An Extraordinary Journey Dr. Crick shares with the readers his personal journey of scientific discovery. Starting with how he chose molecular biology as his pursuit, the “gossip test — what you are really interested in is what you gossip about”, leading up to the discovery of structure of DNA and the genetic code, and eventually the study of neurobiology when he passed 60, “at my time of life I had […]
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“In Search of Memory” by Eric Kandel
A Good Mystery Novel Kandel tells the story of how fascination with memory has led him to a life-long search for the biological underpinning of memory and consciousness. It’s part autobiography and part textbook, but reads like a good mystery novel. I could hardly put it down until I finished it. His writing is very fluid and concise, and he inserts figures at just the right junctures to illustrate and […]
Read more“No Ordinary Genius” by Richard Feynman and Christopher Sykes
This book complements Feynman’s autobiography “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman” and sequel “What Do you Care What Other People Think” very well. It includes interviews from Feynman’s colleagues, family and friends, as well as himself, and gives the reader a more complete picture of the man and a life fully lived. Genius “Feynman’s great secret in solving the problem of quantum electrodynamics was that he developed this way to do […]
Read more“Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman” by Richard Feynman
One of the most delightful autobiographies I’ve ever read. It’s intelligent, hilarious, candid and fascinating. A colorful portrait of the curious, outrageous and brilliant character that is Richard Feynman. Almost like a combination of Sherlock Holmes and Thomas Sawyer. The thrill of puzzle-solving, the exotic adventures, the natural showoff, and great showmanship. What impressed me the most is his inexhaustible curiosity and desire to search out the wonders and beauty […]
Read more“What Do You Care What Other People Think” by Richard Feynman
A sequel to “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman“, with a moving account of his loving relationship with his wife, who died in a hospital near Los Alamos where Feynman was working on the Manhattan Project. It also provides an insightful, fascinating account of Feynman’s significant role in the Challenger investigation. Childlike Curiosity “I’ve been caught, so to speak — like someone who was given something wonderful when he was a […]
Read more“Creating a World Without Poverty” by Muhammad Yunus
Because poverty denies people any semblance of control over their destiny, it is the ultimate denial of human rights. Forty-two People, Twenty-Seven Dollars Muhammad Yunus was not a banker, but an economics professor, who felt the emptiness of the economics theories and “wanted to do something immediate to help” the poor. He talked to many poor people and found out, to his shocking surprise, that they needed just a little […]
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