Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work & What to Do About It

By Scott J. Pearson | August 2, 2026August 2, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

An oft-cited fact is that most small businesses don’t succeed. They fall prey to a common set of challenges – namely, that entrepreneurs never transition their work from a job into building a business. In this book, Michael Gerber shines light on this common error and shows ways to overcome it. He uses a parable of Sarah starting her own business as a way to interject life into these principles and illustrate how entrepreneurs can…

Biography-Memoir

Between the World & Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

By Scott J. Pearson | August 1, 2026August 1, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

This critically acclaimed book came out while Black Lives Matter protests were gripping the streets in 2015. Written as a memoir, it explains the effects of violence against black (particularly male) bodies on the black psyche. Although his observations are built around the artificial construct of the black and white races, he clearly sees that Dr. King’s Dream is as-yet unrealized in America. As a continual parade of unnecessary black deaths illustrated – deaths that…

Leadership Presentation

The Right to Speak: Working with the Voice

By Scott J. Pearson | July 28, 2026July 28, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

Months of formal voice training has been something that has attracted me for decades, but I could never justify the time or the expense for it. Obviously, anyone who leads groups and speaks to groups regularly needs to attend to the voice. It’s still difficult to get the feedback necessary to articulate words in an engaging manner. This book will not offer customized feedback, but to the self-disciplined, it offers ways to internalize principles of…

Indie Management-Business Software-Technology

Successful Technology Consulting: How to Become a Top Dollar IT Consultant

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

This short work introduces the reader to a career in IT consulting. Written by Eetu Niemi, a ten-year veteran of the field, it describes what IT consulting actually looks like and presents options about which kind of positions entrants should look for based on their personal values and life traits. Importantly, he distinguishes between management consulting and IT consulting. Management consulting can pay more but is much more demanding in terms of hours and expectations.…

Fiction-Stories

The Book Witch: A Novel

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

Rainy March is a book witch, and her job is to enter into stories to ensure that no one causes magical mayhem. Mayhem means that their plots would be rewritten, or that their words would be even erased, or, worst of all, that the book burners might get to them. She follows strict rules to do her job with excellence, and she’s saved some of the best plots in all of literature. Like many good…

History Society

American Struggle: Democracy, Dissent & the Pursuit of a More Perfect Union

By Scott J. Pearson | July 17, 2026July 17, 2026 by Scott J. Pearson

Jon Meacham, one of our nation’s leading historians, has chosen the texts of dozens of speeches about American progress across its history and even pre-history. Its story is not one of inevitable progress but progress amidst continual dissent. There have always been strong, powerful voices standing in the way of a more perfect union. Seeing them displayed in this way forcefully suggests that struggle is always needed to propel this nation’s aim of a “more…

Artificial Intelligence Healthcare

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…

Healthcare History Religion-Philosophy

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…