Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

A Giant Leap: How AI is Transforming Healthcare & What That Means for Our Future

By Scott J. Pearson | June 29, 2026June 29, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

There is no doubt that generative AI is a disruptive technology that will continue to have impacts in the coming years if not decades. Representing one-fifth of the American economy, healthcare is one area where AI has perhaps the most promise to do good. Since much of healthcare runs on textual material, generative AI’s ability to process material and respond appropriately brings a huge “wow” factor. UCSF clinician and informaticist Robert Wachter brings those ideas…

Medicine & Health Care in Early Christianity

By Scott J. Pearson | June 29, 2026June 29, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

Historian Gary Ferngren seeks to usurp overly simplistic historical interpretations of Christian attitudes towards healthcare. Many, like the famous church historian Adolf von Harnack, say that the first few centuries of the church were dominated by a healing faith that did not trust physicians. Others posit the early church as having a very antagonistic view to the medicine of the day because they viewed it as pagan. Through copious citations to the primary literature, he…

Science Writing-Communication

The Narrative Gym for Science Graduate Students & Postdocs

By Scott J. Pearson | June 25, 2026June 25, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

Communication to the wider non-scientific world is a constant challenge to scientists. We rely on the public for funding, and we aim to contribute to their lives. Yet our communication sometimes can get into a rut by communicating to a small inner circle of scientific colleagues instead. So the authors suggest applying a simple framework to enhance the reader’s ability to communicate by focusing on the crux of effective communication. The authors focus on graduate…

Biography-Memoir History

The First Eight: A Personal History of the Pioneering Black Congressmen Who Shaped a Nation

By Scott J. Pearson | June 24, 2026June 24, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

Most histories by politicians are automatically suspect. They tend to portray a political agenda instead of a search for historical truth. Jim Clyburn’s history of the first eight black congressmen from South Carolina is different. Why? As the ninth black congressman (nearly a century later), he has unique access to a rich cultural history surrounding these men, much of which has been erased in wider white SC society. His political agenda is simple: To unearth…

Indie Leadership Management-Business

The Executive Mindset: Unlocking the Strategic Power Inside Every Manager

By Scott J. Pearson | June 21, 2026June 21, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

Learning to think like the “next level up” is a challenge in any professional group. As the saying goes, what got you here isn’t going to get you there. The gap between management and leadership remains large. As you move up an organization’s chart, mentoring is harder to come by and free passes to make mistakes become fewer. Reading books like Bobby Lampkin’s provide opportunities to level up your thinking and behavior to bring further…

Indie Writing-Communication

Narrative is Everything: The ABT Framework & Narrative Evolution

By Scott J. Pearson | June 9, 2026June 9, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

Randy Olson spent half of his career as a Harvard-PhD scientist and the other half as a Hollywood screenwriter. His love for theory combined with his love for narrative, and he built an “ABT Framework” to describe the fundamentals of narrative. ABT stands for “and… but… therefore…” It contends of an assertion AND perhaps another, BUT then a contradiction and conflict to that perspective. THEREFORE, there comes a resolution. In this book, he explores this…

Program Management Software-Technology

Software Measurement & Estimation: A Practical Approach

By Scott J. Pearson | June 8, 2026June 8, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

Metrics around software can be a difficult to attain. Some (Agile) suggest making up estimates and then making metrics based off of those estimates. Others (function points) build entire abstract schemes based on difficult-to-attain calculations. Either way, predicting and measuring progress are complex tasks, but they are necessary to communicate to management and to provide appropriate managerial oversight. In this book, the authors seek to provide practical methods to assure that projects are on track…

Leadership Program Management Software-Technology

More Effective Agile: A Roadmap for Software Leaders

By Scott J. Pearson | May 30, 2026May 30, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

Steve McConnell is one of the best writers about software practices in our generation. Over decades, each of his books pushes the field forward, and each new book updates his thought with oodles of new data. This book, an evidence-based look at Agile, is no exception. Agile has become a catch-all term for a lot of software practices, but McConnell recenters his study about Agile on what’s most important in a business – getting results.…

Science Writing-Communication

Don’t Be Such a Scientist: Talking Substance in an Age of Style

By Scott J. Pearson | May 25, 2026May 25, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

Family members of STEM types will relate deeply to this book. Their STEM-working family member can live in a different world that’s distinct from the world everyone else lives in, and they must learn to relate back to the “real world.” The problem, however, penetrates deeper than that. The public admires those in STEM fields for the braininess required for entry, but the public’s communication styles do not relate to theirs. Memes, movies, and social…