Scott J. Pearson

The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing & the Future of the Human Race

By Scott J. Pearson | December 14, 2022December 14, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

In our generation, codes comprise some of the most interesting subjects of study. We code computers to do work for us; we also are beginning to decode the genetic code to propel life forward. The discovery of CRISPR promises to allow us to edit the human genome, and Professor Doudna sits among this innovation’s prime discoverers. Along with another female scientist Professor Charpentier, she won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2020. This biography, written…

Management-Business Psychology

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

By Scott J. Pearson | December 13, 2022December 13, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

Today’s world is an increasingly complex place. Many of us feel like we live disintegrated lives and are pulled in many directions. Yet people who have the highest societal impact tend to have the ability to focus, and throughout the centuries, writers like Henry David Thoreau have reminded us to simplify instead of complicate. In this book, McKeown seeks to convey these timeless philosophical lessons in a more contemporary format, geared around modern business lives…

Fiction-Stories

A Castle in Brooklyn: A Novel

By Scott J. Pearson | December 11, 2022October 20, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Two young Jewish men were orphaned during the Holocaust, but by hiding together, survived. They eventually achieved passage to the United States. They learned English, and one fell in love with another Jew who left before the Holocaust. This new couple married and started to establish a life. The other, with a longstanding interest in architecture, built them a house in Brooklyn. From there, this story unfolds with tales of love and loss, of affection…

Management-Business Mentoring

HBR Guide to Getting the Mentoring You Need

By Scott J. Pearson | December 7, 2022December 7, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

Education invests over a decade into teaching youth about life and their speciality, but the need to learn does not stop with graduation. In some ways, it’s just starting. The wise learn how to learn in their organization and community. This allows them to adapt and advance over time. This collection of essays, written by business leaders and compiled by the Harvard Business Review, initiates and inspires learners in their quest to benefit from those…

Society Writing-Communication

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business

By Scott J. Pearson | December 4, 2022December 4, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

This book, originally published in 1985, warns against the proliferation of television media replacing printed texts. Much of Postman’s case comes across as a tome against television and cites renowned authors like Aldous Huxley and Marshall McLuhan in support of his thesis. However, 35-40 years after its original publishing, it’s easy to see how digital media (i.e., the computer and the Internet) have continued to revolutionize America’s information intake. Our goal now is simply to…

Kids

The Best Gift for Bear

By Scott J. Pearson | December 3, 2022December 3, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

This book, illustrated by the author, identifies with children’s excited anticipation for winter holidays – and their worst fears of not measuring up. Hedgehog bakes gifts for all of her friends, but she cannot figure out what to bake for her favorite friend, big Bear. Eventually, she encounters an idea! She plans and constructs a gift perfect for her friend. However, on the delivery, the gift falls apart. It’s everyone’s worst nightmare… At the last…

Healthcare HIV/AIDS

World AIDS Day 2022: A Testimonial

By Scott J. Pearson | December 1, 2022November 30, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

Today, December 1, is World AIDS Day. During my second year of medical school, I remember sitting in on a full day of presentations about AIDS. Gabriel Virella always organized an intricate set of lectures on World AIDS Day each year. That year, researchers had just failed (again) in a major trial of a vaccine. Along with immunology, we learned about social and cultural issues about HIV, the different medicines used to treat it, and…

Management-Business

The Six Secrets of Raising Capital: An Insider’s Guide for Entrepreneurs

By Scott J. Pearson | November 30, 2022November 30, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

A certain mystique accompanies being the leader and founder of a company. That aura can help the leader maintain her/his position, but being new to a job can also become intimidating. Not everyone has a mentor to assist either. Add in the problem of recruiting investors, and a business leader can easily become overwhelmed. In this book, Fisher seeks to address and help that very audience so that their businesses can succeed over the long…

Management-Business Writing-Communication

The Business of Being a Writer

By Scott J. Pearson | November 27, 2022November 27, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

Many people instinctively relate writing with a life of poverty. The impression is that majoring in English literature instead of, say, engineering will forecast a worse economic existence down the road. The “starving artist” stereotype thus comes into play. In this book, Friedman disagrees with this simplistic approach. She shows the many career paths that writing can take, including some more lucrative ones. She thus empowers readers (who are writers!) to make informed decisions about…