This book is widely regarded as the definitive biography of Napoleon Bonaparte in the English language. After listening to this book, I find no reason to disagree. Napoleon was and is a huge figure in European history. He conquered swaths of territory and reformed national systems. He can only be compared to Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great in terms of impact. He did not wrestle England, his archenemy, to the ground economically or militarily.…
In the past decade, the JavaScript language has witnessed a renaissance of new activity. Once pigeon-holed as a language for web browser eye-candy, JavaScript can now be used for the entire stack (server-side, client-side, testing, and even command-line). In this book, Shute attempts to keep developers up to date with a high-level review of the advancements. While this book is not a classic (and what modern computer-language-specific book is a classic?), it serves the needs…
The story of freedom is both an American story and a universally human one. In this novel, Coates reminds us that personal loyalties to family sometimes transcend the desire for freedom. Using the motif of finding one’s own free way, he describes the story of Hiram Walker, an enslaved person who was educated due to his superb memory, only to become intermixed with the Underground Railroad. Along the way, he discovers the backcountry of Virginia…
In my early twenties, I decided to devote my life to bettering American healthcare. I gained exposure to the system as a medical student and still contribute professionally by bettering medical research through software development. My experiences show that many inefficiencies and much greed exist in the system. As Hartmann attests to in this book, so many people angle to profit off of citizens’ health needs. It’s sad, but the political will and personal wills…
It’s no secret that climate change has begun to affect human lifestyles. Unfortunately, world politics and economics are ill-positioned to deal with this crisis. If we can’t agree that vaccines are a good thing, how can we agree on the difficult sacrifices required to preserve our planet for future generations? Despite this (or perhaps because of this), Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and the philanthropy Gates Foundation, is lending not only his name but also…
“Those ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it.” “The primary problems we now face are not scientific problems but social problems involving science.” Such statements certainly provide an impetus to read this classic about the early history of AIDS in America. Though this book is over thirty years old, its meticulous research still communicates how human nature often denies diseased persons respect, compassion, and the resources necessary to recover. Such was certainly true in…
I studied this book with my Presbyterian Sunday School class over the summer of 2021. It contains a long prologue, seven short meditations on Jesus’ seven last words from the Cross, and an epilogue. Meacham speaks from the Christian Episcopal tradition, one that respects the Bible but does not embrace Biblical literalism. At several points, he acknowledges the “mystery” or “uncertainty” of faith. He also talks at length about the value of partaking of regular…
Albert Camus is one of my favorite literary figures of all time. I favor authors rooted in the Christian and classical literary traditions, and Camus fits this description well – even though he made no profession of faith after childhood. (Another fascinating and controversial book contends that Camus sought baptism just before his sudden death.) To me, Camus’ words capture the human condition very well. This biography, born out of college classes Meagher taught, attempts…
The advent of HTML5 enabled much advancement in the design of Internet apps. New markup went hand-in-hand with improvements in JavaScript and CSS3. Together, these set the course for web design up to the present (at least, in 2021). This book, though last updated in 2014, still presents the clearest explanation of these technological advances. However, to access this clarity, the reader has to overlook copious references to outdated browser versions along with older (but…
Professionally, I write software used for data collection in biomedical research projects. My current project extends from data collection into the field of interpretation. Combining these demands requires that I learn something about data cleaning. Thus, this book’s title caught my eye. It is an academic book, not a popular book. I usually write in-depth book reviews on what I read, so I am writing one here. This book seems like it began as an…