Altruism “I don’t see why it should be unreasonable for all human beings to have strands of DNA … coding out instincts for usefulness and helpfulness. Usefulness may turn out to be the hardest test of fitness for survival, more important than aggressiveness, more effective, in the long run, than grabbiness.” To Err is Human The capacity to blunder slightly is the real marvel of DNA. The word “error” came […]
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“The Lives of a Cell” by Lewis Thomas
Reading Thomas’ books is like watching a brilliant, inquiring mind at work, or rather at play, filled with wonder, wit and humor, exploring diverse subjects such as a cell, the earth, the universe, human body, the mind, music and language, and yet remaining coherent and fully accessible as if he was talking with the reader face to face. Cells as Ecosystems The mitochondria and chloroplasts in animal and plant cells […]
Read more“A Confession” by Leo Tolstoy
Tolstoy wrote this book shortly after he finished “Anna Karenina”. He was in his early 50s, in full possession of his mental and physical powers. wealthy, famous and well-respected, and yet he despaired of life so much that he was on the verge of suicide. This state of mind is also partly reflected in the character of Levin in “Anna Karenina”. This book gives a candid, stunning account of the […]
Read more“Walden” by Henry David Thoreau
[Posted to commemorate the 192nd anniversary of Thoreau’s birthday] A Thought-Provoking And Sobering Essay on Life In this book, Thoreau reflected on the necessities of life (food, clothing, shelter and fuel), while he experimented with building his own shelter in the woods and growing crops himself. He pitied the lives of working men, “buying and selling, and spending their lives like serfs”, expressed a strong desire for adventure, a higher, […]
Read more“Resistance to Civil Government” by Henry David Thoreau
Current Title: On the Duty of Civil Disobedience Beyond the Majority Rule Thoreau argued that the State should recognize and respect the autonomy and rights of the individual, and improve further upon the current form of democracy, i.e., the majority rule. “All voting is a sort of gaming, …, a playing with right and wrong, with moral questions; … The character of the voters is not staked. I cast my […]
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“Nature and the Greeks” by Erwin Schrödinger
Scientists work within a philosophical framework, though it is perhaps not as pronounced as that of philosophers. A scientific theory is an interpretation of empirical data, and it is often the case that numerous theories can describe the same set of data, which one the scientist chooses depends on his/her philosophy. Empirical evidence drives the advance of science by eliminating bad theories, and forcing the scientists to admit their own […]
Read more“What is Life? Mind And Matter” by Erwin Schrödinger
The Character of Life Watson and Crick, in their respective accounts of the discovery of the structure of DNA, both cited “What is Life” as their source of inspiration. It’s amazing how a physicist’s insights triggered a breakthrough in molecular biology. Schrödinger, based on the principles of quantum mechanics and thermodynamics and very limited experimental data, deduced with amazing accuracy the size and character of the genetic material, later known […]
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