David’s Comments (group member since Dec 13, 2009)

David’s comments from the Science and Inquiry group.

I'm a month late getting a start on reading this book. I am finding it to be excellent. It is very well written. Each chapter is fascinating. Unfortunately, we didn't get much discussion about it.

This is an interesting--and entertaining--book! Just today, I heard of an elderly person I know who has started hearing musical hallucinations. So--I was able to look up in the book the possible causes of these hallucinations. Quite apropos!

Here is my review.

Aaron, the book looks interesting. How different is it from the book The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference? Does it have any additional insights that were not discussed by Malcolm Gladwell?

I just finished reading the book. It is a fascinating look at what a highly-motivated, brilliant man did before the scientific method was fully established. Here is my review.

Welcome Tony! And welcome Eric, Danielle and Michael! Please get involved with all of our discussions. And feel free to start new discussion topics!

Aaron wrote: "Just finished reading the new book by Viktor Mayer-Schonberger and Kenneth Cukier called Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think. The book traces the history, presen..."

Sounds like a fascinating book, Aaron! It's on my to-read list.

Hi DavidO, welcome to the group!

I just finished A Different Universe: Reinventing Physics from the Bottom Down by Robert Laughlin, who won the Nobel Prize in physics. His keen insights into physics, along with his playful humor and fantastic metaphors make this a very good book. Here is my review.

Kenny wrote: "I've just posted a new essay on my science oriented blog:

To the Stars! - http://kennyachaffin.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!"

Nice blog! Thanks for the link.

I read your article "War on Science" with special interest. Even though, as you mention, antipathy toward science has grown since WWII, hasn't the clash between religion and science been around for a long, long time?

I just finished reading the book A Sense of the Mysterious: Science and the Human Spirit by Alan Lightman. Early in his career, Lightman was a physicist. He gradually grew into a career as a poet and novelist. He has some interesting viewpoints about the philosophy of science, scientific discoveries, and the relationship between science and the humanities. Here is my review.

I just finished the book Who's in Charge?: Free Will and the Science of the Brain, by a prominent neuroscientist, Michael Gazzaniga. The book is fascinating (and short), but definitely not an easy read. Here is my review.

DeLene wrote: "I've been skimming an advance galley of FRANKENSTEIN'S CAT: Cuddling Up to Biotech's Brave New Beasts -- it's quite interesting! Due out on 3/12/13. It's all about animal biotech, from frivoulous p..."

Sounds like an interesting book! Generally, we wait until about half a year or so after publication, before nominating a book for "book of the month". That gives some time for libraries and book stores to acquire the book. Please nominate it again, a bit later!

Aleko wrote: "I'm looking for a good popular science book telling the communication of minds of humans."

What type of communication are you thinking about, Aleko? People communicate with each other hundreds of times every day, by speaking, writing, works of art ...

BetseaK wrote: "I really enjoyed the book. Here is the link to my review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/..."

Nice review, BetseaK!

Welcome to the group, Wise! You have a very wide range of interests--and that's great! Please join in with our discussions--you will probably find many that will interest you.

Patrick wrote: "Hello. My name is Patrick. I graduated with a B.S. in Mathematics and I am currently working on my Master's degree, in math as well. I love reading about pretty much every area of science and math...."

Welcome, Patrick! I admire Roger Penrose also, but I agree with Kenny. Swapping brains is a messy business.

I just finished reading this book. Very enjoyable! I learned a lot about mathematics, and also about the psychology of mathematicians. Here is my review.

I think a very interesting aspect of the book, is how mathematicians, unlike physicists, don't always know ahead of time what types of problems are likely to become important. So, mathematicians sometimes go off into esoteric, off-the-beaten-path areas of mathematics. This often pays off well, because as the author shows, esoteric topics often are shown to be strongly linked to very important areas.

Phylwil wrote: "What's the problem with milk (skim milk, that is)?"

The protein in milk, casein, has been found to encourage certain types of cancers. Other animal-based proteins have similar effects.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathy-f...

I just finished reading Darwin's Ghosts: The Secret History of Evolution. It's a very good book, and I learned a lot about the attitude of religions toward science over the ages and in different cultures. It's rather depressing, actually. Here is my review.

I finished the book, finally--it is brilliant. I hope that more people read it, because it is entertaining and very informative. Here is my review.