]]> 720 Anthony Robbins 1982121734 Lubinka 3 This is my first Tony Robbins book, and even if I believe that he's not truly able to see beyond his privilege, I admire his altruism and positive outlook on life. From this book, I'll keep the fact that research on healing some debilitating or deadly illnesses is progressing rapidly, even if I personally don't intend (or am able to) take advantage of everything that's out there to enable people to live a full life at the age of 150.]]> 3.96 2022 Life Force: How New Breakthroughs in Precision Medicine Can Transform the Quality of Your Life Those You Love
author: Anthony Robbins
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2023/02/03
date added: 2023/02/03
shelves: 2023, audio, based-on-real-events, eye-opening, fitness-health-wellbeing, general-non-fiction, food, history-will-teach-us-nothing, male-author, me-myself-and-i, pop-science, psychology, thought-provoking, various-authors
review:
This felt like a rich guy's narration about how many miracle cures he's been able to find and utilize in order to feel in perfect shape. I do see that Tony Robbins & co try to improve life for everybody, but for the time being, most of what is described in this book is available only to those who can afford it, be it tests, stem cells procedures, therapies, whatever. Moreover, the quest for all humans to live beyond the age of 100 is, to me, somewhat problematic, given the current state of the planet.
This is my first Tony Robbins book, and even if I believe that he's not truly able to see beyond his privilege, I admire his altruism and positive outlook on life. From this book, I'll keep the fact that research on healing some debilitating or deadly illnesses is progressing rapidly, even if I personally don't intend (or am able to) take advantage of everything that's out there to enable people to live a full life at the age of 150.
]]> <![CDATA[What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions (What If?, #2)]]> 60190659
The millions of people around the world who read and loved What If? still have questions, and those questions are getting stranger. Thank goodness xkcd creator Randall Munroe is here to help. Planning to ride a fire pole from the moon back to Earth? The hardest part is sticking the landing. Hoping to cool the atmosphere by opening everyone’s freezer door at the same time? Maybe it’s time for a brief introduction to thermodynamics. Want to know what would happen if you rode a helicopter blade, built a billion-story building, made a lava lamp out of lava, or jumped on a geyser as it erupted? Okay, if you insist.

Before you go on a cosmic road trip, feed the residents of New York City to a T. rex, or fill every church with bananas, be sure to consult this practical guide for impractical ideas. Unfazed by absurdity, Randall consults the latest research on everything from swing-set physics to airplane-catapult design to clearly and concisely answer his readers� questions. As he consistently demonstrates, you can learn a lot from examining how the world might work in very specific extreme circumstances.

Filled with bonkers science, boundless curiosity, and Randall’s signature stick-figure comics, What If? 2 is sure to be another instant classic adored by inquisitive readers of all ages.]]> 354 Randall Munroe 0525537112 Lubinka 5 4.35 2022 What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions (What If?, #2)
author: Randall Munroe
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2022/11/30
date added: 2022/11/30
shelves: 2022, aei-didaskomenos, are-you-serious, audio, based-on-real-events, funny, general-non-fiction, goodreads-awards, i-read-the-book-for-the-narrator, life-s-too-short-for-novels, oh-yes-it-s-you-at-last, page-turner, pop-science, space, the-narrator-nailed-it, why-oh-why-audio
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions]]> 60149558 A landmark book that reveals, celebrates, and advocates for the special minds and contributions of visual thinkers

A quarter of a century after her memoir, Thinking in Pictures, forever changed how the world understood autism, Temple Grandin—the “anthropologist on Mars,� as Oliver Sacks dubbed her—transforms our awareness of the different ways our brains are wired. Do you have a keen sense of direction, a love of puzzles, the ability to assemble furniture without crying? You are likely a visual thinker.

With her genius for demystifying science, Grandin draws on cutting-edge research to take us inside visual thinking. Visual thinkers constitute a far greater proportion of the population than previously believed, she reveals, and a more varied one, from the photo-realistic object visualizers like Grandin herself, with their intuitive knack for design and problem solving, to the abstract, mathematically inclined “visual spatial� thinkers who excel in pattern recognition and systemic thinking. She also makes us understand how a world increasingly geared to the verbal tends to sideline visual thinkers, screening them out at school and passing over them in the workplace. Rather than continuing to waste their singular gifts, driving a collective loss in productivity and innovation, Grandin proposes new approaches to educating, parenting, employing, and collaborating with visual thinkers. In a highly competitive world, this important book helps us see, we need every mind on board.]]> 340 Temple Grandin 0593418360 Lubinka 4 3.61 2022 Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions
author: Temple Grandin
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2022/11/25
date added: 2022/11/25
shelves: 2022, aei-didaskomenos, audio, animals, based-on-real-events, brainworx, eye-opening, fitness-health-wellbeing, general-non-fiction, goodreads-awards, history-will-teach-us-nothing, male-author, memoir, oh-yes-it-s-you-at-last, pop-science, thought-provoking
review:

]]> <![CDATA[If Your Mouth Could Talk: An In-Depth Guide to Oral Health and Its Impact on Your Entire Life]]> 59386435 You've heard the advice: If you want to live longer, eat healthy foods and exercise daily. But there's a third piece of the puzzle, and it can add 10 to 15 years to your life.

It's been right under your nose this whole time--literally.

Your mouth is the gateway to your body and is the most critical organ for improving your health, from childhood onward. Everything in the human life cycle is related to the mouth: fertility, childbirth, sleeping soundly, success in school, finding a mate, getting a job, psychological well-being, avoiding chronic or systemic disease, and aging well. Your mouth is a window into the health of your body as a whole; from its microbiome to its structure, it impacts your physical and mental wellness in countless ways.

Unfortunately, the mouth-body connection has been largely neglected by American medicine . . . until now.

If Your Mouth Could Talk is the result of over 20 years of firsthand experience and research by renowned orthodontist and dentofacial orthopedist, Dr. Kami Hoss. In this groundbreaking work, Dr. Hoss connects the dots between oral health and whole-body health, offering a roadmap to a longer, more successful future for you and your family.

This isn't a book about brushing and flossing--or any of the other standard advice you get from your dentist. Instead, you'll hear about how to protect your mouth's microbiome, the effect of diet, the relationship between oral structure and sleep problems, how to breathe better, and more. This is an in-depth guide for people who want to take control of their health to the fullest extent possible--who want to understand how their mouth contributes to their overall health and quality of life, and what they can do to better care for it.

If your mouth could talk, it would tell you about the condition of your entire life. Time to start listening.
]]> 256 Kami Hoss 1637740360 Lubinka 3 Although I see the reasoning for both arguments, for me, it was overaccentuated and put me off.
]]> 3.99 If Your Mouth Could Talk: An In-Depth Guide to Oral Health and Its Impact on Your Entire Life
author: Kami Hoss
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.99
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2022/11/15
date added: 2022/11/15
shelves: 2022, audio, dark, fitness-health-wellbeing, general-non-fiction, male-author, meh, me-myself-and-i, not-my-cup-of-tea, oh-no-not-you-again, pop-science, repetitive, why-the-hype
review:
This book contains useful information about oral health, but the author's style was not my cup of tea. He was either presenting the horrors of not taking enough care of your mouth - and I mean, HORRORS, or idealizing the benefits of taking good care - eternal youth, riches, beauty, a sea of friends and admirers - you get the general idea.
Although I see the reasoning for both arguments, for me, it was overaccentuated and put me off.

]]> <![CDATA[The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World]]> 58950736 From a New York Times investigative reporter and Pulitzer Prize finalist, “an essential book for our times� (Ezra Klein), tracking the high-stakes inside story of how Big Tech’s breakneck race to drive engagement—and profits—at all costs fractured the world

We all have a vague sense that social media is bad for our minds, for our children, and for our democracies. But the truth is that its reach and impact run far deeper than we have understood. Building on years of international reporting, Max Fisher tells the gripping and galling inside story of how Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social networks, in their pursuit of unfettered profits, preyed on psychological frailties to create the algorithms that drive everyday users to extreme opinions and, increasingly, extreme actions. As Fisher demonstrates, the companies� founding tenets, combined with a blinkered focus maximizing engagement, have led to a destabilized world for everyone.

Traversing the planet, Fisher tracks the ubiquity of hate speech and its spillover into violence, ills that first festered in far-off locales to their dark culmination in America during the pandemic, the 2020 election, and the Capitol Insurrection. Through it all, the social-media giants refused to intervene in any meaningful way, claiming to champion free speech when in fact what they most prized were limitless profits. The result, as Fisher shows, is a cultural shift toward a world in which people are polarized not by beliefs based on facts, but by misinformation, outrage, and fear.

His narrative is about more than the villains, however. Fisher also weaves together the stories of the heroic outsiders and Silicon Valley defectors who raised the alarm and revealed what was happening behind the closed doors of Big Tech. Both panoramic and intimate, The Chaos Machine is the definitive account of the meteoric rise and troubled legacy of the tech titans, as well as a rousing and hopeful call to arrest the havoc wreaked on our minds and our world before it’s too late.]]> 400 Max Fisher 031670332X Lubinka 5 4.28 2022 The Chaos Machine: The Inside Story of How Social Media Rewired Our Minds and Our World
author: Max Fisher
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2022/10/29
date added: 2022/10/29
shelves: 2022, audio, brainworx, eye-opening, fitness-health-wellbeing, general-non-fiction, history-will-teach-us-nothing, male-author, page-turner, politics, pop-science, psychology, terrifying, the-narrator-nailed-it, thought-provoking, war
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Future Is Faster Than You Think: How Converging Technologies Are Transforming Business, Industries, and Our Lives]]> 52290273 From the New York Times bestselling authors of Abundance and Bold comes a practical playbook for technological convergence in our modern era.

In their book Abundance, bestselling authors and futurists Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler tackled grand global challenges, such as poverty, hunger, and energy. Then, in Bold, they chronicled the use of exponential technologies that allowed the emergence of powerful new entrepreneurs. Now the bestselling authors are back with The Future Is Faster Than You Think, a blueprint for how our world will change in response to the next ten years of rapid technological disruption.

Technology is accelerating far more quickly than anyone could have imagined. During the next decade, we will experience more upheaval and create more wealth than we have in the past hundred years. In this gripping and insightful roadmap to our near future, Diamandis and Kotler investigate how wave after wave of exponentially accelerating technologies will impact both our daily lives and society as a whole. What happens as AI, robotics, virtual reality, digital biology, and sensors crash into 3D printing, blockchain, and global gigabit networks? How will these convergences transform today’s legacy industries? What will happen to the way we raise our kids, govern our nations, and care for our planet?

Diamandis, a space-entrepreneur-turned-innovation-pioneer, and Kotler, bestselling author and peak performance expert, probe the science of technological convergence and how it will reinvent every part of our lives—transportation, retail, advertising, education, health, entertainment, food, and finance—taking humanity into uncharted territories and reimagining the world as we know it.

As indispensable as it is gripping, The Future Is Faster Than You Think provides a prescient look at our impending future.]]> 384 Peter H. Diamandis 1982109661 Lubinka 4 4.12 2020 The Future Is Faster Than You Think: How Converging Technologies Are Transforming Business, Industries, and Our Lives
author: Peter H. Diamandis
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2022/10/20
date added: 2022/10/20
shelves: 2022, are-you-serious, audio, based-on-real-events, business-finance, climate, dark, did-not-see-it-coming, eye-opening, general-non-fiction, history-will-teach-us-nothing, pop-science, sci-fi, thought-provoking, supernatural-powers, various-authors, terrifying
review:

]]> Project Hail Mary 54493401
Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.

Or does he?]]> 476 Andy Weir 0593135202 Lubinka 5 4.49 2021 Project Hail Mary
author: Andy Weir
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2022/05/16
date added: 2022/05/16
shelves: 2022, adventure, audio, award-winning, climate, did-not-see-it-coming, funny, goodreads-awards, have-books-will-travel, history-will-teach-us-nothing, hugo-awards-odyssey, male-author, oh-yes-it-s-you-at-last, on-the-road, out-at-sea, page-turner, pop-science, postapocalyptic-dystopian, sci-fi, the-narrator-nailed-it
review:

]]> <![CDATA[How to Change Your Universe: A practical guide to living the greatest life possible � in the greatest world possible]]> 58146333 GET OVER $300 WORTH OF VALUABLE BONUSES WHEN YOU BUY HOW TO CHANGE YOUR UNIVERSE! DETAILS INSIDE.

Travel through the multiverse to the best world possible!

What if there are an infinite number of universes all existing simultaneously?

What if we are traveling through these universes all the time without realizing it?

What if the answers to all your problems and all the world’s problems ALREADY EXIST in other universes?

And... What if you could learn to consciously travel to these better universes at will?

How to Change Your Universe takes manifestation, The Law of Attraction and attracting abundance to a whole new level by giving you the tools you need to travel through the multiverse and access the universe of your dreams.

Travel through the multiverse using simple tools that expand your consciousness, increase your vibration and allow you to live in the most beautiful world possible for you!

About the Author

Jon Gabriel is an international bestselling author and creator of The Gabriel Method. His books have been translated into 16 languages and are available in 60 countries around the world.]]> 250 Jon Gabriel Lubinka 4 Moreover, I decided to read The Quantum Doctor: A Physicist's Guide to Health and Healing
by Amit Goswami right after that (but before writing this review), and to be completely honest, Jon Gabriel's book actually made perfect sense to me, it was readable, understandable, relatable, while the other, much more famed and acclaimed one, was like struggling through a labyrinth of complex, sciency words; at the end, I was left none the wiser.

I don't know if I could, or would recommend it to any serious person, but I certainly am glad that I read it myself.]]> 4.43 How to Change Your Universe: A practical guide to living the greatest life possible – in the greatest world possible
author: Jon Gabriel
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.43
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2022/04/06
date added: 2022/04/11
shelves: 2022, adventure, alternative-history, are-you-serious, audio, based-on-real-events, brainworx, did-not-see-it-coming, fitness-health-wellbeing, general-non-fiction, life-s-too-short-for-novels, magic, male-author, open-end, supernatural-powers, thought-provoking, time-travel, pop-science, quantum
review:
One does have to be a very open-minded person in order to be able to enjoy this book and not have their eyes fall out from too much rolling. I must admit, a huge portion of it sounds like copied from some elaborate sci-fi novel, but at the same time, it actually gives a curious reader some good thinking points about the way we perceive reality, the universe (-s), time, knowledge, and everything that we are not able to interpret simply through science.
Moreover, I decided to read The Quantum Doctor: A Physicist's Guide to Health and Healing
by Amit Goswami right after that (but before writing this review), and to be completely honest, Jon Gabriel's book actually made perfect sense to me, it was readable, understandable, relatable, while the other, much more famed and acclaimed one, was like struggling through a labyrinth of complex, sciency words; at the end, I was left none the wiser.

I don't know if I could, or would recommend it to any serious person, but I certainly am glad that I read it myself.
]]> <![CDATA[The Quantum Doctor: A Physicist's Guide to Health and Healing]]> 670169 320 Amit Goswami 1571744177 Lubinka 3 4.11 2004 The Quantum Doctor: A Physicist's Guide to Health and Healing
author: Amit Goswami
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at: 2022/04/11
date added: 2022/04/11
shelves: 2022, aei-didaskomenos, are-you-serious, audio, been-there-done-that, brainworx, fitness-health-wellbeing, general-non-fiction, green-monster-of-jealousy, how-bizarre, india, male-author, memoir, messy, not-my-cup-of-tea, pop-science, psychology, thought-provoking, in-plain-english-please
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Skeptic's Guide to Alternative Medicine]]> 49500074
Energy medicine. Acupuncture. Superfoods. Healing magnets. What does the scientific evidence really say about these and other "alternative medicine" treatments for personal wellness?

How can we know if a natural remedy is safe and effective? How can people become their own best skeptical consumer of health news in the media? Join neurologist and science educator Dr. Steven Novella for a fascinating exploration of these and other important questions about the truths-and myths-behind alternative medicine.

Perhaps the most important skill to have in this brave new world of ever-changing medical news is the ability to evaluate sources and information, and to think critically about how alternative medicine is marketed, regulated, and used. Dr. Novella takes a rigorous, science-based approach in exploring so-called "popular" and "cutting-edge" trends. Armed with this knowledge, listeners will be in a much better position to assess alternative pathways to physical health.

Dr. Novella's 10 leading-edge lectures will answer such questions as:

Do magnetic fields really have useful biological properties?
Why is chiropractic treatment no more effective for pain management than simple physical therapy?
Can brain games truly make one smarter or help in staving off dementia?
Can homeopathic remedies, such as those derived from plants and minerals, really cure ailments?
Does cupping therapy really help to reduce pain and inflammation, while increasing blood flow?

Dr. Novella provides insights on the ever-widening gap between alternative medicine and]]> 5 Steven Novella Lubinka 3 4.00 The Skeptic's Guide to Alternative Medicine
author: Steven Novella
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2020/03/28
date added: 2022/02/06
shelves: 2020, audio, fitness-health-wellbeing, general-non-fiction, history-will-teach-us-nothing, life-s-too-short-for-novels, male-author, pop-science
review:
This book reads like an atheist's guide to religion - when it comes to any God(s), everything is bullshit. Given that faith is exactly that - faith, there are no practical proofs in favor or against any claim. This is not exactly true for alternative medicine, since usually a person either gets better or they don't after seeking such a treatment (yes, I am aware that not every case is black or white clear cut improvement or not, but you get the general idea). I kind of feel that this book dismisses too easily and collectively any sort of alternative treatment. Agreed, most of them are indeed snake oil, but on the other hand, one cannot simply ascribe each improvement so many patients experience to an universal placebo effect - if that was the case, all these methods should have become obsolete a long time ago. There are too many things about the human body that we still don't understand, despite the huge progress in every scientific aspect, and this book didn't manage to fully convince me, even though it gave me some valuable lessons on how to examine the validity of any alternative treatment's claims.
]]> <![CDATA[Burn: New Research Blows the Lid Off How We Really Burn Calories, Lose Weight, and Stay Healthy]]> 54734969
We burn 2,000 calories a day. And if we exercise and cut carbs, we'll lose more weight. Right? Wrong. In this paradigm-shifting book, Herman Pontzer reveals for the first time how human metabolism really works so that we can finally manage our weight and improve our health.

Pontzer's groundbreaking studies with hunter-gatherer tribes show how exercise doesn't increase our metabolism. Instead, we burn calories within a very narrow nearly 3,000 calories per day, no matter our activity level. This was a brilliant evolutionary strategy to survive in times of famine. Now it seems to doom us to obesity. The good news is we can lose weight, but we need to cut calories. Refuting such weight-loss hype as paleo, keto, anti-gluten, anti-grain, and even vegan, Pontzer discusses how all diets succeed or For shedding pounds, a calorie is a calorie.

At the same time, we must exercise to keep our body systems and signals functioning optimally, even if it won't make us thinner. Hunter-gatherers like the Hadza move about five hours a day and remain remarkably healthy into old age. But elite athletes can push the body too far, burning calories faster than their bodies can take them in. It may be that the most spectacular athletic feats are the result not just of great training, but of an astonishingly efficient digestive system.

Revealing, irreverent, and always entertaining, Pontzer has written a book that will change how you eat, move, and live.]]> 384 Herman Pontzer 0525541527 Lubinka 4 4.08 2021 Burn: New Research Blows the Lid Off How We Really Burn Calories, Lose Weight, and Stay Healthy
author: Herman Pontzer
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2021/12/22
date added: 2021/12/22
shelves: 2021, adventure, aei-didaskomenos, are-you-serious, audio, based-on-real-events, did-not-see-it-coming, eye-opening, fitness-health-wellbeing, funny, general-non-fiction, have-books-will-travel, male-author, page-turner, pop-science
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Don't Believe a Word: The Surprising Truth About Language]]> 45993328
There are languages that change when your mother-in-law is present.
The language you speak could make you more prone to accidents.
Swear words are produced in a special part of your brain.

Over the past few decades, we have reached new frontiers of linguistic knowledge. Linguists can now explain how and why language changes, describe its structures, and map its activity in the brain. But despite these advances, much of what people believe about language is based on folklore, instinct, or hearsay. We imagine a word’s origin is it’s “true� meaning, that foreign languages are full of “untranslatable� words, or that grammatical mistakes undermine English. In Don’t Believe A Word, linguist David Shariatmadari takes us on a mind-boggling journey through the science of language, urging us to abandon our prejudices in a bid to uncover the (far more interesting) truth about what we do with words.

Exploding nine widely held myths about language while introducing us to some of the fundamental insights of modern linguistics, Shariatmadari is an energetic guide to the beauty and quirkiness of humanity’s greatest achievement.]]> 336 David Shariatmadari 1324004258 Lubinka 4 3.72 2019 Don't Believe a Word: The Surprising Truth About Language
author: David Shariatmadari
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2021/12/22
date added: 2021/12/22
shelves: 2021, aei-didaskomenos, audio, eye-opening, general-non-fiction, have-books-will-travel, history-will-teach-us-nothing, linguistics, male-author, pop-science
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Energy and Civilization: A History]]> 31850765 A comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society throughout history, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel-driven civilization.

Energy is the only universal currency; it is necessary for getting anything done. The conversion of energy on Earth ranges from terra-forming forces of plate tectonics to cumulative erosive effects of raindrops. Life on Earth depends on the photosynthetic conversion of solar energy into plant biomass. Humans have come to rely on many more energy flows—ranging from fossil fuels to photovoltaic generation of electricity—for their civilized existence. In this monumental history, Vaclav Smil provides a comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel–driven civilization.

Humans are the only species that can systematically harness energies outside their bodies, using the power of their intellect and an enormous variety of artifacts—from the simplest tools to internal combustion engines and nuclear reactors. The epochal transition to fossil fuels affected everything: agriculture, industry, transportation, weapons, communication, economics, urbanization, quality of life, politics, and the environment. Smil describes humanity's energy eras in panoramic and interdisciplinary fashion, offering readers a magisterial overview. This book is an extensively updated and expanded version of Smil's Energy in World History (1994). Smil has incorporated an enormous amount of new material, reflecting the dramatic developments in energy studies over the last two decades and his own research over that time.]]> 552 Vaclav Smil 0262035774 Lubinka 5 4.10 2017 Energy and Civilization: A History
author: Vaclav Smil
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2021/10/20
date added: 2021/10/20
shelves: 2021, aei-didaskomenos, audio, based-on-real-events, china, climate, eye-opening, general-non-fiction, food, green-monster-of-jealousy, history-will-teach-us-nothing, india, latin-america, male-author, pop-science, russia-n, thought-provoking
review:
A very densely written book, I would definitely need to read a few more times if I want to be truly capable of grasping all the information it contains. Hopefully, an updated version will be published soon, which would take into account the current climate change challenges.
]]> <![CDATA[The Climate Crisis and the Global Green New Deal: The Political Economy of Saving the Planet]]> 53455018
The environmental crisis under way is unique in human history. It is a true existential crisis. Those alive today will decide the fate of humanity. Meanwhile, the leaders of the most powerful state in human history are dedicating themselves with passion to destroying the prospects for organized human life. At the same time, there is a solution at hand, which is the Green New Deal. Putting meat on the bones of the Green New Deal starts with a single simple idea: we have to absolutely stop burning fossil fuels to produce energy within the next 30 years at most; and we have to do this in a way that also supports rising living standards and expanding opportunities for working people and the poor throughout the world. This version of a Green New Deal program is, in fact, entirely realistic in terms of its purely economic and technical features. The real question is whether it is politically feasible. Chomsky and Pollin examine how we can build the political force to make a global Green New Deal a reality.]]> 192 Noam Chomsky 178873985X Lubinka 5 3.87 2020 The Climate Crisis and the Global Green New Deal: The Political Economy of Saving the Planet
author: Noam Chomsky
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2021/08/03
date added: 2021/08/03
shelves: 2021, aei-didaskomenos, are-you-serious, audio, based-on-real-events, climate, dark, did-not-see-it-coming, eye-opening, general-non-fiction, history-will-teach-us-nothing, male-author, pop-science, thought-provoking, war
review:

]]> <![CDATA[You're Not Listening: What You're Missing and Why It Matters]]> 45892276 Who listens to you?

New York Times contributor Kate Murphy asked people on five continents this question, and the response was typically a long, awkward pause. People struggled to come up with someone, anyone, who truly listened to them without glazing over, glancing down at a phone, or jumping in to offer an opinion. Many admitted that they, themselves, weren’t very good listeners, and most couldn’t even describe what it meant to be a good listener.

Despite living in a world where technology allows constant digital communication and opportunities to connect, it seems no one is really listening or even knows how. And it’s making us lonelier, more isolated, and less tolerant than ever before. A listener by trade, Murphy wanted to know how we got here.

In this illuminating and often humorous deep dive, Murphy explains why we’re not listening, what it’s doing to us, and how we can reverse the trend. She makes accessible the psychology, neuroscience, and sociology of listening while also introducing us to some of the best listeners out there (including a CIA agent, focus-group moderator, bartender, radio producer, and top furniture salesman).

While listening is often regarded as talking’s meek counterpart, Murphy discovered it’s actually the more powerful position in communication. We learn when we listen. It’s how we connect, cooperate, empathize, and fall in love. Listening is something we do or don’t do every day. While we might take listening for granted, how well we listen, to whom, and under what circumstances determines who we are and the paths we take in life.

Equal parts cultural observation, scientific exploration, and rousing call to action that’s full of practical advice, You’re Not Listening is to listening what Susan Cain’s Quiet was to introversion. It’s time to stop talking and start listening.]]> 278 Kate Murphy 1250297192 Lubinka 5 4.08 2020 You're Not Listening: What You're Missing and Why It Matters
author: Kate Murphy
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2021/06/28
date added: 2021/06/28
shelves: 2021, aei-didaskomenos, audio, brainworx, did-not-see-it-coming, eye-opening, favorite, female-author, fitness-health-wellbeing, funny, general-non-fiction, oh-yes-it-s-you-at-last, pop-science, psychology, romance, thought-provoking
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Vibrational Medicine: The #1 Handbook of Subtle-Energy Therapies]]> 168366
More than 125,000 copies sold.

Explores the actual science of etheric energies, replacing the Newtonian worldview with a new model based on Einstein's physics of energy.

Summarizes key points at the end of each chapter to help the serious student absorb and retain the wealth of information presented.

Vibrational Medicine has gained widespread acceptance by individuals, schools, and health-care institutions nationwide as the textbook of choice for the study of alternative medicine. Trained in a variety of alternative therapies as well as conventional Western medicine, Dr. Gerber provides an encyclopedic treatment of energetic healing, covering subtle-energy fields, acupuncture, Bach flower remedies, homeopathy, radionics, crystal healing, electrotherapy, radiology, chakras, meditation, and psychic healing. He explains current theories about how various energy therapies work and offers readers new insights into the physical and spiritual perspectives of health and disease.]]> 608 Richard Gerber 1879181584 Lubinka 0 4.36 1988 Vibrational Medicine: The #1 Handbook of Subtle-Energy Therapies
author: Richard Gerber
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1988
rating: 0
read at: 2021/06/04
date added: 2021/06/04
shelves: 2021, audio, eye-roll, fitness-health-wellbeing, general-non-fiction, life-s-too-short-for-novels, male-author, pop-science, psychology
review:
A bit too heavy on the metaphysical plane of things, even for an open-minded skeptic such as myself, and a bit too conversational in writing style. A lot of interesting information, to be sure, but some parts were just too bizarre to swallow (seeing angels in the courtroom during a trial was not something that could really convince me about the validity of the book's claims).
]]> This Is the Voice 50892267
Along the way, he shows why the voice is the most efficient, effective means of communication ever devised: it works in all directions, in all weathers, even in the dark, and it can be calibrated to reach one other person or thousands. He reveals why speech is the single most complex and intricate activity humans can perform. He travels up the Amazon to meet the Piraha, a reclusive tribe whose singular language, more musical than any other, can help us hear how melodic principles underpin every word we utter. He heads up to Harvard to see how professional voices are helped and healed, and he ventures out on the campaign trail to see how demagogues wield their voices as weapons.

As far-reaching as this book is, much of the delight of reading it lies in how intimate it feels. Everything Colapinto tells us can be tested by our own lungs and mouths and ears and brains. He shows us that, for those who pay attention, the voice is an eloquent means of communicating not only what the speaker means, but also their mood, sexual preference, age, income, even psychological and physical illness. Anyone who talks, sings, or listens will find a rich trove of thrills in This Is the Voice.]]> 320 John Colapinto 1982128747 Lubinka 5 4.07 2021 This Is the Voice
author: John Colapinto
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2021/06/01
date added: 2021/06/01
shelves: 2021, aei-didaskomenos, adventure, are-you-serious, audio, brainworx, did-not-see-it-coming, eye-opening, fitness-health-wellbeing, general-non-fiction, i-read-the-book-for-the-narrator, male-author, memoir, music, pop-science, psychology, the-narrator-nailed-it, thought-provoking
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Sound Medicine: How to Use the Ancient Science of Sound to Heal the Body and Mind]]> 39854432
Why does a baby’s cry instantaneously flood a mother’s body with a myriad of stress hormones? How can a song on the radio stir up powerful emotions, from joy to anger, regret to desire? Why does sound itself evoke such primal and deeply felt feelings?

A vibration that travels through air, water and solids, sound is produced by all matter, and is a fundamental part of every species� survival. But there is a hidden power within sound that has yet to be investigated by modern medicine. Sound Medicine takes readers on a journey through the structure of the mouth, ears, and brain to understand how sound is translated from acoustic vibrations into meaningful neurological impulses. Renowned neuroscientist and Aryuvedic expert Dr. Kulreet Chaudrahy explains how different types of sound impact the human body and brain uniquely, and explores the physiological effects of sound vibration, from altering mood to healing disease.

Blending ancient wisdom and modern science, Dr. Choudry traces the history of sound therapy and the use of specific mantras from ancient Aryuvedic texts, to explain the biology of sound as frequency and its therapeutic applications for common ailments. Sound Medicine offers practical, step-by-step lessons for using music and mantras, whether you’re a beginner or searching for a more advanced practice. Bringing together Vedic mythology and medical therapy, this marriage of the ancient mantras and modern neuroscience can help you heal—and keep you well in body, mind, and spirit.]]> 272 Kulreet Chaudhary 0062867350 Lubinka 4 4.14 2020 Sound Medicine: How to Use the Ancient Science of Sound to Heal the Body and Mind
author: Kulreet Chaudhary
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2021/06/01
date added: 2021/06/01
shelves: 2021, adventure, aei-didaskomenos, audio, are-you-serious, brainworx, eye-opening, female-author, fitness-health-wellbeing, general-non-fiction, have-books-will-travel, india, life-s-too-short-for-novels, me-myself-and-i, memoir, music, mythology-or-based-on-mythology, pop-science, thought-provoking
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Musical Human: A History of Life on Earth]]> 53138191
A colossal history spanning cultures, time, and space to explore the vibrant relationship between music and the human species.

165 million years ago saw the birth of rhythm.
66 million years ago was the first melody.
40 thousand years ago Homo sapiens created the first musical instrument.

Today music fills our lives. How we have created, performed and listened to this music throughout history has defined what our species is and how we understand who we are. Yet music is an overlooked part of our origin story. The Musical Human takes us on an exhilarating journey across the ages � from Bach to BTS and back � to explore the vibrant relationship between music and the human species. With insights from a wealth of disciplines, world-leading musicologist Michael Spitzer renders a global history of music on the widest possible canvas, looking at music in our everyday lives; music in world history; and music in evolution, from insects to apes, humans to AI. Through this journey we begin to understand how music is central to the distinctly human experiences of cognition, feeling and even biology, both widening and closing the evolutionary gaps between ourselves and animals in surprising ways.

The Musical Human boldly puts the case that music is the most important thing we ever did; it is a fundamental part of what makes us human.]]> 472 Michael Spitzer 1635576245 Lubinka 4 3.77 The Musical Human: A History of Life on Earth
author: Michael Spitzer
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.77
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2021/06/01
date added: 2021/06/01
shelves: 2021, aei-didaskomenos, adventure, animals, audio, brainworx, eye-opening, fitness-health-wellbeing, general-non-fiction, have-books-will-travel, male-author, music, pop-science
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan]]> 106139 438 Robert Kanigel 0349104522 Lubinka 5 4.02 1991 The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan
author: Robert Kanigel
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1991
rating: 5
read at: 2015/11/26
date added: 2021/05/20
shelves: award-winning, biography, have-books-will-travel, history-will-teach-us-nothing, india, male-author, pop-science, thought-provoking
review:
One of the best-crafted biographies I've ever read, this book offered not only a deep insight into the story of Ramanujan himself, but also a social biography of colonial India and war time Europe during the early 1900s. Not too heavy on mathematics, it had just enough for the reader to acquire a basic idea of Ramanujan's accomplishments and his contribution to many and various branches of science(note to self: audio books are not well suited for understanding equations). The book is a fertile ground for contemplating the importance of chance in life - what would have happened if the conditions in India were different at that time, or if his mother was a different person from the one she was, or he himself, for that matter (his strict vegetarianism in war-time conditions pretty much condemned him), or even - what would he be able to achieve, were he better educated in the basics, had he lived a bit longer or were he born in a different era... Almost 100 years after his death, the results he derived, both original and highly unconventional, have inspired a vast amount of further research, and his biography turned out to be an utterly compelling read.
]]> <![CDATA[The Mind: Consciousness, Prediction, and the Brain]]> 50308684 248 E. Bruce Goldstein 0262044064 Lubinka 4 Your Best Brain: The Science of Brain Improvement which more or less covered the same topic, but with a humoristic approach and some funny and unexpected examples to illustrate the ideas presented. Not really much to offer to people who have already delved deeper into the science of the brain.]]> 3.68 The Mind: Consciousness, Prediction, and the Brain
author: E. Bruce Goldstein
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.68
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2021/04/29
date added: 2021/04/29
shelves: 2021, aei-didaskomenos, audio, been-there-done-that, brainworx, fitness-health-wellbeing, general-non-fiction, life-s-too-short-for-novels, male-author, meh, pop-science, psychology
review:
A good primer on the subject that covers the basics of the mind-brain connection, without offering insights that are not already covered in many other books. Although it was well structured and informative, I found it a bit dry, especially compared to John Medina's Your Best Brain: The Science of Brain Improvement which more or less covered the same topic, but with a humoristic approach and some funny and unexpected examples to illustrate the ideas presented. Not really much to offer to people who have already delved deeper into the science of the brain.
]]> <![CDATA[Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality]]> 7640261
How can reality be reconciled with the accepted narrative? It can't be, according to renegade thinkers Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá. While debunking almost everything we "know" about sex, they offer a bold alternative explanation in this provocative and brilliant book.

Ryan and Jethá's central contention is that human beings evolved in egalitarian groups that shared food, child care, and, often, sexual partners. Weaving together convergent, frequently overlooked evidence from anthropology, archaeology, primatology, anatomy, and psychosexuality, the authors show how far from human nature monogamy really is. Human beings everywhere and in every era have confronted the same familiar, intimate situations in surprisingly different ways. The authors expose the ancient roots of human sexuality while pointing toward a more optimistic future illuminated by our innate capacities for love, cooperation, and generosity.

With intelligence, humor, and wonder, Ryan and Jethá show how our promiscuous past haunts our struggles over monogamy, sexual orientation, and family dynamics. They explore why long-term fidelity can be so difficult for so many; why sexual passion tends to fade even as love deepens; why many middle-aged men risk everything for transient affairs with younger women; why homosexuality persists in the face of standard evolutionary logic; and what the human body reveals about the prehistoric origins of modern sexuality.

In the tradition of the best historical and scientific writing, Sex at Dawn unapologetically upends unwarranted assumptions and unfounded conclusions while offering a revolutionary understanding of why we live and love as we do.]]> 416 Christopher Ryan Lubinka 4
The "standard model" presents men as eager to spread their genes (=sperm) far and wide, naturally promiscuous, while women, eager to provide resources for their genes (precious eggs), are nesters, trading sex with men for security for their offspring. It turns out, this model is quite wrong, and even worse, it is, as they call it, a "Flintstonization of Prehistory," a way of projecting modern perceptions onto the ancient past. For centuries, men were allowed sexual freedom, women were not, and thus this explanation exists to provide a "scientific" basis for what we already believe.

Their eminently convincing case argues that our current sexual practices - pair bonding in marriage, monogamy (which, again, historically was imposed only on women), even the nuclear family - are all a cultural construct, dating from after the rise of agriculture and civilization. To describe sexual behavior in humans' natural state, in the hundreds of thousands of years before recorded history, they use evidence from anthropology, comparative zoology, and evolutionary biology. Their conclusion is that monogamy is rather unnatural and sexual exclusivity is probably the main cause of marital failure. And that in our natural state, females enjoy and exercise as much sexual freedom as males, if not more - and this is not

They are careful not to draw any conclusions about modern sexual morality, other than to urge sympathy towards those who "fail" at monogamy. What makes the book so valuable � beyond its good humor, sharp writing, and its remarkable asides on issues such as "female copulatory vocalization" � is the way it casually and effectively demolishes a Solomon’s Temple worth of conventional wisdom about something we thought we understood pretty well: who we are.]]> 3.95 2010 Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality
author: Christopher Ryan
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2021/04/22
date added: 2021/04/24
shelves: 2021, adventure, aei-didaskomenos, animals, are-you-serious, audio, award-winning, based-on-real-events, brainworx, did-not-see-it-coming, eye-opening, fitness-health-wellbeing, funny, general-non-fiction, goodreads-awards, history-will-teach-us-nothing, oh-yes-it-s-you-at-last, pop-science, psychology, romance, thought-provoking, various-authors, we-should-all-be-feminists
review:
For anyone who is interested in evolutionary biology (as I am) and in sex (as everybody is), this book is an eye-opener that could save so many relationships and deliver people from a wrongly perceived sense of guilt - or desire to blame a partner.

The "standard model" presents men as eager to spread their genes (=sperm) far and wide, naturally promiscuous, while women, eager to provide resources for their genes (precious eggs), are nesters, trading sex with men for security for their offspring. It turns out, this model is quite wrong, and even worse, it is, as they call it, a "Flintstonization of Prehistory," a way of projecting modern perceptions onto the ancient past. For centuries, men were allowed sexual freedom, women were not, and thus this explanation exists to provide a "scientific" basis for what we already believe.

Their eminently convincing case argues that our current sexual practices - pair bonding in marriage, monogamy (which, again, historically was imposed only on women), even the nuclear family - are all a cultural construct, dating from after the rise of agriculture and civilization. To describe sexual behavior in humans' natural state, in the hundreds of thousands of years before recorded history, they use evidence from anthropology, comparative zoology, and evolutionary biology. Their conclusion is that monogamy is rather unnatural and sexual exclusivity is probably the main cause of marital failure. And that in our natural state, females enjoy and exercise as much sexual freedom as males, if not more - and this is not

They are careful not to draw any conclusions about modern sexual morality, other than to urge sympathy towards those who "fail" at monogamy. What makes the book so valuable � beyond its good humor, sharp writing, and its remarkable asides on issues such as "female copulatory vocalization" � is the way it casually and effectively demolishes a Solomon’s Temple worth of conventional wisdom about something we thought we understood pretty well: who we are.
]]> <![CDATA[The Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi, the World's Most Astonishing Number]]> 24081
The Golden Ratio is a captivating journey through art and architecture, botany and biology, physics and mathematics. It tells the human story of numerous phi-fixated individuals, including the followers of Pythagoras who believed that this proportion revealed the hand of God; astronomer Johannes Kepler, who saw phi as the greatest treasure of geometry; such Renaissance thinkers as mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci of Pisa; and such masters of the modern world as Goethe, Cezanne, Bartok, and physicist Roger Penrose. Wherever his quest for the meaning of phi takes him, Mario Livio reveals the world as a place where order, beauty, and eternal mystery will always coexist.]]> 294 Mario Livio 0767908163 Lubinka 4 3.80 2002 The Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi, the World's Most Astonishing Number
author: Mario Livio
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 2021/04/12
date added: 2021/04/12
shelves: 2021, aei-didaskomenos, audio, based-on-real-events, brainworx, eye-opening, general-non-fiction, green-monster-of-jealousy, have-books-will-travel, history-will-teach-us-nothing, math, male-author, pop-science, why-oh-why-audio
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma]]> 18693771 A pioneering researcher transforms our understanding of trauma and offers a bold new paradigm for healing.

Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world's foremost experts on trauma, has spent over three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers' capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He explores innovative treatments—from neurofeedback and meditation to sports, drama, and yoga—that offer new paths to recovery by activating the brain's natural neuroplasticity. Based on Dr. van der Kolk's own research and that of other leading specialists, The Body Keeps the Score exposes the tremendous power of our relationships both to hurt and to heal—and offers new hope for reclaiming lives.]]> 464 Bessel van der Kolk 0670785938 Lubinka 4 4.36 2014 The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
author: Bessel van der Kolk
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2021/01/27
date added: 2021/01/27
shelves: 2021, aei-didaskomenos, audio, brainworx, dark, eye-opening, fitness-health-wellbeing, general-non-fiction, heartwrenching, history-will-teach-us-nothing, male-author, modern-classics, oh-yes-it-s-you-at-last, pop-science, psychology, thought-provoking
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Case for Keto: Rethinking Weight Control and the Science and Practice of Low-Carb/High-Fat Eating]]> 52062839
While government and nutritional agencies still spout the failed mantra of calorie reduction, doctors treating diabetes and obesity are experiencing extraordinary results among patients cutting out carbs; a diet that has the essential benefit of allowing you to lose weight without ever feeling hungry.

With forensic journalistic rigour and in compelling prose, world authority Gary Taubes analyses the bad science behind our nutritional dogma. He shows that weight gain is driven by genetic, hormonal factors - and not overeating or 'gluttony' as is commonly the underlying suggestion - citing compelling evidence that people with the propensity to fatten easily can be helped best by a low carbohydrate high-fat diet.

This groundbreaking read offers hope to anyone wishing to prevent or reverse diabetes or obesity - as well as anyone wanting to eat more healthily - and will fundamentally change our habits around food forever.]]> 304 Gary Taubes 0525520066 Lubinka 5 4.18 2020 The Case for Keto: Rethinking Weight Control and the Science and Practice of Low-Carb/High-Fat Eating
author: Gary Taubes
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2021/01/27
date added: 2021/01/27
shelves: 2021, audio, been-there-done-that, eye-opening, fitness-health-wellbeing, food, general-non-fiction, history-will-teach-us-nothing, life-s-too-short-for-novels, male-author, oh-yes-it-s-you-at-last, page-turner, pop-science, thought-provoking
review:

]]> The Martian 18007564
Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.

Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old “human error� are much more likely to kill him first.

But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills � and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit � he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

]]> 384 Andy Weir 0804139024 Lubinka 5 4.41 2011 The Martian
author: Andy Weir
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2015/03/24
date added: 2020/12/03
shelves: funny, german, have-books-will-travel, male-author, sci-fi, space, goodreads-awards, adventure, audio, award-winning, oh-yes-it-s-you-at-last, pop-science, the-movie-or-the-book
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World]]> 30335530 In Pale Rider, Laura Spinney recounts the story of an overlooked pandemic, tracing it from Alaska to Brazil, from Persia to Spain, and from South Africa to Odessa. She shows how the pandemic was shaped by the interaction of a virus and the humans it encountered; and how this devastating natural experiment put both the ingenuity and the vulnerability of humans to the test.

Laura Spinney writes that the Spanish flu was as significant � if not more so � as two world wars in shaping the modern world; in disrupting, and often permanently altering, global politics, race relations, family structures, and thinking across medicine, religion and the arts.

]]> 332 Laura Spinney 1910702374 Lubinka 4 3.87 2017 Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World
author: Laura Spinney
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2020/04/12
date added: 2020/04/12
shelves: 2020, adventure, audio, based-on-real-events, dark, eye-opening, female-author, general-non-fiction, heartwrenching, history-non-fiction, history-will-teach-us-nothing, pop-science, thought-provoking, war
review:

]]> <![CDATA[How to Argue With a Racist: History, Science, Race and Reality]]> 52927421 Race is real because we perceive it. Racism is real because we enact it. But the appeal to science to strengthen racist ideologies is on the rise - and increasingly part of the public discourse on politics, migration, education, sport and intelligence. Stereotypes and myths about race are expressed not just by overt racists, but also by well-intentioned people whose experience and cultural baggage steer them towards views that are not supported by the modern study of human genetics. Even some scientists are uncomfortable expressing opinions deriving from their research where it relates to race. Yet, if understood correctly, science and history can be powerful allies against racism, granting the clearest view of how people actually are, rather than how we judge them to be.

HOW TO ARGUE WITH A RACIST is a vital manifesto for a twenty-first century understanding of human evolution and variation, and a timely weapon against the misuse of science to justify bigotry.

]]> 224 Adam Rutherford 1474611265 Lubinka 4 4.08 2020 How to Argue With a Racist: History, Science, Race and Reality
author: Adam Rutherford
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2020/03/09
date added: 2020/04/03
shelves: 2020, audio, eye-opening, general-non-fiction, history-will-teach-us-nothing, male-author, pop-science, race, thought-provoking
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Einstein: His Life and Universe]]> 10884 675 Walter Isaacson 0743264738 Lubinka 5 4.16 2007 Einstein: His Life and Universe
author: Walter Isaacson
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 2020/03/28
date added: 2020/03/28
shelves: 2020, audio, award-winning, based-on-real-events, beautifully-written, biography, general-non-fiction, history-will-teach-us-nothing, male-author, pop-science, romance, the-movie-or-the-book
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Intuitive Design: Eight Steps to an Intuitive UI]]> 38896621 216 Everett N. McKay 0999612506 Lubinka 4 4.04 Intuitive Design: Eight Steps to an Intuitive UI
author: Everett N. McKay
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.04
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2020/03/09
date added: 2020/03/09
shelves: 2020, audio, eye-opening, general-non-fiction, life-s-too-short-for-novels, male-author, pop-science, thought-provoking
review:

]]> The Inner Circle 394241 New York Times bestselling and National Book Award- nominated novel, Drop City, T.C. Boyle has spun an even more dazzling tale that will delight both his longtime devotees and a legion of new fans. Boyle’s tenth novel, The Inner Circle has it all: fabulous characters, a rollicking plot, and more sex than pioneering researcher Dr. Alfred Kinsey ever dreamed of documenting . . . well, almost.

A love story, The Inner Circle is narrated by John Milk, a virginal young man who in 1940 accepts a job as an assistant to Dr. Alfred Kinsey, an extraordinarily charming professor of zoology at Indiana University who has just discovered his life’s true calling: sex. As a member of Kinsey’s “inner circle� of researchers, Milk (and his beautiful new wife) is called on to participate in sexual experiments that become increasingly uninhibited—and problematic for his marriage. For in his later years Kinsey (who behind closed doors is a sexual enthusiast of the first order) ever more recklessly pushed the boundaries both personally and professionally.

While Boyle doesn’t resist making the most of this delicious material, The Inner Circle is at heart a very moving and very loving look at sex, marriage, and jealousy that will have readers everywhere reassessing their own relationships—because, in the end, “love is all there is.�

]]> 418 T. Coraghessan Boyle 0670033448 Lubinka 4 3.60 2003 The Inner Circle
author: T. Coraghessan Boyle
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2020/03/09
date added: 2020/03/09
shelves: 2020, a-man-called-ove, are-you-serious, audio, biography, did-not-see-it-coming, fitness-health-wellbeing, general-fiction, have-books-will-travel, history-fiction, male-author, pop-science, romance, thought-provoking
review:

]]> The Brain: The Story of You 25776132 224 David Eagleman 1101870532 Lubinka 4 4.25 2015 The Brain: The Story of You
author: David Eagleman
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2019/06/02
date added: 2019/06/02
shelves: 2019, audio, brainworx, eye-opening, fitness-health-wellbeing, general-non-fiction, life-s-too-short-for-novels, male-author, pop-science, psychology, been-there-done-that
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Brief Answers to the Big Questions]]> 40277241
Within these pages, he provides his personal views on our biggest challenges as a human race, and where we, as a planet, are heading next. Each section will be introduced by a leading thinker offering his or her own insight into Professor Hawking's contribution to our understanding.]]> 256 Stephen Hawking 1984819194 Lubinka 5 4.28 2018 Brief Answers to the Big Questions
author: Stephen Hawking
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2019/03/08
date added: 2019/04/28
shelves: audio, award-winning, beautifully-written, definitely-should-reread, eye-opening, favorite, funny, general-non-fiction, life-s-too-short-for-novels, male-author, my-imaginary-friends, oh-yes-it-s-you-at-last, philosophy-religion, pop-science, the-narrator-nailed-it, thought-provoking, time-travel, 2019
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Physics of Everyday Things: The Extraordinary Science Behind an Ordinary Day]]> 31752980 A complete update to the hit book on the real physics at work in comic books, featuring more heroes, more villains, and more science. Since 2001, James Kakalios has taught Everything I Needed to Know About Physics I Learned from Reading Comic Books, a hugely popular university course that generated coast-to-coast media attention for its unique method of explaining complex physics concepts through comics. With The Physics of Superheroes, named one of the best science books of 2005 by Discover, he introduced his colorful approach to an even wider audience. Now Kakalios presents a totally updated, expanded edition that features even more superheroes and findings from the cutting edge of science. With three new chapters and completely revised throughout, the book that explains why Spider-Man's webbing failed his girlfriend, the probable cause of Krypton's explosion, and the Newtonian physics at work in Gotham City is electrifying from beginning to end.]]> 256 James Kakalios 0770437737 Lubinka 0 3.32 2017 The Physics of Everyday Things: The Extraordinary Science Behind an Ordinary Day
author: James Kakalios
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.32
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at: 2019/02/24
date added: 2019/04/28
shelves: audio, general-non-fiction, life-s-too-short-for-novels, male-author, not-my-cup-of-tea, pop-science, 2019
review:

]]> <![CDATA[When Einstein Walked with ö: Excursions to the Edge of Thought]]> 36794489 From Jim Holt, the New York Times bestselling author of Why Does the World Exist?, comes an entertaining and accessible guide to the most profound scientific and mathematical ideas of recent centuries in When Einstein Walked with ö Excursions to the Edge of Thought.

Does time exist? What is infinity? Why do mirrors reverse left and right but not up and down? In this scintillating collection, Holt explores the human mind, the cosmos, and the thinkers who've tried to encompass the latter with the former. With his trademark clarity and humor, Holt probes the mysteries of quantum mechanics, the quest for the foundations of mathematics, and the nature of logic and truth. Along the way, he offers intimate biographical sketches of celebrated and neglected thinkers, from the physicist Emmy Noether to the computing pioneer Alan Turing and the discoverer of fractals, Benoit Mandelbrot. Holt offers a painless and playful introduction to many of our most beautiful but least understood ideas, from Einsteinian relativity to string theory, and also invites us to consider why the greatest logician of the twentieth century believed the U.S. Constitution contained a terrible contradiction--and whether the universe truly has a future.]]> 368 Jim Holt 0374146705 Lubinka 5 4.05 2018 When Einstein Walked with ö: Excursions to the Edge of Thought
author: Jim Holt
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2018/10/31
date added: 2018/10/31
shelves: audio, brainworx, eye-opening, general-non-fiction, green-monster-of-jealousy, history-will-teach-us-nothing, male-author, pop-science, thought-provoking
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Salt Fix: Why the Experts Got It All Wrong--and How Eating More Might Save Your Life]]> 30555572
We’ve all heard the eat no more than a teaspoon of salt a day for a healthy heart. Health-conscious Americans have hewn to the conventional wisdom that your salt shaker can put you on the fast track to a heart attack, and have suffered through bland but “heart-healthy� dinners as a result.

What if the low-salt dogma is wrong?

Dr. James DiNicolantonio has reviewed more than five hundred publications to unravel the impact of salt on blood pressure and heart disease. He’s reached a startling The vast majority of us don’t need to watch our salt intake. In fact, for most of us, more salt would be advantageous to ournutrition—especially for those of us on theketo diet, asketodepletes this important mineral from our bodies. The Salt Fix tells the remarkable story of how salt became unfairly demonized—a never-before-told drama of competing egos and interests—and took the fall for another white sugar.

According to The Salt Fix, too little salt
� Make you crave sugar and refined carbs
� Send the body into semistarvation mode
� Lead to weight gain, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, and increased blood pressure and heart rate

But eating the salt you desire can improve everything, from your sleep, energy, and mental focus to your fitness, fertility, and sexual performance. It can even stave off common chronic illnesses, including heart disease.

The Salt Fix shows the best ways to add salt back into yourdiet, offering his transformative five-step program for recalibrating your salt thermostat to achieve your unique, ideal salt intake.Sciencehas moved on from the low-salt dogma, and so should you—your life may depend on it.]]> 272 James DiNicolantonio 0451496965 Lubinka 5 3.96 2017 The Salt Fix: Why the Experts Got It All Wrong--and How Eating More Might Save Your Life
author: James DiNicolantonio
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2018/10/06
date added: 2018/10/06
shelves: audio, based-on-real-events, did-not-see-it-coming, eye-opening, fitness-health-wellbeing, history-will-teach-us-nothing, male-author, pop-science
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World � and Why Things Are Better Than You Think]]> 34890015 Factfulness: The stress-reducing habit of only carrying opinions for which you have strong supporting facts.

When asked simple questions about global trends�what percentage of the world’s population live in poverty; why the world’s population is increasing; how many girls finish school—we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently outguess teachers, journalists, Nobel laureates, and investment bankers.

In Factfulness, Professor of International Health and global TED phenomenon Hans Rosling, together with his two long-time collaborators, Anna and Ola, offers a radical new explanation of why this happens. They reveal the ten instincts that distort our perspective—from our tendency to divide the world into two camps (usually some version of us and them) to the way we consume media (where fear rules) to how we perceive progress (believing that most things are getting worse).

Our problem is that we don’t know what we don’t know, and even our guesses are informed by unconscious and predictable biases.

It turns out that the world, for all its imperfections, is in a much better state than we might think. That doesn’t mean there aren’t real concerns. But when we worry about everything all the time instead of embracing a worldview based on facts, we can lose our ability to focus on the things that threaten us most.

Inspiring and revelatory, filled with lively anecdotes and moving stories, Factfulness is an urgent and essential book that will change the way you see the world and empower you to respond to the crises and opportunities of the future. ]]> 342 Hans Rosling 1473637465 Lubinka 5 4.34 2018 Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think
author: Hans Rosling
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2018/05/04
date added: 2018/05/03
shelves: adventure, are-you-serious, audio, based-on-real-events, beautifully-written, did-not-see-it-coming, eye-opening, funny, general-non-fiction, green-monster-of-jealousy, have-books-will-travel, heartwarming, history-will-teach-us-nothing, male-author, oh-yes-it-s-you-at-last, pop-science, thought-provoking, various-authors
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future]]> 25541028 392 Ashlee Vance 0062301233 Lubinka 5
Strangely enough, I've followed Space X' and Tesla's progress for a very long time, but I never actually read many things about the person behind them. I still cannot believe what a visionary Elon Musk is, and how persistent he's about anything he does. He is a mad scientist, inventor, business mogul and visionary all at the same time, and all these play equally important role in his life. For obvious reasons, his - let's say - philanthropy strikes the most sensitive chord in anyone who's even remotely troubled by what's going on on this planet. His philanthropic vision though does not consist in giving his billions away, but in trying to make his businesses succeed in order to save humanity from itself, before the planet we live on collapses.

“He’s the possessed genius on the grandest quest anyone has ever concocted. He’s less a C.E.O. chasing riches than a general marshaling troops to secure victory. Where Mark Zuckerberg wants to help you share baby photos, Musk wants to ... well ... save the human race from self-imposed or accidental annihilation."

Mr. Vance curbs his enthusiasm and delivers a well-calibrated portrait of Mr. Musk. The best thing about the book is that it tells Elon Musk’s story simply and well. It’s the story of an intelligent man, for sure. But more so it is the story of a determined one. The insights into the respective industries are truly compelling - Mr. Vance brings us up to date on the states of green energy and space launches. He also veers away from his subject just often enough, offering profiles of the frequently brilliant people who work alongside Mr. Musk.


I'm so very pleased that many of the things discussed in the book as future plans are already happening (safely reusing rockets is one step nearer after the successful landing of Falcon 9 in April, while the first affordable electric car that's more attractive than the best sport cars was unveiled in March, and it has a price tag of 35 000 USD).

I'm too old to hang a poster of Musk in my bedroom, but I've found a new crush, and I'll continue to follow his progress in awe and admiration. Humanity may still have a chance.

]]> 4.12 2015 Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future
author: Ashlee Vance
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2016/06/30
date added: 2018/01/09
shelves: adventure, audio, based-on-real-events, biography, definitely-should-reread, eye-opening, favorite, green-monster-of-jealousy, have-books-will-travel, history-will-teach-us-nothing, male-author, oh-yes-it-s-you-at-last, page-turner, pop-science, postapocalyptic-dystopian, sci-fi, space, supernatural-powers, thought-provoking
review:
This is an incredibly inspiring book, a important look into a game-changing worldview, and a valuable lesson to the world. As Musk says, "If something is important enough, even if the odds are against you, you should still do it."

Strangely enough, I've followed Space X' and Tesla's progress for a very long time, but I never actually read many things about the person behind them. I still cannot believe what a visionary Elon Musk is, and how persistent he's about anything he does. He is a mad scientist, inventor, business mogul and visionary all at the same time, and all these play equally important role in his life. For obvious reasons, his - let's say - philanthropy strikes the most sensitive chord in anyone who's even remotely troubled by what's going on on this planet. His philanthropic vision though does not consist in giving his billions away, but in trying to make his businesses succeed in order to save humanity from itself, before the planet we live on collapses.

“He’s the possessed genius on the grandest quest anyone has ever concocted. He’s less a C.E.O. chasing riches than a general marshaling troops to secure victory. Where Mark Zuckerberg wants to help you share baby photos, Musk wants to ... well ... save the human race from self-imposed or accidental annihilation."

Mr. Vance curbs his enthusiasm and delivers a well-calibrated portrait of Mr. Musk. The best thing about the book is that it tells Elon Musk’s story simply and well. It’s the story of an intelligent man, for sure. But more so it is the story of a determined one. The insights into the respective industries are truly compelling - Mr. Vance brings us up to date on the states of green energy and space launches. He also veers away from his subject just often enough, offering profiles of the frequently brilliant people who work alongside Mr. Musk.


I'm so very pleased that many of the things discussed in the book as future plans are already happening (safely reusing rockets is one step nearer after the successful landing of Falcon 9 in April, while the first affordable electric car that's more attractive than the best sport cars was unveiled in March, and it has a price tag of 35 000 USD).

I'm too old to hang a poster of Musk in my bedroom, but I've found a new crush, and I'll continue to follow his progress in awe and admiration. Humanity may still have a chance.


]]> <![CDATA[The Inkblots: Hermann Rorschach, His Iconic Test, and the Power of Seeing]]> 30746292
In 1917, working alone in a remote Swiss asylum, psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach devised an experiment to probe the human mind. For years he had grappled with the theories of Freud and Jung while also absorbing the aesthetic of a new generation of modern artists. He had come to believe that who we are is less a matter of what we say, as Freud thought, than what we see.

Rorschach himself was a visual artist, and his test, a set of ten carefully designed inkblots, quickly made its way to America, where it took on a life of its own. Co-opted by the military after Pearl Harbor, it was a fixture at the Nuremberg trials and in the jungles of Vietnam. It became an advertising staple, a cliché in Hollywood and journalism, and an inspiration to everyone from Andy Warhol to Jay-Z. The test was also given to millions of defendants, job applicants, parents in custody battles, workers applying for jobs, and people suffering from mental illness—or simply trying to understand themselves better. And it is still used today.

Damion Searls draws on unpublished letters and diaries, and a cache of previously unknown interviews with Rorschach’s family, friends, and colleagues, to tell the unlikely story of the test’s creation, its controversial reinvention, and its remarkable endurance—and what it all reveals about the power of perception. Elegant and original, The Inkblots shines a light on the twentieth century’s most visionary synthesis of art and science.]]> 405 Damion Searls 0804136548 Lubinka 5 3.71 2015 The Inkblots: Hermann Rorschach, His Iconic Test, and the Power of Seeing
author: Damion Searls
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2017/12/30
date added: 2017/12/30
shelves: audio, biography, brainworx, dark, eye-opening, fitness-health-wellbeing, history-will-teach-us-nothing, how-bizarre, male-author, pop-science, psychology, romance, sad, thought-provoking
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are]]> 28512671
Blending the informed analysis of The Signal and the Noise with the instructive iconoclasm of Think Like a Freak, a fascinating, illuminating, and witty look at what the vast amounts of information now instantly available to us reveals about ourselves and our world—provided we ask the right questions.

By the end of an average day in the early twenty-first century, human beings searching the internet will amass eight trillion gigabytes of data. This staggering amount of information—unprecedented in history—can tell us a great deal about who we are—the fears, desires, and behaviors that drive us, and the conscious and unconscious decisions we make. From the profound to the mundane, we can gain astonishing knowledge about the human psyche that less than twenty years ago, seemed unfathomable.

Everybody Lies offers fascinating, surprising, and sometimes laugh-out-loud insights into everything from economics to ethics to sports to race to sex, gender and more, all drawn from the world of big data. What percentage of white voters didn’t vote for Barack Obama because he’s black? Does where you go to school effect how successful you are in life? Do parents secretly favor boy children over girls? Do violent films affect the crime rate? Can you beat the stock market? How regularly do we lie about our sex lives and who’s more self-conscious about sex, men or women?

Investigating these questions and a host of others, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz offers revelations that can help us understand ourselves and our lives better. Drawing on studies and experiments on how we really live and think, he demonstrates in fascinating and often funny ways the extent to which all the world is indeed a lab. With conclusions ranging from strange-but-true to thought-provoking to disturbing, he explores the power of this digital truth serum and its deeper potential—revealing biases deeply embedded within us, information we can use to change our culture, and the questions we’re afraid to ask that might be essential to our health—both emotional and physical. All of us are touched by big data everyday, and its influence is multiplying. Everybody Lies challenges us to think differently about how we see it and the world.]]> 338 Seth Stephens-Davidowitz 0062390856 Lubinka 5 3.88 2017 Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are
author: Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2017/09/17
date added: 2017/09/21
shelves: are-you-serious, audio, based-on-real-events, brainworx, dark, eye-opening, general-non-fiction, green-monster-of-jealousy, history-will-teach-us-nothing, male-author, psychology, pop-science, thought-provoking
review:
I sought out the book after reading an interview with the author, and it was totally worth it. The book is quite enlightening, and to be honest, deeply frightening. Internet data can work miracles for the benefit of humanity, but it can bring to life many unimaginable, Big-Brother-type nightmares (current US presidents not excluded, just sayin...). Still, it's good to know.
]]> The Case Against Sugar 29874881 From the best-selling author of Why We Get Fat, a groundbreaking, eye-opening expose that makes the convincing case that sugar is the tobacco of the new millennium: backed by powerful lobbies, entrenched in our lives, and making us very sick.

Among Americans, diabetes is more prevalent today than ever; obesity is at epidemic proportions; nearly 10% of children are thought to have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. And sugar is at the root of these, and other, critical society-wide, health-related problems. With his signature command of both science and straight talk, Gary Taubes delves into Americans' history with sugar: its uses as a preservative, as an additive in cigarettes, the contemporary overuse of high-fructose corn syrup. He explains what research has shown about our addiction to sweets. He clarifies the arguments against sugar, corrects misconceptions about the relationship between sugar and weight loss; and provides the perspective necessary to make informed decisions about sugar as individuals and as a society.]]> 384 Gary Taubes 1524709077 Lubinka 5
Oh, hell, I need to stop reading books on nutritional subjects... I might as well lay down and wait to die on my own - I'm not sure that it'd be much more painful this way...]]> 3.80 2016 The Case Against Sugar
author: Gary Taubes
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2017/03/02
date added: 2017/03/02
shelves: audio, based-on-real-events, definitely-should-reread, eye-opening, fitness-health-wellbeing, history-will-teach-us-nothing, male-author, pop-science, thought-provoking
review:
Amazingly eye-opening, and truly terrifying. It's hard to grasp the huge impact of refined sugar on human evolution, and - once again - thanks to greedy lobbies, we happily march towards our doom, so that the sugar industry barons may continue to enjoy the profits of providing us with our drug of choice. It's unbelievable that governments try to regulate recreational drugs, at the same time when one of the most toxic inventions of humanity is virtually promoted as a healthy alternative to the "oh-so-dangerous" fat. I know that all this sounds like a huge overstatement, and I wish it was, but sadly the evidence is here, and choosing not to see it does not make it less valid. Read the book, and weep. But don't eat candy to alleviate the pain (ice cream is kind of OK though - huh?!)

Oh, hell, I need to stop reading books on nutritional subjects... I might as well lay down and wait to die on my own - I'm not sure that it'd be much more painful this way...
]]> <![CDATA[Your Best Brain: The Science of Brain Improvement]]> 23626805
For decades, the field of neuroscience has been in a near-constant state of disruptive transformation, as we continually learn more about our incredible brains. Thanks to rapid advances in technology and in our understanding of the brain, today’s neuroscience research goes far beyond trying to understand how the brain works, and into the search for proven ways to optimize brain performance. In Your Best Brain, Professor John J. Medina - an award-winning scientist, New York Times best-selling author, and leading advocate for brain research - delivers 24 exciting lectures that probe the origins of consciousness, memory, emotion, attention, intelligence, and beyond. He focuses on five key areas of study in neuroscience: the brain’s physical structure and function, and how it enabled us to become the planet’s apex predator; the ways in which the brain processes information, and how that relates to intelligence; the intricacies of emotions and socialization, and how empathy is a vital survival mechanism; how our brains develop and change throughout our lifetimes; and how we can best use and expand our cerebral processing performance. After gaining a thorough understanding of the science behind your best brain, you’ll learn scientifically proven methods for improving your memory, boosting your creativity, and keeping your mind sharp for years to come.]]> 440 John Medina Lubinka 5 On the other hand, when he knows, he manages to share his knowledge with us in a really practical way, so that we can apply the information in order to actually improve or brain function, or at least preserve it from deteriorating through bad diet, lack of sleep, not exercising etc. The quotes, the references to pop culture, and generally the visualization of the different subjects he presents are a great advantage to the book (Star Trek, anyone?). But his humor and his excited narration are the reason I read it almost overnight. Highly recommended.]]> 4.14 2014 Your Best Brain: The Science of Brain Improvement
author: John Medina
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2017/02/10
date added: 2017/02/10
shelves: audio, brainworx, did-not-see-it-coming, eye-opening, favorite, fitness-health-wellbeing, funny, i-read-the-book-for-the-narrator, male-author, page-turner, pop-science, the-narrator-nailed-it, thought-provoking
review:
Guys like John Medina are the reason I enjoy popular science books so much. Not only has he got a thorough knowledge of his subject, but he's really passionate about it himself, and his enthusiasm is contagious. He's not afraid to say "I (we, the scientists in general) just don't know", which is not something that we often see in such writings. He also cannot stress enough the fact that the brain is a physical organ and not a magical place where our soul-psyche-spirit etc reside. So in many ways it's just as vulnerable as the rest of our body, and just as dysfunctional when harmed.
On the other hand, when he knows, he manages to share his knowledge with us in a really practical way, so that we can apply the information in order to actually improve or brain function, or at least preserve it from deteriorating through bad diet, lack of sleep, not exercising etc. The quotes, the references to pop culture, and generally the visualization of the different subjects he presents are a great advantage to the book (Star Trek, anyone?). But his humor and his excited narration are the reason I read it almost overnight. Highly recommended.
]]> <![CDATA[The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments]]> 2200247
Johnson takes us to those times when the world seemed filled with mysterious forces, when scientists were dazzled by light, by electricity, and by the beating of the hearts they laid bare on the dissecting table.

We see Galileo singing to mark time as he measures the pull of gravity, and Newton carefully inserting a needle behind his eye to learn how light causes vibrations in the retina. William Harvey ties a tourniquet around his arm and watches his arteries throb above and his veins bulge below, proving that blood circulates. Luigi Galvani sparks electrical currents in dissected frog legs, wondering at the twitching muscle fibers, and Ivan Pavlov makes his now-famous dogs salivate at ascending chord progressions.

For all of them, diligence was rewarded. In an instant, confusion was swept aside and something new about nature leaped into view. In bringing us these stories, Johnson restores some of the romance to science, reminding us of the existential excitement of a single soul staring down the unknown.]]> 208 George Johnson 1400041015 Lubinka 3 3.61 2008 The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments
author: George Johnson
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2016/12/26
date added: 2016/12/26
shelves: audio, history-non-fiction, male-author, meh, not-in-the-mood, pop-science
review:
In hindsight, not a book well suited for audio. Apart from that, I was not particularly impressed with the experiments the author chose to present, and at some points I found the writing too technical for the lay audience it seems to be targeted at. The trivia tidbits though were quite interesting.
]]> <![CDATA[Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy]]> 28186015 But as mathematician and data scientist Cathy O'Neil reveals, the mathematical models being used today are unregulated and uncontestable, even when they're wrong. Most troubling, they reinforce discrimination--propping up the lucky, punishing the downtrodden, and undermining our democracy in the process.]]> 259 Cathy O'Neil 0553418815 Lubinka 5 3.86 2016 Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy
author: Cathy O'Neil
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2016/12/18
date added: 2016/12/18
shelves: audio, award-winning, based-on-real-events, eye-opening, female-author, favorite, general-non-fiction, goodreads-awards, history-will-teach-us-nothing, life-s-too-short-for-novels, pop-science, postapocalyptic-dystopian, thought-provoking
review:
I'm rather sorry that I only got around to reading this book in December, otherwise I would have voted for it on ŷ Choice Awards. A concise, clear-written and eye-opening book, it is even more frightful, for the fact that is it in fact science fiction of the harrowing kind becoming reality as we speak. I belong to the lucky (?) part of the world where technology is still lagging behind what's the norm now in America, but sadly it's unavoidable that sooner or later we'll all catch up with them. And then more and more aspects of our lives will fall under the purview of automated data analysis. Contrary to popular opinion that algorithms are purely objective, this book shows us that models are opinions embedded in mathematics. The author identifies how algorithms integral to both data collection and data interpretation can be manipulated, even if initially they claim the concept of using "best practices". Thanks to the feedback loop mathematical models can virtually prove anything their creators want them to prove, depending on their objectives and financial interests. An algorithm is not any less racist than a human, and ultimately algorithms, according to O’Neil, reinforce discrimination and widen inequality, “using people’s fear and trust of mathematics to prevent them from asking questions�. The system is rigged so that it perpetuates the status quo - poor people will stay poor or will get even poorer, and the rich - -well, they'll just buy their way out of being profiled by math, and will stay rich. Or, more probably, will become richer. We live in a sad, sad world...
]]> Stumbling on Happiness 56627 � Why will sighted people pay more to avoid going blind than blind people will pay to regain their sight?
� Why do dining companions insist on ordering different meals instead of getting what they really want?
� Why do pigeons seem to have such excellent aim; why can’t we remember one song while listening to another; and why does the line at the grocery store always slow down the moment we join it?

In this brilliant, witty, and accessible book, renowned Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert describes the foibles of imagination and illusions of foresight that cause each of us to mis-conceive our tomorrows and mis-estimate our satisfactions. Vividly bringing to life the latest scientific research in psychology, cognitive neuroscience, philosophy, and behavioral economics, Gilbert reveals what scientists have discovered about the uniquely human ability to imagine the future, and about our capacity to predict how much we will like it when we get there. With penetrating insight and sparkling prose, Gilbert explains why we seem to know so little about the hearts and minds of the people we are about to become.]]> 263 Daniel Todd Gilbert 1400077427 Lubinka 5
I immensely enjoyed the brilliant writing and the wit of the author, which definitely added to the pleasure of reading this book.

"Despite the third word in the title, this is not an instruction manual that will tell you anything useful about how to be happy... Instead, this is a book that describes what science has to tell us about how and how well the human brain can imagine its own future, and about how and how well it can predict which of those futures it will most enjoy... Weaving together facts and theories from psychology, cognitive neuroscience, philosophy, and behavioral economics, this book allows an account to emerge that I personally find convincing but whose merits you will have to judge for yourself.

There is no simple formula for finding happiness. But if our great big brains do not allow us to go surefootedly into our futures, they at least allow us to understand what makes us stumble."]]> 3.82 2006 Stumbling on Happiness
author: Daniel Todd Gilbert
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2016/11/16
date added: 2016/11/16
shelves: audio, award-winning, based-on-real-events, brainworx, definitely-should-reread, eye-opening, favorite, did-not-see-it-coming, funny, green-monster-of-jealousy, how-bizarre, male-author, pop-science, supernatural-powers, thought-provoking, the-narrator-nailed-it
review:
A wickedly funny, deeply educating and eye-opening book. I'll continue to fool myself that I know what I'm doing, feeling, seeing and thinking, but thanks to this book, I hope that I'll increase the basic level of happiness to which all people seem to revert to eventually.

I immensely enjoyed the brilliant writing and the wit of the author, which definitely added to the pleasure of reading this book.

"Despite the third word in the title, this is not an instruction manual that will tell you anything useful about how to be happy... Instead, this is a book that describes what science has to tell us about how and how well the human brain can imagine its own future, and about how and how well it can predict which of those futures it will most enjoy... Weaving together facts and theories from psychology, cognitive neuroscience, philosophy, and behavioral economics, this book allows an account to emerge that I personally find convincing but whose merits you will have to judge for yourself.

There is no simple formula for finding happiness. But if our great big brains do not allow us to go surefootedly into our futures, they at least allow us to understand what makes us stumble."
]]> <![CDATA[Seven Brief Lessons on Physics]]> 25734172 All the beauty of modern physics in fewer than a hundred pages.

This is a book about the joy of discovery. A playful, entertaining, and mind-bending introduction to modern physics, it's already a major bestseller in Italy and the United Kingdom. Carlo Rovelli offers surprising—and surprisingly easy to grasp—explanations of general relativity, quantum mechanics, elementary particles, gravity, black holes, the complex architecture of the universe, and the role humans play in this weird and wonderful world. He takes us to the frontiers of our knowledge: to the most minute reaches of the fabric of space, back tothe origins of the cosmos, and into the workings of our minds. “Here, on the edge of what we know, in contact with the ocean of the unknown, shines the mystery and the beauty of the world,� Rovelli writes. “And it’s breathtaking.”]]> 81 Carlo Rovelli 0399184414 Lubinka 4 3.97 2014 Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
author: Carlo Rovelli
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2016/06/26
date added: 2016/06/26
shelves: green-monster-of-jealousy, life-s-too-short-for-novels, male-author, pop-science
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Iodine Crisis: What You Don't Know About Iodine Can Wreck Your Life]]> 17847725 229 Lynne Farrow Lubinka 4 4.09 2013 The Iodine Crisis: What You Don't Know About Iodine Can Wreck Your Life
author: Lynne Farrow
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2016/06/14
date added: 2016/06/14
shelves: eye-opening, female-author, history-non-fiction, history-will-teach-us-nothing, pop-science, repetitive
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Η κόρη του Γαλιλαίου: Ένα ιστορικό βιογραφικό αφήγημα επιστήμης, πίστης και αγάπης]]> 17373563
In contrast, his daughter, Virginia, became a cloistered nun. Born in 1600, she was thirteen when Galileo placed her in a convent near him in Florence, where she took the most appropriate name of Suor Maria Celeste. Galileo later said of her that she had an exquisite mind, and her intelligence and loving support proved to be her father's greatest source of strength through his most difficult years.

Inspired by her long fascination with Galileo, and by the remarkable letters of his daughter, which she has translated into English for the first time, Dava Sobel has written a book that brings Galileo to life as never before. A man who was compelled to explain the truths he discovered, he was a faithful Catholic devoted to family and, especially, to his daughter. Their voices and those of others who touched their lives, echo down the centuries through letters and writings, which Sobel masterfully weaves into her narrative, building towards the crescendo of history's most dramatic collision between science and religion. In the process, Dava Sobel illuminates an entire era, when the flamboyant Medici Gran Dukes became Galileo's patrons, when the bubonic plague wreaked its terrible devastation and prayer was the most effective medicine, when the Thirty Years' War tipped fortunes across Europe, and when one man fought, through his trial and betrayal by his former friend, Pope Urban VIII, to reconcile the Heaven he revered as a good Catholic with the heavens he revealed through his telescope.]]> 563 Dava Sobel 9603930938 Lubinka 3 3.50 1999 Η κόρη του Γαλιλαίου: Ένα ιστορικό βιογραφικό αφήγημα επιστήμης, πίστης και αγάπης
author: Dava Sobel
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.50
book published: 1999
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2016/04/17
shelves: based-on-real-events, female-author, greek, history-fiction, meh, pop-science
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals]]> 3109 What should we have for dinner? For omnivore like ourselves, this simple question has always posed a dilemma. When you can eat just about anything nature (or the supermarket) has to offer, deciding what you should eat will inevitably stir anxiety, especially when some of the foods on offer might shorten your life. Today, buffered by one food fad after another, America is suffering from what can only be described as a national eating disorder. The omnivore’s dilemma has returned with a vengeance, as the cornucopia of the modern American supermarket and fast-food outlet confronts us with a bewildering and treacherous food landscape. What’s at stake in our eating choices is not only our own and our children’s health, but the health of the environment that sustains life on earth.
The Omnivore's Dilemma is groundbreaking book, in which one of America’s most fascinating, original, and elegant writers turns his own omnivorous mind to the seemingly straightforward question of what we should have for dinner. The question has confronted us since man discovered fire, but according to Michael Pollan, the bestselling author of The Botany of Desire, how we answer it today, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, may well determine our very survival as a species. Should we eat a fast-food hamburger? Something organic? Or perhaps something we hunt, gather, or grow ourselves?
To find out, Pollan follows each of the food chains that sustain us—industrial food, organic or alternative food, and food we forage ourselves—from the source to a final meal, and in the process develops a definitive account of the American way of eating. His absorbing narrative takes us from Iowa cornfields to food-science laboratories, from feedlots and fast-food restaurants to organic farms and hunting grounds, always emphasizing our dynamic coevolutionary relationship with the handful of plant and animal species we depend on. Each time Pollan sits down to a meal, he deploys his unique blend of personal and investigative journalism to trace the origins of everything consumed, revealing what we unwittingly ingest and explaining how our taste for particular foods and flavors reflects our evolutionary inheritance.
The surprising answers Pollan offers to the simple question posed by this book have profound political, economic, psychological, and even moral implications for all of us. Ultimately, this is a book as much about visionary solutions as it is about problems, and Pollan contends that, when it comes to food, doing the right thing often turns out to be the tastiest thing an eater can do. Beautifully written and thrillingly argued, The Omnivore’s Dilemma promises to change the way we think about the politics and pleasure of eating. For anyone who reads it, dinner will never again look, or taste, quite the same.]]> 450 Michael Pollan 1594200823 Lubinka 5 4.18 2006 The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
author: Michael Pollan
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2016/03/14
date added: 2016/03/14
shelves: award-winning, eye-opening, favorite, male-author, pop-science, the-narrator-nailed-it, thought-provoking
review:
Utterly engaging and the perfect follow up to Gary Taubes' Good Calories, Bad Calories. Food indeed makes a very engrossing reading.
]]> <![CDATA[Just My Type: A Book About Fonts]]> 12410552
Typefaces are now 560 years old, but we barely knew their names until about twenty years ago when the pull-down font menus on our first computers made us all the gods of type. Beginning in the early days of Gutenberg and ending with the most adventurous digital fonts, Simon Garfield explores the rich history and subtle powers of type. He goes on to investigate a range of modern mysteries, including how Helvetica took over the world, what inspires the seeming ubiquitous use of Trajan on bad movie posters, and exactly why the all-type cover of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus was so effective. It also examines why the "T" in the Beatles logo is longer than the other letters and how Gotham helped Barack Obama into the White House. A must-have book for the design conscious, Just My Type's cheeky irreverence will also charm everyone who loved Eats, Shoots & Leaves and Schott's Original Miscellany.]]> 0 Simon Garfield 1452634513 Lubinka 5
The author has a wonderful writing style that I thoroughly enjoyed - which cannot be said about the narrator of the audio book, to whom I owe my deepest gratitude for forcing me to read the actual book, and SEEING all the types mentioned in it. I wonder what possessed me to think I could simply get the audio version.

Highly recommended to anyone who's even remotely interested in the subject.]]> 3.90 2010 Just My Type: A Book About Fonts
author: Simon Garfield
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2015/12/20
date added: 2015/12/20
shelves: green-monster-of-jealousy, linguistics, male-author, pop-science, speaker-for-the-deaf, thought-provoking, favorite
review:
What can I say? This was one of the best books I've read in a while. Of course, I'll never forgive it for completely ruining any chance I'd ever have to simply enjoy a sign on a shop or a book cover or a restaurant menu, or any written item I chance to see around me. I can never go back to simply "reading" the title, instead I examine the font and wonder what subliminal message it conveys (and more often than not, the shop owner or movie poster designer might not even imagine what their choice of font reveals). I guess I'm a type geek, probably I always was, and I truly enjoy fiddling with all the different typefaces our modern age offers us. Gaining some insight about the inner workings of this sphere was really eye opening - better late than never, I suppose.

The author has a wonderful writing style that I thoroughly enjoyed - which cannot be said about the narrator of the audio book, to whom I owe my deepest gratitude for forcing me to read the actual book, and SEEING all the types mentioned in it. I wonder what possessed me to think I could simply get the audio version.

Highly recommended to anyone who's even remotely interested in the subject.
]]> <![CDATA[The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery]]> 21483819
Early studies of the functions of the human brain used a simple method: wait for misfortune to strike strokes, seizures, infectious diseases, lobotomies, horrendous accidents and see how the victim coped. In many cases survival was miraculous, and observers could only marvel at the transformations that took place afterward, altering victims personalities. An injury to one section can leave a person unable to recognize loved ones; some brain trauma can even make you a pathological gambler, pedophile, or liar. But a few scientists realized that these injuries were an opportunity for studying brain function at its extremes.

With lucid explanations and incisive wit, Sam Kean explains the brain s secret passageways while recounting forgotten stories of common people whose struggles, resiliency, and deep humanity made modern neuroscience possible."]]> 0 Sam Kean 1478901217 Lubinka 5 4.02 2014 The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery
author: Sam Kean
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2015/12/03
date added: 2015/12/03
shelves: goodreads-awards, based-on-real-events, brainworx, eye-opening, favorite, funny, how-bizarre, male-author, pop-science, the-narrator-nailed-it, thought-provoking
review:
What a wonderful book! Shouldn't have waited so long to read it.
]]> <![CDATA[What Do You Care What Other People Think? Further Adventures of a Curious Character]]> 5548 256 Richard P. Feynman 0393320928 Lubinka 0 4.24 1988 What Do You Care What Other People Think? Further Adventures of a Curious Character
author: Richard P. Feynman
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1988
rating: 0
read at: 2015/11/13
date added: 2015/11/13
shelves: based-on-real-events, funny, history-will-teach-us-nothing, male-author, memoir, thought-provoking, sad, pop-science
review:
To every man is given the key to Heaven. The same key opens the gates of Hell.
]]> <![CDATA[What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions]]> 22579328 7 Randall Munroe 1483041824 Lubinka 5

“They say there are no stupid questions. That’s obviously wrong; I think my question about [whether there are more hard or soft things in the world], for example, is pretty stupid. But it turns out that trying to thoroughly answer a stupid question can take you to some pretty interesting places.�

I did go many interesting places with him, and while I'm sorry to have missed the illustrations in the printed edition of the book, I think the narrator was just as awesome as the books deserves.]]> 3.83 2014 What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
author: Randall Munroe
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2015/10/07
date added: 2015/10/07
shelves: did-not-see-it-coming, eye-opening, favorite, funny, male-author, pop-science, the-narrator-nailed-it, thought-provoking
review:
I think this is one of the best books I've read this year, and I do hope we'll be seeing more from this author. I may never use (or even remember, for that matter) any of the facts mentioned in the book, but I had great fun, laugh-out-loud fun, and I was sorry to see the book end so soon. In the author's words,


“They say there are no stupid questions. That’s obviously wrong; I think my question about [whether there are more hard or soft things in the world], for example, is pretty stupid. But it turns out that trying to thoroughly answer a stupid question can take you to some pretty interesting places.�

I did go many interesting places with him, and while I'm sorry to have missed the illustrations in the printed edition of the book, I think the narrator was just as awesome as the books deserves.
]]> <![CDATA[Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla: Biography of a Genius]]> 16095515 Nikola Tesla (1856�1943), credited as the inspiration for radio, robots, and even radar, has been called the patron saint of modern electricity. Based on original material and previously unavailable documents, this acclaimed book is the definitive biography of the man considered by many to be the founding father of modern electrical technology. Among Tesla's creations were the channeling of alternating current, fluorescent and neon lighting, wireless telegraphy, and the giant turbines that harnessed the power of Niagara Falls.]]> 22 Marc J. Seifer Lubinka 4 3.51 1996 Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla: Biography of a Genius
author: Marc J. Seifer
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.51
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at: 2015/09/28
date added: 2015/09/28
shelves: biography, dark, eye-opening, history-non-fiction, male-author, pop-science, thought-provoking
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us]]> 15797397
In Salt Sugar Fat, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Michael Moss shows how this happened. Featuring examples from some of the most recognizable (and profitable) companies and brands of the last half century--including Kraft, Coca-Cola, Lunchables, Kellogg, Nestlé, Oreos, Cargill, Capri Sun, and many more--

Moss’s explosive, empowering narrative is grounded in meticulous, often eye-opening research. He goes inside the labs where food scientists use cutting-edge technology to calculate the "bliss point" of sugary beverages or enhance the "mouth feel" of fat by manipulating its chemical structure. He unearths marketing techniques taken straight from tobacco company playbooks to redirect concerns about the health risks of products. He talks to concerned executives who explain that they could never produce truly healthy alternatives to their products even if serious regulation became a reality.

Simply put: the industry itself would cease to exist without salt, sugar, and fat.]]> 480 Michael Moss 1400069807 Lubinka 0 pop-science 3.99 2013 Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us
author: Michael Moss
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at: 2014/05/31
date added: 2014/05/31
shelves: pop-science
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal]]> 13615414
Like all of Roach’s books, Gulp is as much about human beings as it is about human bodies.]]> 348 Mary Roach 0393081575 Lubinka 4 funny, pop-science 3.91 2013 Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal
author: Mary Roach
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2014/01/30
date added: 2014/01/30
shelves: funny, pop-science
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Good Calories, Bad Calories: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Control, and Disease]]> 1820055 601 Gary Taubes 1400040787 Lubinka 5 eye-opening, pop-science 4.16 2004 Good Calories, Bad Calories: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Control, and Disease
author: Gary Taubes
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at: 2014/01/19
date added: 2014/01/19
shelves: eye-opening, pop-science
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Short History of Nearly Everything]]> 21 544 Bill Bryson 076790818X Lubinka 4 4.21 2003 A Short History of Nearly Everything
author: Bill Bryson
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2013/06/15
date added: 2013/06/15
shelves: pop-science, history-non-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative]]> 77503
'If ever there was a time when creativity was necessary for the survival and growth of any organization, it is now. This book, more than any other I know, provides important insights on how leaders can evoke and sustain those creative juices.' WARREN BENNIS]]> 288 Ken Robinson 1841121258 Lubinka 3 brainworx, meh, pop-science 3.93 2001 Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative
author: Ken Robinson
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2001
rating: 3
read at: 2013/06/15
date added: 2013/06/15
shelves: brainworx, meh, pop-science
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen]]> 6289283 Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world’s greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows us that everything we thought we knew about running is wrong.

Isolated by the most savage terrain in North America, the reclusive Tarahumara Indians of Mexico’s deadly Copper Canyons are custodians of a lost art. For centuries they have practiced techniques that allow them to run hundreds of miles without rest and chase down anything from a deer to an Olympic marathoner while enjoying every mile of it. Their superhuman talent is matched by uncanny health and serenity, leaving the Tarahumara immune to the diseases and strife that plague modern existence. With the help of Caballo Blanco, a mysterious loner who lives among the tribe, the author was able not only to uncover the secrets of the Tarahumara but also to find his own inner ultra-athlete, as he trained for the challenge of a lifetime: a fifty-mile race through the heart of Tarahumara country pitting the tribe against an odd band of Americans, including a star ultramarathoner, a beautiful young surfer, and a barefoot wonder.

With a sharp wit and wild exuberance, McDougall takes us from the high-tech science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultrarunners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to the climactic race in the Copper Canyons. Born to Run is that rare book that will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that the secret to happiness is right at your feet, and that you, indeed all of us, were born to run.]]> 287 Christopher McDougall Lubinka 5 4.29 2009 Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
author: Christopher McDougall
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2012/08/30
date added: 2012/08/30
shelves: biography, fitness-health-wellbeing, pop-science, eye-opening, based-on-real-events
review:

]]> What Einstein Told His Cook 17290 What Einstein Told His Cook is like having a scientist at your side to answer your questions in plain, nontechnical terms. Chemistry professor and syndicated Washington Post food columnist Robert L. Wolke provides over 100 reliable and witty explanations, while debunking misconceptions and helping you to see through confusing advertising and labeling.]]> 320 Robert L. Wolke 0393011836 Lubinka 4 pop-science 3.84 2002 What Einstein Told His Cook
author: Robert L. Wolke
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 2012/08/21
date added: 2012/08/21
shelves: pop-science
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain]]> 721609

Did you know you can beat stress, lift your mood, fight memory loss, sharpen your intellect, and function better than ever simply by elevating your heart rate and breaking a sweat? The evidence is incontrovertible: Aerobic exercise physically remodels our brains for peak performance.

In SPARK, John J. Ratey, M.D., embarks upon a fascinating and entertaining journey through the mind-body connection, presenting startling research to prove that exercise is truly our best defense against everything from depression to ADD to addiction to aggression to menopause to Alzheimer's. Filled with amazing case studies (such as the revolutionary fitness program in Naperville, Illinois, which has put this school district of 19,000 kids first in the world of science test scores), SPARK is the first book to explore comprehensively the connection between exercise and the brain. It will change forever the way you think about your morning run---or, for that matter, simply the way you think]]> 294 John J. Ratey 0316113506 Lubinka 5 4.11 2008 Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain
author: John J. Ratey
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2012/08/04
date added: 2012/08/04
shelves: pop-science, fitness-health-wellbeing, favorite
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dunk Your Biscuit Horizontally]]> 13481826 128 Rik Kuiper Lubinka 2 2.79 2007 Dunk Your Biscuit Horizontally
author: Rik Kuiper
name: Lubinka
average rating: 2.79
book published: 2007
rating: 2
read at: 2012/04/23
date added: 2012/04/23
shelves: pop-science, complete-waste-of-time
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher]]> 5553 138 Richard P. Feynman 0465023924 Lubinka 4 funny, memoir, pop-science 4.22 1994 Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher
author: Richard P. Feynman
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1994
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/04/10
shelves: funny, memoir, pop-science
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character]]> 5544
In short, here is Feynman's life in all its eccentric glory—a combustible mixture of high intelligence, unlimited curiosity, and raging chutzpah.]]> 350 Richard P. Feynman 0393316041 Lubinka 4 4.27 1985 Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character
author: Richard P. Feynman
name: Lubinka
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1985
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/04/10
shelves: funny, memoir, favorite, pop-science
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements]]> 7247854
The periodic table is a crowning scientific achievement, but it's also a treasure trove of adventure, betrayal, and obsession. These fascinating tales follow every element on the table as they play out their parts in human history, finance, mythology, conflict, the arts, medicine, and in the lives of the (frequently) mad scientists who discovered them. "The Disappearing Spoon" masterfully fuses science with the classic lore of invention, investigation, discovery, and alchemy, from the big bang through the end of time.


* Though solid at room temperature, gallium is a moldable metal that melts at 84 degrees Fahrenheit. A classic science prank is to mold gallium spoons, serve them with tea, and watch guests recoil as their utensils disappear.]]> 394 Sam Kean 0316051640 Lubinka 4 pop-science 3.92 2010 The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
author: Sam Kean
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/04/10
shelves: pop-science
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex]]> 2082136 Mary Roach, "The funniest science writer in the country" (Burkhard Bilger of The New Yorker), devoted the past two years to stepping behind those doors. Can a person think herself to orgasm? Can a dead man get an erection? Is vaginal orgasm a myth? Why doesn't Viagra help women - or, for that matter, pandas? In Bonk, Roach shows us how and why sexual arousal and orgasm - two of the most complex, delightful, and amazing scientific phenomena on earth - can be so hard to achieve and what science is doing to slowly make the bedroom a more satisfying place.]]> 319 Mary Roach 0393064646 Lubinka 4 pop-science, funny 3.83 2008 Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
author: Mary Roach
name: Lubinka
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2012/03/19
shelves: pop-science, funny
review:

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