To preface, my wife and I are involved in the organization that the authors helped to found in Nashville, Tennessee, but what this essay lacks in objectivity, I hope to regain in honest intimacy. This memoir relates the story of how Hartley’s family escaped the “Brentwood Bubble” (Brentwood is a well-to-do suburb of Nashville) while encountering the Mwizerwas. Having fled the genocide in Rwanda during the 1990s, the Mwizerwas became refugees in Nashville and rebuilt…
The author Maya Washington’s father is Gene Washington. (In order not to confuse, I will refer to them in this review by their first names.) Gene was among the first black football players on nationally prominent college and NFL/AFL teams in the 1960s. He grew up in Jim Crow Texas, but played football for Michigan State University. Not only did he help to integrate the sport; he also laid the groundwork for football becoming so…
Since around 2005, I’ve attempted to learn the big picture of American healthcare while focusing on my little niche in the system. After 16 years (and several legislative bills with major changes), I find myself as befuddled by the economic organization as I was at the beginning. Before dying in 2017, Reinhardt was a leading voice in healthcare economics. A Canadian by citizenship and a German by birth but an American by living, he mastered…
A pioneer of radioactivity and radiation therapy, Marie Curie has an assured place in scientific history. Untold numbers have benefitted from her discovery – especially cancer patients. Further accolades upon accolades follow her name: two-time winner of a Nobel Prize (jointly in physics and alone in chemistry), first female Nobel laureate, wife and daughter of two other Nobel laureates, tireless supporter of her country in World War I, first female professor at Paris’ elite Sorbonne,…
Most Americans, heeding the news in 2020-2021 during the coronavirus pandemic, have some bits and pieces about how the “war” against the coronavirus was waged. Very few (yet) have a comprehensive view. Enter Borrell’s The First Shots. In it, he aims to provide a first-draft of a history describing the vaccine’s development. Resulting is an engaging and educational narrative that will inform generations to come. With many actors, Borrell tellingly provides “A Cast of Characters”…
I try to respect nature and am honestly curious about how the natural world operates. However, despite an immense appreciation of life, I am no scientific specialist or ornithological hobbyist (i.e., bird-watcher). As such, I cannot judge the academic merits of this text, but I can appreciate the literary merits. Ackerman dramatically brings alive the lives of birds in a way that demonstrates that much more is going on than first meets the eye. The…
“Aaaaaachooooo!” Sneezy the Snowman is catching a cold, and he needs to figure out appropriate ways to keep warm in the midst of winter weather. Since he is made of snow, he learns that he melts when around warm things like hot cocoa, a warm bath, or a fire. However, plenty of clothes can keep him from winter’s worst effects like sickness. This book, appropriate for kids in preschool up to early elementary school, teaches…
Many historians consider America’s Mexican War of the 1840s to be an unjust war, one primarily waged to grab land for the extension of slavery and thus of human greed. Because of this motive and rampant nativism in the US Army, many immigrant soldiers deserted the American army to join the Mexican forces. This story tells of these soldiers’ formation of the Saint Patrick’s Battalion (many immigrants were Irish) and of their historical leader John…
Hiding secrets (i.e., cryptography or the science of encryption) has become an increasingly important topic in the modern Information Age. It’s not just the stuff of the military and diplomacy. We cannot communicate secrets like credit card numbers over the Internet without it. In this book, dated around the turn of the millennium, Singh shares the history of encrypting messages. He begins to forecast its impact in the twenty-first century while noting exciting trends in…
Most English-language readers associate detective stories with the Sherlock Holmes series. However, these books, as famous and well-composed as they are, do not mark the first detective stories in world literature. Instead, that achievement falls to the great American literary giant Edgar Allan Poe. He wrote three short stories in the 1840s and published them in both America and France for literary prizes. Each readable in a short sitting, they continue to enchant readers with…