This brilliant work, published in 1920s America and winner of a Pulitzer Prize, addresses the state of medical research shortly after the Flexner Report famously shone a path for medical research to progress. It sets forth the classical view of a medical researcher – isolated, dedicated to his research, not interested in people, and essentially living in his lab. And yes, that view is traditionally centered around a researcher being a male in a more-or-less…
Technology – especially social media – has made our communication more accessible over the last ten years. But has it enhanced the quality of our conversation? In this book, Phillips contends that empathy has lost out in the transition to digital technology. She cites events like the 2016 US election as proof of how we are unable to have a civilized conversation in the digital world. Thus far (in the first couple chapters in the…
This book was written shortly before Barack Obama’s election as U.S. President. Notably, that time was also just before the Great Recession. In that light, this book seems to suggest an ending to the deep conflicts between the world-views of conservative and liberal Baby Boomers and an opening to some sort of resolution of their tensions. It attempts to paint a middle way between economic conservatives (libertarians) and economic liberals (paternalists), a way called “libertarian…
Like many, I have not touched this work since my class on British Literature in high school. I have learned a lot since then, and my capacity for processing great literature has only increased. This book, perhaps the first great work in the English language (Old English, that is), has remained the same. Today, I read it in one afternoon and loved every minute of it. Raffel’s translation brings out the drama of the tale…
This book helped change the way that software development is generally practiced, from the leadership to the programmers, from the business to the design. It is important to note that this book has been delivered in two very different editions. The first edition in 1999 set the direction while the second edition in 2005 brought insight out of several years of experience in an updated text. What’s so “extreme” about Extreme Programming? First, it advocates…
My daughter is into graphic novels (novel-length comic books), and she asked that I read this book with her. Telgemeier tells her autobiographical tale of growing up with severe teeth problems. You see, she accidentally hit her front teeth when she fell down at age 11. This story shares how the subsequent experiences helped define her coming of age. She does so in a relatable and interesting way through graphic pictures that many youth would…
This new release seeks to tell the tale of basketball at the University of Evansville, a small Division I school in Indiana. Like many areas in the American midwest, the community surrounding the school is tight-knit and obsessed with basketball. Before moving into Division I, the program even won several national championships at the Division II level. There’s a wrinkle in the true story that makes its telling especially emotional. In 1977, the entire basketball…
Dr. Jamison is a clinical psychologist and professor at Johns Hopkins University. She also has struggled with bipolar disorder (otherwise known as manic-depression) for her entire life. Her topic of research and clinical expertise is bipolar disorder as well. Due to this rare combination of deep suffering and erudition, Dr. Jamison’s autobiography is of intense interest. She is able to view herself and her disease in an extraordinarily objective light. Thus, she can present her…
Coyle’s book on business cultures centers on the theme that highly successful groups over-perform when they have healthy interactions. This trait – not smarts or good marketing or strong financial support – is what business leaders should focus on cultivating in the people they direct. This theme is then explicated in a series of success stories from a variety of groups in fields like NBA basketball, the Navy Seals, restaurant service, and college hockey. Although…
On the Shelf for February 2020.Do you want to read with me and compare notes? Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis This novel covers the growth of medical research in America. This motif is relayed in fictionalized form and won Lewis a Pulitzer Prize… which he ironically refused to accept. It’s a classic tale capturing how medicine transitioned from an anecdotal profession into a science- and knowledge-driven enterprise. A History of the English Language by Albert C.…