Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

The Study of Man by Michael Polanyi

By Scott J. Pearson | April 23, 2022April 23, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

Academic and professional life can seem fragmented at times. After receiving a course of general education, we specialize and then sub-specialize. (Will we sub-sub-specialize in the future?) In particular, the humanities can seem vastly different from the natural sciences, which can seem vastly different from engineering. Into this fragmentation, Polanyi offers a comprehensive philosophy with humans at the center. Polanyi, a physical chemist with economic and philosophical interests, can speak with authority on such broad…

Management-Business

The #PACE Process for Early Career Success

By Scott J. Pearson | April 20, 2022April 20, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

An individual’s early career often sets the trajectory for future success, for better or for worse. Yet during this time, the path to success is almost universally less clear, and obstacles abound. Young professionals need mentoring and solid advice to advance, but hard-to-access options to get aid can conflict with each other. Now, a post-pandemic climate leaves remote and hybrid work environments where interpersonal interactions are less frequent. In this book, Zides tries to coach…

The People’s Plaza: 62 Days of Nonviolent Resistance

By Scott J. Pearson | April 18, 2022October 20, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Full disclosure: I am professionally employed Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The Medical Center, though a separate fiscal and legal entity, shares the Vanderbilt name with Vanderbilt University, whose press publishes this book. Nashville, Tennessee, is a historic town in the move for civil rights. In fact, locals just call it “the movement.” That movement is very much alive, in Nashville and in America, as the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 have recently shown. This…

Fiction-Stories History

The Half-Life of Ruby Fielding: A Novel

By Scott J. Pearson | April 16, 2022April 16, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

This book weaves together many types of historical knowledge in one place. It provides an account of the Manhattan Project in New York City to develop the atomic bomb. It covers the critical but relatively unheralded role that women played in supporting wartime efforts. It shows cultural gaps in New York elitist life. It spans medical subjects like poisons, plants, and remedies to toxic substances. The narrative also explores gender and sexuality, albeit in a…

Research-Education

Qualitative Data Analysis: A Methods Sourcebook

By Scott J. Pearson | April 15, 2022August 13, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Professionally, I work a lot with quantitative data, through mathematics/biostatistics, building software, and research design. The world of words has long been a domain that has enchanted me even though symbols have comprised my main language. Recently, my wife has started graduate work using qualitative methods. I decided to fill my deficits in this world by reading this book. I am by no means expert or even experienced in it, but I merely have an…

History Society

South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation

By Scott J. Pearson | April 13, 2022April 16, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

This book took me all over the place. As a southerner, I felt a little defensive of the area where I’ve lived for most of my life. Though from Alabama, Perry’s point of view is clearly northeastern (especially when describing border states), and there’s a long history of northeasterners (i.e., Yankees) stereotyping southerners. As a software developer, I found that she overlooked the “New South” almost entirely. The research triangle in North Carolina was only…

Fiction-Stories

My Evil Mother: A Short Story

By Scott J. Pearson | April 9, 2022October 20, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Overprotective parents tend to be universally characterized as “evil” by their children. You know the type… these parents do anything they possibly can to influence their child’s directions. This often happens along gender lines: mothers with daughters and fathers with sons. This short story, spun by Margaret Atwood, a master of the craft, describes how such a relationship evolved over time and was passed on to the next generation. This story is filled with humor,…

Management-Business Software-Technology

Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Personal Life & Unlock Your Creative Potential

By Scott J. Pearson | April 9, 2022April 9, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

In the last few decades, computers and the Internet have provided humans with new access to untold masses of information. Humans are just now catching up on how to use this information for our own good. The technology needs to make our lives easier and more productive, not less so. Fortunately, first-time author Tiago Forte points the way to use these tools to aid creativity. In book form, he teaches a method that he’s shared…

Religion-Philosophy

The Faith of a Physicist: Reflections of a Bottom-Up Thinker

By Scott J. Pearson | April 5, 2022April 5, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

John Polkinghorne is a respected professor of physics at Cambridge University who became an Anglican priest. The President Emeritus of Queen’s College, he is well-known for his understanding of common terrain between science and religion. This book contains the text of the 1993-94 Gifford Lectures and describes his theological belief system. This belief system roughly aligns with Christian orthodoxy. This text explains how he studiously came to these beliefs as he explains why he eschewed…

Psychology

Why We Argue & How to Stop

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

Many people pridefully take the stance that they don’t need self-help books. “It’s all easy and common sense,” they claim. Often, those people are the very people whose personal relationships are most disordered. In truth, we all can use a little help sometimes, and I often am more receptive when reading it in a book at my own leisure rather than sitting on a therapist’s couch. In this book, Manney brings us to his therapist’s…